Amish Christmas Twins. Shelley Shepard Gray

date about the adoption.

      After months of simply talking about fostering children, now everything was moving at lightning speed.

      Hoping he didn’t sound as frazzled as he was starting to feel, he said, “We have the sonogram on Monday afternoon. I guess we’ll find out then.”

      “Jah. I guess we will.”

      Seeing the gas lights flickering by their front door in the distance, he murmured, “We both know that our Lord Jesus doesn’t make mistakes. If it’s His will that we have our baby in April, then so be it.”

      E.A. reached out behind the children’s sleeping forms and squeezed his biceps. “You are exactly right. There’s no reason to worry.”

      “None at all. We need to think positive, for sure and for certain.” He directed Chip, their horse, to the barn.

      She laughed as he pulled up the brake on the buggy and hopped down. “Will, it’s a good thing we have each other. If we didn’t, each of us would be making mountains out of molehills right and left.”

      Walking around to help her down, he kissed her on the cheek. “You are right about that. It’s a gut thing we have each other, indeed.”

      As he pulled Jemima into his arms and E.A. took hold of Roy, Will almost believed that everything was going to be just fine. That the children would adjust to both the baby and them and settle into their lives as if they’d always been there. That the adoption would go through without a hitch and that their baby would soon be born without any complications. That he and E.A. would be able to weather all these changes without getting too stressed or worried or fearful.

      That everything in their future was going to be just fine.

      But try as he might, he couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that things weren’t going to be that easy.

      He really hoped he was wrong.

      Chapter 12

      The day before Christmas

      Six hours after they left the clinic, the news still shook him to the core. They’d left the doctor in a state of shock, eaten their lunch at Josephine’s in almost complete silence, and had to remind each other to look more relaxed and happy when they stopped by his parents’ house to pick up the kids.

      Jemima and Roy might not have noticed, but Will’s mother sure did. She kept giving him worried glances while they were loading the children in the buggy.

      Somehow, someway, after they’d gotten home, he and E.A. had gone about their usual routine of having supper, supervising baths, and reading a bedtime story.

      Now, at long last, they were sitting together on the couch in front of the fireplace. It was finally the right time to focus on their news—it was just too bad that he still didn’t have the right words.

      “I don’t understand how this could be,” Will said for the third time. “Do you have twins in your family that I didn’t know about?”

      “Nee,” E.A. replied, “but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.” After another moment, she added, “My parents called while you were reading the kinner their story. I told them the news.”

      E.A. had grown up Mennonite. Since they were living as New Order Amish, they now had a phone in the kitchen. They didn’t use it much—only for emergencies and special occasions.

      Will guessed that their “sonogram day” counted as that.

      “What did they say?”

      She chuckled softly. “Will, they sounded as shocked as we are. Mamm said she’ll come over tomorrow to chat.”

      “Just be sure Jemima and Roy don’t hear you talking about it.” When they were alone in the buggy, they’d decided to wait until after Christmas to tell the kids.

      “Don’t worry. I don’t want to share the news until we’ve gotten our own heads wrapped around it.”

      “Eventually, I guess we’ll have to decide the right way to tell them.”

      “Jah, but ‘eventually’ is the key word. The poor things are still trying to get used to the idea of my pregnancy.” She frowned. “They seem okay, though neither of them seems to want to talk about it.” She blinked. “Do you think we should worry about that?”

      “Nee. They’ve accepted it already, E.A. Couples have babies all the time.” Sitting beside her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We’re just going to have two babes at once.”

      “Talk about an instant family. We’re going from zero kinner to four in less than a year.”

      “You never did do anything halfway.”

      “Ha, ha. This is on both of us.”

      Will looked smug. “This is pretty special, ain’t so? We’re blessed.”

      “We are blessed.” She smiled at him. “Next Christmas is going to be mighty special. We’re going to have kinner everywhere.”

      “Two of them will likely be in our arms and the other two running around. The year after? Whoa. It is sure to be mighty busy. The twins will be crawling.”

      She couldn’t believe he was so, so calm about all the changes taking place in their lives. Just as she was about to chide him, she gasped. “Will, where are we going to put everyone?”

      He looked at her strangely. “In here with us.”

      “No, I’m talking about bedrooms. Where are we going to put everyone?”

      “We have three bedrooms. We’ll take one; the babes will be in another. And Jemima and Roy will have the third.”

      “That won’t do.”

      “What won’t?”

      “Jemima and Roy can’t share a room, Will. They like having their own rooms. No, they need their own rooms. Jemima, especially, needs a place of her own.”

      “I understand that, but they’ll just have to adjust. And they will.”

      Her mind was spinning. It was already going to be hard on the siblings to have to deal with the new babes. “I think we’re gonna need to move.”

      “Elizabeth Anne, we cannot.”

      “I know you don’t want to, but it might be necessary.”

      “It isn’t. Not right now it isn’t.”

      “Will, lower your voice. They’ll hear you.”

      “I’m sorry, but I don’t think you are thinking clearly.”

      “I’m pregnant with twins, but my brain is working just fine.”

      “You are one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. But right now, you aren’t sounding smart at all. We can’t up and move so easily. We just got here.”

      They were living on his family’s property. Will had saved a long time in order to be able to buy all the materials for their house. That was followed by weeks of him and his friends working on the house, then paying plumbers and other tradespeople to finish out their lovely home.

      She supposed he did have a point. “All right, fine. Maybe we can simply add another bedroom. And perhaps we can make the kitchen and breakfast room bigger. What do you think?”

      “I think that is not going to happen. Not anytime soon.”

      Oh, but she hated when he got all full of himself! “Will, don’t say no without thinking it through.”

      “I don’t need to.”

      “Please, just think about it.”

      “I am, and I’m thinking that you’ll be home taking care of four children and I’m going