Page 73 of Claiming Xan
I answered the door to see Nevin with a little gift bag in his hand. His face was bright and smiling as he glanced between us. I’d never been so happy to see him in my life.
“Xan! I brought you something,” he said, thrusting the little bag out at me.
“It isn’t Christmas yet,” I told him.
“That’s okay. It isn’t a Christmas gift,” he said, then waved at something over my shoulder. Presumably River. “Hi there. It’s for both of you, so you gotta open it together.”
“You wanna come inside for a bit?” I asked Nevin, opening the door a little wider. Nevin smiled and trotted in after us, and we all meandered into the living room.
River and I sat down on the couch, and Nevin took the arm chair. I handed the butter-yellow and blue gift bag over to River. I already had a feeling about what was hidden away inside.
“You should open it,” I told him.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know, so hurry up!” I said with a laugh.
River reached in and rustled around in the tissue paper. He pulled out the most adorable little blue onesie with snowflakes on it.
I squeaked and snatched it away from him. “It’s precious, Nev!”
He grinned. “Winter babies, am I right?”
“It’s amazing. Thank you.”
“Actually, we’ve got a lot of stuff you can have, too, that Zechariah has outgrown—and there’ll be more where that came from.”
I paused, looking up at him. “Wait… I thought you and Kace were going to have another baby?”
Nevin hesitated, then slowly shook his head. He ran a hand through his white-blond curls. “No. We talked about it, and we decided that one miracle baby is enough. We’re going to pour our adoration and our love into Zechariah and give him the best life a little boy could ever hope for,” he said. “Maybe we’ll adopt a puppy when he’s older.”
“Oh, damn.”
He smiled. “I’m happy with it,” he said. “Truly. I’d love you guys to have Zee’s old stuff, since you’re having a boy—and you’re family, of course.”
“Thank you, Nev.” I got up and gave him a big hug. His embrace was warm and gentle and exactly what I needed after today. “That saves us a lot of money.”
Nevin laughed. “Oh, I know. Kids are so expensive. But hey, I gotta run. Meeting Kace for an early dinner and he’s on baby duty. It was great to see you both.” He gave my belly a little rub. “Bye baby. Bye Xan, bye River. I’ll see myself out.”
I sat down next to River, who was holding the onesie in his hands once more. He rubbed the soft fabric between his fingers, staring down at it.
I smiled. “Sinking in now?”
“We’re gonna be dads,” he murmured.
I patted my tummy. “Yeah. We are.”
And I couldn’t wait.
42
XAN
My boots crunchedin the fresh snow as I tried to bend down and scoop up a snowball in my gloved hand—easier said than done when you were practically as big as a barn!
I grunted and huffed and puffed, but managed to pack one, then sent it flying. It hit River square in the back of the neck.
I crowed out a laugh. “Gotcha!”
