Instant Parents with My Enemy

Chapter 02

Jasmine's POV

Nate and I sat across from Karen and Jerry's lawyer, both of us shifting restlessly in our seats.

Attorney Williams sat behind his desk, a thick folder resting in front of him. Their final will and testament.

A document that now held the entire future of the twins. I stared at the folder for a moment before looking away.

Karen had no siblings. Her parents had passed away when she was still a child, and I had been her only real friend for as long as I could remember.

She didn't have anyone else left.

Just me.

“Does Karen really have no other family?” Nate asked, turning toward me, his voice still laced with disbelief. “No distant relatives? No one else anywhere in the city?”

I slowly turned my head toward him.

“Do you honestly think she would have put my name in her will if she had living relatives?” I snapped sarcastically. “Are you using that tiny brain of yours, or what?”

His jaw tightened. I rolled my eyes and looked away.

Just a month ago, I had been romanticizing my life. I had finally accepted that I was perfectly happy being alone. I loved my independence. I loved my quiet apartment, my work, my routine. I had built a life that didn't require anyone else to complete it.

And now, in the blink of an eye, my best friend and her husband were gone.

Just... gone.

Leaving behind two four-year-old children who had no parents to come home to.

God, I missed my best friend. I missed her laugh. Her annoying phone calls. The way she'd show up at my apartment without warning because she was bored.

I missed everything.

And somehow, I was expected to step into her place.

How was I supposed to do that?

I had just lost my best friend. I was already dealing with the possibility of losing my biggest fashion client because of everything that had happened, and now I was supposed to raise two children despite having absolutely no parenting experience.

How could I possibly take care of two kids when I could barely keep myself together?

I let out a heavy sigh, feeling completely out of my depth.

“What about Jerry?” I asked, turning back toward Nate. “Does he have any siblings? Relatives? Anyone?”

He rolled his eyes right back at me.

Arrogant ass.

I was asking a perfectly normal question. He was always like this whenever we were forced to stand within five feet of each other. Then again, I couldn't exactly call him out for his attitude when I treated him the same way.

Fuck.

How on earth were we supposed to raise two kids together when we couldn't even stand each other?

“Do you have a brain?” he fired back, mocking my tone. “Are you using it?”

I glared at him.

“Why do you think Jerry put my name on that paper in the first place?”

I opened my mouth to argue but stopped. Unfortunately, he had a point. I exhaled sharply and rubbed my temples.

We were stuck.

Neither Karen nor Jerry had any family to fall back on, and neither Nate nor I had the slightest clue how to raise children.

The thought alone made my stomach twist. Then Nate suddenly sat up straight.

“Wait.”

Attorney Williams looked at him. Nate's brow furrowed as he searched through his memory.

“I just remembered something,” he said. “A while back, Jerry mentioned that he had an older sister living in the province.”

I looked at him.

“Why didn't he list her instead?”

Attorney Williams simply shook his head.

“Neither Jerry nor Karen ever mentioned any relatives to me. Jerry never mentioned a sister, and there was no other person listed in their documents.”

“But if he has a sister—”

“I understand,” Attorney Williams interrupted gently. “But legally, that doesn't change what they requested.”

He opened the folder and glanced at the documents inside.

“They explicitly selected the two of you as guardians because you are the twins' godparents.”

I stared at him. The two of us?

Nate and me?

Absolutely not.

Attorney Williams continued, “I realize co-guardianship under these circumstances is highly unusual, but this was their final wish.”

Oh my God.

I was so dead.

I looked down at my hands, my fingers twisting together nervously.

There had to be a way out of this. There had to be.

“Is there...” I swallowed, my voice dropping to a quiet, desperate whisper. “Is there any legal way to remove my name from the custody agreement?”

Before Attorney Williams could answer, Nate leaned forward.

“Yeah,” he cut in immediately. “What are the grounds for getting my name taken off, too?”

I slowly turned toward him. For once, we weren't arguing. We were thinking the same thing. Neither of us wanted this; neither of us was ready for this.

And neither of us wanted to raise two children with the person we could barely tolerate for five minutes.

Attorney Williams looked at us for a long moment.

Then he closed the folder.

“There is a way.”

My heart jumped, and Nate leaned forward.

“What is it?”

Attorney Williams folded his hands on top of the file.

“You can both refuse guardianship.”

Relief washed over me.

