Page 210 of Halo

Moments later, the Ramsdales arrive with enough wine to survive a natural disaster and an armful of gifts that nearly blocks Jonathan's view of the front porch. Tatum graciously hugs everyone, carefully disguising the growing bump beneath her sweater.

When Jonathan announced last year that they were trying for a baby, it caught all of us off guard. For years, he and Tatum have been firmly committed to being the cool aunt and uncle—and they excel at it. But after a lot of therapy, healing, and honest conversations about the future, they changed their minds.

We all know they’re expecting; she knows we all know. But, we have vowed not to mention anything until after her anatomy scan in a few weeks.

“My God, it smells great in here, Leah!” Julian exclaims, helping his twins take off their jackets.

“I’ll say! My mouth is watering,” Chelsea jokes.

“Mom! Look at the tree!” Lizzie, his oldest daughter, shouts from the living room.

Before she can answer, Chelsea’s youngest girls bound into the room, nearly knocking her over. “¡Mijas, despacio! No corran dentro de la casa.” She shakes her head. “Sorry, y’all.”

“It’s a party!” I shrug.

“Exactly, plus—” Leah looks at Angus, rolling on his back and begging for belly rubs—“he’ll sleep good tonight.”

“This really does feel like a Hallmark movie, Leah.” Tatum glances around in awe. “It’s absolutely stunning”

Leah hugs Tatum’s arm. “Thank you.”

“Where should we put the gifts?” Julian asks.

“Oh! Here.” My wife grabs a few gift bags, motioning for Julian to follow. “We can set them around the tree.”

“Is Grady still at rehearsal?” Jonathan asks.

“We just got back.” I casually slip my hands into my pockets. “It was a long afternoon, so we’re letting him charge up for tonight.”

An abrupt shriek of giggles and hollers from the girls echo from the living area.

“I may join him,” Jonathan jokes, patting me on the shoulder.

The next hour passes quickly with chaos of holiday cheer. Leah pulls out a box of old teaching supplies, and the twins play school with Angus. Poor guy looks longingly at us for scraps. Grady eventually emerges from his room with a Smithsonian encyclopedia about dinosaurs tucked beneath his arm. He settles comfortably into the festivities. All the adults gather around the kitchen island, grazing on Leah’s appetizers while reminiscing over our medical school day antics.

“Did we ever figure out who was reserving us that study room—room 1269?” Julian asks.

Jonathan immediately starts laughing. “Shit … I forgot about that.”

“Wait, what happened?” Leah smiles, looking around the group.

Tatum rolls her eyes. “During our second year, we would rent out a study room in the lab, and we would get this email confirmation for room 1269.”

“Okay …” Leah furrows her brows. “I don’t get it.”

“There was no room 1269,” Tatum clarifies. “Someone was screwing with us—”

“Oh my God …” Jonathan gasps, eyeing me. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

“Wait a damn minute …” Julian holds up a hand, already chuckling. “One-two-six-nine? As in want to sixty-nine?”

Tatum and Chelsea groan as Jonathan tries to hide a grin. My wife rolls her eyes, playfully glaring at me.

“What? It was hilarious hearing y’all ask the clerk if they wanted to sixty-nine,” I joke. “The number alone should’ve been a dead giveaway it was me.”

“And this is the man you married.” Chelsea giggles, nodding to my wife.

“Yeah, well …” Leah takes a sip of her wine. “Nowadays, I’m the one making that reservation.”