Page 3 of One Hellion of a Christmas

Christmas songs floatedfrom overhead as I walked with Hayat through the mall. She had Amala on her hip, keeping her steps slow and steady to match my pace. Waddling around with a heavy pregnant belly was not fun, but I had a few last-minute Christmas presents I needed to pick up from the store.

Vaughn and Sammy both made it nearly impossible to gift shop for them, with how they were constantly monitoring me.Cough, stalking, cough.I’d had to find more inventive ways to surprise them with their Christmas presents each year. Online shopping wasn’t an option when my husband was the number one hacker in the world. Sneaking off for a few hours to shop on my own wasn’t a choice either.

This year, I’d asked Hayat to order my sister-in-law’s and Vaughn’s presents. Since her guys gossiped to Elias like grandmas in a quilting circle, and we didn’t trust him not to tell his wife about her Christmas present, Hayat had everything shipped directly to the mall. It was an exhausting hour drive from my house, made even longer because I had to pee every fifteen minutes.

Sneaking out of my own home was a challenge of its own with all the high-tech security Vaughn had installed, not onlyinside the house, but around the entire property. That included Sammy’s cottage next door and the mega-mansion on the other side. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had all of Creswell Springs wired for surveillance.

My husband was a little obsessed with my safety.

And, admittedly, Vaughn was just as delulu as his psychotic younger sister. But fuck if I didn’t love that about them both.

“Can I have a cookie, Mommy?” Amala asked as we passed the food court on the second floor. Of course the store I needed to go to required us to walk by all those delicious temptations.

A painful kick hit my ribs, the baby obviously seconding her sister’s sweet plea. Rubbing my hand over my enormous belly, I glanced at the long line of people already waiting to order.

“After we pick upTetka’s and Papa’s Christmas presents,” I promised.

Hayat readjusted Amala as we passed a small group of loud teens, shifting her so that my little mini-me was between us on her hip. It was a natural move, carried out smoothly without giving the annoying kids a second look.

Entering the store, we found the customer service desk—all the way at the back of the freaking shop—and Hayat pulled up the virtual receipt for the manager to scan.

“We have everything ready to go for you, Ms. Cutter. Just give me one moment to grab those.”

As the woman disappeared through a service door, Hayat placed Amala on her feet. “You have to walk now, Mini. I need to carry the presents since they are so heavy. Promise to hold Mommy’s hand nice and tight until we get back to the car, and I’ll buy you an extra cookie for later.”

“Can we get one forTetkatoo?” Amala asked hopefully.

Hayat grinned, making her dimples pop. “Absolutely. We can’t leave her out.”

Even with a hundred people shopping around us, the manager was efficient. We were out of there in a few minutes, but the long line for cookies hadn’t gotten any shorter during that time.

I almost whined at the scent of cookie dough in the air, my mouth watering. But I needed to pee. And so did Amala. She started bouncing from one foot to the other, her eyes shooting from the bathroom’s sign to the display counter where all that deliciousness was waiting for us.

Hayat shifted the two big bags, so she was holding both in one hand. “You two go potty. I will get the cookies. Any special requests?”

“I want one with frosting. The biggest one, bestie.”

“You got it, Mini. Abi?”

Licking my lips, I glanced at the display of treats on offer. There were way too many options for me to choose. “Surprise me.”

The line in the ladies’ room was even longer than the one for cookies. Amala held my hand as we waited, her eyes traveling over all the other women already in front of us. Swallowing a groan, I pulled out my phone. I’d turned off the ringer because I’d wanted to spend the drive catching up with Hayat. We spoke every day and did a video call at least once a week. But we always had something to talk about.

Five missed texts greeted me, and I couldn’t help smiling at the sight of the messages from Vaughn and Sammy.

I hit the connection on my sister-in-law’s name, and it barely rang before she was answering. “Where are you?” Sammy demanded, an edge to her tone.

There was only one reason for her to be all grumbly.

“Anya must have arrived,” I concluded, watching as Amala hummed along with the Christmas carol playing through the audio system. Still holding my hand, she swung our armsplayfully back and forth, doing a little twirl. All that energy. All that happiness.

“Babushka?” Amala asked hopefully, doing another twirl. “Yay!”

“Where are you?” Sammy asked again.

“The mall. Do you need specifics, or can you see that on your tracker app that Vaughn shared with you? Oh, wait. Maybe you have your own. Where is the little microchip thingy? My shoe? It’s totally in my shoe, isn’t it?” Her lack of response made me snicker. “At the moment, I’m standing in an unending line for the bathroom with Amala. Hayat is getting cookies. Do you have any last-minute gifts you would like us to pick up while we’re here?”

“You should have waited for someone to go with you,” she grumbled.

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