“In my defense,” Graeme said. “I tried to talk her out of it.”
“Let me see,” I laughed, jostling with him to get the lid open. Locke finally relented, showing off the teeniest little sailor outfit. Beneath that was an old framed photo of what I assumed was baby Locke. I squealed, drawing all the attention in the room. Locke flushed.
“See what you’ve started,” he muttered to his parents, shaking his head.
“Oh. My. God.” I lifted the outfit into the air. “We are taking so many pictures in this! An entire photoshoot is happening.”
“It has a matching bib and little booties,” Nicola pointed out.
“I can’t believe you kept this,” Locke said.
She shrugged. “I have an entire box of your old baby things. I thought you could take pictures of your own son in it. And, you know, keep them side by side somewhere.”
Locke got to his feet, hugging both his parents. “Thank you.”
“I vote we hang the pictures in the hotel lobby when it’s finished,” I said.
“I second that,” Weston piped up, a cheeky grin on his face.
Locke rolled his eyes. “You both would just love that, wouldn’t you?”
I giggled as he leaned over to kiss me. “It’ll be our new tradition,” I whispered into his mouth. “Your legacy.”
Locke pulled back slightly, regarding me with a soft look. “You know, I actually love the sound of that.”
Cleanup took ages.
By the time we’d said goodbye to the last of the guests, it was early evening, and I was still unearthing plastic cups and paper plates from corners of the lobby I could’ve sworn Lena and Jo had already checked.
“How long are you going to keep the decorations up?” Locke asked. I’d put him on present duty, and he was currently ferrying everything from the lobby to the nursery.
I twisted, studying the glittery snowflakes that were still strung across the room. “At least until the balloons deflate. Maybe until after Christmas. It looks quite festive in here.”
He picked up the box that held his tiny sailor outfit.
“Wait!” I called, hurrying after him.
“What?”
I took the box from his hands. “I know you’re planning to bury this in the back of the closet.”
He shot me a cheeky grin. “Actually, I was going to recruit Ranger to help me bury it in the garden out back.”
I gave him a flat look. “Don’t even think about it.” I headed into the nursery, setting the box down on the E-Z Rocker. I popped it open, grinning at the adorable little outfit once more before putting it away in the top drawer of the dresser. “Therewillbe a photoshoot, so just make your peace with that now.”
Locke’s lips twitched as he picked up the old baby photo of himself. “And what do you want to do with this?”
“Put it on display, of course.” I took the frame from him and set it on the top of the dresser. He strung his arms over my shoulders from behind. I felt his lips on the back of my neck. “I can’t wait to compare how much our son looks like you when you were a baby.”
“I hope he’s not cursed with that giant head.”
I gasped. “Your head was not giant. Be nice.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
I chuckled softly as he nibbled at the side of my neck. “What matters is that you grew into it. And you’re still kind of cute.”
“You think so?”
