She crosses her arms, looking displeased as she climbs off the stool she’s sitting on. “I want Mommy to do it.”
Lauren walks into the bathroom, a smile on her face while our eighteen-month-old clings on to her leg. “You want Mommy to do what?”
“Braid my hair, please,” Addie says.
“Will you take Bennett?” Lauren hands me our little boy. He’s got my blue eyes and Lauren’s soft blonde hair sprouting from his head.
I take the brand-new toy he hands me and tell him whata perfect gentleman he is for sharing while Lauren undoes all my hard work. “Hey, I spent twenty minutes on that!”
She looks down at Addie. “Did he?”
“No, he took years!” Addie insists, throwing her hands up in exclamation.
“I need more practice.”
“You’ll get it, but maybe not five minutes before everyone is supposed to come over. There are going to be pictures today. We need our little girl to look like a princess, right?” Lauren asks Addie as she finishes the left braid already.Show off.
The doorbell rings, and I get up from the ledge of the tub, taking Bennett with me. “I’ll get it.”
I dash down the hallway, chasing Bennett toward the door. His laughter is a welcome distraction from my nerves over who may or may not be at the door right now.
I swing it open and find Mrs. Rhodes. Nana Rhodes is trailing behind, trying to push Mr. Rhodes away from her, insisting she can carry her “own damn presents.”
“Merry Christmas!” Mrs. Rhodes smiles as she hands me a casserole dish and shrugs off her coat. “Has your house been as chaotic as ours was this morning?”
“Oh, yes. Between our two little rascals being excited about their toys and trying to get everything ready for brunch, we’ve had our share of chaos.”
“She knows we weren’t expecting her to still host when she’s seven months pregnant, right?”
“Yes, but she loves it, and she asked for help when she needed it,” I say over my shoulder as I put the casserole down on the kitchen counter.
Addie, with two perfect French braids, darts down the hallway, plowing into her grandma’s legs and wrapping her arms around them. “Nana!”
“Hi, sweetie.”
“Did you bring presents?”
“Addie!” Lauren scolds in disbelief as she joins us at the front door.
“I brought you loads of presents,” Mrs. Rhodes says as Mr. Rhodes and his mother walk into the door, both of their hands full.
“Yay!” Addie spins around, showing off her new dress.
Before I can close the door, another car pulls into the driveway. Mom and Aunt Carol step out, excited smiles on their faces as Mom calls out, “Merry Christmas! We’re going to need some help with all these presents for the kids.”
“Presents!” Addie screeches as she dashes out the front door to help carry the gifts in.
Bennett watches from the doorway with shy curiosity, which he definitely gets from his mother.
“Thank goodness you’re not as crazy as your sister,” I say to him, ruffling his hair.
“If he’s anything like his father, he’ll grow into his wildness,” Mom says as she kisses my cheek.
“Great.” I frown at Bennett, and he bursts into laughter. I turn to Lauren. “Did I make a face?”
“No, Grinchie. Your face is just always that funny.” She laughs at her own joke then places a consoling kiss on my cheek, followed by one on the top of Bennett’s head.
“Have you heard from Rick?” Lauren asks Mom as she takes some gifts from her hands.
