Before Lindsay was ready for it, her wedding day arrived and it was going to be even more special for her than she had first imagined. Not only were her three sisters in her life again, but her twin sister was at her side sharing her wedding with her.

The twins met at the church, and when Mariah and Whitney entered the room, they were surprised to see Lesley getting dressed in a wedding dress as well. Lesley told them that she was wearing their mother’s wedding dress, then she told them the story of why her mother had done what she did to them. The other three sisters began to cry, but after a few minutes they dried their tears, deciding not to dwell on the lost years but go on with their lives as if they’d never been apart.

Hailey walked down the aisle first, throwing rose petals as she walked to where Casey and Morgan stood waiting. She stopped next to her father, then turned to watch the brides. Evan walked Lindsay to Casey, then Chandler and Lesley followed behind them. Each was kissed by their escort, and then handed to their grooms.

Lindsay and Casey were married first, then Lesley and Morgan. After their vows were spoken, and the minister pronounced them husbands and wives, told them they could kiss, then the two couples walked down the aisle hand in hand.

They had a buffet dinner, then after everyone had eaten, they cut the cake. There was dancing and the four brothers took turns dancing with each of the four sisters and it was late when the party finally broke up. Casey and Lindsay returned home with the children, planning to take a honeymoon after Austin was weaned so that they could leave him with family. Morgan, Lesley, and Hailey were spending the weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor water park in Kansas City, Kansas, which wasn’t far from their house.

* * *

Erik Arrington stared at the picture in the paper of the two brides. The caption under the picture read Lindsay Haggard and Lesley Arrington were married in a double wedding ceremony. The article said Lindsay had married Casey Pennay and Lesley had married Morgan Clemmens, and the two men were half-brothers.

The story went on to say the two brides had recently been reunited with each other as well as with their two older sisters, Whitney O’Rourke and Mariah Clemmens, after a twenty-year separation. The article mentioned that Mariah was married to Evan, Casey and Morgan’s oldest brother.

The four girls in the article were his daughters, all these years he thought they were dead. Why had Pam lied to him? He remembered her phone call as if it was yesterday, the memory was still very painful for him, unaware he was crying until he felt a drop of moisture hit his hand.

He had moved to Kansas City to find a job, but before he could find one, Pam called to tell him their marriage was over. When he told her he wanted to see his daughters, she told him there had been a terrible fire and all four of the girls had been killed. He mentioned that he would come home for the funeral, but Pam told him not to bother because she had had them cremated and thrown their ashes to the wind.

Erik grabbed the phone book, opened it and starting flipping through it until he found Casey Pennay’s number, and then quickly dialed it.

“Hello?” a female voice answered.

“Is this Lindsay Pennay?” he asked nervously.

“Yes,” she replied, smiling at the sound of her new name.

“Your sisters are Mariah, Whitney, and Lesley?”

“Who is this?” Lindsay asked, afraid some nut that had seen their picture in the paper, calling to cause trouble for her.

“Erik Arrington,” he said, “your father,” he quickly added.

“How did you find me?” she asked tearfully, barely able to ask her question.

“I saw yours and Lesley’s wedding photo in the paper.”

“Why did you desert us?” she yelled at him, as Lesley hadn’t told her the lie her mother had told their father.

“Your mother told me you were all dead. How was I to know she lied? What happened after I left? Why was there a twenty year separation between all of you?”

Lindsay quickly explained to him what her mother had done to the four sisters. Telling him that three of them had been put up for adoption, but for some reason she had kept Lesley with her.

Erik asked about Pam, and Lindsay told him she had died recently. She went on to tell him that all four of them were expecting babies in November, and that Lesley was having twins. She told him that she had a daughter from a previous marriage, and her husband’s nephew was living with them. They talk for a few minutes more, then Erik told her that he wanted to see them and they made plans to meet. As soon as they hung up, Lindsay called her sisters and told them she had a special surprise for them.

* * *

The next evening Chandler called to ask Whitney out for a date, she pleasantly thanked him, but told him no. She had just hung up the phone, her hand still on it, when it rang again. She jumped back, putting her hand on her chest, as she tried to calm her pounding heart as she picked it up. “Hello?” she squawked.

“Whitney, this is Lindsay. Are you okay? You sound funny.”

“I had been talking to Chandler and had just hung up, when the phone rang, it surprised me is all.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No problem. What’s up?”

“I need for you to come to our house.”

“When do you want me?” she asked, thinking she would say sometime later today.

“Now!”

“Now? What is so urgent that it can’t wait?” Whitney couldn’t think of any reason she would want her at her house so quickly.

“I can’t say,” Lindsay replied secretly.

“Why do you need me?” Panic filled her. “Does this have anything to do with Chandler?”

