In Love With An Older Man 11

Cindy couldn't believe how quickly her twins were growing. Their skin became smoother and their limbs plumper, and they very quickly outgrew their newborn size clothes. Cindy would never forget the first time she saw Rebecca smile. She had taken the baby out of the bathtub and laid her on a towel to dry her off, when suddenly Rebecca grinned and moved her arms in big circles. Jonathan's first smile came a few days later.

Cindy was amazed at how different their personalities were. Rebecca was a very active baby, very interested in the world around her, and quite vocal. She cried more than Jonathan did, and she also began to make the sweetest little cooing noises when she was only a few weeks old. Jonathan was a calmer, quieter baby, less active and more content to just lie there taking in everything that was happening around him.

"Rebecca's going to be our little chatterbox, and Jonathan's going to be our little philosopher," Gary predicted.

"You're probably right," Cindy laughed.

In August Carly went away to college, and the house seemed very empty and quiet without her. Gary moved his guitar and amplifiers into her bedroom and began to use it as a temporary studio.

"You're only going to have to move all of that back out again when she comes home for the holidays," Cindy reminded him.

"So I might as well take advantage of the situation while I still can." Gary winked at her.

Thanksgiving came and went, and preparations for the winter holidays were soon underway. Gary generously told Cindy that she could have whatever size Christmas tree she wanted, but Cindy chose a small one that she could sit on and end table.

"My folks have always had a really big one, and there were always so many pine needles to clean out of the carpet in January," she explained.

"Lucky thing menorahs aren't nearly as messy," Gary kidded her.

"No, with menorahs you only have to worry about melting candle wax."

"That's not as messy as pine needles."

"Oh yeah? Says who?"

"Says me, that's who." He tickled her, and she giggled.

Just then the phone rang.

"I hope I'm not calling at a bad time," Jane said.

"Oh no. Gary and I were just having an argument about whose holiday decorations are messier."

Jane laughed. "I wanted to let you know that there's this new girl who just started working with me, and I found out she's our cousin! Her dad was our dad's brother. Our biological dad, I mean. Her name's Rhonda and she's coming to Mom's house Saturday afternoon. We'd love it if you could make it too."

"Sure, I'll be there," Cindy told her.

Saturday afternoon, Cindy bundled the twins into her Toyota and drove to Mick and Carla's house. Gary was spending the afternoon with Jake, enjoying some quality father/son time. When Cindy arrived, cousin Rhonda and Jane were already there. Cindy put the twins in their double stroller and went inside.

Cousin Rhonda was sitting on the sofa with Jane and Carla. She had curly light brown hair and blue eyes, and she looked to be in about her mid thirties.

"Hi, you must be Cindy." Rhonda came over to Cindy and gave her a hug. "You have twins! That is so awesome! How old are they?"

"Almost six months."

Rhonda held each twin briefly and then sat on the sofa again.

Jane had brought Peyton, who was just over a year old now. She had just learned to walk and toddled all over the living room, her big blue eyes taking in everything around her. She saw the twins and walked right up to Rebecca, who laughed and kicked. Jonathan smiled and reached to gently touch Peyton's hand.

"Does Penny still enjoy being a big sister?" Cindy asked.

"For the most part, yes," Jane replied. "Lately she's been asking a lot of questions about the differences between herself and Peyton, like why their eyes are different colors, why Peyton's skin is so much lighter than hers, why Peyton's hair is blonde while her own is black, why their eyes are shaped differently..."

"Wow, how are you handling all that?" Carla wanted to know.

"I told her that babies are born looking like the mommy whose belly they were in, so a baby from a Korean mommy looks Korean and a baby from a white mommy is white. I think that satisfied her for the time being, although it still bothers her that Peyton looks so much more like us than she herself does."

"Perhaps when she gets older she'll understand it better. I hope so," Carla said. "Oh, by the way, I've got some great news! Lacy's pregnant!"

"Wow, Mom, that is good news!" Cindy said. "So the electroejaculation procedure worked?"

Carla nodded. "She and Billy are so happy."

"Well, I'm happy for them too!"

"So am I," Jane echoed.

"Billy and Lacy?" asked Rhonda.

"That's our brother, well, actually our stepbrother, but to us he's our real brother, and his wife," Jane explained. "He's paralyzed from the waist down from a race car driving accident a couple of years ago."

"That's terrible," Rhonda said sympathetically.

Just then Miranda arrived. Carla went to the door and gave her a hug. "I'm so glad you could make it, honey."

"I almost didn't," Miranda told her. "Willy just did make it back home."

"I remember you, just vaguely," Rhonda told Miranda.

"I remember you too, from when we used to visit our grandparents when we were little."

"You're Uncle Roy's oldest daughter."

"Yes, I'm Miranda."

"We were all so shocked when we heard that his ship had gone down and that there were no survivors."

"I barely remember my father at all, I was so little when he died," Cindy told Rhonda. "What do you remember about him?"

"He was always the life of the party," Rhonda said. "Always telling funny stories. He always used to find a quarter behind my ear. I always thought that was hilarious."

Cindy was beginning to feel very sad.

"I have a photo I would like to show you if you would like to see it," Rhonda offered.

"Oh, yes, please!" Cindy said. "I haven't seen very many photos of my father at all."

Rhonda showed them all a photo of Roy Matthews holding Miranda on one knee and Rhonda on the other. They looked to be about four. Roy was blond with dark glasses, and he was grinning broadly.

Rebecca began to get fussy, and soon her brother joined in, jerking Cindy back into the present.

"It's time for their dinner," she said. She fed the twins and prepared to leave. "They sleep much better in their own cribs," she said apologetically. "It was very nice to meet you, Rhonda."

"I enjoyed meeting you too. We should get together again soon," Rhonda said.

Cindy put the twins back in their double stroller and took them out to the car. She buckled them into their car seats and drove home in the fading sunlight.

Cindy had settled the twins down in their cribs and was preparing dinner when Gary and Jake came home.

"How did it go?" Gary asked.

"It went great! Rhonda's very nice, and she told me some things about my biological dad that I didn't know before. She even showed us a photo of him with her and Miranda when they were little. Also, my mom told me Lacy's pregnant."

"That's great! Now the twins will have two cousins near their age."

"Hey that's right, they sure will."

Cindy served the meal, and afterwards the three of them cleaned up together. Then Jake went to his bedroom to play video games and Gary and Cindy watched TV in the den for a couple of hours. The twins woke briefly, and Gary played with them before their bath and bedtime.

Later that night, Cindy lay snuggled up to Gary with his arms around her, holding her tight.

"It was the strangest feeling," she told him. "Rhonda talked about my biological dad, and I just felt so profoundly sad about him for the first time in my life. But I've always thought of Mick Bradford as my dad, so I felt guilty about feeling sad. Does that make any sense?"

Gary thought for a few minutes. "I think I understand," he said finally. "You were so young when your father died and your mother remarried that you never really mourned for him. Without mourning, you never really had a sense of closure. What you experienced today was like the re-opening of a wound that had never really healed."

"My gosh, Gary, that just makes so much sense. How did you ever get to be so smart?"

"Oh, I've been there a time or two myself." He smiled gently. "There's no reason for you to feel guilty. You haven't been disloyal to Mick Bradford in any way. What you feel is perfectly normal."

"Thank you so much, Gary. I really needed to hear that."

"Any time, my dear. I love you bunches and bunches and bunches, you know. Don't you ever forget that."

Cindy giggled. "I won't. Good night, Gary. I love you too."

They kissed and were both soon asleep.