felt it for months himself. The worst part was wanting a child—and wondering if he was the reason it wouldn’t happen.
He reached to tip her chin up with a finger. “I would have wanted to be with you.”
“I know. But anything could have happened, Sam, anything! And I…”
Her words drifted away, but her meaning did not. Sam took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Maddie,” he said. “I should have called you. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to France.” He hesitated, knowing that wasn’t even the beginning of what needed to be said. “We should never have separated. I think these babies are a sign we should have stayed together.”
“I don’t know,” Maddie murmured. “I kind of think we needed some time apart.”
Sam grunted, reaching into a bassinet. The baby boy looking out at him had his blue eyes but Maddie’s hair color, the fiery hue of sunshine-dappled maple wood. When he touched the tiny fisted hand, the baby wrapped its fingers tightly around his, surprising him. A fierce protectiveness rushed into Sam’s chest. “I’m not leaving you again.”
“Sam.” Maddie’s tone forced him to look at her. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but…I don’t want to be the way we were.”
He didn’t like the sound of that at all. “Married?”
She nodded. “I mean, I know that technically we are, because we never actually filed with the court for divorce, but we did live apart for nine months. I feel like we aren’t married anymore.”
He held up a palm. “Don’t say divorce to me right now.”
“I’m not. But I don’t want us to live together, either.”
Shock filled him. “These are my children! You’re my wife! Where else would I live?”
“I don’t know.” Her eyes filled with pain. “You’re welcome to come by as often as you like, of course.”
He stared at her, disbelieving. “When were you going to tell me about the babies, Maddie? If your brother hadn’t called me, would I ever have known?”
“Yes!” Her face was stricken. “I would have told you. I meant to tell you.”
“I should have been there. For you. For them.” He glanced at the babies, their little heads poking out of matching blue T-shirts. “For all of us,” he murmured.
They were chubby-cheeked infants, blissful in their innocence. One had gone to sleep quite contentedly. The other sleepily blinked his eyes at his new world, which wasn’t quite in focus.
Surprise, surprise.
And now Sam and Maddie had what they’d always wanted. Actually, had what they’d wanted times two.
But she didn’t want him. Or their marriage.
Okay. Three was a crowd, but four made a family.
He was going to romance her socks off until she clearly saw that Mommy needed Daddy, babies needed Daddy—and a wife needed her husband by her side.
To love, honor and cherish, for better, for worse.
“MARTIN, LISTEN.” Sam rolled his eyes as he stared at the ceiling. Talking to his lawyer required having a better handle on the chaos that had become his life; his grip had slipped disastrously. “I know you didn’t know I was planning on having children. The point is, I have them, and I need you to draw up a will that includes them.”
“I heard you, Sam. And as your lawyer, I have to advise that you have appropriate tests run before you assume Maddie is correct about your paternity,” Martin insisted. “Don’t get your butt in a sling just because you’ve let the guilt squeeze be applied to your heart. Think with your wallet.”
“My wallet pays your salary,” Sam reminded him.
“And I earn my salary by protecting your interests,” Martin retorted. “I’ll do anything you instruct me to do, Sam. And you know how much I like Maddie. It damn near killed me to have to think about drawing up divorce papers. You know that! She’s like everybody’s kid sister.”
“Not mine.”
“Okay, half the male population sees her in a kid-sister light. The other half would kill for just five minutes to kiss the lace of her underwear.”
“I will assume you are in the first category, unless you want your head removed from your shoulders,” Sam said dryly.
“Definitely, buddy,” Martin answered hastily. “But that’s what I mean. I hated to see you lose her, especially when I know there are multitudes of clowns just waiting for a babe like her. But now I’m telling you to cover your bases. Not that Maddie’s lying. What if the test tubes got scrambled in the lab or something?”
“What are you saying? That my kids could have problems and I shouldn’t provide for them?”
“I’m saying don’t you want to know for certain that this Maitland clinic got your genes mixed with Maddie’s before you take the serious step of changing your will?”
Sam digested that for a moment. “No.”
“Why not?”
“It wouldn’t really matter to me, Martin. Maddie and I talked about adopting kids at one point, anyway. The process was long and arduous, and we didn’t make it through many of the steps before…” Before he’d snapped under the pressure of not being able to give his wife what she wanted. And now she’s done it, without me. She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved. What difference would adopted children or my test-tube results make? She loves them. And so will I. “Why should I have tests to establish paternity? Just to find out those aren’t my babies? Call me a dreamer, Martin. I don’t want to find out they’re not mine. I’d rather assume I’m just chock-full of egg-seeking, healthy, tough, indestructible sperm. Do you mind?”
Martin sighed. “You know, your ego is skewed. Most men would need to know that their money wasn’t being used to take care of another man’s progeny. You? You just want to get Maddie back.”
“I want to believe I can have progeny,” Sam growled. “Ego cost me my wife. Smart men learn from their mistakes.”
“I know,” said Martin. “That’s why I keep you on as a client, even though you don’t listen to a word I say. You’re a good man, and a lawyer ought to have one good client who isn’t looking for a loophole.”
Sam frowned. “Speaking of loopholes…”
“Oh, boy,” Martin said. “Don’t make me cry, Sam.”
“I may not be the hero you think I am. Get out the tissues. I haven’t been feeling very heroic lately.” Mainly, he felt like he’d let his sons down by not being present at their birth. I shouldn’t have left Maddie to her own devices. I let my pride overrule my heart.
“I’ve known you since high school. It’s tough to suffer any illusions about a guy who used a jock strap as a slingshot in the locker to defend me from the A-string army. I became a lawyer to protect