“No. I have a surprise and I need for the four of us together when I show it.”

“Can you at least give me some sort of hint?”

“This is a very big surprise,” Lindsay told her.

“That all you’re going to say?”

“I can’t take the chance of giving the surprise away.”

“All right I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

* * *

Lindsay called the other two sisters, asking them and their husband to come over as well. It wasn’t long before she heard the knock at the door and hurried to answer it. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see a tall older man standing there, a man who resembled her and her sisters.

“Hello,” the man said to her.

“I don’t need to ask who you are,” she said, pushing the screen door open. “Please come in.”

“Is it all right if I hug you?” he asked, his eyes closely watching her.

“Yes,” she responded, her eyes filling with tears.

Erik gave Lindsay a quick hug. “I can’t believe this is happening. All these years I thought all of you were dead and now you are back in my life.”

Lindsay moved away from him. “I want to introduce you to my husband.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Casey said, putting his hand out to Erik. “I’m Casey Pennay.”

“Erik Arrington, it’s nice to meet you.”

“The rest of the family will be here shortly,” Lindsay told her father. “Why don’t we wait in the living room for them.”

“Where are your daughter and nephew?” Erik asked, looking around the room for the children.

“They’re both taking a nap, but Nicole should be waking up shortly.”

The doorbell rang.

“Why don’t you and I go check on Nicole? We’ll stay out of sight until the whole family has gathered,” Casey told the older man.

Soon Lindsey’s sisters were assembled in her home, with the men in their lives standing nearby. Casey rejoined Lindsay with Nicole in his arms, she smiled at him before she stepped in front of the group.

“If everyone will face this way, I’ll present my big surprise.” Her family turned towards her. “May I introduce to you,” she started, then turned toward the door. “A man who thought we were all dead, Mr. Erik Arrington, our father.”

When Erik stepped into the room, several screams were heard as he was quickly engulfed by his other three daughter. Soon everyone was talking at once, with tears in their eyes.

* * *

The next day, Chandler call again to ask if Whitney would go out with him, and again, she told him no. Then he called her again the day after that, and she refused again, but that didn’t deter him as he called her every day for the rest of that week.

Friday night just as Whitney opened the door to her studio apartment, she heard her phone ringing, but before she could answer it, it quit. She was tired from her day at work and all she wanted to do was take off her dress, laid down, and rest. She pulled her couch out to a bed and had just removed her dress when the phone rang again, then she sat down on the bed to answer the phone. “Hello?”

“Guess who?” Chandler teased.

“Chandler, why do you keep calling me?” She couldn’t take much more of this.

“You know why, and I’m not going to stop until you agree to go out with me at least once.”

“I think it’s sweet you want to take care of me, but I’m not your concern,” she muttered.

“You’re family, so that makes you my concern.”

“Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean we have to get married.”

“You want to live in sin with me,” he teased.

“Chandler,” she cried, her voice choking on her tears.

He instantly felt bad for his bad humor when he realized he had hurt her feelings. “I’m sorry. That was a crude joke, but I am serious about marrying you.”

“Maybe it wouldn’t hurt for us to get together without our families breathing down our back to talk, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

“A date is a good start. Is tonight too soon for you?” he asked hurriedly.

She turned and looked longingly at the bed behind her. “I guess not.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he said, then he hung up the phone before she could stop him.

Whitney just sat there in a daze for a few seconds with the phone still to her ear before she realized she had better get redressed, otherwise he would showed up at her door and find her in her bra and underwear and with her bed looking inviting in the background.

She looked over at the clock and wondered how long it would be before she could go to bed, for that’s what she really wanted to do. Even though she was expecting him, she still jumped when Chandler knocked at the door. She hurried to the door and opened it.

“Well, don’t you clean up nicely,” she teased, since the last time she’d seen him; he had been wearing a tuxedo. When he didn’t respond to her joke, she wondered what could be wrong. “Is something wrong?”

“You’re beautiful,” he said with admiration. “Pregnancy becomes you.”

His comment made her uncomfortable. “I’m ready to go.” She stepped outside and quickly shut the door before he could see into her tiny apartment as the last thing she wanted was for him to see her bed sitting in the middle of the living room since she didn’t see any reason to return the bed back into a couch.

He smiled at her, assuming she was in a hurry because she was anxious to go out with him. “I hope you like 54th Bar & Grill.”

“Yes, I do. It’s one of my favorite places to eat,” she replied honestly.

They were quiet during the trip to the restaurant as neither one of them were sure what to talk about. When they arrived, the hostess sat them, she handed them their menus, then left. Whitney opened the menu even though she knew what she was going to order as she felt uneasy sitting across from Chandler, unsure what to say to him.

“Do you have room in your place for the baby?”

