Page 81 of Carpenter's Christmas Bride

But to Walt, both boys were incredibly impressive, and he wanted to be just like them. He’d been doing a lot of dancing since the performance, and didn’t seem to be getting tired of it yet. If anything, his interest was growing.

Kenzie put on the score of The Nutcracker and turned to Walt, waiting for him to say what he always did.

“I’m the king of rats,” he cried happily. “And you are the Nutcracker prince, fighting him.”

As they leapt into motion, she couldn’t help noticing that Walt was awfully coordinated for a boy his age, even if he wasn’t doing real choreography. He moved well to the music, he was energetic, and most importantly, he was really having fun. Hearing his giggles when he landed an impressive jump made Kenzie smile.

After half an hour of excellent cardio, Kenzie wiped her forehead in an exaggerated way.

“You wore me out, Rat King,” she declared. “You win this time.”

“Take that,” Walt yelled, poking at her with an invisible sword.

Kenzie made a show of falling onto the sofa with her arm over her face.

“You’re just pretending,” Walt said a little worriedly, grabbing her hand.

“Of course,” she told him, holding his hand. “You would never really hurt me.”

“It’s just like your ring pop,” Walt said, looking at the ring on her finger.

They had gone to Valerie’s shop the day after Aidan proposed and Valerie had shown them the three rings she thought they would like best.

The first was a shimmering cluster of tiny diamonds in a platinum setting. The second was a princess cut emerald solitaire flanked by two winking diamonds. And the third was a sparkling blue topaz on a slender golden band that looked an awful lot like a tiny, precious version of the ring pop Kenzie had said yes to in the first place. Walt had crowed out as much the moment he laid eyes on it, and all three of them were instantly in love.

“You’re not picking it because it’s the least expensive, are you?” Aidan asked her quietly as Valerie went to get the paperwork.

“I didn’t notice that,” she told him honestly. “Is it… in your budget?”

“All three were in my budget,” he told her with a warm smile. “I texted Valerie about it last night.”

“Thank you,” she told him, squeezing his hand. “I’m so happy, Aidan. I don’t need a ring at all.”

“Well, that other one is going to start attracting ants,” he said, winking at her. “So I’m glad we found an acceptable replacement.”

“Fine, but I’m going to keep it in the freezer,” she decided. “We don’t want to forget our history.”

He’d pulled her close and kissed her on the crown of her head then, and Walt giggled. He laughed almost every time they kissed.

Now she pulled Walt close and kissed him on the top of his head while he admired her ring.

“It does look like my ring pop ring,” she told him. “And it makes me smile whenever I think about it.”

“You love Daddy,” Walt said with certainty.

“With all my heart,” she told him, nodding.

“You love me,” Walt said, sounding less certain.

“With all my heart,” she agreed. “I will always, always, always love you, Walton Emerson Webb, no matter what.”

“I love you with all my heart,” he told her solemnly. “And with my brain.”

“Thank you,” she told him, trying not to smile. Loving someone with your brain as well as your heart was a real compliment.

“Can I have a snack now?” he asked.

“You can have some dinner now,” she told him. “I’m making chicken soup in the crock. Doesn’t it smell nice? And I have bread from Mallory’s bakery for bread and butter.”

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