“Why don’t you go get dressed so we can get going? We’ve got a long day today.”
Hope looks her mother and me over, then decided to do as asked. “Okay, Mommy,” she tells her as she slides down my lap.
I can’t hold in my laughter when she stops just before leaving the room and looks back, giving Lacey a look that says don’t touch my man.
“Damn, I’m really getting the attitude from that one today,” Lacey laughs. “Lord help us when she’s fifteen.”
“She’ll still be my little girl then, too,” I state and truly mean it.
“I sure hope you’ll be able to keep her from going wild.”
“We might have to tag team it, but we’ll survive. My mom survived my sister’s teenage years all by herself, we can survive Hope’s together just fine.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.” She laughs.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” I pull her in for a kiss, hoping that we won’t be separated if Hope finds us like this. She gets awfully territorial over me.
* * *
“Merry Christmas!I’m so glad you guys made it safely,” my mom greets all of us.
“We wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” Lacey tells her as she balances the cake box when my mom pulls her in for a hug. “Where would you like me to put this?” she asks, holding up the box a little higher.
“Is the counter okay or does it need refrigerated?” Mom asks her.
“The counter is just fine since we’ll be eating it in a few hours.”
“Then, right in here is fine,” Mom tells her as she leads the way into the kitchen.
“Hey, Sis,” I greet Miranda, who’s already in the living room. Noah and Ivy are playing on the floor with a basket of toys Mom keeps on hand. Benjamin runs over to Allen, crawling up in his lap to discuss his newest Lego set he’s been building this past week. Hope goes over and plays with Noah and Ivy. She loves shaking the rattle and other baby toys for Ivy. The way she plays so well with her makes me believe that she’d be such a good big sister if Lacey and I were ever to add another baby to the mix.
“Merry Christmas,” she replies as I place a kiss on her cheek.
I hug my brother-in-law as he sits next to my sister on the couch. “Are the kids ready for tomorrow?” I ask.
“Noah has been trying to open presents all week. I finally had to box everything up and move it into a closet. I’ll set it all back out tonight after he’s asleep, along with everything else. What about you guys, are you ready for a crazy Christmas morning?” she asks.
“Benjamin has been asking daily if we can open them yet, so I’m sure tomorrow will be an early morning, but I can’t wait. They’re going to be so excited.”
“I can’t believe my little brother is becoming so domesticated,” Miranda coos. “Who would have thought that in less than a year you’d go from lonely bachelor to family man?” she muses.
“And I wouldn’t change it for anything,” I tell her, and truly mean it.
“I know you wouldn’t. Those kids have stolen your heart and ran away with it.”
“Their mother, as well,” I tell her just as Lacey joins us.
“What are you accusing me of, now?” she asks as she sits down.
“Just that you’ve stolen my heart, along with your kids,” I tell her, and follow it up with a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth.
“You’ve done all the stealing,” she replies. “I had very little say over the fact you barreled into our lives and showed us what it means to be loved by a man.”
“Awww, the two of you are so damn cute. Don’t ever change,” Miranda tells us.
We fill the entire day spending time with my family, playing games and just having a good time together. Mom made a huge feast for dinner, that we all enjoy, followed by the kids’ favorite part, opening presents.
I have a blast watching all of them rip the wrapping paper to shreds as they try to get it all off as quickly as possible. Seeing the different excitement levels based on the different ages is also entertaining. I’ve only been exposed to Noah, before this year, so it’s quite comical when you add in Hope and Ben.