Page 118 of Gift-Wrapped in a Kilt

"Yuck," Gavin said, curling his lip in overly dramatic disgust. "I don't need to hear about your sex life, C."

Rory thumped his fist on the table, rattling the glasses and plates. Once everyone had quieted down and turned their attention to him, Rory said, "My wife has an announcement too."

Emery stared at him wide-eyed for a couple seconds, then her surprise melted into a brilliant smile. "Now is the time?"

"Yes,m'eudail. Can you think of a better time?"

Her grin widened. She clasped her husband's hand and told the group, "I'm pregnant. With twins."

The whoops and cheers that erupted deafened Gavin. The volume of joy for this announcement made the previous ones seem like nothing. Not that the family wasn't equally happy for Jamie and Gavin, Lachlan and Erica, and Aidan and Calli. They were, of course. But everybody knew how long Rory had waited to find the right woman and how long he'd wanted to have a family of his own. Emery had waited a long time too, though with a lot less trauma and angst than Rory had endured. Their love story was epic and fast becoming a legend in the village of Loch Fairbairn.

The other members of the American Wives Club, Calli and Erica, leaped out of their chairs to descend on Emery, encompassing her with their arms and babbling about how wonderful this was. Rory observed with an expression Gavin had never seen on the man before. He looked contented, completely and serenely. Adoration for his wife glowed in his eyes and in the smile that slowly overtook him.

Emery glowed too, even as the other MacTaggarts swarmed around her and Rory. Emery couldn't make it out of her chair while overrun with thrilled relatives, but Rory shot up from his seat before anyone could pin him down. His brothers hugged him and slapped his back, and even Iain hurried over to offer congratulations.

When Gavin finally pushed through the crowd to grasp Rory's hand, the room went silent. Everyone stopped moving.

Rory scowled at Gavin, his grip on Gavin's hand firm. "Did ye think ye'd get away with it?"

"Uh, get away with what?"

A grin broke across Rory's face. "Congratulating me with only a handshake."

That's when Rory did something Gavin never would have imagined in a million-billion years. Emery had assured him Rory never did this to anyone but her. Even his wife, apparently, didn't know everything about him because Rory did it.

He pulled Gavin into a hug.

"You're family now," Rory said. "Act like it."

The silence morphed into the sounds of a boisterous family gathering once again.

By the time the festivities petered out, and everyone had exchanged gifts, Gavin wanted nothing more than to get Jamie alone and give her the one present he'd withheld from public viewing. And yeah, he wanted to get her naked too. They had a lot to celebrate. Thankfully, Rory and Emery excused themselves as soon as the guests had departed, hurrying up to their top-floor sanctuary. Soon, they'd move into their new, smaller home. Not long after that, they'd have twin babies.

Rory might need some Xanax to deal with that chaos.

Gavin remembered what Emery had said earlier when he congratulated her on the baby news.

"My husband almost passed out," Emery told Gavin, "when he found out it's twins. Took him all day to recover from the shock."

"He seems really happy about it," Gavin had said.

"Oh, he is. And so am I." She'd turned to Jamie then and asked, "When will it be your turn?"

Jamie's eyes had flared wide. "We aren't even married yet."

"Erica got knocked up before she married Lachlan. So did Calli."

Luckily, Emery's sister, Hadley, had interrupted at that point, determined to discuss with Emery the challenges of having twins.

Gavin's thoughts returned to the present, and he drew Jamie close to murmur in her ear. "Meet me in the sitting room in ten minutes."

"Why ten minutes?"

"Need to prepare your surprise."

Her voice dropped to a throaty purr. "A sexy surprise?"

"You'll find out in ten minutes."

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