Free Neighborhood Watch by Andrew Neiderman

services.”
    “Oh, look at the time,” Jean said eyeing the round wall clock above the sink. “I’d better get home. My two will be arriving home from school any minute. Welcome to Emerald
    Lakes.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Yes, welcome,” Nikki said. “I’d better be going, too.”
    “Thanks again for your help,” Teddy called as they started toward the front door.
    “You’re welcome. And please, don’t forget to phone as soon as you can about Sunday.”
    “We won’t.” He stood beside Kristin, watching them leave. Jennifer came up beside
    them. When the door closed, Kristin turned slowly and looked at him and then at the book.
    “The Emerald Lakes directory?”
    Without warning, they both broke into laughter.
    “What’s so funny, Mommy?” Jennifer asked.
    “Nothing, honey,” she said, but she started to laugh again, holding her stomach as she did so.
    “Stop, Mommy, or you’ll shake the baby out,” Jennifer cried.
    “You mean, Kermit?”
    Teddy couldn’t contain himself. The two of them flopped on the couch. Then Teddy held out his arms and Jennifer ran to him, the three hugging, all of them overwhelmed with the excitement of a new home.
    After dinner and after they had put Jennifer to bed, Kristin began her attempt to
    personalize their home. Since so much of what they had inherited with this house was so valuable, it was difficult, if not impossible to discard many things; but as expensive as some of the artwork was, it just wasn’t her or Teddy’s taste. She sauntered through the house and considered what could be moved, what could be replaced. The problem was
    that this house, as apparently most of the homes in Emerald Lakes, had been arranged by a professional designer. It was perfect, every room completed. Everything fit where it was because of color or size.
    “It’s great, but it’s almost like being forced to wear someone else’s shoes,” Kristin complained. “You’re the same size, but not the same style.”
    “Um. Maybe we could get a trade-in value on some of this stuff. It’s worth a try,” Teddy said.
    “I know. It’s just that once I start with something in a room, I’ll have to replace or rearrange everything else in that room. I guess this is the downside of finding a
    homeowner’s dream bargain,” she realized. “The first time you look at something, you’re overwhelmed with the value, but then, when you have to live with it day after day . . . I mean, I know you have to make some compromises when you buy instead of build to
    your own specifications, but I can’t help feeling I’m sleeping in the Feinberg’s bed. Do you know what I mean?” she asked, grimacing. She hated inserting a negative note so soon, but she couldn’t help it.
    Teddy nodded.
    “After a while it will be our bed, our furniture. You’ll see,” he promised. “Possession is nine-tenths of identity,” he quipped. Kristin laughed.
    “I’m glad Jennifer has her own things at least. That makes her feel at home faster. For me,” she said folding her arms under her breasts and gazing around, “it will take a while.”
    “Come on,” he said. “You’re just tired after a long day. Let’s go lie down in our—and I stress our —kingsize bed and I’ll rub your tummy.”
    “Which leads to other things,” Kristin said.
    “Every new house . . .”
    “Has to be broken in. I know.”
    “Besides, this is safe sex. You can’t get pregnant because you already are.”
    Kristin laughed.
    “I remember when I was about twelve I had this idea that if a pregnant woman made
    love, she could have twins as a result.”
    “Only one three or four months younger?”
    “Who thought out the specifics? It seemed logical at the time,” she said. “I asked my grandmother who told me she had heard a story back in Hungary about a woman who had gotten pregnant when she was already six months pregnant and gave birth to another
    baby six months after the first. It was one of those folktales.”
    Teddy