Page 86 of Mine For The Winter

“I’m playing in the father-son hockey game,” Kris told him. “Cole asked me.”

“I bet he did.” Amber bit down a smile. She was sitting by the fire, sorting through baby clothes. They looked so tiny he could hardly believe a human could fit in them – even a baby human.

“Are you sure your kid is gonna be that small?” he asked her. “Because North is a tall guy.”

She laughed. “At the moment, they think he’s going to be smaller than Willow was. The birth size is usually related to the mom. How big they grow after that, well that’s genetics.”

“Remember when you had that growth spurt?” North asked, looking as amused as his wife. “You went to bed talking like the chipmunk, Alvin, and woke up sounding like Barry White.” He looked at Amber. “Mom thought we had intruders. She was about to call the police.”

“Shut up. You don’t have room to talk.” Kris lifted a brow and smiled at Amber. “When North hit puberty Mom couldn’t figure out why all the packs of tissues kept disappearing.”

North gave him a death stare. “Let’s not talk about tissues disappearing. But I’m happy to talk about those long ass showers you used to take. We all knew what you were doing in there.”

“Oh my God, can you both stop?” Amber was laughing, but she also looked appalled. “My baby doesn’t need to hear about such depravity.” She lifted up a onesie. “Oh this was my favorite on Willow.”

North walked over, his expression soft. “I remember. She looked so cute in it.”

“I guess we can’t use it for this baby. It’s too pink.”

“Boys can wear pink,” North said. “If we want him to wear it, he’ll wear it.”

“I think I’ll put it in Willow’s memory box.”

As though she could hear her name being said, a cry came out from the nursery. North was still knelt next to Amber, one hand on the baby outfit, the other on his wife’s stomach.

“Want me to go?” Kris asked them.

They both looked up, surprised.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.” Amber shook her head. “And yes, please. Bring her in here if you need to.”

He walked along the hallway to the nursery, the sound of North and Amber’s soft voices becoming distant, overpowered by Willow’s yells. She was on her knees in her crib, her eyes red and her mouth open.

“Hey.” Kris smiled at her. She cocked her head as he walked toward her, as if she was as surprised as her parents that he was here to take care of her.

When he lifted her up she was still looking at him, her soft eyelashes sweeping down as she blinked.

“I know. I’m the scary uncle,” he said, smiling. “The one with no kids. But I’m a lot of fun.”

Willow grabbed hold of his shirt. And then she opened her mouth again and wailed. It took him a minute to work it out, but then the aroma of something really bad wafted up.

“Ah.” He nodded. “I think this is a daddy kind of job.”

She was still sniffling as he carried her back into the living room. North was still next to Amber, but he stood as soon as he saw Willow in Kris’ arms.

“She okay?” North asked.

“She needs her diaper changed. I would have done it, but I figure you like her nursery walls cream colored.”

Amber laughed. “I’ll do it.” Putting the onesie she was holding onto the pile, she stood up and reached for Willow, taking her from Kris’ arms. “You two want a drink when I’m done?”

“I’ll get them,” North told her. “You sure I can’t change the diaper?”

“Nope. I got this.” Amber winked at them. “I’ll see you after Poopmageddon.”

It was funny how North followed his wife with his eyes wherever she went. It wasn’t until she’d closed the door behind her that North finally bought his gaze back to Kris.

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