“That’s the last Christmas tree one though!” Little Henry yelled.
“Yeah! Cough it up, Uncle Sebastian!” Skylar giggled.
“Ahhhh! Something bit me!” Sebastian cried out in surprise and pain before one knee buckled and he ended up on the floor.
The kids moved in and covered him from head to toe. Sebastian tried to keep hold of the cookie, but it was impossible. Anne could not stop laughing along with the rest of the adults. Sebastian screamed like a little girl, which made Anne laugh so hard that she had tears running down her face. She knew that he was playing around for the kids’ sakes but it was just so hilarious.
The cookie ended up in pieces, crumbled up between Sebastian trying to hold on and the kids snatching at it. A few of the older kids walked away while shoving a piece in their mouths. Eventually, when there was no more cookie to be had, all of the kids left Sebastian lying on the floor to go play elsewhere. He rolled to his side and leaned on one elbow, sending death glares at his brothers and Shea.
“You guys could have helped me.” He grunted.
“It was much more fun to watch.” Quinn chuckled.
“You four are now on my shit list,” Sebastian muttered as he got to his feet.
“Aw, poor baby. Couldn’t handle a horde of kids,” Henry said with a fake pout.
“Hello! Did you not see those little monsters! They ganged up on me and one of them bit me on the back of my leg!” Sebastian squawked, his arms flailing.
Everyone started laughing.
“I hate you all.” Sebastian snarled. “I wanted that damn cookie, too.” He huffed as he brushed himself off while walking over to Raelynn, who wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Get over it, you big baby.” Henry snorted.
Sebastian shot his brother the finger. “Get over this, fuckface,” he snapped.
“Alright, how about we give mom her present?” Christian said, ever the peacekeeper.
“Good idea, Christian,” Claire agreed, sending both Henry and Sebastian a disapproving look.
“I’ll go get it,” Henry said and left the room.
“What did you guys do now?” Anne sighed. Her boys had the habit of getting her some of the goofiest presents.
“Nothing,” Sebastian said with an innocent face that Anne wasn’t buying for one second.
A couple of years ago they had a throw blanket made with a picture of them on it, but it wasn’t a nice picture. They had all dressed up like Steve Urkle with the high pants, suspenders, glasses…everything, and smiled with overly cheesy smiles. Not that Anne didn’t love it, because she did, it was her favorite blanket, but one year she wished they would just do something nice and normal.
Henry came back in the room with a very large picture frame, the back facing her. Oh jeez, she could only imagine what the picture on the other side looked like. Christian went over and helped Henry turn it around. Anne gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. She couldn’t believe what she was looking at. Tears sprang to her eyes and started sliding down her face.
The picture was of her whole family - her boys, their spouses and all of the kids. They were all dressed in white and posing in front of a beautiful flower garden. Everyone looked gorgeous and all of the kids were smiling and looking at the camera. How they got all of those kids to behave was a miracle. Each family was together and they went in age order. Henry, who was the oldest, was all the way to the left with his family.
Henry and Claire had four children, Ethan who was now thirteen, Henry III was ten, Adalyn was nine, and the youngest at six was Evangeline. Ethan was as tall if not a little taller than his mother, and boy, was he a looker with his blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Henry told her that Ethan was already a heartbreaker and has had a couple of girlfriends since he started high school at the beginning of September, which was only four months ago. Henry III was also a big boy. He is definitely taking after his father in both looks and personality. The only thing that he had of his mother’s was her bright blue eyes. Adalyn also had her mother’s eyes. She actually looked just like Claire and was the sweetest little girl who loved her daddy to death. Then there was Evangeline ,who was a mixture of both Henry and Claire. She was the only kid who got Henry’s green eyes, her hair was strawberry blonde like Claire’s, and she had a little of both parents personalities.
Next to Henry and Claire, were Sebastian and Raelynn and their four children, who were all boys. Michael was their oldest at nine, the twins, Matthew and Timothy, were six, and Brian, who was a surprise, was two. All four boys took after Sebastian in both looks and personality. Poor Raelynn, Anne felt so bad for her, she had to live in that house with five boys. Even though Sebastian was now in his forties, he still acted like a little kid. He was a fantastic father, though; he was stern when he needed to be, which was fairly often because his boys were wild. But he loved his children and wife with his whole heart, which is what mattered most.