Page 119 of The Art of Being Merry
“So I can be pregnant at the wedding for a second time? Hard pass. I’m drinking at our ceremony, enjoying the hell out of it. It’s the last time I’m doing this, and I’m gonna make the most of it. Then you can knock me up.”
“That’s a long time away.”
“Four months. It’s not like I’m saying we can’t have sex until the wedding. Just no knocking me up sex.”
Autumn chooses this moment to sit on the couch next to Clementine. “Ew. I could have gone the rest of my life without hearing that.” She scrunches her face. “Though I suppose if it results in another niece or nephew, I won’t complain. You’re going to have the most stunning kids.”
“Did you ever want more?” Clementine asks her.
“At one point, sure. But it wasn’t in the cards for me, and I’m content with having the almost-perfect daughter.”
“Hey, I heard that, Mother,” Shania grumbles, narrowing her eyes at her mother.
“Why do you think I said it that loud?” Autumn tosses back.
Chatter continues around us, but I’m too focused on Clementine. I can’t wait to knock her up, a thought I never considered before she came into my life. Sure, Mom was always petitioning about wanting grandkids from all of her children, but I always figured I’d be the odd man out. Like I always am when it comes to the Nicholas siblings. Something about the third child, I suppose.
Everything’s changed now. I’m not sure how many kids are in the cards for us, but even one will allow me to watch her body grow and change. We’ll see if that gives me the fix I need.
“Your turn, Uncle Dax.” Clementine rises from the chair and transfers our sleeping nephew to my lap. He’s such a cuddle bug, all warm and cozy in his elf pajamas, the sweetest lips opened in a perfect O.
“You look good with a baby, Dax,” Heidi comments.
“Right? I was thinking the same thing. Maybe get me one of my own.”
“Four months, Mr. Nicholas. Four freaking months.” I can’t help teasing Clementine for the rise I get from her. It’s one of my favorite pastimes.
“It’s not like you’d start showing right away,” Autumn cuts in.
My girl shoots daggers at my eldest sister. “If I can’t drink on the day I say ‘I do,’ I might not show up.”
She’s kidding, but damn, she sounds determined.
“You wouldn’t dare,” I challenge.
Her lips press into a fine line. I can’t tell whether she’s trying not to show emotion and laugh or if she’s serious. When she expels a breath, I clue in. “God, no. Wild horses couldn’t stop me from marrying you. I’m super excited to be Mrs. Dax Nicholas.”
Much as I would have wanted to get married during the holiday season, she wanted a spring wedding. While May is the nicer month for a wedding, she found the venue of her dreams with an opening in April. She booked it without checking withme. Man, the blow job that night was the blow job to end all others. My one goal in life is to make sure she’s happy. If an April wedding at her dream venue was what she wanted, I was on board.
There’s a knock on the door. “Who could that be?” Heidi wonders, walking over to it. “Hi, can I help—oh? Um, Autumn. It’s for you.”
“Me?” Autumn ponders. “Who knows I’m here and would track me down on Christmas Eve of all days?” From the corner of my eye, I watch as she steps in front of the door, and all the color drains from her face. “No. Not today, Myles. In fact, not ever.” Her voice is shaky.
I tip Rhett back into Clementine’s lap and race to the door. Becks joins us, the four of us staring at Autumn’s ex and Shania’s father. He’s older by sixteen years, filled out, and grown into his long limbs. His face is hardened, as if he’s had it rough.
When he left town before Shania’s first birthday, Beck and I wanted to go after him. I was only a teenager, but I would have tracked him down. His parents live in the next town over, and we wanted to knock on their door, demand they tell us where he is. But Autumn begged us not to, that they were better off without him. I couldn’t understand how she’d think that was a good idea, but now I know better.
“Myles.” I lock my arms defensively across my chest, throwing shade. Not that I’m so intimidating to a guy a few years older than me and practically the same height. But hey, gotta show solidarity for my sister.
“Dax. Beckett. Heidi. The gang’s all here.”
“Why are you here?” Autumn asks. She shrugged off the nerves, her voice steady, filled with ire.
“Can we maybe go somewhere and talk?”
“On Christmas Eve? No, I don’t think so. Why are you here?” she repeats. She’s humming with energy, needing the answer. He broke her heart when he left, and if she’s not careful, it will slice open.
Myles runs a hand through his hair. “Did Mom not tell you Pappy died?”
