When it Rains, it Pours

TEN

It was a picture of a young woman, no older than sixteen, with pale blonde curls and bright green eyes. Rain had been wrong in thinking Jonathan looked like Emily. He was a carbon copy of his mother.

"As you know, Andalia shares an open border with Italy as we used to be a part of their country. This is why we speak Italian."

Rain looked up from the photo and nodded.

"When I was younger I was extremely rebellious."

"You?!" Rain exclaimed, unable to mask her shock at this revelation. "You, King of rules and regulations, used to be rebellious?"

Adam snorted. "Yes, I was. You can ask Noah if you don't believe me."

"I will, because I don't. But continue."

"I met Alessia in the marketplace of the small town that straddles the border in the summer I turned 16. She captured my heart from the moment we met. That began our summer-long whirlwind romance."

He looked off into the distance, seemingly millions of miles away. "We were so happy and carefree. We spent our days helping her mother in their bakery and the evenings making love in the tree grove behind their house."

"On the last day of summer before I headed back to boarding school, I went to see her. She was cold and distant and told me that she didn't want to be with me; that she had never loved me. I refused to believe her but had to leave."

Adam paused for a long moment and the only sound was the gentle breeze as it flowed through the garden.

"And then what happened?" Rain asked quietly.

"I wrote her a letter every day that I was gone but she never answered. At the end of term the following year, I returned to her parents' home to find out that she had died giving birth to our sons."

Rain gasped and placed her hand on Adam's arm. He smiled sadly and took her hand in his.

"She had broken things off because she knew that having the boys could kill her and she knew that I would have tried to stop her. Her parents were as understanding as they could be given the circumstances. With help from Noah and my brother, I fixed up Canmore Manor and brought the boys here. Aside from them, the staff here and now Emily, no one knows about the boys."

"Not even your parents?"

"Especially not my parents. Well, my mother knows now, thanks to Emily and her big mouth," he said angrily. "She'll be here at the weekend to meet the boys."

"Wow," was all Rain could say. "That's..."

"Crazy? Yeah, I know." He ran his fingers through his curls with a sigh. "I keep thinking that I should tell my father but he's very traditional and I'm worried about what he might do."

"Just take it one step at a time. See how the visit with your mother is and go from there."

Adam smiled and took Rain's hand in his. "Thank you. I'll begin preparations for her visit tomorrow...after our date."

********************

Adam was absent all the next day until dinner when he kept glancing at Rain with a smile on his lips. He spoke freely with them all, paying special attention to the children.

Sunny and Alexander begged for a movie before they went to bed and Rain was expecting Adam to say no. She was honestly surprised he hadn't had the televisions in the nursery removed yet.

"Of course we can," Adam answered as they finished the meal. "But," he started, interrupting Sunny and Alexander's cheers. "Jonathan gets to choose what movie we watch because he's been so well behaved tonight."