He blinked huge dark eyes as he clutched strands of Ashley’s hair as if they were reins on a pony. “Anyone who can get this kid to let go of me for more than thirty seconds is welcome to try.”
Blonde-haired Daisy toddled over to Jaxi, her riotous curls poking out from underneath her knitted toque.
“Auntie J., up,” she ordered, arms held out demandingly. With three adults in her house willing to offer hugs at the drop of a hat, the little sweetie was a wee bit of a tyrant.
Jaxi got the two-year-old balanced on her hip, then, between her and Ashley, carried the car seat about five feet before Trevor and Becky from the Moonshine clan showed up.
“I’ve got him,” Trevor insisted, pulling the car seat away and peeking inside. “Hey, dude. You want to come hang out with the big boys?”
“Sure, Trev. Just remember Forest will need to be burped and probably changed. After you nurse him, that is,” Ashley teased.
Trevor made a face. “Too bad, little guy. Tell you what. This time you keep an eye on your mom and your cousin-to-be.”
He stood, carrying the car seat in one hand and wrapping the other arm around Becky to stabilize her. “Come on, Rodeo. Let’s get you inside where it’s warm.”
Becky’s smile was patient. “I’m plenty warm, Trevor. I have this internal heat system helping.” She glanced at Jaxi. “I don’t know how anybody stands being pregnant in the summertime.”
Then they were in the house and coats were being pulled off. Trevor actually got Forest out of his car seat and was cradling the three-month-old with a far more experienced air than Jaxi had expected.
He grinned when he caught her staring. “With my little brother and his wife having two kids rapid-fire style, the entire Moonshine clan has gotten a lot of practice lately holding babies.”
Everyone moved into the living space, and once the dust settled, Becky cradled Forest, staring down at his dark hair with a secretive smile on her lips. Ashley still held River, and everywhere else, Jaxi’s sisters-in-law and the women of the other Coleman clans were settling into chairs and beginning to catch up.
The Whiskey Creek Coleman girls entered the house to loud hellos. The newest member of the family, Julia, stood beside them, her cheerful grin shining out.
Lisa gestured toward their group. “I’m pleased to present the now complete Whiskeyteer four-pack. Everybody, this is Julia. Julia”—Lisa swung her hand as if she were a game show host—“this is everybody.”
Julia wiggled her fingers. “I don’t see any name tags.”
“Just call us Ms. Coleman, and you’ll be mostly right,” Marion said dryly as laughter bloomed again.
The next hour passed in sweet pleasure as everyone visited for a while then rotated and moved to a new group of family. Babies were passed around with joy and love.
Rachel from the Moonshine clan sank back on the couch with a contented sigh as she breast-fed two-month-old Ava and watched her one-year-old, Liam, take toddling steps toward Lisa. “There’s something in the water, isn’t there?”
Jaxi glanced around the room. “We’ve been blessed, yeah.”
Rachel snickered. “The Coleman family is funding Doctor Kincaid’s retirement all by ourselves.”
“He has delivered just about all of our babies, hasn’t he?”
“Here’s an opening if I ever heard one.” Dare got to her feet. She grinned as she checked around the room, little Joey playing some game with stacking blocks with two of his cousins. “Becky here is on the calendar for a March baby. Melody and Anna are using June for a second round of ‘let’s have our babies on the same day and give them incredibly similar nicknames.’”
“I had Jay picked out for a long time,” Melody insisted.
“Kay was born first. That’s all I’m saying.” Anna folded her arms over her chest. “You’re such a copycat.”
Melody proved she was one hundred percent Coleman at this stage of the game. She stuck out her tongue at her sister-in-law.
“So far you’re only telling us things we already know,” Jaxi pointed out. “Unless you’re ready to add to that list?”
Dare grinned. “We’ve booked a mid-July appointment. This time it wasn’t an oops.”
The laughter and congratulations had barely begun when Vicki stood, her smile brilliant. “Joel and I are excited to let you all know baby number two is on the way, also expecting mid-July.”
Dare’s jaw dropped. “No way.”
“Way.” Vicki threw her arms around Dare and squeezed tight. “I’m so happy we get to do it together this time.”
“Because synchronized vomiting is such a good thing to share.” But