“And got married?” Brynn asks, eyeing Pierce and Tre. Their expressions are the same as hers, pure shock.
“I know this is weird. I told him to tell you before we arrived.” Ashley hides behind me, resting her forehead on my shoulder.
“Well, Carter’s weird, so get used to it.” Brynn pulls some dough out of the bowl in front of her and pops it into her mouth. When she reaches for another, Tre slaps her hand.
I decide to ignore their shock and skepticism. They’ll figure out soon enough that Ashley and I are the real thing. I look back at my niece. “Ryah, seriously? I want to introduce you to your new aunt.”
She looks up but doesn’t say anything.
“Nice try, but unless Ashley has an English accent, you’re wasting your time,” Brynn says.
“Are you suggesting she only wants me because of my accent?” her boyfriend, Pierce, asks.
“Well, it’s whyIwanted you.” She gives him a cheeky smile.
“It’s okay, Pierce, throw it at her.” Tre offers him a cinnamon candy.
Brynn opens her mouth, and Pierce tosses it in like a good boyfriend.
Shock and skepticism I expected, but ignoring Ashley isn’t an option. “Hello? I just announced I’m married,” I say with my hands out at my sides.
Everyone scrambles to their feet and rushes us.
“Sorry, Ashley,” Mom says, handing my niece Maisie off to Brynn. “It can get a little crazy around here.”
“It’s fine,” Ashley says, allowing my mom and dad to officially congratulate her and welcome her to the family.
Soon she’s at the table with all of us, making sugar cookies, and when I ask her to join me upstairs for a nap, she declines. I can admit to pouting a bit, but Ash kisses my cheek and whispers in my ear that she’ll make it up to me tonight. She wants to stay and get to know my family better.
Later that night, my parents and the littles are asleep. It’s just us siblings and our partners hanging out around the dining room table, playing a card game while Christmas carols play in the background.
“You guys are sure there’s no booze in this eggnog, right?” I glance at Ash at my side and squeeze her thigh.
She smiles at me.
“For the tenth time, there’s no booze in it. What’s with the eggnog interrogation?” Brynn asks.
“The two of us went to the holiday dance in my small town,” Ash says. “We drank eggnog all night thinking there was no alcohol in it, but there was a mix-up, and we ended up pretty drunk.”
“You ended up pretty drunk,” I say, then laugh.
She rolls her eyes. “I wasn’t the one up on stage for the Santa Strip Tease.”
“Gross.” Brynn’s face screws up as she looks across the table and plays her card.
“I gotta hear about this,” Tre says.
“I can do better than that. Someone there sent me a video.” Ash pulls her phone out of her back pocket.
My new wife proceeds to show my family the video of me doing a pseudo strip tease.
“You look really happy,” my brother says.
“I am.” I wrap my arm around Ash’s shoulders and pull her into my side, kissing her temple.
“That must be so cool owning a B&B,” Tessa says. “Tre and I stayed at one once.” She eyes my brother, and they share that look that I never understood. Until now.
“I hope you know when she says that, it means she one hundred percent has plans to come visit and stay there.” Tre kisses Tessa’s cheek and whispers something in her ear about nutcrackers. Tessa blushes.
