Page 108 of A Very Daddy Christmas

“I’ll act positively shocked at the next one,” I wink.

My men all look at me with wide, shiny eyes. “The next one?” Riggs mutters.

“I know, I told her the same thing,” Sebastian says, holding back a hearty laugh. “Let’s see how we fare with these three first.”

Dario is counting on his fingers, wearing the cutest little frown. “One, two… that’s the twins. Who’s the third?”

“You are,” Waylan says, kneeling before his adopted son. “If you still want that. The judge approved our adoption papers, buddy.”

“What do you say, Dario?” Sebastian asks the boy. “Are you cool with being a part of our family?”

The kid looks around. The heaviest kind of silence takes over the room, and I hold my breath for a long moment as I wait for him to say something. It feels like forever before Dario takes a deep breath and looks up at Sebastian.

“I think it’s fun to have three dads, two brothers, and a cool mom.”

“A cool mom,” I gasp.

“You bake cookies,” Waylan gives me a wink. “It makes you cool in Dario’s book.”

“You heard the boy, ladies and gentlemen,” Riggs laughs. “We got ourselves a big, happy family here.”

Dario gets shy pretty quickly, his cheeks burning red as he runs over and hugs me. “Oh, sweetie.” I take him in my arms. “Thank you for letting me be your mom. I’ll do my best, I promise.”

“I love you, Cora,” Dario whispers in my ear. “Don’t go anywhere, please.”

“I won’t, Dario. I promise,” I tell him, my heart breaking and growing three sizes bigger at the same time.

“How’s this for a happy ending?” Sebastian asks as he kneels beside me.

“Not too shabby, Mr. McKenna. Not too shabby at all.”

“We’ll give them another hour to enjoy the cake and the drinks,” Waylan says, his voice low so no one else can hear him. The twins are making their rounds with Eva and Carl, while Sherry and the girls gather around them. “And then we’ll send everybody home. How does that sound?”

“It sounds like the beginning of a perfect evening,” I say.

Riggs ruffles Dario’s rich, curly hair. “What do you say we do a movie and popcorn night after the party’s over? We’ll pop the kiddy champagne to celebrate, huh?”

“Yeah, movie night!” Dario cheers. “Can I make the popcorn?”

“This little guy really likes being in the kitchen,” Riggs tells me. “You’re rubbing off on him.”

“Share some of the blame, gentlemen, because y’all seem to enjoy kitchen time almost as much as me,” I quip. “In fact, I doubt I’ll ever be able to make a lasagna as good as Waylan’s.”

Waylan gives me a wry smile. “Man’s got to be good at something, right?”

“Oh, you’re good at plenty,” I laugh.

Sherry helps Eva put the boys in their carriers. They both look like they are close to dozing off again. Soon enough, the discomfort of being outside of the safety and familiarity of my womb will catch up, and my babies will be dealing with getting used to everything. It will be a pleasure, a pain, a joy, and an uphill struggle to raise them and make sure they have everything they need to handle whatever the future decides to throw at them.

“You haven’t told us their names yet.” Sherry reminds me.

Carl helps serve some of the cake on paper plates. A slice makes it over to me, and I indulge in the layers of vanilla and coconut cream, recognizing the grated lemon zest as my sister’s loving signature.

“Oh, this is ridiculously good, Eva,” I tell her.

“I knew you’d like it.”

“Names?” Sherry impatiently reminds me again.

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