I was stuffed. Sarah had cooked for about thirty people rather than twelve. On reflection, having a who’s-got-the-bigger-balls eating contest with Jasper was a bad idea. But he did look as uncomfortable as I felt.
Mia sat down beside me, watching Leona and Everleigh make Loom Band bracelets on the floor.
“How’re you doing?” I asked. Two months ago she’d broken up with a guy she’d been seeing for about four months prior.
“I’m doing really well. Thinking about taking Leona to Disneyland in March. We both really want to go.”
“She’ll love that.”
“She will, and I think we both deserve it.”
“Heard anything from him?” I asked.
“He tried calling but I didn’t pick up. He’s a nice guy, but I’m not wasting time on someone that I don’t see a future with. I like that it’s just me and Leona at the minute.”
Mia was happy to focus on herself, Leona, and her career. She didn’t need anyone, and I really admired her for that. If Oakley left me I’d probably stop existing.
“I’m so proud of you, Mia. You’re an amazing mum.”
Her eyes welled up and she slapped my arm. “You utter bastard!”
What the fuck was that about? “Alright, sorry. You’re a terrible mother, sis.”
Rolling her eyes, she said, “Shut up. I don’t really care about a lot of things in life, like material things, having the high-power career, but being a good mum to my little girl…”
“At the risk of getting hit again, just don’t change anything because you’re already there.”
She held her hands up. “Okay, I’m changing the subject before I cry. I need to pry my nephew off Mum. She’s not put him down since Miles handed him over. I want my Bentley snuggle time too.”
“Good luck.” Even I found it hard to get him back, and he’s my son.
“Sophia coming through,” Jasper said, walking awkwardly across the room holding Soph’s hands. With assistance, she could walk, and she liked to walk a lot.
Everleigh and Leona gently tickled her belly as she strolled past them. She was also quick on her feet. You had to expertly power-walk whilst crouching down and making sure there was nothing in her way.
She walked with help from her dad over to the sofa where I was sitting with Mia and stopped at the edge. She pulled her hands out of his and gripped Mia’s knees. My sister soon picked her up, happy to have a baby to cuddle.
“Cole, kitchen,” Jasper said.
“Jasper, why?”
He deadpanned. “Do you need to question everything?”
“With you, yeah.”
“Oh, will you just get up!”
I stood. “Happy?”
“Never been happier.” He nodded to the kitchen, and I followed. I wouldn’t admit that I was intrigued because we could be going in there for absolutely any reason. You never knew what was coming when he was involved.
“Well?” I asked when nothing was out of order. There were no broken appliances or water pouring out of a pipe in the wall. All things he’d done in his own place.
“Oh, look, your wife is outside,” he said and walked back into the living room.
What?
I didn’t give his oddness much thought when I saw Oakley through the window. She shivered and waved at me to go out.
“What’re you doing?” I asked, opening the patio doors. “Oakley, you’re going to freeze.”
Holly laughed from beside her, squeezed Oakley’s hand and walked inside.
“Come here,” she replied, holding her hand out.
There weren’t many times that I wouldn’t follow my wife, despite the below freezing temperature stabbing my bare arms.
“What’re we doing?” My body tensed, and I rubbed my hands together for warmth. “Jesus, Oakley, it’s so cold out here my balls have retreated,” I hissed.
Even though it wasn’t snowing we still had a white Christmas. The snowfall from a few days ago had lingered, and the freezing temperatures would probably keep it here for a few more.
“I know, but you love the snow,” she said. “And Everleigh is excited to show us the snowmen she built yesterday.”
While we wrapped presents yesterday, Everleigh spent the morning with Sarah and Miles. Miles had wrapped them both up warm and spent an hour in the garden building a snowman family.
I laughed. “Yeah, but she’s too cold to come out now.”
“She’s too busy playing with her toys. I had a feeling she’d do that.”
Sarah and Miles were also Christmas light crazy. Every tree in their garden had lights wrapped around them.
We walked around to the side of the house where the two trees that Leona and Everleigh had tyres hanging from were covered in twinkling lights.
