Tis the Season for Love

The sun was barely up, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the boys really had been awake for hours just waiting for the slightest sound from the nursery. The twins were three years old and loved the holidays even more than Grant and I did. It made sense though, since we were pretty certain they’d been conceived Christmas night after we got married.

I padded over to the door to let the boys in. Just as I got it open, Grant patted my ass and kissed my cheek before ruffling the boys’ hair and kissing the top of their heads. I giggled when Christopher and Gabriel narrowed their eyes at him as he walked past. Grant headed down the hallway towards Noelle’s nursery, and the boys tugged on my arms to lead me downstairs. After Noelle had her bottle, we spread out in the living room and unwrapped the mound of presents under the tree. Once that was done, we stuffed ourselves full of cinnamon rolls, fruit, and hot chocolate.

A couple of hours later, after the boys had played with their new toys, we headed over to the farm where Grant still kept the sleigh and our horses. When we pulled up, there was already a group waiting for us.

“Finally!” Harley called out, rushing towards us to help get Noelle out of her car seat. David trailed behind her, chuckling. She elbowed him in the side and rolled her eyes. “C’mon! Don’t even try to tell me you aren’t as happy as I am to see them. The kids are driving me nuts with their asking every minute or so when they’d get here so they can go out on the sleigh.”

“Sure, that’s why you were so anxious to get to their car before the rest of us,” Holly teased. I looked up and found her standing with the kids and her husband, Jacob, near the barn. Holly was Harley’s best friend, all the way back to when they’d met in kindergarten. With their long history, I should’ve felt like an outsider around them but both women had quickly accepted me into their crew and never left me out of anything. We’d spent so much time together that it felt like I’d known them forever instead of just for four years. They were more like family now than friends.

“Like you wouldn’t have done the same thing.” Harley cuddled my daughter against her chest, swaying from side to side.

Luke rolled his eyes at Tyler and mumbled, “If we’d known how baby crazy they’d all get, we’d never have hooked my dad up with your sister.”

“Tell me about it,” Tyler agreed.

It would’ve been easier to take the teenagers seriously if they both weren’t bouncing a toddler on their hip. Or if they didn’t keep all of the kids busy while Grant got the sleigh ready to go. With eight of them running around—Joy, Nicholas, Ivy, and December belonged to Holly and Jacob, Harley and David had Rebecca and Robert, and our two little hellions—Luke and Tyler were worn out by the time it was their turn on the sleigh. Harley refused to let go of Noelle, even though Holly kept trying to get her “fair share of baby cuddles.”

Judging by the twinkle in Jacob’s eye as she complained, I had a feeling he was going to do his best to give her another baby of her own to snuggle. Grinning up at my husband as he handed the reins over to Luke, I pressed my hand against my belly and smiled at him. He had his own twinkle in his eye, but he’d already done his best and we had the positive pregnancy test I’d taken this morning to show for it. Another Christmas miracle for us to celebrate.

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