Page 196 of Need You To Choose Me

“It’s fine,” Blake says softly so Levi can’t hear him, his hand brushing against the small of my back. “Just give him a minute.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re different from anything they’ve been used to. It’ll take some time for them to adapt.”

“Can I put these on?” Levi asks, suddenly lifting the box.

Blake brushes his lips against the top of my head. “Go decorate the tree. I’ll go check in on Daniel.”

Nodding, I shift my attention to Levi. “What did you find?”

“Look.” He looks up with one of Grams’ vintage ornaments in his hand. “They’re so shiny.”

“They are. You wanna know a secret?”

Levi’s eyes grow wide as he nods, and I lean down. “They were my favorite when I was a kid.” I wink at him. “Where do you want to put them?”

He turns to the tree. “I can put them anywhere?”

“Anywhere you want.”

Levi thinks for a moment before he places the first ornament. I hand him the next one, directing him every now and then a little until the box is empty. I start to crouch down to get the next one when Daniel appears at my side.

“Where do you want these?” he asks as he opens the box and pulls out an ornament.

“Why don’t you do the high parts?”

Daniel stops for a moment, but he nods. “Okay, I can do that.”

I can feel a slight jab in my side. Resting my hand against my belly, I rub at the spot, when from the corner of my eye, I spot Blake leaning against the doorway and watching us from a distance.

Our eyes meet, and the corner of his mouth tips up as he pushes from the door. “Have a place for one more?”

“Always.”

Between all of us, we put all the decorations on in no time. Well, the boys put most of them on while I hand around the ornaments, trying my best to ignore the ever-present pain, which seems to be growing by the minute.

There was no more reservation on their faces. Even Daniel was smiling, and that’s saying something.

“It looks so pretty!” Levi says as he takes in the tree.

“It’s not done just yet.” I look around the floor, until I spot the box I’m looking for and pull out a shiny gold star and hand it to him. “One final touch.”

His smile turns blinding as he watches the star.

Blake crouches next to him. “Ready to put it up?”

Levi nods silently, so Blake lifts him up while Levi slides the star in place.

“I did it! This is the best tree ever.”

“You guys did a great job.”

“We did.” Blake puts him back down, and Levi turns around. “Is it time for cookies and a movie now?”

I chuckle at his question, but the sound dies when the strongest contraction yet, makes me double down in pain.

Holy shit.Stupid Braxton Hicks.

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