Oakley squealed and pulled my hand. “There they are!”
Along the wall were three snowmen and in the arms of which one was obviously me was baby Bentley. “What’s on yours?” I asked, noticing something on the body of Oakley’s snowman.
She squealed again and laughed, pushing me forwards so I could get a better look. My eyes widened when I saw exactly what it was.
“Oakley…?”
Oh my God.
“This is what I was doing when I snuck away from the table earlier,” she said.
I was stunned. Completely and utterly stunned. On the snowman’s belly, written in twigs was: #3
“I found out last week. I wanted to tell you but I wanted to do it in a fun way. Are you excited? I know it’s soon after Bentley but–”
I couldn’t let her ramble on anymore. I needed to kiss her. Grabbing her thick coat I hauled her against me, gripped the back of her head and glued my lips to hers.
My wife is fucking pregnant!
She smiled through the kiss and flattened her body against mine. Her lips were cold from the temperature but as urgent and needy as my own. I moaned, bringing my hand around to cup her jaw.
Her skin was so soft. Every inch of her was perfect to me. “I love you,” I breathed into the kiss. “I can’t believe we’re going to be new parents again.”
She pulled away just far enough so that we could talk properly. But she was still very close and at that lips-almost-touching distance I had a hard time remembering my own name let alone discussing our third, and total surprise, child.
“I love you too. It’s crazy, I know. The doctor said that although you’re less likely to get pregnant when you’re breastfeeding it can happen. We obviously didn’t when I breastfed Everleigh so I never even thought about it. Well…this time…” She gestured to her stomach. “I think maybe it happened because we started substituting some feeds with formula. I don’t know,” she rambled and bit her bottom lip.
“It doesn’t matter how or why it happened. I’m fucking over the moon here,” I said, laughing. “How far along? When can we see our baby?”
With Everleigh and Bentley I’d probably been the most excited expectant father on the planet, and I felt that same level of excitement and impatience that I did the first two times.
She looked so content as she gazed up at me. “It’s still really early days. I’m about seven weeks. The midwife is arranging a scan for the first few weeks in the New Year.”
“Shit, I can’t wait.” I could count on one hand the number of times I’d cried: when Oakley left, when she came back, and the birth of our two children. I felt like blubbering again. We hadn’t planned to have more children so this was the best surprise.
Everleigh and Bentley were more than enough for me but deep down I would’ve liked to have more. I didn’t think it would happen since Oakley wanted to stop at two, and I respected that, she was the one that had to give birth after all.
She shook her head, glowing. “Me neither.”
“Boy,” I said. “I think it’s another boy.”
She leant into me, laughing. “Oh, you do?”
“Yeah. I don’t care either way, but I think Everleigh will be the only daughter we
have. Be easier not to have to worry myself sick about penis’ chasing two of my babies.”
“You never know…” she said raising her eyebrow.
“Hell, I don’t care about that. If Bentley or the new baby is gay that’s fine with me, but I won’t worry because boys can’t get boys pregnant.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”
“You love me.”
“More than you could ever imagine.”
She stole my breath. I’d never get over the way she made me feel. It had only ever been her. All I needed was her and our kids. “Oakley…” I closed my eyes. She made me feel invincible. When I looked at her again she had a tear rolling down her cheek. I didn’t wipe it away like usual because I knew it wasn’t through sadness.
“I know, Cole,” she whispered, her voice thick. “Want to go and tell our families there will be another addition next year?”
“Hell yeah, I do. Plus, it’ll make Jasper feel less of a guy for being two down. You know I’m always up for that.”
Taking my hand, she looked at me in discouragement. “You’re a man-child.”
I shrugged. “You married it, baby.”
“Lucky me,” she said sarcastically and absentmindedly bit her lip.
No, lucky me!
Books by
Natasha Preston
THE SILENCE SERIES:
Silence
Broken Silence
Players, Bumps and Cocktail Sausages
Silent Night
THE CHANCE SERIES:
Second Chance
Our Chance
STANDALONES:
Save Me
The Cellar
www.natashapreston.com
Silent Night Page 5