Chapter 9
Jill was speechless when they arrived at Carter's house. "It's the princess house," she breathed. She looked at Carter. "Do you live here?" Carter nodded. "Are you a prince?"
Carter laughed. "No, not quite," he responded.
"Is there magic princess stuff in here?" Jill asked.
"Nope, no magic, just a normal house." Jill looked disappointed.
He got the suitcase out of the trunk and led them into the house. "I'm hungry," Jill said. "Do you have any food?"
Carter looked at his watch. It was 9:30. "Well, it's kind of late for dinner, but I guess we could have a little something. Let me show you your room first."
He led them upstairs to the children's guest room, which had two twin beds. "Wow. This room is nice," Riley observed, bouncing on the bed. Carter set the suitcase down on the floor.
"Let's go eat," Jill reminded him. Carter took them down to the kitchen.
"What do you want?" he asked, opening the fridge. Jill and Riley peered at the contents of the lower shelves.
"Ooh, bananas!" said Jill.
"Hot dogs!" exclaimed Riley, mouth watering.
"Mashed potatoes!"
"Cheese!"
"Chocolate!"
"PIZZA!" yelled the twins in unison. Grabbing the box, they sat down on the floor and both began devouring the largest slices of pizza they could find.
Carter looked at the two children sitting on his kitchen floor, devouring his food like starving refugees. "You two are acting like you haven't eaten in years," he observed.
"All we had was yucky ramen noodles and sandwiches," Jill said through a mouthful of pizza.
"How come?"
Jill shrugged her shoulders. "I guess cause Mommy didn't buy anything else."
Carter realized how desperate their situation had become. Abby must have been running out of money fast, and for some reason she came to Chicago to see Eric. But Eric wasn't here, so she had been out of options. Was that why she had come to see him?
Jill and Riley were back in the fridge, and now they were eating slices of cheese. "Don't eat too much; you're about to go to bed, remember?" He pried the ham from Jill's hand and led them up the stairs. "The food will still be here tomorrow."
Jill licked her lips. "Well, I guess that's okay. Could you bring Mommy some food too? She didn't eat anything in a long time."
"They'll give her food at the hospital," Carter responded, then realized what Jill had said. "How long did she not eat?"
Jill shrugged. "Since she didn't go to work anymore, I think."
Had Abby really gone without food for three weeks? Carter realized that would explain her malnutrition. But could she really have still been walking around after three weeks of fasting? He hoped that Jill was mistaken.
Carter opened the suitcase and pulled out their threadbare pajamas. He gazed at them sadly. Jill and Riley had probably lived their entire lives in poverty. He wished that Abby had come to Chicago sooner.
As he tucked them in, the question still lingered in the back of his mind: were Jill and Riley his son and daughter?
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When Abby woke up, she was alone for the first time. Her room was eerily silent. Why isn't Carter here with the twins yet? she wondered. She hoped they were okay. They had never been away from her for a whole night.
Abby wondered how this whole situation was going to end. She couldn't just leave Chicago after she got out of the hospital, could she? If nothing else, she had nowhere to go. But actually being here made her realize how impractical her original plan was. How could she and Carter ever happily coexist as Jill and Riley's parents when she was still mad at him? She really should be applying for jobs in Atlanta right now, but she felt too tired to do anything but sleep.
She didn't know what was wrong with her. She had been fine before. Sure, she had gone without food for more than two weeks, but she just thought her body had gotten used to it. Except for occasional lightheadedness, she had felt fine. But now, she felt too tired to even get out of bed. Maybe her body realized that she had reached her destination, and it wasn't willing to go a step further.
She wondered why Carter hadn't asked about the kids yet. Surely, he must have figured out by now that they were his. But for some reason, he hadn't said anything about it. She kind of hoped he wouldn't. If she told him that they were his, she would be committing herself to this plan of action. There would be no going back to Atlanta and pretending that Carter didn't exist. She knew that he would want to be a part of the twins' lives, and unfortunately that also meant that he would be a part of hers.
She felt like killing Eric. If it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't have been in Chicago in the first place. Sure, things would have been tough, but she would have eventually found another job in Atlanta, and things could have gone on the way they had always been. Her kids didn't need Carter in their lives. He had hurt her badly enough; she wasn't going to let him hurt her children.
On cue, Carter, Jill, and Riley walked into the room. "Mommy!" Jill and Riley climbed into her bed and wrapped their arms around her.
"I missed you, Mommy," Riley said solemnly.
"I missed you too, baby," Abby said, and Riley buried her face in her neck.
As Carter watched the exchange, he thought of how much of their lives he had missed. They were almost four years old now; why hadn't Carter gone back to Atlanta at some point? Maybe then he would have seen that Abby had kids, and drawn the logical conclusion.
Last night, after Jill and Riley were asleep, Carter gotten a piece of paper and written down what he knew about Abby's situation. He wanted to make sure he had all his facts straight.
He did. Abby was three months pregnant when she left him. She had lost her job three weeks ago, and it appeared that she had run out of money. She decided to come to Chicago to stay with Eric, but for some reason, Eric wasn't here. So she had gone to his house. Then she had come to County.
Carter remembered how mad Abby had been at him, and he knew how well she could hold a grudge. She wouldn't have come to him unless there was any other option. But why would she come to him, if it wasn't to bring him his children? He could see no other reason. So he decided that Jill and Riley must be his kids.
But he had to make sure. So he would ask her. Today. It would be awkward, but he had to know for sure.
"Carter lives in the princess house," Jill told her mother. He had told them that they didn't have to call him Doctor Carter; he couldn't bear the thought of his own children calling him Doctor.
Abby smiled as her daughter began to describe the wonders of the house. It had been a long time since Abby had been in the Carter mansion. Obviously, not much had changed.
"Abby. I wanted to talk to you. Maybe sometime later today?" Carter suggested, and Abby knew it was something serious. Just what I don't need, she thought. But what could she say? Reluctantly, she nodded her head. She would have to do it sometime.
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"Have you guys ever been to the zoo?"
Riley shook his head. "Yes we did, Riley, remember? When we were babies," Jill reminded him.
"Oh, yeah. I liked that."
"We have a really nice zoo here in Chicago. You can see the monkeys and camels and-"
"Snakes! Do they have snakes?"
Susan nodded her head. "Lots of snakes. It'll be fun."
Jill grinned, then turned towards the bed. "I'm sorry you can't go, Mommy."
"I'll bring you back a present!" Riley promised.
"Thank you, Riley. You guys go and have fun." Susan, Jill and Riley left.
Carter pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed. It was time. "So..." Abby remained silent, so he continued. "I wanted to talk about Jill and Riley." He watched her face carefully to gage her reaction. She looked afraid. His stomach turned. Had he been wrong after all?
Abby's heart threatened to pound its way out of her chest. He was finally asking. Did she have the nerve to tell him the truth? She wanted to protect her children. What should she do?
Carter knew that Abby must realize what he wanted, but she wasn't going to make this easy for him. But he had to press forward. He had to know! "Are they...are they mine?"