Page 22 of A Christmas Baby for the Cowboy
When he got up to the ranch house, he could see smoke coming from the chimney and all the Christmas lights twinkling out into the bright morning the way they would for weeks yet, because Belinda liked her Christmas lights to stay up as long as possible. She usually started on Thanksgiving and ended sometime before Valentine’s Day, depending on the year. He found a parking space next to all the other trucks, and braced himself a little, because it was a full house. He unstrapped Hailey, and smiled down at her as she made her little noises, wiggling around in her car seat.
“You’re going to meet my family,” he told her, in the solemn way he’d taken to talking to her. Like she understood him. “They’re a lot. But don’t worry. Underneath, they’re solid.”
She babbled something, then looked at him very closely and contemplatively, as if considering what he’d said.
Knox had the strangest sensation, like he could probably stand here and fall into that adorable little gaze in her sweet little face forever.
He picked her up out of the car seat and held her in the crook of his arm, adjusting the adorable blue hat with a huge pom-pom that Ramona had brought with her, so she was bundled up tight. Blue mittens too, which had obviously been intended for a baby boy—but beggars couldn’t be choosers. She was zipped up in the tiny parka that went with these items, that Ramona had claimed had been in one of the grab bags she’d put together for situations like his.
Are there a lot of situations like mine? he’d asked.
I always like to be prepared, was all she’d said in reply, and he hadn’t been able to tell if she didn’t want to answer him or couldn’t because she had to keep things confidential as a doctor.
Either way, he decided then and there that he should personally make sure that there were always more of these emergency packs available for whoever might need them in the future. Because they had certainly helped him out this time.
But he was stalling. He knew he was stalling, and it wasn’t like this was going to get any easier, initially. He was going to have to rip the Band-Aid off and there was no time like the present, because it was cold out here.
So he sucked it up and he trudged across the yard, making his way through the snow to the back door, following the boot tracks his brothers had left before him.
And he blew out a breath when he reached out to open that door, then walked inside.
He could hear the whole family immediately—all the usual sounds of the Carey family chaos. He could hear his little nephews shouting, sounding sugared up, which meant either that they really had gotten into the candy or they were just excited to see their parents and their new baby sisters. He could hear the rumble of his brothers’ voices and his sisters-in-laws’ softer tones. And interspersed with all of that, his mother’s typical dire warnings to anyone who ventured too close to her stove and the sound of his father’s deep, gruff laughter.
Knox peeled off his coat as best he could and tossed it with the rest of the outerwear in the mudroom. He spent more time getting Hailey out of hers, so she was left in her pink fleece with her coppery hair standing on end.
And he couldn’t really deal with the boot situation since he didn’t want to put her down, so he just walked in.
Straight on into the kitchen, where most of his family was gathered around the big kitchen table. Everything was bright, cheery, and boisterous.
Knox just waited.
Because one by one, they all turned to look at him. And grew quiet.
Really, he thought, this was pretty funny. He wished he had an extra hand to whip out his phone and take a picture when the quiet finally reached everyone, and every single member of his family was finally silent—a miracle in itself—and staring at him.
With a whole lot of open mouths, too.
He hadn’t seen that before.
“Yes,” he drawled into the shocked silence. “I am holding a baby. No, she’s not mine. She was a Christmas present left on my doorstep on Christmas Eve.” He could have sworn that even more mouths opened then and jaws dropped lower. “I mean that literally.”
Hailey, apparently sensing a captive audience, blew a cute little bubble, then giggled.
And then everything kind of exploded. Too many voices. A great many exclamations. A wild din of demands for clarification and some comments he was glad he couldn’t quite hear.
It wasn’t until Belinda detached herself from the rest of them, stepping away from her beloved stove and marching over to him, that it quieted down a little bit.
“Let me see that baby,” Belinda demanded.
She didn’t wait for Knox to hand the baby over. She plucked Hailey into her arms and beamed down at her. And like every other being who encountered Belinda Carey, Hailey blinked, then beamed back.
“My goodness,” Belinda cooed. “What a sweet little love you are!”
There were other, smaller babies in the room that he had yet to meet, so Knox left Hailey with his mom. He ignored all of the suspicious looks being thrown his way so he could go over to the kitchen table. Rosie was sitting there with one adorable bundle of a red-faced, scrunchy-looking baby in her arms, while next to her, Ryder held the other.
“Look at these perfect little beings you made,” Knox said softly, and Rosie beamed. Ryder, he noticed, just gazed at Knox coolly over his babies’ heads.
“Their names are Holly and Ivy, because Christmas got the better of us and we couldn’t resist,” Rosie said, sounding besotted. “And so far they are perfect little angels, unlike their brothers. Or maybe we just got more sleep in the hospital this time around.”
