Bound by Twilight: A Gender-Swapped Jack and the Beanstalk Retelling by Megan Charlie

Author:Megan Charlie [Charlie, Megan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-07-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

In Which Double Trouble is Embraced

Dreams in which she could neither find her way nor open her eyes so fully plagued Twila’s rest that the knock that woke her came as a relief. Until she saw that full dark had arrived at least an hour earlier. She launched from the bed—happy she chose to wear the plum dress to bed—and stumbled a bit as her stiff body reminded her of all she had put it through yesterday.

The next knock fell away as she yanked open the door, ready to berate Eduard for letting her sleep too long. Two pale-blond blurs zipped past her knees. Shrieks of delight sounded behind her and she turned to see a pair of cherub-cheeked children jumping on her bed.

A throat cleared at her side, and she looked at Eduard. “Uh, these are Iyla’s offspring. They like to play in their mother’s old room sometimes.” He ran a hand through his hair, then motioned toward the little boy who had somersaulted off the mattress and now laughed from the floor. “That one is Finnbar. His sister is Menodora.”

A very indignant humph came out of the small girl standing on the bed, chubby fists on her hips. “Finn and Dora, Uncle E!”

“My apologies, Dor.”

The girl nodded regally, then launched herself onto her brother. The two kids rolled and giggled, completely ignoring the adults. Twila’s shock melted into ooey gooey-ness when she realized the invaders were Eduard’s niece and nephew.

“Children! Come meet Twila,” their uncle called as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.

Running footsteps warned her to brace for impact. Two little bodies slammed into her legs. She managed to stay standing until the pair started a shoving match. Fortunately, her host anticipated this and caught her.

“Knock it off,” Eduard calmly admonished as he set her on her feet. He then pried Dora off her brother, who immediately reattached himself to Twila’s leg.

“Hi!”

Twila peered down at a sweet, sticky face framed by curls in the purest shade of white she had ever seen on a person. “Hello.”

“Three,” the boy announced, releasing her leg with one hand to clumsily hold up four, then three, fingers.

“You’re three years old?” she guessed.

“Yup!” Finn beamed at her with a dimple half-hidden by purple stickiness.

“Me, too!” squealed his sister.

Eduard’s tender smile as he gazed at the children threatened to undo all Twila’s hard work guarding her heart. “Twins, if you didn’t guess,” he said.

“Do you need a bath?” the voice at her feet piped.

Twila squatted to address Finn, gently breaking his hold in the process. “I just took a bath.” She shot a questioning look at Eduard, who shrugged in return.

The child accepted this without comment and asked his uncle if they could go to the old nursery now.

“As soon as we wash the rest of the jam off your face,” Eduard promised. He grabbed Finn’s hand and headed for the bathing chamber. “How did we miss that much?”

A finger poked the braid near Twila’s ear. “Can you do my

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