Page 105 of A Very Daddy Christmas

“Oh, I’m so glad,” I sigh with relief and give her another hug. “You’ve been sorely missed, Sherry, I’ll give you that.”

I then let my men kiss and embrace me in slow, loving turns.

“I understand Eva and that babysitter agency did a good job while you were… you know,” Sherry replies, briefly averting her gaze while struggling to find the right words.

“In mortal peril, is what you were going for,” Sebastian says.

“Yeah, that.”

“I missed you,” Dario says as he hugs her leg.

“Aw, I missed you, too.”

“Good news,” Sebastian interjects. “Sherry’s taking Dario over to her folks for the night. They’re doing Taco Tuesday for family dinner, which means we have the house to ourselves.”

“That’s wonderful,” I reply, smiling. “I suppose that means one of you fine gentlemen handled dinner for us?”

All I’m getting are crickets and awkward, stolen glances that make Sherry laugh.

“There’s a great Chinese place that just opened up,” Waylan saves the day. “We were thinking we might order something from there.”

“Sounds good to me,” I say with a smile.

Dario and Sherry head out soon after and Waylan gets online, ordering our dinner. Soon, the smell of Szechuan cuisine lingers sweetly in the air.

Sebastian refills my glass with water while we continue our conversation about the bakery and the next steps in the trial against Orson and George. It’s not a favorite topic these days, but we find it’s best to get it out of the way before we move on to more pleasant topics.

“I don’t look forward to testifying against them,” I admit.

“That’s understandable,” Waylan replies. “But they need to go away for a long time, and our lawyers said your testimony would be the final nail in their proverbial coffins.”

“Their defense attorneys will bring up our relationship and try to discredit me on the stand,” I remind them.

Sebastian shrugs. “It’s hearsay without any evidence.”

“Wow, you three really made those photos disappear, didn’t you?”

“Part of the deal for the DA to reduce some of their charges,” he says.

“That’s why we know their defense won’t be able to do much against you,” Riggs adds. “Not without shooting themselves in the foot. So I wouldn’t worry about testifying, baby. You get up on that stand, you tell them the truth about what happened, and you let the jury and the courts do the rest.”

I nod slowly then nibble on the last of my banana slices. “I’ll testify, don’t get me wrong I’m just so tired of this whole thing.”

“We all are. But come February, it’ll get easier,” Sebastian reaches across the table and covers my hand with his. The gesture is simple but so reassuring. “Once a trial date is set, we’ll know what to do next and when to do it. What I’m more interested in right now, however, is when the next ultrasound is.”

Ah, yes.It’s time for me to break the news I’ve been holding on to since they saved me from Denaro. With a deep breath, I give them a soft smile. “So, about that. As you already know, I had an ultrasound two weeks ago, while I was at the hospital.”

“Right.” Sebastian looks worried. “You said everything was okay with the baby.”

“Babies,” I correct him.

“Wait, what?” Riggs blurts out, his eyes wide with shock.

“We’re having twins,” I reply.

Waylan is the first to sit up, overcome with joy and astonishment. “Cora, are you for real? Twins?”

“Yep.”

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