“Yes,” Mark said, looking amused. “We know where the diapers are and all that. We even know how to change them properly.”
“Okay,” Jamie said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “I think that’s everything, then.” She started toward the door, and then paused again. “Can you check on them every now and then while they’re asleep? I mean, in person.”
“Of course,” Christine said. “Everything’s going to be fine, Jamie, I promise.”
Jamie turned again, and then realized that in the worry about making sure Mark and Christine knew everything they needed to know about taking care of the twins she hadn’t actually said goodbye to them. A bolt of guilt struck her. She hurried back toward them. “Alex. Come say goodbye to the twins.”
“I already said goodbye,” Alex said, but she heard his footsteps anyway, and a moment later she could feel the warmth of his body at her back.
“Bye,” Jamie said, leaning down toward the twins and reaching out to touch Benton's hand and then Lillianna's. “Bye-bye, sweethearts. I'll see you again soon.”
Alex made a noise that might have been a chuckle under his breath and wrapped an arm around her waist. “I promise I'll bring Mommy back,” he said. “We’ll be home before you know it.”
The twins, of course, didn't seem to care they were leaving. They were too busy playing with cracker crumbs. Jamie felt a little sting of tears at the back of her eyes. She had never left them with someone before. Maybe it was easy for Alex; he went off to work every day, but she'd been home with them. She leaned down and kissed the tops of their heads, feeling the silk-fine hair under her lips and wondering again how she and Alex had managed to make something so perfect. Well, she knew how Alex had. She straightened up finally, and let Alex tug her toward the door, talking about how they were going to be late for their reservation.
“I've never left them with a babysitter before,” she said as she sat back in her seat and Alex slid into his own, turning the key in the ignition. “What if something goes wrong? Will they know what to do?”
“They know what to do,” Alex said. “They've taken care of the twins before.” He reached across the space between them with one hand and slid his fingers into hers. “It's going to be okay, Jamie. Really. We're going to have a great night out at dinner, even if we are going to be making our reservation by the skin of our teeth, and the twins are going to have a great night with their aunt and uncle. Everyone will be happy.”
Jamie wasn't sure about that, but she didn't say so. Alex was probably right. The twins would get to bond with Mark and Christine, which was important, and Mark and Christine would get a little more time together. They really hardly knew each other, after all. Jamie had always kept Christine away from Mark, because although her sister was beautiful she was also toxic. Now, though, with Christine recovering from her bout of depression and all but over Stephen, she was pretty sure it would be okay to leave her there with Alex's brother. They'd enjoy the time with the twins. She tried to relax. “So, where are we going?”
“A new place I heard about.” He turned his head just long enough to smile at her before his eyes flicked back to the road. “It's almost impossible to get reservations, I was told, but I seem to have managed it.”
“I hope you didn't kick some other couple out of line.”
Alex shook his head. “Nope. Just managed to slip in at an opportune moment. But that means that we really can't be too late or we might lose our table.”
“There are other places to eat in New York City. I just had to say goodbye to the twins,” Jamie said. “And I needed to make sure that Mark and Christine knew where everything was. They've never watched the twins alone before, and—”
Alex's hand squeezed hers, cutting her off. “Do you trust them?” he asked gently.
Jamie looked down at their hands, fingers interlocked, and nodded.
“Jamie?”
“Yes,” she said. “I trust them.”
And she did. But she didn't trust anyone to take care of her babies as well as she could. They were her children, and she was leaving them alone to go out to dinner. She could go out to dinner another time. There would always be other restaurants and other nights.
“You need a break,” Alex said, like he was reading her mind. “And I need time with you. We both do. It’s okay to have quality time with just the two of us.”
She felt him turn to look at her for an instant, but she was still watching their hands in the glow from the streetlights.
“I've missed you,” Alex said, and she finally looked up at him.
“I know,” she said. “I've missed you, too.”
“So let's go out and have a fun night together, and then we'll come back refreshed for tomorrow.”
When he put it that way, it did sound like a good idea. Jamie nodded, and found a smile. “Okay,” she said, trying to shove all the worries at least
to the back of her thoughts, if not out of her mind entirely. “I think I can do that.”
“Good.”
They drove the rest of the way to the restaurant in companionable silence, and Alex helped her out of the car and walked with her into the dining room. The reservations were, thankfully, still in place, even though they'd arrived a few minutes late, and the host led them to their table. Alex pulled out Jamie's chair for her, and she sat down.
She hadn't realized just how long it had been since they’d last been on a date. Even before the twins were born, everything else that had happened—her father's health, and her sister's, and the trouble with Gina and Nicholas had made them too busy to really seek out much time alone together. And after the twins, of course, there hadn't been time for anything. It felt good to be sitting across from her handsome husband in a dimly-lit restaurant again, watching the lines of his face and remembering just how much he turned her on. She was still a little self-conscious about her post-pregnancy body, but the dress she was wearing was one of her favorites, and she knew Alex liked it.