Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Deacon and Ramsey graciously offered to host all of us at their place. My mom and Carol both jumped in and helped with the food, as did Jade and Piper. Everything came together with ease.
We just finished dinner, which was amazing, and everyone is sitting around ready to open presents. Since there were so many of us, we all decided to draw names, except for Blakely. She gets all the things because we all want to spoil her rotten. I smile, knowing that next year, her baby cousin will be right here with her. I hope we can make this a tradition.
“Who’s ready for presents?” Deacon shouts.
“Oh, Uncle Deacon, I wants pwesents,” Blakely tells him, making us all laugh.
Brooks taps my thigh where I’m sitting on his lap on the couch, and I stand. He takes my hand, and we move to the front of the room. “Palmer and I have something for all of you,” he says, smiling down at me.
I chuckle because he’s right. This room is filled with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and a cousin, so yeah, I guess our baby is for all of them too.
“Maverick has an envelope for each of you. I’ll save you the trouble of opening it.” He chuckles. “Inside, you will find an invitation to join us at Willow Manor on New Years' Eve.” Brooks smiles down at me. “I want you to be there when I make this beautiful woman my wife.”
Cheers erupt all around us, and we are bombarded with hugs and handshakes. It takes several minutes for everyone to get their turn, and Brooks raises his hand. “One more thing.” He smiles at me, and I turn to face our families.
“We’re having a baby!” I cheer, and if I thought the wedding announcement was well received, this is so much more. We talked about it and we wanted a short engagement. We spent so much time hiding, we’re ready to shout our love for one another to the world.
We get another round of hugs and handshakes, and then I feel a tug on my sweater. Blakely raises her hands for me to pick her up, and Brooks notices. He scoops her up in his arms. “Aunt Palmer can’t lift you while she’s pregnant,” he explains. He’s being overprotective. There is no reason I can’t lift her. Instead of arguing, I let him have his way. I know it’s coming from a place of love for me and our baby.
Blakely tilts her little head to the side as if she’s processing his words. “Can we still have girls’ days?” she asks.
“Of course,” I assure her.
“Can the baby come too?” she asks.
“Yes, the baby can come too.”
“Palmer and I are getting married. She’s going to be my wife, and our baby will be your little cousin,” Brooks explains. The room is silent as they listen to us help her understand what’s happening. She’s been the baby for four years, and this will be a change for her.
Her little brow furrows, and she places her hands on either side of Brooks’s face. “Where do we get one of those?” she asks him.
“Get one of what, sweetheart?”
“A wife?”
Brooks coughs, as does Declan, who’s standing next to us. “Squirt, it’s time for presents,” he says to distract her.
“Yeah, one of those. A wife.” She points at me. “If my daddy gets one of those, then I get a baby too. Or can I have your baby?” she asks.
Brooks chuckles. “No, you can’t have our baby, but as the big cousin, you’ll have to help us teach the baby all kinds of fun things.”
“Daddy! I needs your phone. We hafta call Santa.”
“Squirt, Santa comes tonight, remember?”
“I know that’s why we hafta call him now. He needs to bring us a wife.”
Declan smiles sadly, taking his daughter into his arms. “It doesn’t work like that, baby. Come on, let’s open presents.”
Sterling takes her from her dad’s arms and hands her a gift, and just like that, all is forgotten. I keep my eyes on Declan as he watches his daughter with sad eyes, and I send up a silent prayer that the two of them will find someone who brings the amount of joy into their lives that Brooks has brought into mine.
Brooks moves behind me, wrapping me in his arms. One hand rests on my belly, the other over my chest, holding me close. “Love you, beautiful.”
“Love you too, big guy.”
Brooks was right. We were never going to stay over. Instead, we have forever.