Page 5 of A Very Montgomery Christmas

“Is Lincoln on his way?” Holland asked, her eyes wide, pleading.

“Yes, he texted he was leaving the store. And then he texted at the stoplight, saying he was almost there. He checks in more than I do.”

Holland rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s a lie. You both check on me so much during the day. It’s like having you here, except for you’re not here to help me lift things.”

“I can work from home more,” I said. “Julia said she’d work with me on it.”

Holland shook her head. “No. Because I want to still love you, and if you were working from home twenty-four hours a day, I am going to get testy.”

“You know, I don’t know how I should take that,” I said dryly.

“You should take that in the grace that has been given. That I love you, I like you, and I’m stressed.”

“I can’t believe my mother did this four times.”

“Maybe babies were easier back then,” Holland said, and met my gaze. We both snorted, keeping our laughter at bay as to not jostle Kingston.

“Please don’t tell your mother that I said that.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t say that. Because if I did, my dad would come up with a story of having to walk uphill both ways in the snow barefoot to get formula.”

“That sounds about right,” Holland said, continuing to swing. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, her hair was piled on the top of her head, and she was wearing her same pajamas. And a bit of spit-up we had missed in the last cleanup.

“We need to leave in an hour,” I said softly.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you saying that I don’t look ready for tonight? That I am not the most gorgeous specimen, you had ever seen?”

She might have been glaring at me, but I saw the laughter in her eyes.

“You are gorgeous. And if you show up like that for Christmas dinner, Mom will love you even more, and never let us hold Kingston for the rest of the evening, possibly not the week.”

“She does love holding our baby. Just wait till Bristol pops, then your dad will finally be able to hold one of his grandkids.”

“They’ll just trade them off, with Lake dancing around them, telling them about her day.”

Holland’s smile was wide, filled with love. “I’m just so happy. I can’t believe that this is our life.”

“It does seem a bit shocking,” I said dryly.

“Do you think Aaron and Madison are going to start trying?” Holland asked. “I know they were talking about it casually, and they want their kids to grow up with ours.”

“As I don’t think any of us are done having kids, despite the lack of sleep right now, they still have time. I don’t know their plans because I don’t want to be that guy who asks and steps into a painful moment. You know?”

Holland’s smile softened, and she raised her chin. I leaned down, took her lips as was offered, and sighed.

“You’re such a good man. I love you.”

“And I love you too. So, who’s going to be at this thing tonight?” I asked.

Holland just rolled her eyes. “These are your family members, shouldn’t you know?”

“I’m exhausted. I don’t remember anything.”

“Yes, because I’ve had so much sleep, as we’ve discussed.” She laughed. “Zia and Meredith should be there, as is Julia and her husbands. They’ve sort of all been added to the Montgomery family, even if they have families of their own.”

“We do tend to do that.”

What was unsaid was the fact that we were not spending time with her family. We were trying to mend those bridges, get better at it, but it wasn’t easy. And I wasn’t even sure that we wanted to accomplish that.

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