I kissed the side of Piper’s head. “Me too.”
The fire was crackling, my grandfathers were bickering about who’d caught the largest fish on the last trip, and Isabeau and Celine had their heads together. They were clearly plotting something. Business as usual in the LeBlanc-Broussard clan, though they were getting older. Both sets of grandparents were now starting to slow down, although they wouldn’t admit to it.
“Who’s ready for a nightcap?” Julian asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Yes, please. Thrill us with your new concoction,” Mom said.
She and Dad were a bit spent after the long day.
“Do you want me to stand guard by the tree?” I asked.
They hesitated, but Dad replied, “Nah. I think all the kids have satisfied their curiosity with the thing. We don’t need to babysit it anymore.”
Mom nodded, and they both joined us in the sitting area.
I strongly disagreed with their theory, but I was keeping an eye on it—and the kids.
Bella, who was now a pretty rebellious teenager, wasn’t as keen on spending time with the little ones as before, althoughshe still wanted to babysit from time to time. I caught her watching the first Harry Potter with them when Charlotte was three years old. I figured it didn’t matter because she couldn’t understand any of it yet. But ever since, I was careful to be more clear with the instructions I gave my niece.
I kept an arm around my wife’s shoulders, kissing the top of her head. I bet she could fall asleep any second now. Her second pregnancy was completely different than the first one. She wasn’t sick at all, but she was sleepy all the time.
Julian returned with a tray full of glasses about ten minutes later and gave them to everyone in the room except Piper and Bailey. My brother was taking his business in a new direction. They were coming up with seasonal cocktails and even brought a mixologist in to invent new recipes. It was a hit.
We all held up our glasses, cheering, and took a sip.
“This is fantastic,” Chad said.
Piper yawned, blinking rapidly. I’d been spot-on. My woman had just taken a micro nap.
She pouted. “Oh, I can’t taste it.”
“It’s truly delicious.”
My brother was an expert when it came to cocktails. Over the past few years, we’d brought The Orleans Conglomerate to new heights of success. The profits were fantastic even though we’d reinvested quite a bit of it in exponentially growing our number of outlets. Thanks to the fantastic campaign that Piper put together all those years ago, we reached a whole new audience with the bakeries.
“Dad, can I have one as well?” Bella asked. She was sitting next to me. Chad and Scarlett were on the couch opposite her.
“Of course not. It contains alcohol.”
“Right. No, you’re absolutely right, Dad.”
I frowned. Even Piper took a second look at Bella. She was usually pushier. Then again, I remembered what it was like being a teenager. Pushing my parents’ buttons was my favorite activity.
Bella glanced at the grandmothers, who looked at each other.
Celine cleared her throat. “Chad, we were thinking it’s time for Bella to get her first custom-made perfume.”
“What a wonderful idea.” Chad was falling right into their trap.
Scarlett sat up straighter, too, clearly realizing something was off. Bella was plotting with her great-grandmothers.
“We could even use some lilac in her perfume,” Celine said in a very serene voice.
The entire room fell silent. Julian, who’d been bent over with Xander speaking in low voices, looked at Celine with wide eyes. Even the kids seemed to be quiet.
“Absolutely not,” Chad boomed into the silent room.
“Dad, come on. Don’t be like that,” Bella said.
