I looked over at my sister-in-law as she sat next to her husband, Beckett.
“It’s a recipe that one of my brothers got from Texas.”
“So, your six hot brothers are all down south, and I’m still here,” Paige said with a sigh and a flutter of her eyelashes.
Lee scowled down at her. “You’re damn right they’re down south. They can stay in Texas. Your married ass is going to stay up here.”
Paige laughed as Beckett and Benjamin both growled at Lee for daring to mock-yell at our sister. Annabelle just giggled and took a seat next to me as Brenna took a seat next to Eliza.
We had pinto beans, cornbread, tamales, pico de gallo, brisket, green beans with bacon, some cheese for a small cheese plate, and an entire crudité vegetable plate.
I groaned at the amount of food in front of us but, considering how many people were at the table now, we needed this much food.
Jacob and Annabelle grinned at each other as they spoke in hushed tones. Eliza and Beckett looked like they were ready to swoon over one another, even as Eliza picked up her phone to check on Lexington in the crib.
Benjamin and Brenna were laughing at something that my father said, while Paige and Lee were still mock-arguing about the Wilder brothers while my dad put in his opinion.
I just sighed and looked over at Leif, who shrugged.
Everybody had started to feed themselves, so I did the same, wondering how I ended up nearly the only single one at the table, other than Leif—who had never been in a serious relationship ever, and wasn’t even old enough to drink.
I was one step away from the kiddie table, and I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself.
“These are amazing,” Paige exclaimed as she bit into another tamale.
“I’m going to have to tell my brother you said that. It was a long, arduous process even to get him to give us the recipe,” my sister-in-law said with a laugh.
Mom beamed. “It was so much fun making them. We used to have them every Christmas Eve when I was a kid.”
“Really?” Leif asked, echoing my thoughts.
“Yes. My mom and her mom used to make them for us, and we sort of got out of the habit of making them. I don’t know why. There were just so many other things to eat. But we fell in love with cheese, and we never looked back,” Mom said with a sigh.
My mother was Leif’s grandfather’s sister. Though none of us had met our grandpa or grandma before they had passed, I knew that Austin, Leif’s father, had.
We were all a big tangled mess of family and connections, but I liked hearing the stories of things we had missed in the past.
“Anyway, speaking of family traditions, I have news.”
We all looked at her as we continued to eat, and I frowned at the odd look that Mom gave me.
“As you know, we try to do a family reunion every three years because there are so many new babies, and we just want to celebrate as often as we can.”
“Oh, it’s this year, isn’t it?” Annabelle asked. “Are Aunt Marie and Uncle Henry doing it?”
“No, they aren’t,” Mom said with a grin.
My eyes widened.
“Mom?” I whispered.
“Marie and Henry have done it often because they have the most property, and since they have eight kids and had the first set of grandkids, it made sense. And then it went down to Katherine and William in Colorado Springs, and then Timothy and Francine over in Boulder. We’ve all rotated who host it, even as we went from every five years to three years, to sometimes one or two years between the reunions because we just want to spend time together. This time, though, it’s going to be here. In Fort Collins, at this house. Because we have the space, and it’s time for us to join in the Montgomery festivities.”
My dad smiled at his wife as tears slowly slid down my mom’s cheeks.
Everybody started talking at once, and I leaned over and hugged my mom tightly.
“That’s amazing news, Mom.”