My grandmother, before she passed, used to always say, marry a small town man, and give him a chance to prove himself.

I never understood what she meant, until I met Liam.

I’d held over his head the fact that, as a young man, he met and got his heart broken by my own sister.

How was he supposed to know that years later he’d fall in love with me? Was that his fault?

Yet, when I found out, I was prepared to hold it over his head forever.

Maybe the way we met isn’t the way couples should normally court.

I didn’t follow any of the standard dating advice, when it came to Liam.

But, when a sexy mechanic starts making out with you in his truck, there’s no playbook for that.

After the morning my life changed with the news of not one, but two beautiful new souls being brought into the world, Liam changed too.

Sure, he’s still the same asshole who seduced me on the first night.

Whose sexy good looks and cocky as hell attitude I couldn’t say no to.

Who gave me more orgasms consecutively than I thought was physically possible.

At the time, being honest, he was nothing more than a rebound who I was trying to use to get past my own broken heart.

But in these past six months, the Blackwell winter has already come and gone, and Liam has come to be nothing short of a miracle for me.

I’ve moved into his big, colonial style house, and he’s been doing all of the heavy lifting to get the place ready for the babies. We’ve got their room painted baby blue--not because it’s gender neutral but because it’s the color of my beautiful eyes, Liam says.

We’re not married yet. We’re going to wait and make sure it’s right for both of us and not rush into anything.

But I’ve started wearing that ring he gave me again. I never lost it. And I can’t wait to go by Mrs. Blackwell.

* * *

One March evening, I rock myself on the swing on the porch of our house, sitting there, hand on my tummy, reading a book. The smell of spring flowers wafts through the air, more specifically the blue bonnets that Liam transplanted into our front garden.

“Hi Miss Haley!” A girl waves as she walks by on her way home from the high school.

“Hi Emma!” I wave back. “Good track practice today?”

“Yes! I’m gonna be the fastest this year. When are the new kids on the block coming?”

“Due in a few weeks!”

“Yes!” She pumps her fist. “I love babies!”

I laugh a little and she walks on.

I’ve already met what feels like half the town in less than a year of living here. It helps that Liam is apparently the most connected man in all of Blackwell, which sort of makes sense, given that his great grandparents founded the town.

I hear Liam’s truck engine from a block away. I’m like a puppy who knows what something is from hearing before sight.

A few seconds later, Liam pulls in the driveway and jumps down out of the cab. He’s got a big, silly grin on his face, and I can’t help but beam too.

“Hey baby.” He drawls in a deep voice.

“Hey you.” I say back, with that slight southern twang. Yeah, I’ve officially picked up the Blackwell small town accent after being back here for almost a year.

He kisses me long and deep on the lips, then sits down next to me on the porch swing and rubs my stomach. “How are the twins doing?”

“Bigger every day.” I grin. “Here, feel them.”

I take hold of his hands and put them on my boobs. “See. The twins are getting bigger.”

He cracks up. “Now see, this is why I love you baby.”

“For my big boobs?”

He winks. “Yeah. Exactly. And maybe your sense of humor too. Probably more the boobs though, if we’re being totally honest. Those things have never been so motorboat-able.”

I break into laughter, a big, belly laugh. I can hear the echos of my own voice reverberating over the block. Liam starts laughing too, and before we know it, we’re in one of those uncontrollable bouts of laughter where we can’t stop. I smile even bigger, thinking how impossible this scene would be in New York, had I stayed there, and before I know it, I’m laughing so hard I’m getting teary eyed.

Finally, we control ourselves. “You know, I’m kinda glad we did things in reverse.” I say.

“What do you mean, in reverse?”

“In a normal relationship, you go on some dates, get to know a person, have sex, get married, have children. For us, the order was ‘sex-get pregnant-get to know each other. And God willing, we’ll get married at some point.”

Liam interlocks his fingers into mine and runs his hand on my ring finger. “Unless you run away, I’ll be locking you down as soon as you let me.”

“I don’t think I’ll be “running” anywhere any time soon.” I joke, rubbing my tummy. “More like waddle.”

We break into laughter again, and suddenly, I feel like a water balloon popped inside me and I grunt.

“What is that?” Liam asks, scrunching up his face.

I feel a large gush of water from inside me, and I grip my stomach. Liam puts his hand on top of mine.

“Oh my gosh.” I say. “I think my water broke.”

Liam nods slowly, taking a moment to process the information. “You...think..your...water...broke?”

My jaw hanging open, I nod. “Yes.”

He swings into swift action, grabbing the emergency bag from inside I had made for just this situation, and then helps me into the truck.

He drives swiftly but carefully to the hospital, and helps me out of the truck and to the maternity wing.

“Hello.” He says calmly to the secretary once we enter. “My wi--my girlfriend is pregnant.”

“Wife,” I correct. “Wife.” I show them my ring. I need to make sure they don’t give Liam any problems getting into the maternity ward.

“Oh, that’s right.” Liam plays along. “Silly me. I keep forgetting we finally tied the knot.”

I playfully roll my eyes, and then a gut wrenching pain hits my stomach and my sense of humor dissipates. “So are you going to show us to the maternity ward?”

“I’m paging the doctor right now.” The secretary says calmly.

They walk us to the room and set me up on a bed as the contractions begin.

Liam scrubs his hands and heads inside.

The pain isn’t so bad at first, but it’s scary as the doctor explains to me what all is about to happen. Since I have twins, they’ll be performing a C-section.

Liam sits at my side, holding my hand. He doesn’t get up to eat or drink.

I don’t remember too many details aside from Liam and the epidural that eases my pain. And then, after less than an hour the first one pops out.

I hear the pitter patter of rain on the outside window.

I don’t know if rain has become some kind of divine intervention for Liam and I, but as the drizzle starts, the first baby comes, a boy. He starts to cry, and it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.

A few minutes or so later, the second one comes, a girl.

“Congratulations, you two are parents!” The doctor tells us. Liam holds one of them in each arm, and they look so damn small next to his massive body.

“Damn, these little guys are tiny!” Liam exclaims, and I’m too tired to laugh.

“Of course they’re tiny, they’re babies,” I say, a little groggy.

“Did you decide on names?” One of the nurses ask.

Liam and I make eye contact and nod.

“Corinne Marie Blackwell is the girl.” I say.

“And Ethan James Blackwell is the boy.”

After kissing each of them softly on the head, he sets little Corinne and Ethan back against my chest. They both nuzzle slightly before relaxing and dozing back off.

Liam snaps a picture of me with one in each arm.

He kisses my cheek, then holds my hand as I fall asleep in an ecstatic exhaustion.

This is the best end to a steamy one night stand a girl could hope for.