Page 9 of A Very Montgomery Christmas

“Go say hi to your sister and brother, and the rest of them, stop worrying over me.”

I shook my head. “I’m always going to worry over you,” I whispered, before I kissed her again and made my way into the dining room. Bristol was sitting in a large armchair in the corner, her feet up, and looking absolutely miserable.

“So, how are you doing, late sister?” I asked before kissing her on the forehead.

“I am two days overdue, exhausted, and I think my ankles are the size of grapefruits.”

“Oranges, darling, just oranges,” Marcus said, leaning into his wife. The man smiled, his dark brown eyes bright even if I saw the worry in them.

“You guys doing okay?” I asked, being serious this time.

“We’re doing fine,” Bristol said on a sigh. “I guess.”

I looked at Marcus to confirm.

“We are doing okay. We’re just tired.”

“I don’t get to sleep anymore. Heartburn sucks, life sucks, and I just want the baby to come out. Get out, get out, get out, get out!” she said, pointing at her stomach.

“I’m sure that’s how it works,” Zia said as she walked in, her purple hair in ringlets all around her face. She usually never wore it in that style, and I liked the look on her for the holiday season. She wore a plum-colored dress with leather and lace swatches and lace tights and looked kick-ass. And since she could probably kick my ass, I didn’t mind.

Meredith, her wife, and sort of my ex, came in behind her and kissed me on the cheek.

“Hello, Merry Christmas, happy holidays, blessed yule.”

“And all of that back to you,” I said, grinning. “You two look great.” I looked down at Meredith with her equally leather and lace outfit, though her hair was bright blonde and had an undercut that I wanted to try one day. “Sorry. We’re late,” I said.

Meredith waved it off. “You already apologized to your mom, and technically you’re not late. We’re all early.”

“My mom wanted us out of the house and here resting since Bristol had a shot of energy after our lunch,” Marcus explained.

“So you already had Christmas with your parents and family, then?”

Marcus nodded. “Yes, and we’re still all planning New Year’s with the whole group. Between my sisters, their spouses, and their kids, it’s going to be louder than usual.”

“We’re used to loud,” Bristol said, patting her belly. “And you never know, by this time next week, we may have a baby. And no sleep. Much like Ethan and his crew.”

“And there will be only two of you,” I said.

“So I hear. Where’s the other trio?” Bristol asked frowning.

“Oh yeah, where are Kincaid and crew? I have a gift for Kincaid after he helped me with something.”

“Aww, look at you with your man crush,” Bristol said, and Madison walked in and wrapped her arm around my waist. I did the same to her, and leaned my head on top of hers. She fit perfectly against me, like she was made for me. I said that often to her, and she just rolled her eyes and called me sentimental before blushing and leaning into me for a kiss. I was one lucky bastard.

“Hey, you’re here,” Julia said as she came up to me. I opened my other arm, and she snuggled into me, just like Madison was doing. She waved at Madison, and the two pulled away from me to hug each other.

“You look great,” Madison said, looking at Julia. “Seriously great.”

“It’s that beach glow,” Julia said, grinning.

“I still can’t believe you guys went to the Caribbean the week before Christmas and still made everything work out.”

“We had everything planned long before, and then the baby came with Ethan and crew, and I was terrified that it was going to be too much on the rest of the staff with both of us being out, but somehow we made it work.”

“Because you guys are all good at what you guys do,” I said, smiling down at Julia before looking up at Kincaid and Ronin.

“You guys are here,” I said, and hugged the two guys.

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