The next afternoon at six minutes after one, Taylor knocked on the door of Joe penthouse apartment, brimming with nervous excitement, her heart in her throat. She had barely slept last night in anticipation of this very moment.
Though she had known that when she signed away her parental rights she might never see the girls again, she had still hoped.
She just hadn't expected it to happen until they were teenagers and old enough to make the decision to meet their birth mother.
But here she was, barely five months later, just seconds away from the big moment.
The door was opened by a woman. Taylor assumed it was the housekeeper, judging by the maid's uniform. She as tall and lanky with a pinched face and steel gray hair that was pulled back severely and twisted into a bun. Taylor placed her in her mid to late sixties.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked in a gravely clipped tone.
" I have an appointment with Mr. Alwyn."
"Are you Miss Swift?"
"Yes, I am." Which she must have already known, considering the doorman had called up to announce her about a minute ago.
She looked Taylor up and down with scrutiny, purses her lips and said, " I'm Ms. Cruz, Mr. Alwyn's housekeeper. You're late."
"Sorry I had trouble getting a cab."
" I should warn you that if you do get the job, tardiness will not be tolerated."
Taylor failed to se how she could be tardy for a job she was at 24/7, but she didn't push the issue."It won't happen again."
Ms. Cruz gave a resentful sniff and said, " Follow me."
Even the housekeeper's chilly greeting wasn't enough to smother Taylor's excitement. Her hands trembled as she follow through the foyer into an ultra-modern, open concept living space. Near a row of ceiling-high windows that boasted a panoramic view of Times Square with the afternoon sunshine washing over them like gold dust, were the twins. They sat side by side in identical baby chairs, babbling and swatting at the colorful toys.
They were so big! And they they changed more than she could have imagined possible. If she had seen them on the street, she probably wouldn't have recognized them.
She was hit by a sense of longing so keen she had to bite down on her lips to keep from bursting into tears.
She forced her feet to remain rooted to the deeply polished mahogany floor while she was announced, when what she wanted to do was fling herself into the room, drop down to her knees and gather her children in her arms.
"The one on the left is Summer," Ms. Cruz said, with a hint of affection in her tone."she's the loud, demanding one. The other is Winter. She's the quiet, sneaky one."
Sneaky? At five months old? It's sounded that Ms. Cruz just didn't like children. She was probably a spinster. She sure looked like one.
Not only would Taylor have to deal with a partying egomaniac celebrity, but also an overbearing critical housekeeper.
How fun.
And it frosted her that Joe let this pinched, frigid, nasty old bat who clearly didn't like children anywhere near the girls.
"I'll go get Mr. Alwyn." she said striding down a hall that Taylor assumed led to the bedrooms.
Alone with the girls for the first time since their birth, she crossed the room and knelt down in front of them. "Look how big you are and how beautiful," she whispered.
They gazed back at her with wide, inquisitive brown eyes. Though they weren't identical, they looked very much alike. They both had her thick, pin-straight black hair and high cheek bones. They had eyes just like their father and his long, slandered fingers.
Summer let out a squeal and reached for her. Taylor wanted si badly to hold her, but she wasn't sure if she should wait for Joe. Tears stinging her eyes, she took one of Summer's chubby little hands in hers and held it. She had missed them so much, and the guilt she felt for leaving them, for putting them in this situation, sat like a stone in her belly. But she was here now, and she would never leave them again. She would see that they were raised properly.
"She wants you to pick her up."
Taylor turned to see Joe standing several feet behind her, big and burly, in bare feet with his slightly wrinkled shirt untucked and his hands wedged in the pocket of a pair of threadbare jeans. His hair was damp and a little messy, as if he'd towel-dried it and hadn't bothered with a brush.
No one could deny that he was attractive with his pale sad brown eyes and smile. The slight crooked nose was even a little charming. Maybe it was his total lack of self-consciousness that was so appealing right now, but celebrity had never been her thing.
She preferred studios men, professional types. The kind who didn't make a living with glitz and glamour being a celebrity.
"Do you mind?" Taylor asked.
"Of course not. That's what this interview is about." Said Joe.
Taylor lifted Summer out of the seat and seated the infant in her lap. She smelled like baby shampoo and powder. Summer is fixated on the gold chain hanging down the front of her blouse and grabbed for it, so Taylor tucked it under her collar. "She's so big."
"Around fifteen pounds I think, I remember my sister in law saying that they were average size for their age. I'm not sure what they weight when they were born. I think there's a baby booked still packed away somewhere with all the information in it." Joe explained.
They had been just six pounds each, but she couldn't tell him that or that the baby book he referred to had been started by her and given to Ashley and Patrick as a gift when they took the girls home. She had documented her entire pregnancy, when she felt the first kick, when she had her sonogram so the adoptive would feel more involved and they could show the girls when they got older. And although she had included photos of her belly in various stages of development, they were not shots of her face. There was nothing anywhere that identified her as being the both mother.
Winter began to fuss, probably jealous that her sister was getting all the attention. Taylor was debating the logistic of how to extract her from her seat while still holding Summer when, without prompting.
Joe reached for Winter and plucked her out. He lifted her high over his head, making her gasp and giggle and plunked her down in his arms.
Taylor must have looked concerned because he laughed and said. "Don't let her mild manager fool you. She's a mini daredevil."
As Joe sat on the floor across from her and set Winter on his lap, Taylor caught a scent of some sort of a masculine soap.
Summer reached for him and tried to wiggle her way out of Taylor's arms. She hadn't expected the girls to be ease with him, so attached. Not this quickly. And she expected him to be much more inept and disinterested.
