She held a book out to me. “Fairy tales. See?”
“This is amazing,” I said, admiring the sparkly red and green cover. “Was this an early Christmas present?”
“Yep. Daddy gave it to me. We read it at bedtime.” Kenna turned to where Isla sat, showing her too.
“So many stories,” Isla marveled, flipping through the book. “How could you ever pick a favorite?”
“All the princesses are my favorites.”
“Oh, of course,” Isla said. “That makes sense.”
“Have you shown Aisling?” I asked Kenna. “I bet she’d like to see it too.” With a look of intrigue, she ran off in search of Aisling.
Isla grinned at me.
“What is it?” I asked, sinking down beside her. She immediately snuggled into my side. I pressed my hand to her belly, feeling the familiar flutter of baby kicks beneath her skin. I was convinced that our son was a professional footy player in the making.
“I kind of miss her calling you Unca,” she said. “It was really cute. She’s growing up too fast.Timeis moving too fast.”
“Oof, don’t remind me.” I pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Before we know it, the baby will be here. Then we’ll blink, and it’ll be Christmas all over again. Blink again, and he’ll be one. Next thing we know, he’ll be running all over the inn with Ranger and off to school and?—”
“Okay, let’s rein it in before you have an existential crisis,” Isla teased, patting my knee. “First we have to survive the holidaysthisyear.”
I sighed, a smile stretching across my face as I nodded in agreement. It had been a whirlwind of chaos since I’d relocatedto Braeburn. There had been baby showers and nursery chores and Christmas preparations. Alistair and Kenna had finally moved into the estate he’d purchased outside of town. It was a bit isolated, and I didn’t love that he seemed to be hunkering down and avoiding everyone except us, but after all he’d been through with the gossip rags, I couldn’t truly blame him. At least he was close enough for Weston and me to keep an eye on him. And he certainly hadn’t hesitated to put us to use, bustling us back and forth to help them settle in.
Honestly, I was excited to spend Christmas with everyone, but I was even more excited to spend a couple quiet months with Isla before the baby arrived. “It’s going to be a full house at Lochbrae this year.”
“Lena said we can just stay over on Christmas Eve if we don’t want to worry about driving in the snow. That way we’re already here for the festivities on Christmas Day.”
“Might be a good idea. I don’t fancy having to dig either of our cars out.” Braeburn was gearing up for a more blustery winter than usual. “Though are you ready for the six a.m. wake-up call?”
Isla groaned. “Tell Aisling and Kenna that pregnant ladies need to sleep until at least nine.”
“I think you’ll be really lucky if we make it to seven,” I said. “Weston has an insane amount of presents hidden in the safe. The girls are going to go feral.”
“Sothat’swhere they are,” she said, laughing. “I’d been wondering. Lena said Aisling has turned into quite the little sleuth. No wonder Weston’s had to take drastic present-hiding measures.”
“Speaking of presents,” I said, “we’ve got to figure out how to get the sleigh up here.”
“I still can’t believe you and Weston ordered that,” Isla said, shaking her head.
I pinched my fingers together. “It’s just alittlesleigh.”
“Yes, with Bonnie at the helm,” she murmured, clearly worried.
“Talk about horsepower,” I teased.
She grumbled at my joke. “You do know our son isn’t getting anywhere near that thing next year, right?”
“Well, obviously not,” I said. “It’s for Kenna, who loves the idea so much that she levitates whenever it’s mentioned. Our son will need to be at least three before he tries it, so he can really hold on. For next year, we’ll have to make him a smaller one to hitch to Ranger.”
Isla pursed her lips in amusement. “I trust him far more than Bonnie.”
“Lunch!” Lena called, her voice ringing out. “This is your last and final call!”
I snorted. “Okay, we better go. She sounds like she means business.” I helped haul Isla to her feet, and we made our way to the dining room, crowding in at the table with Lena, Weston, Alistair, and Kenna.
“Where’s Aisling?” I asked.
