Life has been hard but sweet at the same time. I moved back into my brothers’ home, resuming my duties as their companion and lover. None of us had jobs, but it’s okay. My brothers have millions saved from years of filming House Emergency, and honestly, I’m not worried. My steps have real skills: Roman as a real estate broker, and Ryder as a talented master builder. They’d be able to find something once the storm blew over.
But in the meantime, we went wide with publicity. I did an interview with Diane Sawyer, softening my brothers’ image and explaining how I’d forgiven them and how the public should too. Of course, the tragedy with Marygold shouldn’t be forgotten, but again, I played up the youth angle. My brothers had been twelve years old at the time, still juveniles themselves. They’d made a grievous mistake and didn’t deserve to be pay forever.
Moreover, we decided to double down. While on national TV, I announced that I was pregnant with my stepbrothers’ babies! That’s right, I’m pregnant with twins, a girl and a boy. Hopefully one is by Roman and the other by Ryder.
Diane almost fell over during the interview.
“But you’re siblings,” she gasped. “This is shocking.”
I corrected her. The twins and I are related by marriage in two ways – through our parents, and through the recent ceremony between Ryder and myself, joining us as husband and wife. Diane kept asking questions, and I went into the whole spiel about how my brothers and I are not biologically related, that we didn’t grow up together, and only met about a year ago.
The interview was only proof of the American public’s short attention span. The molestation scandal was almost immediately forgotten, and instead there were spreads of us in celebrity magazines profiling my burgeoning bump. There were pictures of my brothers cradling my belly lovingly as we smiled for the cameras. My guess is that it came down to money. The editors realized that they’d sell more magazines with sweet pictures of our marriage and pregnancy, while the Marygold tragedy was already losing steam.
Therefore, what my mom said came true – “this too shall pass.” It seems that the world has moved on, focusing on a new season, and the next juicy scandal. It’s fall now, and our babies are due any day now. I’m looking forward to changing nappies, holding my girl and my boy, and raising them with the full participation of their fathers. Because Ryder and Roman are over the moon about being fathers. They constantly make sure that I’m okay, and want to know that I have every comfort at my disposal.
“Can you feel the babies kick?” Ryder asked one night.
I took both their palms, placing one on each side of my belly.
“Both of them are kicking right now,” I murmured.
My stepbrothers were silent, their eyes wide and amazed as they felt the fluttering in my belly.
“Truly amazing,” breathed Ryder.
“You and the babies are miracles,” added Roman gratefully.
I smiled at them. We’d been burned by public opinion, but my twin stepbrothers had triumphed over the insidious pull of celebrity, becoming model husbands and dads-to-be. How did I get so fortunate? I’m grateful and ecstatic all at once, and only hope that everyone has our kind of luck.
THE END