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She yawns, and I chuckle.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
She smiles and looks at Maxi. “That’s another side effect. You’ll start being tired all the time.”
“Yep, already there,” Maxi confirms.
Isley places a hand on her knee. “It’ll all be worth it. Just call me whenever you have questions and don’t buy any clothes. I have maternity clothes in every size from first preggo to about to pop. I’ll have Langford bring you a tote tomorrow from my first trimester.”
“Thanks, Isley.”
I don’t know what all they’ve talked about for the last hour and a half, but Maxi looks a hundred times more relaxed than she did when we arrived.
Offering her my hand, I help Isley to her feet.
“I’ll go grab my coat from the mudroom,” she says.
Mom finds me waiting by the front door, carrying a pizza box. “Here, take this with you. It’s the one with pineapple on it. Isley’s the only one who’ll eat it,” she says.
I take the box from her hand. “Are you okay here?” I ask.
“Yes, your father texted me from the road. I’m going to stay here, and Leona and I’ll clean up, and she’ll drop me off on her way home. You go and have a great night.”
I kiss her cheek, and Isley appears.
“Oh, is that pineapple pizza?” she asks.
“I thought you and the baby might want a midnight snack,” Mom says as she hugs my wife.
“I think she wants a snack for the ride home,” Isley says.
I guide her carefully across the snow-covered lawn to my truck that is parked at the top of the drive.
She enjoys her pizza while I drive us home.
Isley curls up in the living room, her hand resting gently on her growing belly. Her eyes are on the twinkling Christmas tree we decorated before Tucker left with his mother.
It’s our first Christmas as a family, and this house has never felt more like a home.
I join her with a cup of hot cocoa.
“Thank you,” she says as she leans into my side.
I wrap an arm around her and tug her in close.
“It’s so quiet here without Tuck. I don’t like it,” she says.
I kiss her forehead. “He’ll be back soon.”
She sighs. “I know. I just miss him.”
“Me too.”
She lifts her head and raises an eyebrow. “But we do have the house to ourselves. Might be the last time for a long while. Wanna make love by the light of the Christmas tree?”
Fuck me.
“I thought you were tired?”