"You work with younger babies?" Joe asked.
"Newborns usually. But before the NICU I worked in a pediatric ward." Taylor answered.
"I'm going to the market, " Ms. Cruz announced from the kitchen. Taylor had been so focused on the girls she hadn't noticed that it was big and open with natural wood and frosted glass cupboard doors and yards of glossy granite counter tops. Modern yet functional not that she ever spent much time in one. Cooking or at least cooking well had never been one of her great accomplishments.
Ms. Cruz wore a light spring jacket, which was totally unnecessary considering it was very hot outside and clutched an old lady style black handbag. " do you need anything?" She ask Joe.
"Diapers and milk," Joe told her. " and those little jar of fruit the girls like." He paused, then added," and the dried cereal, too. The flaky kind in the blue box. I think we're running low."
"The girls are eating solid foods?" Taylor asked Joe.
"Cereal and fruit. And of course formula. It's astounding how much they can put away. I feel as if I'm constantly making bottles." Joe responded.
Joe made the bottles? Taylor had a hard time picturing that. Surely Ms. Cranky Pants musta have been doing most of the works.
"Are they sleeping through the night?" She asked him.
"Not yet. It's getting better though. At first, they woke up constantly." Joe smiled at Winter affectionately and a little sadly, brushing a wisp of hair off Winter forehead. "I think they just really missed their parents. But last night they only woke up twice, and they both went back to their cribs. Half the time they end up in my bed with me. I'll admit that I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep. Alone."
"You get up with them?" Taylor asked, not meaning to sound quite so incredulous.
Rather than looked offended, Joe smiled. " yeah, and I'll warn you right now that they're both bed hogs. I have no idea how a person so small could take up so much room."
The idea of him, such a big, buff guy, snuggled up in bed with two infants, was too adorable for words.
"Out of curiosity, who do you think would get up with them?" Joe asked.
"I just assumed, I mean, doesn't Ms. Cruz take care of them?" Taylor stated.
"She occasionally watches them while I work, but only because I'm desperate. After raising six kids of her own and two of her grandchildren, she says she's finished taking care of babies." He explained.
So much for Taylor's spinster theory.
" is she always so.." Taylor struggled for a kind way to say nasty, but Joe seemed to read her mind.
"Cranky? Incorrigible?" He suggested with a slightly crooked smile that she hated to admit made her heart beat the tiniest bit faster.
Taylor couldn't help smiling back.
"She won't be winning any congeniality awards, I know but she's a good housekeeper and a hell"' he grinned and shook his head." I mean heck of a fantastic cook, sorry I'm not used to having to censor my language." He said.
At least Joe was making an effort. He would be thankful for that in a year or so when the twins started repeating everything he said in verbatim.
"Mrs. Cruz isn't crazy about the bad language either," he said. " of course, sometimes I do it just to annoy her."
"I don't think she likes me much," Taylor said.
"It really doesn't matter what she thinks. She's not hiring you. I am. And I happen to think you're perfect for the job." He paused then added, " I'm assuming, since you're her now, that you're still interested."
Taylor heart skipped a beat. "Absolutely. Does that mean you're officially offering it to me?"
"Under one condition, I need your word that you'll stick around. That you're invested in the position. I can't tell you how tough that first week was, right after.." Joe closed his eyes, took a deep breath and blew it out. "Things have just begun to settle down, and I've got the girls in something that resembles a routine. They need consistency or at least that's what the child psychologists told me. The worst thing for them would be a string of nannies bouncing in and out of their lives.'
Joe would never have to worry about that with her. " I won't let them down."
"You're sure? Because these two are handful. It's a lot of work. More than I ever imagined possible. Being a celebrity was a cakewalk compared to this. I need to be sure that you're committed." Joe stated.
"I'm giving up my apartment and putting my dad in the best hospital that I can't begin to afford without this salary. I'm definitely committed." Taylor's reply.
Joe looked relieved. " in that case, the jobs is yours and the sooner you can start the better."
Her own relief was so keen she could have sobbed. She hugged Summer closer. Her little girls would be okay. She would be there to take care of them, to nurture them. And maybe someday, when they were old enough to understand, she would be able to tell them who she was and explain why she had to let them go. Maybe she could be a real mother to them.
"Miss Swift?" Joe was watching her expectantly, waiting for her reply.
"It's Taylor," she told him. "And I can start right away if that works for you. I just need a day to pack and move my things in."
He looked surprised. " what about your apartment? Your furniture? Don't you need time to.."
"Don't worry about that a friend from work is interested in taking my apartment." She told him. "I just need to pack my clothes and a few personal items. I can do that today and move everything tomorrow."
"And work? You don't need to give them notice?" He asked.
Taylor shook her head. She was taking a chance burning the bridge, but being with the girls as soon as possible took precedence. As long as they needed her, she wouldn't be going back to nursing anyway.
"I'll have Robert, my lawyer, draw up the contract this afternoon." Joesaid." Considering mu former profession there are privacy issues."
"I understand" she said.
"And of course you're welcome to have your own lawyer look at it before you sign."
"I'll call him today."
"Great why don't I show you the girls room and where you'll be staying? And Taylor welcome to our family, and the twins full name are Summer Brianna Alwyn and Winter Orianna Alwyn and I'm Joseph Matthew Alwyn. We're the Alwyn's" Joe said.
"I'm glad to be part of this family Mr. Alwyn,"
"It's Joe, so let's go and I'll tour you around the house," he said.