Finally, a way out. But before I could celebrate, he added,

“However, if you both refuse, the twins will be placed under temporary state care until another suitable guardian can be found.”

My relief disappeared.

I froze; so did Nate. Neither of us spoke.

Because suddenly, this wasn't about whether we wanted to raise two children. It was about whether we were willing to let two four-year-olds who had already lost their parents lose everyone else, too.

Nate and I walked out of Attorney Williams' office, both of us still completely clueless about what to do next.

There was an option to relinquish custody, but the thought of it made my heart ache. What would happen to the twins?

Would they be placed in some facility, waiting around for a stranger to come along and adopt them? Absolutely not.

Karen would probably come back from the dead just to haunt me if I let that happen. But the reality of becoming an instant mother to two four-year-olds was something I couldn't wrap my head around.

I didn't know how to raise children. I didn't know how to take care of them. Hell, I could barely remember to eat when I was buried in work. How was I supposed to be responsible for two tiny human beings?

“So, what's your plan now?” Nate suddenly asked.

My eyebrows shot up.

Is he serious right now?

I turned toward him.

“You're asking me?”

“I'm asking because I want to know what you're planning to do.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking more irritated than worried.

“Look, I barely have any free time as it is. I don't have time to chase toddlers around.”

“They're four, Nate.”

“Exactly. Four-year-olds are basically tiny hurricanes.”

Despite myself, I almost laughed.

Almost.

“I have a business to run, work to finish, and a life to live,” he continued. “I can't just drop everything.”

“And you think I can?”

I crossed my arms.

“Who do you think I am?”

“You don't have a corporate job as I do,” he argued dismissively. “I have full-day business meetings. I have clients flying in from different countries. I have—”

“I constantly meet with high-profile clients!” I cut him off, emphasizing every word. “Or did you completely forget that I'm a fashion designer? I create custom pieces for a living. I have deadlines, fittings, collections, meetings, and clients who expect me to actually show up!”

Nate opened his mouth. I was ready for another argument. Then my phone rang, I glanced at the screen.

Unknown number.

I frowned. Without giving Nate another second of my attention, I answered.

“Hello?”

I expected him to walk away. Instead, he stayed right beside me. Watching and listening.

“Is this Mama Jas?”

My entire body went still.

Kitty.

Her tiny, familiar voice came through the speaker. My anger immediately disappeared.

“Hi, Kitty,” I said softly. “Yes, it's Mama Jas.”

Nate's head snapped toward me. The moment he heard her voice, he stepped closer. Then, without any warning, he practically lunged toward my phone and pressed his ear against it.

I gave him a hard shove. “What are you doing?”

He ignored me. I sighed and switched the call to loudspeaker.

“Where are you, Mama Jas?” Kitty asked.

Her voice sounded different small, uncertain, and sad. My heart clenched.

“I'm right here, baby.”

“I don't like it here,” she whispered. “We just want to go home.”

I swallowed hard. The words hit me harder than I expected, then I heard a tiny sniffle.

“I wanna go home, Mama.”

It was Keith. I closed my eyes. For a moment, I couldn't speak. They didn't understand.

How could they? They were only four.

They didn't understand that their parents weren't coming back. They were probably still waiting for Karen to walk through the door. Waiting for Jerry to scoop them into his arms. Waiting to go home…

My throat tightened.

“I know, baby,” I whispered. “I know.”

I looked at Nate. He was no longer arguing. His expression had completely changed. The irritation was gone, so was the smugness. He simply stared at the phone, then he reached for it. I let him take it.

“We're coming to get you, Keith and Kitty,” he said firmly.

I stared at him.

What?

Nate glanced at me. His jaw tightened.

“We'll be there soon.”

The twins went quiet. Then Kitty's little voice came through the speaker.

“Promise?”

Nate didn't hesitate.

“I promise.”

The call ended. Silence settled between us. I stared at him. He stared back.

“You just promised them.”

“I know.”

“You said we'd come get them.”

“I know, Jasmine.”

“You said we.”

His eyes met mine.

“Because we're going.”

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

Five minutes ago, we had been arguing about who had the least time to raise two children. Now, we were standing outside a lawyer's office, preparing to pick up two little kids who had just lost their parents.

I looked at Nate. He looked at me. And somehow, without either of us saying it aloud, we both knew.

We weren't walking away, not anymore.

Damn it.

We were really becoming instant parents.