Page 2 of A Perfect Holiday
My brother, always the thinker of this group, learned to stop worrying about not having enough time with her and started embracing everything about their new life. It was uplifting to see the changes in them, and the transparent, abiding, often giddy love they shared.
She shook her head. “Not for some time. At least not for a couple more years. The MCATs are looming. We’re thinking the best time might be at the beginning of my senior year and just before residency.” Booker’s look told me he was one hundred percent behind her. I thought it mirrored Verity’s and my connection completely.
“Sounds like a plan,” her mother said. Then she turned to us and smiled. “And you two? Duel is almost two years old. Seems about right to get going on another one. I know Aubree didn’t like being an only child—and Boone, you for sure enjoy your brothers’ presence in your life. Maybe you’ll have multiples.”
“Trips are a lot of work, but I wouldn’t trade mine for anything,” Evie said with a soft smile. “So take it easy with her, Boone.”
“I always take it easy with her,” I quipped, but Verity didn’t give me one of her sassy comebacks. It was elusive, but something shifted…whether it was some subtle shift in my wife’s body, or a change in the molecules surrounding us, something was different. Like a disturbance in the Force.
How had Aubree’s mom’s question about a second child changed the course of our smooth-sailing, comfortable, calm atmosphere to one of an approaching storm? As if I heard the phrase:Here there be monsters.
Was it too soon to have the next one? If not now, when? It seemed to me that taking the plunge now would be a good idea.
Also, when we conceived Duel, I’d been so drunk I didn’t even remember—well, not fully, anyway—having sex with Verity. We’d been eighteen, she was high on X, and I was trying to drown myself in enough alcohol that I would be able to keep my hands and mind off her. The X was just the catalyst, because, as I found out later, Verity had wanted to do me for a long time. The X blasted her inhibitions to smithereens, and she jumped me in my truck bed. I still got pissed about that every now and then. So the thought of being there, being present, and deliberately planting my seed to conceive our second child was mind-boggling sexy and wonderful.
Then Verity did something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “Duel, be careful,” she said softly, walked away from me, and totally left Mrs. Dalton hanging. I smiledlike she hadn’t just acted out of character, and said, “We haven’t talked about it.”
“You should. Duel should have a brother or sister. You don’t want him to be an only child, right?”
“Mom,” Aubree said, giving me a glance. She’d noticed Verity’s dodge just as I had, but after I got to thinking about it, I chalked it up to panic about the effects a new baby would have on our family and careers at this point.
Would Duel be shortchanged on attention? Would we be able to get eight hours of sleep any time in this decade? But we’d adapted well to Duel’s unexpected arrival after some pretty hard times. We would do fine with a new one added to the mix. I felt ready to take this on.
“I’m asking because babies are on my mind.”
Mike was beaming, and I sat up straighter. “BreeBree, I think you’re mom’s having a baby.”
Shock rolled across her face as she looked from her stepdaddy to her mom, and then she squealed and jumped up to run over to them, hugging them hard. The music petered out, and as soon as Mike announced it to the whole room, Brax started uncorking champagne with Rory’s help and began passing it around.
After the excitement calmed down, River Pearl stood up and clinked a fork against her glass. Verity was dealing with a fussy Duel, who still wanted to dance. I took him from her, put him on my shoulders, and started to bounce. That always made him laugh.
I was surprised at how heavy he’d gotten.
“If I could have everyone’s attention.”
The room quieted down, and I looked over at Brax, wondering if he’d finally asked that girl to marry him. He was talking to Ethan and looked completely relaxed. It was miraculous the change that River Pearl had wrought. He was stillhis usual acerbic self, but the anger that used to permeate every word and move was gone.
“River Art, my gallery, is sponsoring a Christmas Eve showing of living and whimsical art, and y’all are invited. There will be really cool installations, a Christmas party for kids early in the afternoon—with Santa and his elves attending—and a hoity-toity party for adults in the evening. Black tie is optional. I will need Santa and elf volunteers.
“I call Santa,” Brax said. “I’m not wearing no damn pointy shoes.”
“Like hell,” Booker said. “You’re looking at the big guy here.”
“No way,” I chimed in. “I have Santa sewn up. Especially since I suspect my wife will be making the costume. Gives me an edge.” I looked over at Verity, but she was lost in her own world, mentally tackling something and the hair prickled at the back of my neck.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Brax straighten and look directly at me. Almost on cue, Booker turned in his seat, and our eyes met. I shrugged, giving them both a smile, but something was definitely off-kilter.
River Pearl said, “We’ll figure out who will be Santa later. For now, I just wanted to make the announcement, and get you all thinking about it, and you’ll all get formal invitations later. Brax will, of course, do the catering, which should be plenty of incentive to attend, especially after this Thanksgiving feast we decimated.”
Ethan clapped, and everyone joined in, including Verity, with a smile on her face. I relaxed. For all I knew, she was working out one of her designs in her head. That girl was always designing.
Then it was time to play and sing, and I lost track of her while people flowed around us. Some regulars dropped in, and Brax fed them, and the dancing got wild. Toward the end of the day, I rotated out with my cousin Creed, who had a greatvoice. Searching for my wife, I found her with her momma, who was holding Duel while he gobbled a piece of pumpkin pie, his chubby cheeks smeared with orange spiciness, and his grandma’s sweater a victim of whipped cream.
I went over to Henry. “You going to be all right?”
He nodded, his blue eyes sad and lost. “I’ll come over to visit with you tomorrow. We can go fishing. Okay?”
He brightened, and I got a smile out of him. “Okay, Boone.”
