"No cooking, you can prepare breakfast if you wish, but we have the supper catered."
The housekeeper reluctantly agreed but insisted on being able to supervise the crew when they arrived.
"What do you think?" Eliza asked her husband as he came up behind her and embraced her from behind.
"I think you've outdone yourself." He kissed the top of her shiny head, her perfume enveloping his senses. The babies were fed and dressed, the boys in matching red and blue shorts sets, and Sofia looking absolutely beautiful in her ruffled red and green velvet dress. There was a green velvet bow stuck to the left side of her mahogany brown hair.
"Not too much?" She indicated the towering tree in the corner of the room and the tinsel hanging from every corner of the large room.
"Oh absolutely." His hands wandered over her arms. "But it works." Turning her around, he studied the incredibly beautiful face and felt the familiar prickling of acute awareness.
She was wearing a stunning blue velvet dress that left her arms and shoulders bare. The stylist had been here earlier and the result was stunning. Her thick mahogany brown hair hung in healthy, glowing waves past her shoulders. She was also wearing the sapphires he had gifted her with just this morning, around her neck and at her lobes. "Have I told you already how beautiful you are?" he asked huskily.
"Once or twice, but you know me. I love to hear it several times." Standing on her toes, she locked her lips to his and sent his blood pressure soaring.
They were so wrapped up in each other; it took them several minutes to realize that their guests had arrived.
*****
"Is it just me, or does she grow more adorable each time I see her?" Marianne held her granddaughter in her arms, carefully rocking her back and forth.
"It's not just you," Eliza said with a smile. "She's so well behaved too. The boys are little hellions." She cast a glance across the room where her husband, father-in-law and Blair were entertaining the triplets. "But their sister is an angel."
"She might just turn into a little hellion when she grows up," Sally predicted with a grin as she stared at the beautiful child. "I saw the photos in the tabloids. There have been so many comments about them." She glanced at Eliza. "Fan letters keep pouring in."
"And nothing from that woman."
Sally shook her head. "Maybe she has given up, gone on to someone else."
"I doubt it." Eliza shook her head. "But today, we're not going to taint this beautiful occasion with anything negative. I think my daughter needs changing." She started to reach for her, but Marianne shook her head.
"Please let me."
Both Eliza and Sally watched her hurry from the room, the baby clasped in her arms.
"I cannot believe that's the same woman who disapproved of her marrying her son."
Laughing softly, Eliza linked her hand through Sally's arm. "The miracle of having those babies. I think it's time for dessert. Fruit cake and ice cream."
*****
"Your husband is more approachable. Fatherhood has mellowed him. I made a joke and to my surprise, it had him laughing." Plucking a canapé from the tray Lyka-Mae had brought in, Blair made himself comfortable on the rocker in front of the fireplace.
Casting him a wry glance, Eliza stretched her legs out languidly and closed her eyes briefly. "My husband can be friendly when he has a mind to. It's just that he doesn't allow a lot of people to get the chance to know him."
"You're telling me," Blair muttered. "You look unbelievably gorgeous by the way. It's hard to believe that you carried four babies inside that body of yours, just three months ago."
"Jeff might be a sick son of a bitch, but he's the best." She patted her now flat stomach in wonder. "He worked me like a horse, but the result is well worth it."
"And you're happy," he observed.
"I am," she concurred easily. "Except for the person who's determined to make me think otherwise." She sighed softly. "Sometimes I find myself wishing I was some ordinary woman, living an unexceptional life."
Blair shook his head. "One, you could never be ordinary, and two, you would not have been able to afford four babies. And you were born to be a mother."
She stared over at the mobile cots where her four babies were being rocked by the people surrounding them. "And I don't regret them one bit. They're thriving. Over the last couple of weeks, there were several scares. Sofia had an ear infection and Jeremy and Jason had a temperature. I know we have a long road ahead of us and there will be health issues, hopefully nothing dire, please God! But I love them and do not mind getting up at two in the morning to feed and change their diapers. Samuel was wondering if we should hire temps to take Maeve's and Mary-Ann's places until they return, but I said no. And he's so good with them." A smile touched her lips. "He has no problem getting up and helping. Lyka-Mae too. She deserves the very hefty bonus she received."
Taking her hand, Blair lifted it to his lips. "You're going to be fine. Those children are going to be fine too. The cops are going to find that mad woman or man and put them away. That's my holiday wish for you."
