Free Gwynneth Ever After by Linda Poitevin Page B

sure?”
    “Of course. You get Maggie into a tub, and Nicholas can show me the routine.”
    “All right. Thank you.” She meant it from the bottom of her heart, and his smile told her he knew that.
    “You’re welcome.”
    Gwyn paused in the kitchen doorway. “Oh, and Gareth?”
    He turned.
    “He gets one story,” she said. “Not three. And yes, he has to brush his teeth, and no, he can’t sleep in his clothes so he can be ready early in the morning to watch cartoons.”
    “Are you telling me your son is a con artist?”
    “Yes.”
    He chuckled. “Gotcha. Do you want me to get Katie moving, too?"
    “Tell her she has fifteen more minutes.”

Chapter 12
    Gwyn sat on the closed toilet seat, watching Maggie swim “like a mermaid” in the bathtub. Chin propped in hand and elbow resting on knee, she listened to the sounds drifting to her from down the hallway. It felt so odd, sitting here while someone else tended her child–  
    No, that wasn’t quite true. Many times Sandy or another friend had pitched in with the kids’ evening routine, and she’d listened to them without this strange hollowness beneath her ribs. This was different.
    Maggie drew her attention to her swimming attempts, and Gwyn dutifully watched and praised. But her attention again, drawn by the voices from Nicholas’ room. The high-pitched giggles and shrieks of her little boy mingled with the deep tenor belonging to Gareth.
    She sucked in a quick breath. That was it. Nicholas had never had a man ready him for bed before. Sandy’s husband, Rob, had played ball with him in the back yard or taken him fishing on occasion, but he’d never participated in the more intimate family routines. No man ever had. Gwyn’s dates had been rare at best, had never amounted to anything approaching serious, and had never, ever touched her children’s lives.
    Nicholas laughed again. Her heart constricted.  
    Katie came in to brush her teeth, pausing to give her an enormous hug.
    Gwyn returned the gesture in surprise. “What was that for?”
    “You looked sad,” Katie said. “I wanted to make you happy.”
    “I’m not sad, sweetie,” Gwyn denied, with a tiny laugh. “I have you and Maggie and Nicholas. How could I possibly be sad? But thank you for the hug anyway.”
    ...you and Maggie and Nicholas...
    But never any man. She’d been so busy protecting her children that she’d never stopped to consider that she might have deprived them, too. Until now.
    “Right, here’s another one for teeth,” Gareth said, making an appearance in the bathroom doorway with a giggling, pajama’d Nicholas slung over his shoulder. “Where shall I dump him?”
    “In the baftub!” Maggie shouted, joining in her brother’s laughter.
    Gareth glanced at Gwyn. “I see the oatmeal bath is working magic,” he observed.
    He swung Nicholas off his shoulder and set him on a stool beside Katie, who handed him his toothbrush.
    Gwyn pulled herself together, tucking her thoughts away until she could take them out and examine them again later. When it was safe to do so. When Gareth was gone.
    “It generally does, as long as they remain in it. And as long as the spots are in the right places. Poor Katie had most of hers on her face – they were a little hard to soak in a tub.” She grimaced at the memory.
    “Don’t most kids get this at the same time as their siblings?” Gareth asked. “Weren’t the twins born yet?”
    “Yes, but they were only a few months old, and they managed to avoid it. At the time, it was a blessing. It was my first year on my own. I’m not sure I could have handled all three.” Gwyn tapped Nicholas on the shoulder and held out her hand for his toothbrush. He handed it over obediently and opened his mouth for her to continue the brushing job.
    She looked up at a suddenly quiet Gareth and found his dark brows almost converged over his nose.
    “What?” she asked.
    He shook his head, the frown clearing. “Nothing,” he said.
    But he somehow