She wasn’t wrong. Golden light poured through every window, smoke curled from the chimneys, and garland was wrapped around the massive columns on the porch. I glanced at my wife, my heart still tripping over itself whenever I remembered that was what she was—mywife.Mine.
“I think she’s making up for not having had a Christmas Eve dinner last year,” I joked. “Christmas has always been her jam. All of it.”
“Harrison,” she practically squeaked, blue eyes wide as they locked on mine. “Last year, you said it was only ChristmasDaythat was that important to her. You told me she wouldn’t mind us inviting everyone over for Christmas Eve.”
“She didn’t mind, did she?” I pumped my eyebrows at her. “She got to be at our wedding instead and now we’re spending our anniversary with them. I’d say that’s an unfair trade. We should be in Aspen or something.”
Aurelia leaned over from the passenger seat to press a kiss to my cheek. “We spent all day at a spa, had the most absurdly amazing lunch, and got to spend the afternoon in bed together. We definitely had our anniversary.”
I smiled, squeezing her fingers. “Well, it’s the only one we’re ever going to have alone. Are you sure we shouldn’t have just stayed in the city and holed up?”
“You mean miss watching your brothers trying to out-toast each other? Never.” She grinned, that spark in her eyes that always made me forget what I was saying. “Let’s go, Westwood. We haven’t seen them for a couple months. Either we go inside or they’re going to move the party to your car.”
I groaned but parked between Sterling’s SUV and Callum’s truck. As we climbed out, the crisp air bit at our cheeks and I looked up, watching dark clouds roll in front of the moon and wondering why it felt so strangely still out here.
That was where the stillness ended, though. Inside, the house was alive in a way I’d never experienced it. Babies screeching with either hunger or laughter—it was hard to tell. A dog barking in the living room and Brody’s footsteps smacking down the hallway as he ran. Someone yelled about spilled cider and I heard my mother laughing instead of cussing in response.
“Welcome to the madhouse,” I murmured, helping Aurelia out of her coat. “We haven’t even seen them yet and I already need a drink.”
She laughed softly. “Don’t be so quick to dismiss it. It feels like home, don’t you think?”
Weirdly, it kind of did.
A year ago, I hadn’t even been sure she was going to show up, and even once she had, we’d had to think about strategy and making a deal with my brother and my father, wondering what they might think. Tonight, all I could think about was how lucky I was to have her hand in mine.
We’d spent the year building something of our own—a sleek little acquisitions firm in New York, backed by Sterling, quietly profitable and growing faster than either of us had expected. We were still tied to Westwood & Sons, technically a branch, but we were running it on our own terms. For the first time, I hadn’t been feeling feel like the baby brother tagging along in someone else’s shadow.
Aurelia had been right beside me every step of the way, turning boardrooms into battlefields and winning contracts with that sharp smile of hers. Her parents hadn’t believed she could handle the workload in the long run, but now, they sent their friends to pitch her.
I’d spent half the year watching her prove everyone wrong. It had been fucking fantastic. So had the month we’d spent on the yacht in the summer, finally getting to have a proper honeymoon.
The doors to the great room swung open as we approached. The noise doubled. Sterling was at the bar, stirring something in a crystal glass while Laney wrangled Claire. Jameson was trying to keep his twin daughters from dismantling the dessert table while they crawled and shuffled around.
Callum had Sam in a sling across his chest, grinning like the cat who had caught the canary while Brody played with Hooch. Dad sat in a high-backed chair near the fire, a glass of wine in his hand, telling the same story about his first acquisition that he told every Christmas.
Only this time, he didn’t sound like the hard-edged mogul I’d grown up with. He was happy. Relaxed, even. Retirement had taken the iron out of his voice and replaced it with warmth.
Across the room, CC sat on the couch, her lap full of grandkids when they were passed to her for a cuddle, Claire, Hailey, Briar, and Sam, Brody hugging her from behind when he realized Sadie was taking a picture.
Mom cooed at them like they were the greatest achievement in Westwood history. Knowing her, she probably really felt like they were. She looked radiant, her laugh carrying above the din.
“Look who finally made it,” Callum called out when he turned and spotted us. “The big city hotshots.”
Aurelia rolled her eyes. “Please. You’re only jealous we get to sleep through the night.”
“Sleep’s overrated,” he said. “The baby life, kids. That’s where it’s at.”
“I’d be careful saying that in front of your eight-year-old,” I joked as I crossed to the bar to shake Sterling’s hand.
He gave me one of his rare, genuine smiles. “I saw the firm’s numbers for this quarter. Impressive.”
“Thanks,” I said. “We’re still a long way from what you guys are doing out here, but we’re holding our own.”
“You’re doing more than that,” he said. “You’re building something pretty much from scratch and you’re doing it well. That’s much harder.”
I caught Aurelia’s gaze from across the room where she was laughing with Sadie, her golden hair tumbling loose over her shoulder. My heart skipped as it hit me all over again. She and I were building a life together. Not just the firm. Not just the name. Thelife.
“Alright, we’re all here,” Dad said, rising from his chair in front of the fire. “Time for toasts. Gather round, gather round.”
