I laugh because I’m sure she’s not the only one. “Your mom will happily sit with her by the fire. Did you look at the pictures of the house we’re staying in?”
“Noah isn’t skiing either,” Peyton adds.
“Is that your rule or a team rule?” Quinn asks.
“Team rule,” Peyton says, laughing. “If he breaks his leg or arm, he’s screwed, and his contract is coming up for renewal.”
Elle chimes in with, “Maybe you guys can finally move to California for good.”
“His contract is up, not mine,” Peyton laughs and reminds her sister.
“Ugh,” Elle groans and rolls her eyes.
“Anyway,” I interrupt the kids. “Back to the plan. Are we good with it?”
“Yes, but Noah can’t leave tomorrow because they have to practice all week, which is stupid but needed. But I’ll be there in the morning.”
“Not that I’m complaining, but why are we all traveling together now?” Quinn asks.
I sigh and form what I want to say in my head. “Your mom and I have a surprise for you, and we want to give it to you all at the same time.”
“Well, I’ll be there,” Elle says. “Maybe I’ll just drive to the house tonight.”
“No!” I blanch, much to Elle’s surprise. “It’s just, you know . . .” I let my sentence trail off and watch the faces of my children morph into disgust. I can’t help but laugh.
“Dad, that is so gross. I don’t want to hear about you and Mom.” Quinn shudders.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re all adults. Get over it.” We finalize the details for the morning and hang up. My next call is to Liam, who graciously picks up on the second ring.
“What’s up?” he says.
“I thought I’d check and see what time you have the plane booked for?”
“We’re not using it. Figured we’d leave it to for you and JD.”
“Awesome, perfect. Katelyn and I have a surprise for you guys tomorrow.”
Liam laughs. “Oh man, I don’t even want to guess. Do you need me to pick you up at the airport?”
“Nah, I’ll rent something when I hang up with you.”
“Sounds good. I’m bringing my guitar. We can jam. There’s a bunch of pubs in the area. I figure we can do a gig or two.”
“I’m game. Okay, I gotta call JD and see what his plan is.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Liam says. “JD and Jenna are already there. They went a day early because he went overboard on snow gear and couldn’t wait to test it out.”
“Typical.”
“Pretty much.”
Liam and I hang up, and my next call is to the hanger to get everything set up for tomorrow. After this, I call the hotel and book the necessary rooms for the kids. The last thing I want is for them to have to pay for their rooms since they’re accommodating their mother and me in our little request.
By the time I have everything set, take-out dinner is sitting on the table, and Katelyn is holding the little guy in one arm and eating with her free hand. I go to her, kiss her forehead, and then lean down and press my lips to the baby. I inhale deeply and take in his baby scent.
“Are we all set for tomorrow?”
“We are. Nola is the only extra flying with us. Noah has practice, and Ben is going to his mom’s.”
Katelyn looks at me, and her mouth drops open slightly. “Ben is going to his mom’s?”
I shrug. I find it odd as well, but it’s not my place to say anything. “I guess.”
“He didn’t come here for Thanksgiving, either.”
“He doesn’t have to spend every holiday with us,” I point out.
“Since when?” Katelyn counters. “When we lived in Beaumont, he was at our house for everything. I just find it odd that he’s suddenly going to his mom’s.”
“Well, I’m sure he has a good reason.” I set my hand on top of hers and squeeze it. “Let’s eat, and not worry about why Ben has decided to spend Christmas with his mother and get packed. With this little guy, we have a lot of extras to take with us, and I don’t want to be in a strange town, not knowing where things are if he needs something.”
“You’re right.” Katelyn smiles and goes back to eating. I make sure her drink is full and find myself begging to hold the baby while I can because once his sisters, aunts, and cousins get a hold of him, I likely won’t get to hold him again until the new year.10KatelynI rest my head on the doorjamb and close my eyes. I underestimated what a two a.m. feeding meant, and the three in the morning diaper change, and the four-thirty wails because the baby was uncomfortable in his new surroundings. Each time I got up with him, even though Harrison woke as well. I know he would’ve gotten up if I asked, but I felt like it needed to be me. I think because I feel like I’ve interrupted a routine this little boy had already started to establish at night. And I’m the one who took him away from his night nursing staff.