Amish Christmas Twins. Shelley Shepard Gray

you want to protect Jemima and Roy from harm, but a bigger haus isn’t what they need,” he said in a new, gentle tone of voice. “I promise ya, all those children are going to need is our love and a safe, loving home. We are already giving them that.”

      His words made sense, but just because they did, it didn’t mean that all her worries were going to disappear. “I don’t want them to regret moving in with us, Will. I don’t want them to think they were getting one thing, but the reality is a whole lot different.”

      “Ah. Now I understand. So, do you regret meeting Jemima and Roy and bringing them home?”

      “No. Of course not.” She was shocked that he would even ask such a thing. “I love them.”

      “I love them, too, E.A. Now, if we already love them and consider them ours, why would you think they would feel different?”

      Ooh. She hated it when he was so right. “I see your point.”

      “Gut. I promise, they took the news about one baby well, and they’ll do the same when they hear about two.”

      “I hope you’re right.”

      “I am. I promise. Life is full of changes and they’ll adjust again. Moving around might be hard for them at first, but then it will all be fine. It has to be, right? I mean, they won’t have any other choice.”

      “I hope they won’t be too upset.”

      “If they are, I’ll deal with it. Not you. I won’t let them worry you. The doctor said that you need to put the babies’ needs first. Remember?”

      Just as she was about to respond, she heard a squeak. “Will, did you hear that?” she whispered.

      He paused, tilting his head, as if he was listening hard. “I didn’t hear anything. Now, can we simply just sit here and enjoy the fire and our news?”

      She snuggled next to him, folding one of her hands over her belly. She was going to have twins! She was going to be a mother of four.

      They were blessed, indeed.

      Chapter 13

      Jemima closed her eyes and counted to five. Breathed in and out, just as Will had suggested Roy do when he and Jemima had first heard about E.A. expecting a baby.

      Since taking a deep breath felt as if it kind of helped, she did it again. It felt a bit silly, but she was willing to do whatever it took to get control of herself.

      She had to.

      But, boy, was it hard to do, because all the words she’d overheard kept zipping around in her head. They’ll adjust. I won’t let them worry you. They won’t have any other choice.

      You need to put the babies’ needs first.

      The babies were what they wanted, not two foster kids who weren’t really theirs.

      The babies were what was important.

      They’d been lying to her. Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz were even worse than Dan and Shirl, because they’d only been pretending to want Jemima and Roy. At least Dan and Shirl had never acted like anything was special about them besides the checks that Social Services sent.

      Sneaking back down the hall, Jemima swiped her eyes and tried to be glad that she’d wanted a glass of water. If she hadn’t gotten thirsty, she would have never eavesdropped and heard what Mr. Kurtz had said about them.

      He was sure she and her brother were going to adjust just fine the day after Christmas when they told her and Roy the news.

      Her lungs felt heavy, and she didn’t think she was ever going to be able to take a deep breath again. Standing outside Roy’s room, she debated about whether to tell him the news or not.

      Though it was going to be terrible to tell him, she knew she had no choice. There was no way she was going to be able to watch him be happy on Christmas morning when she knew what was going to happen on December 26. That was just too mean.

      Slowly she opened his door and walked inside. Roy had a battery-operated night-light in the shape of a dog near his bed. It was a silly thing, but he loved it and it helped him get to sleep every night. As she watched him sleep, Jemima’s heart felt as if it was breaking as she realized just how many things were about to change. Just like the other homes, they were going to have to leave their special belongings behind when the social worker came.

      Once again, they’d be in someone else’s hands, and be expected to get along, not complain, and pretend that starting all over again wasn’t terrible.

      But it really was.

      Roy shifted in his sleep, opened his eyes, then flinched when he noticed her standing next to his bed.

      “Jemima, whatcha doing?” he asked, both his expression and voice groggy with sleep.

      “I just overhead Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz talking, but I’ve been standing here trying to figure out if I should tell you or not.”

      Rubbing his eyes, he sat up. “Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

      “Because it’s not good news.”

      He frowned. “Am I not gonna get a new coat for Christmas?”

      She sat down on his bed. “I don’t know if you are or you aren’t.” She took a breath, then continued. “I heard them talking about what they are going to do the day after Christmas.”

      He smiled. “What?”

      Jemima bit her lip. She didn’t know whether to spoil his night or not. All she did know was that she didn’t think she could keep the news to herself for the next day. She really didn’t think she could face Roy when he discovered that she’d been keeping secrets from him.

      “Roy, I don’t want to tell you this, but I don’t think it would be right to keep it from you.”

      “I’m not a baby. We do everything together, jah?”

      He was right. “Fine.” After peeking at the door again to make sure it was closed, she said, “I learned that E.A. is going to have twins.”

      Roy’s eyes lit up. “Wow! We’re going to have two babies around here. It’s gonna be loud.”

      “You’re missing the point, Roy. I heard them talk about our future.”

      “So?”

      “They don’t have a big enough house for four kinner.” She looked at him meaningfully.

      Her brother screwed up his face. “What are we all going to do then?” He sucked in a breath. “Do you think we’re going to have to share a room with babies?”

      “They’re not talking about moving us around. They’re talking about making room for two babies.”

      “What does that mean for us, then?”

      “What do you think, Roy? They’re going to send us away.”

      He shook his head. “Nee. They love us.”

      “They love the babies they’re gonna have. They don’t love us.”

      “Nee.” His crushed expression matched how crushed she felt in her heart. “That’s not right.”

      “Roy, I know what I heard.”

      He kept shaking his head. “Nee. You must have heard wrong. They wouldn’t do that.”

      “But they are.” She hated how tough she sounded; she hated that she had to be the one to tell Roy the bad news. But she had learned that it didn’t make any difference how a person heard bad things. Even hearing it in a nice way didn’t make it any easier.

      “What are we going to do?”

      “I don’t want to go back to Dan and Shirl.”

      His