Twins Under the Christmas Tree

“Does Conway Twitty Cash have cows and pigs on his farm?” Miguel asked Isi.

“I don’t know, honey.” She joined the boys at the table and smoothed the hair off Javier’s forehead. “You don’t feel warm.” He wouldn’t make eye contact with her and she reminded herself to tell Conway not to give in to her son if he complained about going to school.

Once the boys ate and brushed their teeth, she sent them outside to play in the yard and began making phone calls. Fifteen minutes later, she’d gotten nowhere—each of the women she’d found in the Sunday want ads had already taken babysitting jobs. Later today she planned to put up a flyer on the campus bulletin board and hoped a student wanting to earn extra cash before Christmas would contact her.

A knock rattled the door. “It’s me.” Conway stepped into the trailer and his smile faltered. “You’re upset. What’s wrong?”

For a man who spent yesterday chasing after two demanding four-year-olds and sleeping on a dollhouse-size couch, he looked well-rested.

Well-rested? That was a unique way to describe sexy.

Isi ignored the voice in her head. “I’m not upset. I’m discouraged.” She closed her notebook. “I haven’t had any luck finding a sitter.”

“Did you try the online classifieds?” He stopped next to the table and his half smile tugged a sigh from Isi.

“I don’t trust those online sites,” she said.

“Why not?”

“They’re full of child predators.” Poor Conway. He was really clueless about raising children.

“Can you put them in day care after school?” he asked.

“There isn’t a facility open until midnight.” She waved a hand in the air. “Besides, I don’t have the money for extended child care.”

“I suppose I could keep watching the boys until you find a new sitter.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Why not?”

She laughed. “The twins are a lot of work.”

“They aren’t so bad.”

Wait until he spent more time with her sons, then the novelty would wear off. She went to the window to make sure the boys were in the yard. “I told Javier that he has to stay at school. Please don’t let him talk you into signing him out.”

“I wanted to speak to you about that.”

She stuffed her books into her backpack.

“Javier told me that he’s getting picked on at recess.”

“You mean teased?” she said.

“Why haven’t you spoken to his teacher about it?”

Isi jerked as if he’d slapped her. “You think I’ve ignored the problem?”

He shrugged. “Then why are the brats still tormenting Javier?”

Angry that Conway believed she was an uncaring mother, she lashed out. “I don’t know what he told you, but his teacher assured me the situation is being dealt with.” An image of her son cornered by miniature thugs on the playground popped into Isi’s mind. She felt bad that the boys had been placed in day cares and preschools the past three years, but she’d had no choice—not if she intended to make a better life for them. Isi blinked hard.

“You’re not going to cry, are you?”

“No.” She fussed with her backpack.

Conway wiped the pad of his thumb across her cheekbone, catching the tear that escaped her eye. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She sniffed. “It’s... I don’t have... Never mind.”

“Never mind what? Talk to me.”

“I’m doing the best I can, Conway. I complained to the head of the preschool that Javier said kids were picking on him, but she insisted that the boys would work things out on their own.”

“How long ago did you speak to this lady?”

“I guess it’s been a month.”

Conway’s jaw hardened. “I can help. Will you trust me to handle this?”

“You don’t have any experience with kids.”

“I grew up fighting bullies who picked on me because of my name.”

His comment triggered more tears. “The teacher said I should encourage the boys’ father to become more involved in their lives, but that’ll never happen.”

“Why?”

“Their father refuses to acknowledge that the boys are his.”

Conway scowled. “Make him take a paternity test.”

“He’s already married with kids.”

“You slept with a married man?” Conway gaped at her.

“He didn’t tell me he was married.”

“And you didn’t ask him?”

“He wasn’t wearing a wedding band, so I assumed he was single.”

“The boys’ father should be paying child support. If he helped out financially, you could afford day care.” Conway swept his hand in front of him. “You’re barely getting by raising them on your own.”

“We’re fine.” She wasn’t proud of accepting government assistance to help meet her monthly expenses and put food on the table, but as soon as she earned her degree, she’d find a full-time job with benefits and be able to support herself and the boys all on her own.

“Being a single parent isn’t easy.” She swallowed hard. “I have no one to—”