Scooter barks once, jealous.
“His name is Cocoa,” Penny informs him seriously. “And he’s mine.”
Rose leans over, nudging her gently. “Don’t forget Mom’s.”
Penny’s eyes widen. “Oh yeah!”
Suddenly, all four kids scramble to the back of the tree, where a medium-sized box sits wrapped in silver paper and tied with a white ribbon. It’s covered in fingerprints and faint streaks of glitter—definitely their handiwork.
Theo and Elise lift it together and carry it toward me with the ceremony of royal guards. Rose follows behind, clutching a folded card.
Penny bounces on her toes. “Open it! It’s fromus!”
I blink, taken off guard. “From all of you?”
Rose nods proudly. “We made it ourselves. Well, mostly. Damien helped with the scissors because Theo almost lost a finger.”
“Snitched!” Theo yells.
“Saved your hand,” Damien replies smoothly.
Vincent leans back against the couch beside me, watching with quiet amusement. “Go on,” he murmurs. “Open it.”
My hands tremble a little as I untie the ribbon. Inside, wrapped in tissue, is a hand-painted frame—uneven, bright, the corners thick with glitter. Inside it is a photo I recognize instantly: all of us in the backyard this past summer, Penny sitting on Vincent’s shoulders, Rose and Elise blowing bubbles, Theo mid-laugh. I’m behind them, brush in hand, half-turned toward the camera.
In bright, messy marker, the kids have written across the top:Our Family.
For a moment, I can’t speak. My throat tightens, vision blurring at the edges.
“Do you like it?” Elise asks softly.
I nod, swallowing hard. “I love it.”
Rose beams. “We wanted you to have something happy to look at when you paint.”
Theo adds quickly, “So you remember we’re your favorite.”
I laugh, the sound trembling. “You’re all my favorite.”
Penny climbs onto my lap without asking, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Merry Christmas, Mommy.”
I hold her close, pressing my cheek to her hair. “Merry Christmas, baby.”
Then I look up, heart suddenly hammering. “And I actually have a present for all of you.”
Four small faces turn toward me. Cast glances up from his mug, one brow lifting. Vincent stills beside me, curiosity flickering across his face. Damien lowers the camera he’s been using to film the chaos, grin fading into something softer.
“What kind of present?” Rose asks, bouncing on her knees.
“The best kind,” I say. “One that’s going to take a little time to unwrap.”
Theo squints. “Like a puzzle?”
“Sort of.”
I glance at Cast first. He catches the look immediately—his smirk fades, replaced by a faint crease between his brows. Vincent’s eyes narrow, half-smile caught in uncertainty.
My hands shake as I smooth Penny’s hair. “I wanted to wait until this morning to tell you because it felt right—because it’s the kind of gift that belongs to all of us.” I take a breath, my voice dropping to a whisper. “We’re having another baby.”
