Strings of the Heart (Runaway Train #3)(71)

Just when I finally started to doze off around seven a.m., screaming babies jolted me awake. I waited a few minutes for Jake and Abby to get things under control. But when fifteen minutes went by and the twins were still crying, I lost my temper. With a growl, I got out of bed and threw on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

I stumbled out of my suite and staggered next door. Raising my fist, I pounded on the door. The crying grew closer and closer until the door flew open. A red-faced and screaming Jax greeted me first. Instead of Abby or Jake, it was Allison standing in the doorway. Motherf*cking hell. I couldn’t catch a break. Instantly, I regretted my decision to come over. Things were still way too awkward between us after what had happened last night.

“Oh, um, hey,” I said.

“Hi,” she called over Jax’s wailing. Behind her, I could hear Jules crying as well.

“I came over to see what all the commotion was about.”

Allison grimaced. “Jake and Abby just left for the doctor—food poisoning or something. They were sick and feverish all night. I think Jake might be pretty dehydrated.”

“Are the spawns sick, too?” I asked, gesturing to Jax. That would certainly explain the f**king scream-fest.

“No, they’re fine. Well, except for the fact they seem to be going through some early separation anxiety when it comes to their parents. The moment Jake and Abby left the suite, they freaked out. Nothing I do seems to help.”

As I glanced from Jax to Allison, I noticed how frazzled she looked. Loose stands of dark hair had escaped from her ponytail, and her face was almost as red as Jax’s. “They’re not wet or hungry or sleepy—they just want to cry,” she said, her voice wavering as if she might cry at any minute as well.

At that moment, I had two options: I could have pulled an utterly douche move by telling her good luck with the screaming hellions and then escaped to my suite. Or I could offer to try to help her calm the twins down.

“Here, let me have him,” I said, reaching for Jax.

Allison’s dark eyes widened. “Seriously?”

I snorted contemptuously. “Like I’m going to leave you all alone with two screaming babies.”

Somehow I imagined that in her head, she was thinking that was exactly what an ass**le like me would do, especially after the way we had left things last night. “Thanks,” she said softly.

As I took Jax into my arms, he eyeballed me for a moment. When Allison started across the room for Jules, Jax picked up his wailing. “Okay, mama’s boy, you certainly have a fine pair of lungs.”

Allison jerked her head over her shoulder and scowled at me. “Don’t call him that.”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

“Maybe. But he can’t help it.”

Jax’s lip quivered as I stared at him. A smile tugged at my lips. “Come to think of it, you’re just like your daddy. He was a pansy-ass mama’s boy back in the day, too.”

“Rhys!” Allison admonished, as Jax stopped snubbing to momentarily grin at me.

I laughed at both of their reactions. Staring into Jax’s face was like looking at a mirror image of Abby except he had Jake’s dark hair. “I guess I should give you some slack. I would’ve been a mama’s boy too if I’d been blessed with a mama as sweet as yours.”

Allison laughed while bouncing a fussy Jules on her hip. “Abby is a sweetheart and the best mom.”

A thought popped into my mind, and before I could stop myself, I blurted it out. “You want that someday?”

With her dark brows lining in confusion, Allison asked, “Do I want to have kids someday?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, of course I do.” Allison stared into Jules’s face, a slight smile on her lips. “I can’t imagine going through life without kids, but at the same time, I don’t want them anytime soon.”

Her response surprised me. For some reason, I thought she would be just like Abby with wanting to have a family right away. “Really?”

She nodded. “There’s a lot I want to do and see before I settle down to get married, and even after, I’d like my husband and I to have some time just to ourselves.”

“I see.”

As Jules started to ratchet up her fussing into full-fledged crying, Allison asked, “What about you? Do you want kids?”

I exhaled a long sigh. “Yeah, sure, I wouldn’t mind having a kid someday. Like you, I sure as hell don’t want it to be anytime soon.”

It seemed that Jax took my comment about not wanting kids soon a little too personally because he started wailing again. My ears rang as he and Jules seemed determined to outdo each other with their screams. “Guys, please, don’t cry. Mommy and Daddy will be back very soon,” Allison said, over the noise.

Both of us started walking around the room, bouncing a twin in our arms. But nothing that we did seemed to work. We swapped off babies for a few minutes to see if daddy’s girl, Jules, might benefit from being with me. It didn’t work. Finally, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I walked over to Allison. “Here. I have an idea. Take her for a sec.”

Allison reluctantly took Jules into her free arm. “What are you going to do?”

“I need to run next door.”

Her eyes widened. “You aren’t bailing on me, are you?”