Mia sat down beside me, watching Leona and Everleigh make Loom Band bracelets on the floor. “How’re you doing?” I asked. Two months ago she’d broke up with a guy she’d been seeing for about four months prior.
“I’m doing really good. Thinking about taking Leona to Disneyland Paris in March. We both really want to go.”
“She’ll love that.”
“She will, and I think we both deserve it.”
“Heard anything from him?” I asked.
“He tried calling but I didn’t pick up. He’s a nice guy, but I’m not wasting time on someone that I don’t see a future with. I like that it’s just me and Leona at the minute.”
Mia was happy to focus on herself, Leona, and her career. She didn’t need anyone, and I really admired her for that. If Oakley left me I’d probably stop existing.
“You’re a good mum.”
She teared up and slapped my arm. “You utter arsehole!”
What the hell? “Alright, sorry. You’re a terrible mother.”
Rolling her eyes, she said, “No. You’ll make me cry. I don’t really care about a lot of things in life, like material things, having the high-power career, but being a good mum…”
“At the risk of getting hit again, just don’t change anything because you’re already there.”
She held her hands up. “Okay, I’m changing the subject before I cry. I need to pry my nephew off Mum. She’s not put him down since Miles handed him over. I want my snuggle time, too.”
“Good luck.” Even I found it hard to get Bentley back, and I was his dad.
“Sophia coming through,” Jasper said, waking awkwardly across the room holding Soph’s hands. With assistance, she could walk, and she liked to walk a lot.
Everleigh and Leona gently tickled her belly as she strolled past them. She was also quick on her feet. You had to expertly power-walk whilst crouching down and making sure there was nothing in her way.
She walked with help from her dad over to the sofa where I was sitting with Mia and stopped at the edge. She pulled her hands out of his and gripped Mia’s knees. My sister soon picked her up, happy to have a baby to cuddle.
“Cole, kitchen,” Jasper said.
“Jasper, why?”
He deadpanned. “Do you need to question everything?”
“With you, yeah.”
“Oh, will you just get up!”
I stood. “Happy?”
“Never been happier.” He nodded to the kitchen, and I followed. I wouldn’t admit that I was intrigued because we could be going in there for absolutely any reason. It could literally be anything.
“Well?” I asked when nothing was out of order. There were no broken appliances or water pouring out of a pipe in the wall. All things he’d done in his own place.
“Oh look, your wife is outside,” he said and walked back into the living room.
I didn’t give his oddness much thought when I saw Oakley through the window. She shivered and waved at me to go out.
“What’re you doing?” I asked, opening the patio doors.
Holly laughed from beside her, squeezed Oakley’s hand and walked inside.
“Come here,” she replied, holding her hand out.
There weren’t many times that I wouldn’t follow my wife, despite the below freezing temperature stabbing my bare arms.
“What’re we doing?” My body tensed. “Jesus, Oakley, it’s so cold out here my balls have retreated,” I hissed.
Even though it wasn’t snowing we still had a white Christmas. The snowfall from a few days ago had lingered, and the freezing temperatures would probably keep it here for a few more.
“I know, but you love the snow,” she said. “And Everleigh is excited to show us the snowmen she built yesterday.”
While we wrapped presents yesterday, Everleigh spent the morning with Sarah and Miles. Miles had wrapped them both up warm and spent an hour in the garden building a snowman family.
I laughed. “Yeah, but she’s too cold to come out now!”
“She’s too busy playing with her toys. I had a feeling she’d do that.”
Sarah and Miles were also light crazy. Every tree in their garden had lights wrapper around it. We walked around to the side of the house where the two trees that Leona and Everleigh had tyres hanging from were covered in twinkling lights.
Oakley squealed and pulled my hand. “There they are!”
Along the wall were three snowmen and in the arms of which one was obviously me was baby Bentley. “What’s on yours?” I asked, noticing something on the body of Oakley’s snowman.
She squealed again and laughed, pushing me forwards so I could get a better look. My eyes widened when I saw exactly what it was.
“Oakley…?”
“This is what I was doing when I snuck away from the table earlier,” she said.
I was stunned. Completely and utterly stunned. On the belly, written in twigs was: #3
“I found out last week. I wanted to tell you but I wanted to do it in a fun way. Are you excited? I know it’s soon after Bentley but–”
I couldn’t let her ramble on anymore. I had to kiss her. Grabbing her thick coat I pulled her against me, gripped the back of her head and glued my lips to hers.