Silence was heavy around the table. It was the minister who broke the ice. “That happens. We’re delighted you’ve decided to get married. Double congratulations.” The family concurred, slowly coming to terms with this announcement, raising wineglasses one at a time, congratulating, finally laughing and toasting.

“Well… ” John began. “Actually, Leigh isn’t pregnant. Um, we have a set of twins…who are about…um…four years old.”

Again silence reigned. Everyone knew when John had gotten married and divorced. When had there been time to father twins in all that confusion? Even the minister couldn’t think of anything to say. Jeanette McElroy’s mouth stood open. Leigh’s cheeks were on fire. Robert McElroy frowned at his son.

“Four?” someone whispered.

“Twins?”

“That’s a start, I’d say.”

“Well…as a matter of fact…they’re boys,” Leigh said, watching the stunned faces turn to regard one another in total shock.

It was Chris who burst into laughter. “You might know. Boys!”

“I can explain…” Leigh began, but they were recovering, laughing and slapping each other on the backs.

“Quadruple congratulations.”

“We’re mighty pleased you’re getting married!”

“No rush, of course, but we do have a minister at the table!”

“Where have you been hiding them?”

“What’s the hurry?”

It was Robert Sr. who spoke the only reasonable words. “We’ll hear that explanation later. For right now, there are two things we need to take care of. One—when’s the wedding? And two—when can we see our kids?”

Our kids. It had a wonderful sound to it. Leigh realized she hadn’t known just how smart she really was in choosing the right guy. Not only was John too good to be true, but his family was terrific. One of the things she wanted for her kids was siblings, cousins, grandparents, and a life filled with love and noise and people.

They were a hard group to keep down; the racket went on and on. So did the conversation. Leigh learned a lot about John’s family, all their various careers and their children’s activities. And they learned about her. Ted was familiar with some of her father’s medical research and went on to regale them with tales of his brilliance and breakthroughs. By early evening Leigh was both relieved and exhausted. Most of the children had quieted down, the sun was setting, and those adults not involved in cleaning up were seated in the living room with coffee. There was an afterglow of peace and acceptance.

Leigh offered to get the coffeepot for refills and went through the swinging door into the kitchen. There she found Mike giving his mother a comforting hug while Jeanette seemed to be having a little cry. Leigh was stopped in her tracks. And so were they. They broke apart to regard her, and Jeanette turned away, fishing for a tissue in her pocket.

“Oh, Leigh,” Mike said.