She laughed at the thought of the baby in her tiny apartment. “Hardly, I live in a studio apartment.”

“Not much room to add a husband and a baby.”

“I don’t need room for a husband because I’m not getting married.”

“We need to start looking for a house before we get married, don’t you think?” he asked, pretending he hadn’t heard what she had just said.

She laughed. “You don’t give up do you?”

“No. If you marry me, you can quit your job and stay home to take care of the little one. My apartment is bigger than yours, so we could move in it after we’re married, but before the baby comes, I would like to buy a house.”

“Let’s talk about something else.” She didn’t tell him that she didn’t need a house, as she wasn’t going to marry this man. He did do funny things to her equilibrium, but still he was a stranger to her.

When Chandler took her home, he walked her to the door, then watched as she unlocked her apartment door. When he saw her opened it just enough for her to pass through, he realized she was going to move inside without letting him kiss her, and he swiftly grabbed hold of her wrist. “I want to kiss you good night.”

She quickly pulled away from him. “Chandler, this just isn’t going to work.”

“I want to take care of you.” His eyes became teary. “I want your child to be mine.”

She put her hand on his arm. “I know you do, but I think it would be best if we just stay friends, instead of getting married.”

He moved his arm away from her wrist, moving it around her waist as fast as a striking snake. “I want to be a father and I want that child to be yours,” he muttered, then brought his lips to hers. The kiss continued as he slowly moved them into the apartment, swiftly closing the door behind him.

Chandler moved her backward until they encountered something that blocked their movement, he quickly opened eyes to see what had stopped them. He was surprised to see the bed even though he was aware that studio apartments were very small. He knew that the living room and the bedroom were the same, but he hadn’t been expecting the bed to be pulled out. He pushed her down on to the bed, his lips never leaving hers as he began unbuttoning her dress. He kept expecting Whitney to stop him, but she never did. Afraid she would put a stop to what he was doing, as quickly as possible, he undressed her. Once she was naked, he undressed himself, joined her on the bed and then he made them one.

Afterwards as they laid there in her bed, Whitney tried to feel guilty for what she had let happen between them, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t fight all the feelings she had for this man any longer. If he still wanted to marry her and be her baby’s father, then she would say yes the next time he asked. She felt a movement next to her and turned to face him, smiling when she saw his expression of wonderment. “Are you okay?”

“Never in my life have I experience anything as marvelous at that was.”

She laughed. “Now that’s a bunch of bull if I ever heard any.”

Chandler turned and pulled her to him. “I swear it isn’t. I think we have something special between us.” He kissed her. “Just a moment,” he said softly to her, then moved away and leaned over the bed to grab his pants. He put his hand into the pocket and pulled out a small box.

Whitney’s heart practically stopped when she saw the box in his hand. Could it contain a ring? She was afraid to hope as her eyes returned to his face.

Chandler opened the box and pulled out a diamond ring. “If you don’t like it, we can exchange it, but when I saw it, I thought of you.”

All she could do was nod as her tears made words impossible. It was the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen, it had a small diamond in the middle, surrounded with several smaller sapphires.

“Will you marry me?”

“Chandler, are you sure?” She looked deep into his eyes as she waited for his response.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Then yes, I’ll marry you.”

Chandler gently took her hand and put the ring on her finger. “Now we need to seal it with a kiss.”

Whitney giggled. “If I do, we’ll probably never leave this bed.”

He grinned at her. “I would like to test out your theory.”

It wasn’t until the next morning before either one of them did leave the bed for good. Chandler told her that he had to go home to change clothes, then he would be back to take her to breakfast. As soon as he left, Whitney went to take her shower. An hour later Chandler was knocking at her door, she opened it and invited him in.

“Whitney, I want to give this to you,” he said, then handed her a check.

She took the check from him, then swore when she saw it was written for one hundred thousand dollars and that it is made out to her. “What is this for?” She didn’t understand why he was giving her this check. Certainly, it couldn’t be for they had done together in her bed last night.

“I want you to buy us a place that is big enough for the three of us to live.”

She let out a loud sigh, relieved by his answer. “Isn’t this a little big for a down payment?”

“You don’t have to put it all down on the house. You could save some of the money to make repairs to the house if necessary. You know, such as new carpet and fresh paint. Whatever you want.”

“Shouldn’t we find a place together?” She was hurt that he expected her to find a place on her own.

“We should, but I’m really busy at work and can’t take the time to go house shopping with you right now. I hope you understand.” He felt bad, asking her to find them a home without him, but if they waited until he has some spare time, it might be another month or so.

“What if I find a place and you don’t like it?”

Chandler took hold of her hand. “As long as we are together, I don’t care what you buy. Just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there to sign the paperwork on it. Now let’s go to breakfast.”