He frowned, mystified. “For what?”
“I’m being awful. I look like a screenshot of a horror movie and I’m not exactly a glowing beacon of maternal Zen.”
He kissed her fingertips and looked into her eyes. “Natasha Finn, you just gave me the greatest gift of my life. You’ve made me a father of two healthy—”
“Don’t tell me,” she interrupted him, panicking. “I haven’t seen them yet.”
She’d been upset about that too. She’d heard stories about husbands holding the babies near the new mother’s heads so they could bond while they were being sewn back up, but she’d been having some trouble and the babies had a few of their own. “You said healthy? They’re healthy?”
“Two strong, healthy babies. They just need some extra TLC before they were ready for their debut. But the doctor says everything is fine now. They’re fine. I never doubted it for a minute, because they’re part of you. Part of us. And as far as I’m concerned you’re a goddess and you can behave anyway you want. Have anything you want.”
“Tea?”
He tried not to smile. “Ice chips.”
“Lies. You’re an evil, lying politician with sexy bedroom eyes and a kinky side I couldn’t resist. And now look at me.”
He didn’t even flinch. “You love me.”
She hated it when he was right.
Jen came rushing in with her bag in hand and Tasha nearly wept. She sent Stephen into the hallway—the first time he’d stopped being agreeable all day—and let Jen work a brush through her knotted curls and wrestle the angry hair into an acceptable bun. After that all she needed, according to Jen, was a little lip-gloss. She felt like a new woman.
Or maybe the morphine had kicked in.
When Stephen came back inside he wasn’t alone. Her in-laws were right behind him. Ellen and Shawn stood at the edge of her bed, grinning at her in a way that made her cheeks heat. She couldn’t begrudge them this visit. They’d been wonderful, and she already knew they were the best grandparents on the planet. Wes and Penny Finn took every opportunity to tell her so.
Stephen took her hand again. “They’re bringing them in, Natasha. I’m going to put another pillow behind you.”
“My babies?”
God, he was such a beautiful man when he smiled. He still made her damn knees wobble, and she wasn’t even standing up. “Thank you, Senator Sexy.”
Shawn’s chuckle drifted up from her feet. “Medicine’s working. That’s good.”
She laughed with him, tipsy from her sudden lack of discomfort. “It’s about damn time.”
Jen was still beside her and Tasha reached up and patted her arm. “Someone needs to apologize to Jeremy. My hair chased him out of the room.”
“He understands.” Jen looked toward the door and smiled, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. “Oh my God, Tasha. They’re here.”
She watched as if outside her body. The nurse handed a blanketed bundle to Stephen, who looked up at his father with tears in his eyes, asking for help with the second.
Jen moved out of the way as her father took her place beside Tasha and Stephen joined her on the other. She saw a tiny fist escape one pile as if to check the temperature before disappearing again.
They lowered her babies carefully onto her chest. Her arms instinctively cradled them as she took in their scrunched up faces. They looked profoundly pissed off to be out of the safe warm room they’d spent the last eight months in.
They were already taking after her.
She knew she was crying. She could feel the tears on her cheeks as she blinked away the blur so she could see them more clearly. Her babies. Stephen’s babies. She looked up at him, smiling. “Boys?”
He brushed his knuckle tenderly over her damp cheek. “How can you tell?”
She cuddled them closer and they seemed to like it. Maybe they were hungry. “I’m their mother. Plus, these blue blankets were a fairly big clue.”
Ellen slipped into her husband’s arms after a few minutes, staring raptly at her treasures and Tasha knew what she wanted. “Would you like to hold one of your grandsons?”
“Twin boys, Shawn. Honey, look how perfect they are.”
“They look exactly like Stephen and Seamus,” he said proudly.
Jen snorted. “They don’t look like anybody yet, Dad. And I’m still hoping they take after me. We need a matching set of redheads.”
Ellen carefully lifted the tiny body in her arms and asked what they’d decided to name them.
Tasha’s smile was innocent. She hoped Stephen remembered the plan they’d come up with months ago. “Well for a boy, I was thinking about Huckleberry. Huck for short.”
Stephen caressed the cheek of the one she was still holding with his finger, sending her a subtle wink. “And I was thinking about Boris. Every Natasha should have one.”
Ellen Finn was silent for a minute, hugging the baby closer as if to protect him from his parents and their horrible ideas. “Huck Finn?” she asked faintly. “You want to name my grandchildren Huck and Boris Finn?”