Total pages in book: 14
Estimated words: 12536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 63(@200wpm)___ 50(@250wpm)___ 42(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 12536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 63(@200wpm)___ 50(@250wpm)___ 42(@300wpm)
“Baby,” I whisper in her ear. “Happy Birthday.”
“Thanks, Daddy.” She presses her soft lips to my rough cheek and my heart squeezes in my chest.
“Did you look after momma while I was gone?”
Abbey nods seriously. “I gave her lots of hugs just like you told me to.” I kiss the top of her head and smile at the way she smells just like my wife.
“That’s good honey. Are you ready to open more presents?”
As I gather up the gift bags and Jenna closes the door, a rumble of laughter erupts from the den. I stick my head into the room, smiling at the jumble of people who are crammed onto our furniture and just about every spare chair we have. I kiss mom and shake my father-in-law’s hand in greeting.
“There he is,” Liam yells, jumping up from a low stool to pull me into a fierce ‘bro’ hug. I’m passed around his brothers, Callum, Matty and Ryan, and then on to Ethan and Nathan, and Jason, Austin, and Bryan. I’d say there was something in the water at our college because most of Jenna’s friends have ended up with multiple husbands. To be honest, I’m glad that Jenna only ended up with me. I don’t have the trusting bond of a brother to share her with. I guess that’s the benefit of being an only child. Not that these boys look unhappy. Far from it.
Sharing a wife might not be for everyone, but it certainly seems to work for these families.
“You know, the last one through the door has to do a challenge,” Carrie says with a grin on her face.
“Leave the dude alone.” Nathan pinches his wife’s knee and his twin punches him on the shoulder.
“You trying to kill Carrie’s Christmas fun?” Ethan says.
“I think that would be an impossibility. Have you seen her?” Nathan laughs.
Everyone in the room chuckles because Carrie should be the poster girl for a Pinterest Christmas. She’s decked out in a silver and gold festive sweater, with mini tree baubles hanging from her ears and a silver holly festooned headband. Even her leggings have Christmas trees running up the sides. It’s hard to know where to look.
“Harrison would be happy to accept a challenge,” Jenna says from behind me. She pinches my ass at the same time, and I almost jump out of my skin. “My ex-quarterback husband is about as competitive as any man I’ve ever met.”
I make a grumbling noise, but she’s right. My old football instincts are still with me, even though I don’t play anymore.
“Yeah, Daddy!” Abbey says. “You can do it.”
I shove my hands in my pockets and shrug my shoulders. “Guess the women in this household have spoken. What’s the challenge?”
“Well,” Carrie says. “I’m going to line up all the children and you have to name them all. If you can manage that, you can have a bowl of my famous tiramisu.”
My mouth waters at the thought of Carrie’s signature dessert, but I don’t think I’m going to be good at this challenge at all. It’s been a year since we all got together. A year of kids growing and my man-brain forgetting everything that hasn’t been necessary to remember.
“The poor man is sweating,” Katelin laughs.
“Half of them are our children and I’d struggle.” Matty shrugs his shoulders and I’m grateful for his support.
After this, I’m going to end up with no dessert and friends who think that I don’t care about their kids.
“I’m gonna try for the tiramisu,” I say.
Bethany, Carrie, and Katelin spring into action to try to gather the kids from around the house. They slowly line up, although the little ones keep trying to escape. The men are drafted in to help. I try to be clever by looking to see which man is dealing with which child, but I’m pretty sure they’re all muddled up, so that doesn’t help me.
“Right,” Carrie shouts. “All children stand like statues.” Abbey, who has also gotten into line, jumps into a scary monster pose. I suppose, with her there, I’m guaranteed to get one correct.
I know the tallest twin girls are Carrie’s. I touch their soft blonde heads. “These two princesses are definitely Emma and Natalie. The girls chuckle. “You got us the wrong way round!”
I scowl. “Your own dad’s struggle to tell you apart.” Ethan and Nathan shrug as though that’s perfectly acceptable. It’s a twin thing, I guess.
There’s another little girl who’s just a little taller than Abbey. I gaze around and notice the little girl has Katelin’s eyes. That must be Isobel. “Issy,” I shout, feeling very pleased with myself.
“Three down,” Jenna says. Her eyes are sparkling as though she’s just waiting for me to trip up.
“Abbey!” I pat my baby-girl’s head and she laughs.
“Of course I’m Abbey, Daddy. You couldn’t get me mixed up.”