The NICU nurse gave me a small smile. “Of course, Mr. Thorton. The boys will be waiting on you. I thought you would like to know that the pediatrician has given them both a full examination and their hearts are in great shape. We would like to keep them on the ventilator until at least tomorrow before trying to see if they can breathe on their own.”

Tears burnt my eyes but I just nodded. My boys would be okay for a little while longer. Swallowing hard I lifted Lucy into my arms. “I need to tell you something, Lu. Okay? But first we have to go downstairs and do something.”

We followed Emmie and Brad Horton downstairs on the elevator and to the back of the hospital to the lab. We didn’t have to wait. I signed my name at the bottom of a form that Emmie handed me and then Lucy was asked to have a seat.

“Will it hurt?” she asked, looking scared.

I had no idea what they were going to do to her so I couldn’t answer her. Instead the tech, a woman with short dark hair and blue eyes, gave her a reassuring smile. “Nope. It won’t hurt at all, sweetpea.” She held up what looked like a cotton swab. “I’m going to tickle your cheek with this and get all your DNA information. Over and done in the blink of an eye.”

“Dad?” Lucy held her hand out to me and I moved closer to hold onto her while the woman swabbed Lucy’s cheek then turned away.

“I know what DNA is,” Lucy told me on the ride back up to the maternity ward waiting room with Emmie. “But why did she need to have mine?”

I rubbed a hand over my head, feeling the rough stubble already growing back. “It’s hard to explain, Lu, but I’m going to try hard, okay?”

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked, looking worried as she glanced from me to Emmie and then back to me.

“No! Of course not.” I shook my head. “You’re a great kid, sweetheart. Layla and I couldn’t ask for a better daughter than you.”

“This isn’t about whether you did something bad or not, Lucy,” Emmie told her, touching her cheek gently.

“You’re my daughter, Lucy. No matter what anyone says you will always be mine… Okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I know that.”

“Well, the man your real mom made you with… He wants you. He wants to take you away from me and Layla. The DNA test was to see if you really are his daughter.” The elevator dinged and the doors opened but we didn’t get off.

Lucy was just staring up at me with wide dark eyes. “But… you said I was yours forever, Dad.”

“You are, Lucy. I swear it. No one is going to take you from me and Layla. I won’t let that happen. Ever. That doesn’t mean he won’t try, sweetheart.” Emmie stepped in front of the elevator doors to keep them from closing on us and I crouched down so that Lucy and I were on the same eye level. She was tall for her age, but I was still a giant compared to most people. “I love you more than anything. Understand?”

Her chin trembled and my heart cracked at the sight because there was nothing I could have done to prevent this pain from affecting her. “Yeah, Dad. I love you too.”

NICU was on the floor above the maternity ward. Only one or two people were allowed in to visit the babies at a time. I had to change into clean scrubs before they even let me into the room. Before I reached the nurses’ station I had to wash and sanitize my hands. Beside me Lana glanced around nervously. I had wanted Emmie to come with me, so that she could take in everything the nurses told me because I knew that I would probably forget everything. But a security situation had come up and she’d had to deal with it. Lana was my second choice but I was still happy to have her with me.

We followed the nurse who had come to get me earlier, passing five other incubators before we reached the two that sat right beside each other. There were little oxygen tubes in their noses and they were completely naked except for their diapers. They had a slight orange color to them and the nurse explained that they were jaundiced, which wasn’t unusual since they were premature.

“It’s okay. You can touch them, talk to them. Let them know their daddy is here.” She patted me on the shoulder. “Tomorrow, if they are doing well without the extra oxygen to help them, you can feed them.”

My hand was almost too big to fit through the hole of the incubator labeled BABY 1. I touched the leg of my son and he jerked as if I had startled him, but didn’t cry. On the other side of the incubator Lana was touching his hand. “They’re so tiny,” she murmured.

The nurse shook her head. “Actually, at thirty-one weeks’ gestation they are pretty big considering they are twins. But then you see the father and it all becomes clear. I’ve seen babies born this early with holes in their hearts and tears in their abdomens. Twins can be even trickier at this stage, but I have a good feeling that these two little rocker princes will be out of here in no time.”

Another nurse came over with a clipboard in her hands. She offered Lana and me a kind smile as she watched us stroking the babies’ arms and feet. I was too chocked up to return the smile. I was touching my children… Without Layla to experience this moment with me.

“So, do we have names for these two or are we going to stick with Thing 1 and Thing 2?” the newcomer asked.

I knew the names that Layla wanted, but wasn’t sure who was who to her. It didn’t feel right giving them those names yet. Not until Layla opened her eyes and could tell me for sure which of our sons was which… I wouldn’t think about what would happen if that didn’t happen. I couldn’t!

Chapter 13

Dallas

I was exhausted on my feet by the time I fell into bed Monday night. It felt like a month had passed since I had left Harper’s wedding the night before. Of course if Linc was home he would get all smart and tell me it was my own fault for sticking my nose in shit that it didn’t need sticking in, but what the hell.

I crawled under the covers, foregoing a shower. I had work in the morning and I would shower when I got up. No use in showering now, washing hair that was going to be a nest by morning because I didn’t have the energy to blow it dry, only to have to wash it all over again to be able to sort it out. Of course as soon as I arranged my pillows to the perfect position and closed my eyes I found that my mind wouldn’t shut the hell up.

Muttering a curse, I flipped onto my back and glared at the ceiling.

I should have just walked away as soon as Axton ran off to Gabriella Moreitti. I was used to that happening. It was the reason I had ended it with him. He had sworn they were just friends and that she meant nothing to him other than fellow rockers. Like I was going to buy that BS. He had that bitch’s name on his skin, for fuck’s sake.