AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The older women in the room laughed as Kipton suddenly looked nervous. “I was just talking to Morgan, and she said it was blissful the entire time.”
Right at that moment, Georgiana walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks. “Thehellit was. She complained nonstop! I told her she should try it withtwobabies.”
“Speaking of, where are Blakley, Ryder, and Rhett?” Lincoln asked.
Rhett and Ryder were Blayze and Georgiana’s one-and-a-half-year-old babies, and Blakely was Morgan and Ryan’s one-and-a-half-year-old little girl.
“Brock has all three of them in the playroom with Ryan, and now Blayze. Granddad threatened to make them all go to the barn and muck out stalls if they didn’t stop arguing.”
“No arm wrestling this year?” Mom asked.
Georgiana shook her head. “Apparently not.”
Aunt Merit smiled at her daughter and said, “Avery, sweetheart, go let everyone know we’re about ten minutes away from dinner.”
Avery nodded and left the kitchen for the task of rounding up the Shaw clan.
“What can I do to help?”
All the women in the room turned to look at Maverick, and grinned. I had to chuckle. He was that handsome and that charming.
“Why don’t you and Lily set the table,” Aunt Lincoln said. “This year, we went with paper plates and cups to make the cleanup easier.”
“Wait,” Grams called out. “You never did answer why you wanted to get married on New Year’s Eve.”
Rose and Kipton both turned to look at me, equally surprised expressions on their faces. Then they both said in unison, “What?”
I felt my cheeks flush and stole a glance at Maverick. He simply smiled and waited for me to drop the news.
“Well…we figured we should probably get married before I started to show.”
“Show what?” Rose asked.
Then, as if the lightbulb went off for everyone at the same time, they all started to scream.
Minutes later, the kitchen was soon filled with every Shaw who could fit.
“What is going on?” Brock asked as he walked in with Ryder in one arm and Rhett in the other. Blayze held Blakley on his shoulders, and Ryan brought up the rear with Mr. Rabbit, the large stuffed animal Bradly had bought for her. It was her favorite, and she took it everywhere she went.
When my father pushed his way into the crowd, with my brother somewhere in the mix, I held up my hands to try to stop everyone from talking all at once. Maverick put his fingers to his mouth and whistled, getting everyone to instantly shut up. Well, everyone but Blakley, who was singing some little tune.
“Shh, baby girl. Lily has something to say,” Ryan said as he took her off Blayze’s shoulders. She snuggled into his neck and butterflies danced in my stomach at the thought of a little girl doing that to Maverick.
“Tell everyone!” Rose shouted.
“Tell everyone what?” my father asked.
Maverick took my hand in his, and I leaned against him. “We were going to wait, but with everyone here and all…”
My mother walked up to my father and took his hand, tears in her eyes. He looked at her, then back to me. It only took him a few seconds, and he knew. I could see him rapid-fire blinking to keep from crying himself.
“Maverick and I are going to be parents somewhere around June twenty-first.”
The entire room and beyond erupted into cheers. I saw Kipton jolt, then put her hands on her stomach and laugh. Apparently, all the cheering must’ve made the baby move. Hunter leaned down and kissed her belly.
I felt my own eyes pool up, and it wasn’t until Maverick pressed a kiss to my forehead and whispered, “I love you both,” that I let them fall.
A line soon formed, and everyone took turns congratulating us. A few asked questions, like was I feeling sick, how many weeks were we, and if we were going to find out if we were having a boy or a girl.
