Читать книгу Daddyhood - Gayle Kaye, Gayle Kaye - Страница 8

“Is not.”

“Is too.”

“Is not”

“Dad…!”

The twins were fighting again. Gabe Lawrence took the cake he was baking for their sixth birthday out of the oven. It was to be a three-tiered job, with lots of fluffy icing between the layers.

But as he flopped the round layer pans onto the kitchen countertop, he sighed at the sinkholes in the center of each. He probably should have bought a cake. But he was determined to be a hands-on dad.

Was this penance for the years he hadn’t been?

He took off the oven mitts, tossing them beside the sorry cake layers, and went to settle his daughters’ dispute.

“Dad, she’s got my Barbie and won’t give it back,” Hannah said the moment he stepped into the playroom, the one that used to be his home office.

“It’s my Barbie. Nana gave it to me—just me!” Heather retaliated, at which time each girl grabbed a leg and pulled, snapping the poor doll’s legs like a wishbone.

That really set up a howl.

“Okay, princesses, stop your crying and I’ll see if I can…perform doll surgery. Okay?”

That brought a snuffle and a sob and wide-eyed hopefulness from each girl.

“Then she can’t play with it anymore. Isn’t that right, Dad?” Hannah said.

“No one will be playing with Barbie,” he informed them. “She’ll need about six weeks to convalesce.”

Maybe in that time he would have decided which twin had ownership.

“What’s con…con…v’lesce?” Heather asked.

“It’s—Never mind, sweethearts. Just try to play. Without fighting—okay?”

Two sets of bright blue eyes peered up at him through long, fringed lashes. Small rosebud-pink mouths pursed into appealing pouts. Gabe considered his look-alikes’ small cherubic faces, full of sweet innocence, but he suspected it was only a matter of time before there’d be a new squabble between them.

He confiscated the Barbie parts and frowned, wondering if he’d made a mistake turning down his sister’s offer to come and help with the twins. But he knew he hadn’t. The girls were his—and he loved them. He’d get the hang of this fathering thing.

Somehow.

He ruffled their blond curls and tweaked their pert upturned noses, which made them both giggle. In minutes they were playing again—quietly, this time. Gabe made his way out of the room and into the den, sinking into his favorite overstuffed chair.

The twins were still adjusting to life here with him. It had been six months since the accident that had killed their mother, Gabe’s ex-wife. Meg had been a terrific mom, but he hadn’t always been the best dad in the world…and he was sorry about that. He wasn’t sure one inexperienced father could make things right again for two little girls, but if love counted for anything, they would all weather this.

He might not be experienced at child rearing but he was getting plenty of advice—from every female in the family and from the women in the neighborhood. One had even sent him a book on the subject of raising twins, a wordy tome by the renowned child psychologist, Dr. Sabrina Moore.

He unearthed the dog-eared copy from beneath a stack of kiddie books on the end table beside him. Gabe had read the book—or rather, tried to read it. It was a real snoozer, full of facts and figures and theories that he wondered if the lofty Dr. Moore had ever put to the test.

Somewhere besides a clinical lab, that is.

He scanned the glossy photo of her on the back cover. She was pretty, in a soft, don’t-touch sort of way. A brunette. With long, silky hair that barely brushed her shoulders squared for the picture. Her smile looked posed—and he wondered what it would take to make the lady smile like she meant it. Her silk blouse with its high neck didn’t do much for a man’s libido, but still he had the feeling there was a lot of sensual woman beneath that prim facade.

Not that Gabe had any business being curious.

The only women he had time for in his life right now were two soon-to-be six-year-olds who needed him. Which brought him back to the problem of the twins’ sibling rivalry.

He flipped the book over and thumbed through the pages, wondering just what intellectual theories the intriguing Dr. Moore had to offer on the subject….