“I love you,” I whispered.
“Love you too.” He kissed me softly on the lips and then pulled back.
And even though I was nervous, and my heart was racing, I said, “I have a special hot cocoa bomb for you in the kitchen. Come with me.”
He drew his eyebrows together. “Did you find a mint-flavored cocoa bomb?”
I smiled back at him, thinking of the first time I had forced him to try mint hot chocolate—and his incredible poker face pretending he didn’t like it. “Something like that,” I said.
We walked further into the kitchen, where I had stashed a special mug on top of the fridge with a white hot cocoa bomb inside, decorated with a little pink and blue flower on top.
“Fill it up and tell me what you think,” I told him.
He nodded, taking it to the jug of heated milk and pouring some of the steaming liquid on top. He shimmied his shoulders a little, looking absolutely adorable—even in the pink sweater I had convinced him to wear.
Then he grabbed a spoon and started mixing as he walked back toward me.
His eyebrows drew together. “What the fuck is this color?”
The cocoa bomb had opened up, and there was a mix of blue and pink. He looked at me and said, “Did you poison mine? Am I that bad of a husband?”
I giggled, shaking my head. “Look at the marshmallows. Can you tell what colors they are?”
His lips pressed together as he eyed the cup. “They’re… pink and blue.” Then he looked at me, confused. “It’s cotton candy flavored?”
Even though there was a hum of conversation all around us, and I could feel his brother Knox watching us, I nodded and quietly prompted, “What typically comes in pink and blue?”
Hayes’s eyebrows pinched together. Then his mouth fell open and he shouted, “Holy shit—we’re having a baby?!”
I nodded, echoing, “We’re having a baby!”
And that was when the party really began.
AGGIE AND GRAY SAY “MERRY CRUISEMAS!”
1
AGGIE
Gray Madigan lookedhot as hell in a Hawaiian shirt, which is not something I ever thought I would say, considering I've known him for over 20 years and never once seen him in one. But as we waited in a massive line to board a cruise ship on Christmas Eve, he held my hand, rocking the palm tree print.
How did we end up on a cruise ship on Christmas Eve? Well, that’s another story altogether.
It was just a normal fall day. We were sitting at the breakfast table, drinking coffee and eating the breakfast he’d made for us, when out of the blue, he said, “How do you feel about going on a trip?”
Of course, I was instantly excited because the amount of traveling I'd done in my life was next to nothing. So I nodded and asked, “What did you have in mind?”
He passed his phone across the table, showing me a picture of a cruise ship. It was a sort of collage, and I could see pictures of water slides, massages, and even lounge chairs with an ocean view. My eyes immediately went wide with excitement.
“Yes! When can we go?”
He chuckled. “Well, that's the thing. There's sort of a catch.”
“A catch? At this point, I'd cut off my right ring finger to be able to go.”
He raised his eyebrows. “What about your thumb? I need to know how much this is worth to you.”
I laughed. “Just tell me.”
