Brothers in Blue A Bryson Family Christmas - Jeanne St. James Page 0,62
so focused on her and this decision?
She closed her eyes, flipped the flap up and slid out the card. Marc jerked next to her and she heard his breath catch. Opening her eyes, she read the front of the card.
It’s a boy!
Leah stopped breathing, trying to fight back her emotions. One heartbeat. Two.
“Open it!” screeched Carly. It was unlike her to be so impatient.
Leah opened the card and pink glitter went flying everywhere. Inside was large handwritten block lettering.
JUST KIDDING!
This one doesn’t have a penis!
Hooray for more vaginas!
Leah slapped a hand over her mouth and Marc yelled, “Thank fuck!”
His mother scolded, “Marc! Language!”
Greg boomed out another, “Fuck!”
Austin and Jax ran over and grabbed the card from her. “What is it, Mommy?”
“You’re getting a baby sister,” she told her boys through her tears.
“Is that good?” Austin asked, confused.
“It’s great. It means grandma will have another girl to spoil when you two are hanging out with grandpa.”
Teddy clapped and bounced on his toes, wrapped up in Adam’s arms. “It also means we’ll have a girl to dress up since Hannah no longer lets us dress her.”
Max and Amanda, Matt and Carly, Adam and Teddy along with Ron and Mary Ann came over, each giving her a hug and their congratulations.
Leah glanced over at a grinning Carly, who was now holding Levi and swaying back and forth. “A penis can’t be hiding, right?”
“Well, that’s always a possibility, but every time I’ve done the ultrasound on you, I did not see one.”
“And if she had one it would be big enough to see,” Marc said. “Us Brysons aren’t small. Right, Pop?”
“Right. I—”
“Ron!” Mary Ann squawked. “It’s Christmas. That’s not a conversation to have today or in front of the kids.”
“You heard your mother, no penis discussions on Christmas.”
“There’s never not a good time to talk about penis,” Teddy stage-whispered.
“Penis!” Greg crowed toward the ceiling, making the puppy bark, which, in turn, made all the dogs bark. “I got a penis, too! No vag... ina!”
“Yes, Greg, vaginas are yucky,” Teddy told him with a dramatic shudder and a wrinkled nose.
Leah ignored them and leaned into her husband, turning her face up to him. He lowered his mouth and brushed his lips over hers.
“It wouldn’t be a Bryson family holiday without total bedlam,” she murmured.
“Would you want it any other way?” he whispered against her lips.
“No.”
“Are you happy?”
“You, the boys, your family, make me happy. Never doubt that. Finding out this baby’s a girl was just the bow on the box. But the gift inside would’ve been great all the same.” She sighed with contentment, one hand on her belly and one hand cupping her husband’s stubbled cheek. “It’s been an amazing day.”
“The day’s only beginning,” Marc reminded her.
True. One more surprise needed to be revealed.
And it was a doozy.
Chapter Eleven
Teddy & Adam
Adam’s stomach churned, his mouth was as dry as the Registan Desert in Afghanistan, his throat tight. And his heart thumped wildly.
“Why do you keep glancing at your watch?” Teddy asked as Adam lifted his wrist for the hundredth time.
Adam still had him pulled into his arms, his fiancé’s back pressed to him, the arm without his watch stretched across Teddy’s chest, holding him close.
“And why is your heart doing a crazy thumpty-thump, handsome? I can feel it.”
“Too much caffeine.”
“Are you anxious to give me my present? Is that why you keep checking the time?”
Fuck yes, he was anxious.
His surprise had taken months of planning and secrecy. Of course he was nervous that it could turn into a complete disaster. Teddy wasn’t the most cooperative of people. The slightest misstep could create a whole dramatic episode, effectively ruining Adam’s surprise single-handedly.
“I’m so happy there’s going to be another girl in the family,” Teddy murmured plucking at Adam’s sleeve. “We need to have a serious discussion about what we want to do. I’m not getting any younger, you know.”
“We’ll discuss it.” And they would. He just needed to get through today first. Once they were on their trip to Aruba, they’d have all the time in the world to make those plans. No family or work schedules interfering. A whole week with just the two of them.
Adam couldn’t wait. It would be the perfect time to reconnect since the two of them were so busy. Adam had worked a lot of overtime to pay for today’s surprise and Teddy was a business owner, so he tended to work long days. Sometimes there were days they hardly saw each other.