Twisted Roots (DeBeers 3)

"What?"

"Pretending I bought the cards and the gifts. What are the gifts?"

"Hand-held PCs. They can use them for addresses, notes, calculating-- they can even get on the Web with them. They're the best out there."

"But I did

n't really buy them."

"What's the difference who buys them? They still come from you to them and that's all that matters," he assured me.

I signed the cards. but I didn't feel attached to anything or any real emotional involvement. We shared a father, but to me Adrian and Cade were almost alien creatures. Unless Daddy brought me there, they never spoke to me, called me on the phone, or ever thought to visit me. One of my girlfriends at school. Natalie Alexander, knew them because her father was friends with Daddy. She just loved being the first to tell me news about them, underscoring how little contact I had with my awn brothers,

"Oh, didn't you blow that?" she would sing, stinging me with her sweetness.

Daddy's butler greeted us at the door and took the gifts he and I had supposedly bought and brought them into one of the three sitting rooms. The moment she had heard us arrive. Danielle came down the stairs quickly to greet me. She looked so young, far too young to be the mother of the twins. I thought. I knew she liked to read. but I always wondered how she occupied her time. Daddy's house had far more servants than ours. Mommy wanted only Lila and Mrs. Haber, who did most of our cooking. Lila did it on Mrs. Haber's day off.

Daddy had three full-time maids, a cook, and a butler. Danielle had no house duties whatsoever. She had no career as such, unless you considered being Daddy's wife and the twins' mother a career. Mommy categorized it as being more like a prison sentence. A good deal of her time was taken up with what Mommy sarcastically called her beautification. When I once made the mistake of saying Danielle was very pretty. Mommy turned on me with fiery green eyes of jealousy,

"Thatcher wouldn't tolerate it any other way. She has to look young and beautiful all day and all night." she said.

Truthfully. I never saw Danielle caught by surprise, looking untidy. Her hair was always perfect, as was her makeup, and she was always well put together, everything from her earrings dawn to her shoes well coordinated, just as they were tonight. I was sure all that did take a lot of time and effort. Maybe Danielle believed she was constantly on a stage, but surely it was the life she wanted. I thought.

"Hannah," she called as she descended.

"Bon soir, cherie."

"Hi, Danielle."

"Isn't she looking like a femme fatale. Danielle?" Daddy asked.

"Mais oui. Every time you came, you are more beautiful than you were the time before," she said.

She said it with such sincerity, she brought a blush to my face. Then she kissed me on both cheeks. French style, and took my hand.

"Come and see how we have decorated the room for the twins' birthday dinner," she said.

"Go on." Daddy said. "I'll be right along."

He headed for his home office. and I followed Danielle, who chatted with such happy energy. I couldn't help but leave my doldrums at the door. Her bright, melodic, and youthful voice was truly a welcome relief. Maybe being Daddy's wife wasn't as miserable a situation as Mommy made it out to be.

We stopped in the doorway of the dining room, and I looked at the crepe paper decorations, the balloon displays, and gold and silver cutouts. It was obvious they had hired a professional party decorator.

"Wait until you see the cake. It's three feet high with two dolls made by an artist who duplicated their faces."

All this just for a family dinner, I thought. Whatwill they do for a big party..?

"There's just the five of us?"

"Mais oui. Tomorrow, they will have their friends over for a barbeque. Thatcher wanted so much to have a quiet, private dinner first. Naturellement. your brothers complained. They hate getting dressed up in their tuxedos. Your father, he is baffling with them every day not to look like homeless people," she said. laughing. "Boys. We should have had two girls. eh? Then you would see what spoiled is.'

"-Why don't you try to have a little girl?" I asked.

She laughed. "Thatcher says he would drive himself into the ocean if had to bring another child into this mad, crazy world.'' She sighed. "But I wish he would want it."

She took my hands and stepped back to look at me closer,

"But I will borrow you to be my daughter. yes? I love your dress." she said. "I have a pair of earrings you will adore. They are perfect for this. Come. We have time to indulge ourselves," she added, pulling me back to the stairway.