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“I’ve loved you a long time, Jojo.”
“Same,” she confesses and my heart soars.
And we kiss again and again beneath the glow of a million Christmas lights.
EPILOGUE
Jordan
My brother’s eyes are glassy as I walk down the aisle. I never thought that Kaidan would come around like he has, but he has. He was even in on Briar proposing to me at the skating rink during the summer.
And today we’re getting married, at Christmas, of course.
The Chartreuse Clover is the place, of course.
And there’s eggnog, of course.
My dress is eggshell satin with a brocade pattern of poinsettias. I’m carrying red roses with something special.
The ceremony goes quickly, we don’t want to waste any more time without each other. Five years age difference isn’t the reason for the hurry, but the bump under the layers of this dress is.
My family didn’t bat an eye that we wanted to rush to the altar. It’s just kind of our way. I moved in with him two weeks after we started dating. We bought a house six months later and last month we found out we’d be parents.
That part I’ll blame on a night that included food play of aphrodisiac foods…dark chocolate dipped strawberries, spicy Thai food, honey drizzled on figs stuffed with blue cheese, champagne, cherries, papaya, and oysters Rockefeller—cooked, not raw. My man is an animal when I go the extra mile in the kitchen and the bedroom.
We’d been playing it a little fast and loose with the birth control anyway. We both said we wanted a big family, and I think it was meant to be.
At the reception after all of the parents have done their toasts, the best man—Kaidan, and the matron of honor—Kelsea—she’s actually really cool, sometimes cooler than my brother, my husband stands and lifts his champagne glass. I stand and lift my empty champagne glass and my mother gasps.
The woman is all knowing.
“You’re pregnant!” she calls out and people laugh. She’s had quite a bit of champagne and her toast was a little non-sequitur about the past, the present, and the future. But then again, maybe she did know. I have been feeling a little sick and she caught me throwing up this morning. I said it was nerves. Thought I’d tricked her, but like always, she knew somehow.
Briar looks to me. “Actually…we’re expecting in six months, so yes, Lulu, you will be a nana soon.”
The room erupts into a cacophony of joy and Briar kisses my temple.
“Are you going to tell them the rest of the news?”
“Nope, that’s for you…”
I grab the mic. “And it’s twins!”
My mother falls into her chair like she’s overwhelmed with happiness. My father kisses her cheek and she brightens. We have that kind of love, too.
My brother comes over and wraps me up in a hug. “You’ll be a great mother. After all, you mothered us—”
“Ewww. I didn’t mother you. I saved your ass more times than I care to remember!” I slap his chest and he chuckles.
Kaidan’s gotten better. Less about him, and more about others. It’s a change I attribute to Kelsea, but part of me thinks he just wanted to shape up. And that’s not a small thing, too.
He looks over my shoulder. “As a friend, nice job on the double minions, but as her brother, you don’t take care of her and those kids and I’ll—”
Briar shakes his head. “I’ve got this, Kaidan.”
They hug it out and I suck in a quick, deep breath, grabbing my stomach. They both stop and their heads jerk to me.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” Briar says.
“Feel,” I grab his hand and place it on my stomach, tiny flutters and his eyes widen.
“Wow.” His eyes gloss and the moment takes me over.
“I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Our lips press softly as the babies continue their gymnastics.
We might have started as a secret, but every Kissmas from now on will be as bright as the Christmas lights we put on our tree.
