Page 46 of Merrily Mine
“Hi, you guys.” I looked at the whole family as they stood right inside the door. “I can’t… Why are you here? Weren’t you spending Christmas in Portland?”
“We came to spend Christmas withyou, Em,” Benjamin said, still holding the other twin in his arms. They were identical, so it was still hard to keep them straight. Luckily, they’d started dressing Zachary in red, and Wesley in blue from the time they were infants. It was the only way I could keep them straight. Apparently, one of them had a freckle behind their ear that could help you tell, but I wouldn’t rely on that.
“Mom didn’t want you to be alone,” Hunter added.
“Oh. Well, that was nice of you.”
“She didn’t tell you?” Benjamin frowned.
I shook my head. “I’ve only talked to her a few times since she left, though, what with the snowstorm and all.” I looked back at Mason. He just gave me a small smile. Did he know? Had he done this somehow? Knowing that I was missing my family, he… brought me my brothers?
My oldest brother gave us both a pointed look. “Clearly, you’renotalone, though, so…”
Mason winced. “I’m sorry, Hunt. We were going to tell you.”
He waved us off. “I’m not upset.”
“You’re not?”
Hunter shrugged. “You’re an adult. I trust the choices you want to make. And if that choice is Mason, well…” He stuck out his hand for Mason to shake it. “I know he’s a good man.”
My oldest brother nodded to him. “Make her happy, alright?”
My cowboy looked at me, nodding his head. “I didn’t plan on anything less.”
I felt my cheeks warm all over again. Sometimes it felt like he existed just to make me happy. But it wasn’t just about that. I wanted to make him happy, too. Wanted him to have everything he’d ever wanted.
“So, he’s your boyfriend?” Angelina asked with one arm propped on her hip.
“Damn right I am,” he responded, not giving me a chance. He pressed a kiss onto my cheek.
Mason, myboyfriend.It was a little strange, given he was thirty-six and very much aman, calling him my boyfriend,but it felt right.
We all moved into the living room. Gabbi and Angelina set their babies on the rug, and I crawled down beside them, soaking up a few moments with my precious niece and nephews. God, they were adorable. I picked Quin up in my arms, raising her up and making plane noises, making her giggle with delight.
“I can’t believe you guys are all here,” I said, smiling at the chubby-cheeked baby girl in my arms, whose fist had captured a strand of my hair. She tugged on it, and I tried to pry it free, not wanting her to tear it out of my head.
“It wouldn’t be Christmas without you, Em,” Gabbi said, grinning. She and I had become friends after Angelina andBenjamin’s joint bachelor and bachelorette trip the summer they’d gotten married. Hunter and Gabbi had planned the trip as best man and maid of honor, which had also been how they’d fallen in love. They’d tried to sneak around behind everyone’s backs at first, finally coming clean during breakfast the morning after the wedding before they set off on a European vacation together.
It was something out of a romance novel. Angelina and Benjamin’s story felt like that too. The two of them had a bit of a whirlwind relationship—they’d started dating in the fall, gotten engaged in the spring, and then had planned their wedding for that summer, inFrance. It was all wildly romantic, since Angelina’s favorite city was Paris. I loved seeing my brother so besotted with a girl. Especially considering when they’d first met, she’dhatedhim. They’d been stuck together at a work retreat, though, and apparently, love and hate were two sides of the same coin. That was a story for a different time, though.
Still, I remembered the first time Ben had brought her home for his thirtieth birthday—over five years ago. We’d instantly bonded, and I was so excited to have another girl around after only ever having brothers. Now they had twin boys, who were rolling around on the floor, playing with toy cars that Angelina must have brought in with her.
We stayed like that for a while—us girls on the floor, talking about the babies, plus what they’d been up to lately with Noelle and Charlotte, their other two best friends. Rowan was curled up at Gabbi’s feet, giving her big puppy dog eyes as she got plenty of pets. Meanwhile, the guys were all piled on the couches, having their own conversation.
I looked over at the couch at myboyfriend. That still felt weird to say. I caught Mason’s eyes fill with longing as he watched me hold Quinlan. He was talking to Hunter and Ben, catching up, but he couldn’t look away from me. He hadn’tbrought up the idea of getting me pregnant again since the barn, but I knew he wanted kids. There was a desire in his gaze that I didn’t think I was imagining.
Gabbi yawned, and then my oldest brother was off the couch, heaving his wife into his arms before scooping Quinlan up from me. “It was a long drive,” he told us. “I’m going to take my girls to bed. See you in the morning?”
I nodded. “Night, Hunt. Night, Gabs.” I blew Quinlan a kiss. “Night, baby Quinny.”
“We should go to bed, too,” Benjamin said, kneeling in front of his wife. “You got Z?”
She nodded, heaving Zachary up into her arms. I gave both twins a kiss on the forehead, and then Benjamin picked up Wesley.
“Night, you two,” my brother said, sliding his hand into Ang’s. The two of them each had a twin on their front, clinging to them like a koala. “Don’t stay up too late.”
I shook my head. “We won’t.” Honestly, I could already feel sleep pulling down my eyelids.
