Page 20 of The Trouble With Her Duke
Lydia smiled at her sister-in-law, wondering if the chaos contributed to her reticence about the pregnancy.
Miles smirked. “Little sister! When did you arrive?”
“Five minutes ago. But only your wives noticed me.” Lydia rolled her eyes and grinned.
“Welcome home, sis!” Preston said.
Her brothers walked up to her and hugged her.
After introducing a still-startled Annabelle to Miles and Preston, Lydia turned to greet the children, who’d gone back to what they were doing: namely making a lot of noise.
“If you’ll indulge me, I have a suggestion,” she said to her brothers and sisters-in-law.
Striding to a small cabinet, she opened it and took out a box. She made a beeline to Janey and James, who were arguing about the hair-pulling, and knelt beside them. “Janey and James, do you remember me?”
The children both nodded.
“Who am I?”
“You’re Auntie Lydia.”
“I noticed you didn’t say hello to me or hug me. Do you think you could do that now?”
They both nodded again.
“Hello, Auntie Lydia,” they said in unison, wrapping their arms around her.
“Hello, my darlings.”
“Now, getting to our important business.”
“What ’portin’ bizniz?” James asked.
“Well, I need you two to sit quietly and complete this puzzle. This is a very special puzzle that your father and uncles used to do every Christmas. And when it was done, we would all gather around and look at it for a very long time as we sipped chocolate and enjoyed our cinnamon rolls.”
The duo exchanged wide-eyed looks.
“Can you do that for me?”
“Will we get choclit and cime-a-nin wolls too?” Janey asked.
Lydia nodded sagely. “Absolutely. I promise. But before you begin, I must tell you the secret key to finishing the entire puzzle.”
“What’s that?” James asked.
“Lydia leaned in closer and whispered, “You must work together as a team.”
“Hmmm . . .” James tapped a finger on his chin. Janey copied her brother and did the same. “We’ll do it!” James said with a decisive nod.
“Excellent. I knew I could count on you to get this special project done.” Lydia opened the box and emptied the puzzle pieces on the carpet between them.
“I do wuv puzzles,” Janey added as she and her brother began sorting through the pieces.
Two down. Three to go. Lydia returned to the cabinet and sorted through a few of the toys within until she found what she’d been looking for. Approaching the triplets, who were still squabbling among themselves, she introduced herself to them, knowing the three-year-olds likely wouldn’t remember her. She swallowed the lump in her throat at that reminder that she needed to visit her family more often. She would speak to the duke about that when she felt more comfortable bringing up such things with him. “Now, my poppets . . . I have something very special for you.”
The toddlers regarded her with expectant curiosity.
“Did you know when your great-grandfather built the emporium, he paid a team of architects to design and build it?”
