What in the actual fuck? I’m not sure what I was expecting him to say, but it sure as hell wasn’t that.
“What? No? I don’t…” Reeve splutters, clutching my hand tight. All the blood has drained from his face. “How is that possible? My father said nothing to me about a brother.” He looks into my eyes. “And your parents never said anything about my mother expecting twins.”
“Your parents didn’t know they were expecting twins, Reeve. One twin was hiding behind the other. It can happen with identical twins where the babies share the same amniotic sac. It’s extremely rare, and usually, later scans detect the second fetus, but this was almost twenty-seven years ago, and ultrasounds were not as advanced as they are now. There are examples all over the world where the parents didn’t find out it was twins until the delivery. That is what happened in this case.”
“What happened to my…twin. Did he die?” Reeve asks. I have jumped to the same conclusion.
Carson links his hands together on the table, fixing Reeve with a sympathetic look. “You were born first, and everything was fine. Your mother held you in her arms and smiled for a picture.”
“I know. I have it in a frame on the wall in our living room. It’s the only photo I have of me with my mother.”
I slide my arm around Reeve’s back, instinctively knowing he’s going to need it.
“Then they realized there was another baby, and that’s when the complications arose. Your mother died on the table, and they had to deliver your twin brother by caesarean section.”
“Oh God.” I clasp a hand over my mouth, and I can only imagine how traumatizing that must’ve been for Reeve’s father.
“What happened to my brother?” Reeve asks again, and I hear the impatience in his tone.
Carson clears your throat. “I have known your father my whole life, and I have never seen a man love a woman as much your father loved your mother.” His eyes soften as he glances at us. “You two remind me of them.”
“Carson,” Reeve grits out, and a muscle clenches in his jaw.
Screw protocol and societal norms. Getting up, I climb into Reeve’s lap, curling my arms around him, holding him close. His body is trembling with the shock of this revelation.
“Your father was holding you in his arms, crying over your mother’s lifeless body, when his other son’s cries rang out in the room.”
“He blamed him,” Reeve blurts in a daze. “He blamed my brother for my mother’s death.”
Carson nods sadly.
“He was only an innocent baby! It wasn’t his fault,” I cry, and any hint of sympathy I was just feeling for Simon flies out the window.
“He couldn’t bear to look at his son knowing it had cost him his wife, so he wanted to get rid of the baby,” Reeve surmises, staring off into space, and I fear this shock has plunged him back into a difficult place. Reeve lifts his head, and his pained eyes stare right through me. “He might as well have gotten rid of me too. This explains so much. Deep down, he must have blamed me too.”
I’m horror-stricken because in a twisted way that makes sense. Why did Simon hold his sons accountable for something they were not responsible for? Why didn’t he cling to them and shower them with love because they were the last gift from his wife? I will never understand.
“My understanding is the medical staff tried to make him see that,” Carson continues explaining, “but he was inconsolable and absolutely determined he wanted nothing to do with your twin. He told me all this many years later, and I don’t mind admitting I was in complete shock. It’s not my place to judge anyone, and I never said it, but your father went downhill in my estimation when he confided that in me. I had thought things were different between you and your father, and it pains me to hear they were not.”
“He didn’t want me either,” Reeve says, his voice dull and devoid of emotion.
“What happened to Reeve’s twin?” I ask again because Carson still hasn’t told us. I’m terrified he’s going to say Simon arranged to have the baby killed because I think that will push my husband to his breaking point. I hold Reeve closer, pressing kisses into his hair, hoping he feels my love.
“Your father arranged for a quick hush-hush adoption.”
Thank God. It’s the lesser of two evils.
“Does he know?” Reeve asks, rubbing his eyes.
“That’s something you’ll have to ask him. If you would like, I can set up a meeting.”
“You know where he is? You know who he is?” Reeve clutches me with a death grip.
“I do. I can get a message to him.”
“What’s his name? Does he look like me?”
“I have never met him in person, so I can’t say. However, it’s a common misconception that identical twins look identical. Even though they share the same DNA, they aren’t necessarily exactly alike. They can be different in appearance, temperament, or personality, and environmental as well as chemical factors play a part. As for his name, I can’t reveal that until I have spoken to him and gained his permission. Let me reach out to him and see if he would be agreeable to a meeting.”
“Reeve might need a little time,” I suggest because he’s just been dealt some heavy blows.
“I understand and I won’t arrange anything until we have spoken. I will just test the waters.”
65
“Your guest is here,” Charlotte says through the intercom system. “Leon escorted him to the living room.”
It’s surreal to think Reeve’s twin is only one floor below us.
We don’t know a thing about him other than he seems as keen as Reeve to meet up and he readily agreed to come here rather than meeting in public. I’d surmise it’s because he knows who Reeve is except names haven’t been exchanged yet, per his request.
“Thanks, Charlotte. Does Angela still have eyes on Easton?” I inquire. Angela is our part-time nanny, and she usually only minds E when I have to work. However, we asked her to come over today so we could talk with Reeve’s brother without interruption.
“They are right here beside me, baking cookies for the party,” Charlotte confirms as I massage the corded muscle along Reeve’s shoulder blades. My husband is excited but cautious and more than a little tense.
“Hi, Mommy!” Easton’s cute little voice trickles into the room.
“Hey, E. Bake some extra cookies for me and your little sister.” Easton is super excited to meet his new sibling. He and Reeve sing to my bump every night before his bedtime, and it’s the cutest thing ever.
“Be a good boy for Angela, and I’ll take you out to the playground after,” Reeve promises. Easton has his own personal playground, obstacle course, and treehouse in our backyard, just like we had as kids. It’s easier organizing playdates at the house than going out in public and dealing with nosy assholes and vile paparazzi.
“Yay, Daddy!”
“See you in a while, buddy.”
“Okay! Love you, Mommy! Love you, Daddy!”
“We love you too,” we say in unison, smiling as they disconnect.
Reeve tucks his blue button-up shirt into his black pants. “If our daughter turns out anything like her big brother, we’ll be extremely blessed.”
“That we will.” Easton is an amazing kid, and he’s made parenting him much easier than I expected. “Right, ready?” I peer up at Reeve, smiling softly.
“I feel sick,” he admits, running his hands repeatedly through his hair. “What if he doesn’t like me or he doesn’t want to form a relationship with me?”