Page 19 of Pack Plus More

The girls were already eying up the food with a ravenous look.

“I think we better feed our feral beasties,” I said, grabbing one of their plates as Devon did the same, loading them up with a little bit of everything.

As we did so, Nate took my plate and started filling it, automatically thinking of me before himself.

It was a small gesture, but it was those small things that the guys did every day that made me feel so utterly loved and cherished by them.

“Merry Christmas,” Jeremy grinned, looking at me as he lifted another potato onto Poppy’s plate.

“Merry Christmas, Duckie.”

“I can’t eat another bite!” Devon exclaimed, leaning back in his chair and patting his belly.

I groaned, “I feel like I’m already three months pregnant,” I said, rubbing my now bloated belly. It was worth every bite. The meal was so delicious I almost regretted being full.

“How about an evening of Christmas movies with the girls?” Nate asked, his tone thick with that sleepiness that came with eating a damn good meal.

“That sounds perfect,” I hummed in agreement as Petunia clambered into my lap. Poppy was already in Jeremy’s as he used several napkins to wipe the food off her face.

“I’ll go set up the sofa nest in the living room… just as soon as I’m able to move,” Nate mumbled, making me laugh.

“I think we are all stuck for a while,” I said.

“There are worse places to be stuck,” Jeremy said. “Hey Nate, has work actually been leaving you alone?” he asked.

Nate shrugged. “I don’t know honestly. I turned off my work phone. If those—” he looked at our daughters, thinking about what he was about to say “Poopy heads can’t appreciate I’m taking time off during the holidays, well that’s their problem!”

“They must be mourning the loss of their workaholic,” I smiled at him.

“Of course they miss me, I’m amazing,” Nate declared, making us all laugh.

We didn’t get up from the table for almost an hour, opting to sit around and chat instead of actually moving.

Eventually the girls became restless and wanted to move.

“Help daddy set up the nest,” I told Poppy, handing her one of the throw pillows out of the wardrobe. She grabbed it eagerly, running out of the room to go find Nate, who was overseeing the creation of the living room nest.

Movie nights had always been one of my favorite activities. We would push the two large sofas together, fill it with blankets and pillows and cuddle together in a big ol’ snuggle puddle.

It was ridiculously comfortable, and there weren’t many better ways to spend a night.

“I love this, it’s so festive!” I said as I took in the familiar nest with a few new additions.

“I feel like the snowmen and Christmas tree blankets added a nice little seasonal flair,” Jeremy said as he rearranged several of them to ensure we could crawl in with ease. Poppy and Petunia were also helping him, but their assistance was somewhat more chaotic. Several times he had to fix their pillow arrangements that were so tall they were bound to topple over.

I crawled into the nest next to Jeremy, pulling my girls in for a hug as Devon played with the remote getting a Christmas movie on.

Nate on my left, Jeremy on my right, and Devon in between my legs while I gave him head scratches, and both my girls curled up with me.

There was nothing more perfect.

Daisy

“When do they start sleeping normally?” Devon asked, craning his neck to the side as he watched Petunia sleep.

“I’m not sure honestly.”

“That can’t be comfortable,” he muttered, shaking his head. Petunia had decided to sleep on her knees, face pressed into the mattress, butt up in the air.

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