Lost and Found Pieces 2

on edge.”
“The orphanage always gave away the lamest toys,” John murmured. “I think a lot of the time they were toys that kids had forgotten when they got adopted and stuff.”
Aiden laughed, not surprised the two of them had been thinking along the same lines. “I was remembering that this morning, actually.”
“And the military, well, you were lucky if you got a good meal.”
“Yeah,” Aiden murmured. “I remember.”
They were each lost in thought for a moment.
“I used to hate Christmas with a passion. It wasn’t until I was with Shannon that I realized how skewed my conception of the holidays were,” John told him, rolling closer. “You and I didn’t get a great start in life, but since I’ve had the boys I’ve been trying to change. I think if we focus our efforts, we can make sure that they have no idea how hard it can be out there.”
Aiden looked at John, seeing the emotion as he looked at his boys. “I’ll do anything I can to help. Even if it’s out of my realm of knowledge,” he laughed.
“I’ll teach you brother,” John said, reaching out and resting a hand on Aiden’s shoulder.

Chapter Two
Eating dinner with two toddlers was an experience in itself. John and Shannon each took a boy and tried to feed them as they ate, but Shannon ended up focusing completely on Caden when he decided Carmella, the family Golden Retriever, needed some mashed potatoes too.
“No, Caden. Carmella eats her dog food, remember?”
He nodded sagely, looking at the dog. “Yum, foo. Yum, foo.”
Shannon looked at the boy, head cocked. “He’d better not have been eating dog food again,” she muttered, giving John a dark look. “We moved it into the garage for a reason.”
“I haven’t seen him,” John said, holding up his hands defensively. “I swear.”
Aiden snorted, his gaze connecting with Angela. Amusement danced in her eyes. Maybe we should have gotten them a doghouse, he told her mentally.
Angela snorted, then covered it with a cough, covering her mouth with the napkin. She shook her head the tiniest bit.
Wyatt, the oldest of the twins by just a few minutes, ate his food, kind of. He tried to maneuver the spoon full of broccoli but it didn’t quite make it to his mouth. John had to help him, which Wyatt didn’t appreciate. “Mine,” he said taking the spoon back from John.
His brother glowered, brows going down over his fierce dark eyes. “You’d better be nice, Wyatt.”
The boy glanced away from his father’s Gunny Sergeant voice, picking up a piece of broccoli with his fingers and putting it on the bowl of the spoon. When the vegetable made it to his mouth he grinned at John, his bright little teeth full of green. Then an odd looked crossed the boy’s face. Within a few seconds a very distinctive odor reached their noses.
“Chane, Daddy. Chane.”
With a beleaguered sigh, John looked at the little boy. “If you can tell me you need changed you should be able to tell me you need to go potty like a big boy. Come on, rugrat.”
Wyatt giggled as John lifted him out of the highchair and pretended to drop him, then settled him to his lap. Wyatt jerked back and forth in John’s lap, trying to try to get the chair to go faster.
“We’ll be back,” John told them. “Go ahead and eat.”
“Maybe I should take Caden too. Do you have to go potty?” Shannon singsonged to the child.
“No! No potty.”
Shannon gave them an apologetic look. “If you’ll excuse us a minute. We’ve been trying to get this potty thing into gear, but it’s hit and miss, if you know what I mean.”
Angela laughed. “You go do what you need to do. We’ll be here.”
The Palmers left the kitchen and Angela climbed to her feet to start gathering dishes. They’d been over enough times that she knew where things went so she started putting leftovers in containers. She did leave John and Shannon’s half-full plates out, though, just in case they wanted to finish their meal.
Aiden began gathering items and taking them into the kitchen where she stood at the sink, scraping plates and loading them into the dishwasher. He’d gotten used to doing this domestic chore with her after their own meals, and he didn’t mind it.
“Those kids are something, aren’t they?” Angela said, her mouth quirked in a smile.
“Something, all right,” he agreed.
“I wonder if you were a good baby or a bad baby,” she said thoughtfully, giving him a look. “I have a feeling you were terribly precocious.”
Aiden snorted. “I’m sure. I’ll take that. But I think John was just a bad kid in general. I think his getting two kids as bad as he was is justified.”
“I don’t think they’re bad,” Angela corrected. “I think they’re incredibly smart and love learning about their world.”
Yeah, he thought the same thing, actually. They were twins, but he’d observed them doing things that toddlers over three shouldn’t have been able to do, like the potty training. They picked up vocabulary like crazy and he didn’t think most kids that age could talk as well as they did, but maybe he was wrong. And the boys seemed to have an affinity for each other. It was amazing to watch them together and he looked forward to watching them grow.
“Is it normal for babies to be so… independent?”
Angela widened her eyes. “I’m not even sure,” she laughed. “It’s not like I’ve been around a lot of kids that size.”
“I have to admit, they’re kind of fascinating. And jeez, they’re getting mobile!”
Angela gave him a soft smile. “I think if you look at them together you can imagine it being you and John, when you were kids. One bigger, one smaller. It’s actually pretty adorable.”
He stared at her, rolling her words around in his head. “You might be right,” he agreed. Turning, he leaned back against the counter. Then he tugged her toward him, resting his hands on her hips. Angela smiled and leaned into