Chapter 8 - The Initial Meeting

“Good morning,” said the soft-spoken, clean-shaven man, who appeared at Penny’s door, early the next morning. “I am sorry to bother you, but I am looking for my two girls. They said they were heading downstairs. Are they here by any chance?”

The chubby, reasonably well dressed man appeared to be in his mid-forties and had a receding hairline. Penny immediately liked his smile.

“Good morning,” replied Penny. “You must be Dana and Dani’s dad. No, I am sorry. I have not seen them.”

“I have to give them some lunch money, before I leave for work.”

“What is your name?” asked Penny, as he quickly turned and headed for the stairwell.

“I am Terry,” he hollered to her from the open doorway. “Thanks.”

“There you young ladies are,” he said to the girls, as he spotted them standing at the bottom of the stairwell and handed them some change. “Mind your manners and behave yourselves today. I will try to be home early.”

“We will, dad,” replied both girls, giving him a hug at the same time. “We love you. Bye.”

“They met,” whispered Dana to Dani, as he left. Terry had no idea that his girls had set him up. “I listened at the door.”

“That was such a neat idea!” replied Dani.

“Now, we just have to keep our fingers crossed,” continued Dana, with a mischievous grin. “We might become a family before we know it.”

“Maybe, but I still don’t know if I want that to happen.”

“It will be great. You will see.”

Dani was not too excited about the thought of being part of Penny and Crystal’s family, but decided that because Dana was a few hours older, she was smarter and probably knew what would be best for all of them.

Penny had no idea what the twins were up to. She was not really looking for a family and did not expect to find one in the apartment building.

She was still contemplating Crystal’s proposition, weighing the pros and cons of adoption. There were many things to take into consideration, including Crystal’s nationality and native upbringing. She had not factored the twins and their little brother into the equation, much less their father.

“I will have to spend some quality time with that young lady,” she decided. “But, I need to get a lot of other things done first.”

The thought of having a twelve-year old daughter, after many years of being alone, had a certain appeal to it. She knew that because she was semi-retired as an elementary school teacher, there were things she could teach Crystal.

“I may have just been blessed with a beautiful daughter,” she thought, smiling to herself.