Greta’s excitement is palpable, energy vibrating through her body.
When Heidi first arrived in town, she started volunteering at the senior center, and almost immediately, Greta took her under her wing. It soon became obvious that Heidi was interested in my quiet grandson, which was when Greta and I cooked up a scheme to get the two together.
One that worked perfectly, considering they’re married with a two-year-old girl named Joy, after Heidi’s grandmother.
“It’ll be good to have the entire family together again,” I say, glancing out the window when a rogue branch cracks against the glass. Wind buffets the side of the apartment we share at Golden Living, a senior community in Suitor’s Crossing, and I can tell we’re in for a cold December.
“Maybe we can have that magazine photographer take a family photo for us,” Greta suggests. “Our last group shot is missing the twins.”
Ezra and Lauren’s twin babies weren’t born yet, though she’d been heavily pregnant for the Christmas photo last year.
“I think family portraits are a little below a national magazine photographer’s paygrade.”
“Nonsense. He’s here to document Ezra and Lauren’s lives, and we’re a part of it.”
I know better than to argue with her logic, and hell, Greta has a way of getting what she wants. It wouldn’t surprise me if she sweet-talked the photographer into a side project.
“Yes, dear,” I tease, squeezing her closer. “One thing is for sure. This Christmas will be one to remember.”
CHAPTER ONE
DECEMBER 6
BETH CALDWELL
Glittery candy canes catch my eye the moment Diana, Lauren, and I enter a local boutique. Red and white sparkles on the tiny onesie, begging my fingers to trace the cuteness overload.
“Ugh, I miss my babies being that size,” Lauren says from my right. She strokes the soft cotton without hesitation.
“I know. Rachel is growing too fast—a toddler going on twelve.”
We laugh at Diana’s description. Thanks to her older sister, Rachel definitely has a lot of sass, or maybe that’s just part of being in the middle of the ‘terrible twos.’
Lauren and Diana lament their children’s latest growth spurts as they move deeper into the store in search of holiday gifts, but I linger by the onesie, contemplating my doctor’s appointment this morning.
I’d scheduled it after several bouts of nausea before breakfast and checking the calendar for when my last period ended. While Beckett and I weren’t actively trying to get pregnant, we weren’tnottrying. We don’t use condoms, and my birth control has been gathering dust in a bathroom drawer for months.
Our philosophy is if it happens, it happens.
And surprise! A baby is on the way.
“Beth, are you okay?” Diana calls from the back of the store.
“Yep, just zoned out for a second,” I joke, hurrying to join my sisters-in-law. I’m dying to share my secret, but no one can know before Beckett.
And unfortunately, this isn’t something I can text. It needs to be in-person. Preferably in a quirky manner like videos I’ve seen.
Good thing he’s at the firehouse for the next forty-eight hours, so I'll have time to think.
And freak out.
I don’t always love my husband’s schedule. The long hours that include several nights where we’re forced to sleep apart. It took some getting used to in the beginning, and now I’ll need to readjust again because we’ll have a baby.
One where I won’t have help for extended stretches of time.
Nerves gather in my belly as I self-consciously place my hand over what will soon be a prominent bump.
“What do you think of this for Ezra?” Lauren holds up an insulated coffee mug withDADengraved on the front. “They offer etching services, so I can add Nash and Ryan’s names in cursive to match the display.”
