With Me in Seattle Bundle One (40 page)

It’s funny, when I watch all of our parents together, it makes me think that that’s how we’ll be at that age, still hanging out together, laughing, enjoying our kids.

“My pleasure. The girls deserved something nice.”

“They do deserve something nice,” Matt agrees as he sits on the other side of Nat. “Ready?” he mumbles to me, and I nod, catching Will’s eye.

“Nate?” I call out, grabbing his attention, and he nods with a half smile and calls out to Leo and Isaac, who then nudges Caleb.

Will grabs his dad, Steven, and my younger brother, Mark, murmurs to our dad, Neil, and Stacy’s and Brynna’s dads.

All of us, all of the men, stand and move to the front of the tent where all of the girls can see us. The tent has grown quiet. Even the little ones have stopped squealing and running about, and our girls are staring at us, some with skeptical looks and some with just plain curiosity.

Damn, this is going to be fun.

“So,” Isaac begins with a smile, “first, I want to thank Luke for thinking of this and Will for hosting. They don’t always suck ass.”

“Ha ha,” Will responds and punches him in the arm.

“And next,” Isaac continues, “I’ll turn it over to Dad.”

Steven clears his throat and smiles lovingly at Gail. “We know that it’s not easy living with all of us men,” he begins, and the girls smirk.

“You got that right!” Jules agrees.

God, they’re funny.

“But we wanted to let you know that we appreciate you and love you all very, very much.”

“We should show you every day,” my dad, Neil, continues and laughs with a shake of his head. “But we’re men, and we just assume that you already know.”

“Of all the things we have, and let’s face it, everyone, we have plenty,” Nate murmurs, garnering nods in agreement, “you are the best part of our lives.” His eyes are sober and sincere as they land on Jules, and I think I like him even better than I did before.

“So, we all got together...” I glance at each of the guys, and they nod for me to continue. “All of us guys decided that you each needed a special gift this year, to celebrate what amazing women you are, and to always remember how much you mean to us.” We all reach into our pockets and pull out little blue Tiffany boxes tied with white bows.

“Oh my God,” Brynna gasps, and I smile over at her.

“These all match,” I inform them as we work our way to our girls and our mothers and make sure everyone has a box. “We wanted these to be the same, to remind us all that we are a family. Go ahead and open them.”

All of us guys nervously shuffle our feet and watch our women open their boxes. There are gasps and tears all around the tent when they see the sparkling diamond pendants on platinum necklaces.

“Oh my,” Nat breathes and catches my gaze in her own green one. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, baby.” She offers me a sweet smile, and I can’t wait to have her alone later, when Livie goes down for her nap, and I can show her exactly how much I appreciate and love her.

We’re suddenly all caught up in hugs and kisses, our mothers wiping tears from their cheeks.

I’ve never seen a group of women who love jewelry as much as our girls do.

“Thanks, ace,” Jules mutters to Nate with a grin.

“You’re welcome.”

Brynna has tears in her eyes as she hugs Caleb and murmurs in his ear. He pulls back with a soft smile and brushes her cheek with his thumb. “I know, sweetheart.”

I still wonder what’s going on there.

“You shouldn’t have,” Samantha tells Leo, but he just chuckles and kisses her forehead.

“You deserve that and much more for putting up with my shit, sunshine.”

Suddenly the tent is full of laughter and loud conversation as the girls pull the necklaces out of their boxes and immediately put them on, admiring them on each other, which garners rolls of the eyes from most of the guys.

“This is a total chickfest,” Mark mumbles and nibbles on more bacon from the buffet.

“It’s Mother’s Day, dude.” Matt laughs and slaps him on the back. “Of course it is.”

“I feel like after this I should go shoot a gun or drive a car really fast. You know, something to remind myself I have balls.”

“I need another mimosa!” Stacy calls out and is immediately stopped by Isaac, who has a panicked look on his face.

“Our parents and kids are here,” he says, “and we all know what you girls like to talk about when you’ve had too much to drink.”

“Killjoy.” Stacy pouts and drops back into her seat. “Can I at least have another piece of cake? It’s delish.”

“You can have all the cake you want, baby.” Isaac laughs and kisses her hard before fetching more cake for her.

Stacy watches him walk away with a dreamy smile. “He’s hot.” She props her chin in her palm and sighs happily.

“Luke?” Nat passes Liv to Gail and wraps her arms around my waist, leaning her belly against my pelvis, and I wrap my arms around her shoulders.

“Yes, baby.”

“Don’t expect diamond necklaces from us for Father’s Day.”

I laugh down at her and kiss her forehead. “I think we’re good.”

I have everything I’ll ever need right here in this tent. My gorgeous wife and amazing daughter. Our family.

“Happy Mother’s Day, baby.”

Under The Mistletoe With Me

A With Me In Seattle Novella

By

Kristen Proby

UNDER THE MISTLETOE WITH ME

A With Me In Seattle Novella

Kristen Proby

Copyright © 2012 by Kristen Proby

All Rights Reserved. This book may not be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. All characters and storylines are the property of the author and your support and respect is appreciated. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual situations. It is intended for adult readers.

Cover image used under license by Foltolia.com

Cover Design by Rachel A. Marks

Chapter One

“I’m just glad you didn’t have a game today and can actually enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with us.” My mother-in-law, Gail, smiles over at her son Will, who is currently stuffing his face full of mashed potatoes.

“Me, too, Mom. God, this is good.”

“That’s a lot of carbs for a man in training,” Isaac mutters next to me. I run my palm up and down my husband’s thigh and grin up at him. He loves giving his brother a hard time.

“Dude, it’s Thanksgiving,” Will replies.

“So the carbs don’t count?” Isaac asks.

“Exactly.” Will grins and takes another bite of his potatoes. I am surrounded by a room full of loving, funny people. The Montgomery gene pool is impressive. But more than being, well, gorgeous, they are welcoming and good-hearted, and I’m proud and lucky to be a part of them.

Sophie, our four-month-old daughter, squirms in my arms.

“Here, babe, let me take her.” Isaac pulls our baby girl into his arms and lays her on his broad shoulder. She settles in and falls back to sleep, her face pressed against his neck. I can’t blame her, it’s one of my favorite places to be, too. “You eat, honey.”

We are all gathered at Luke and Natalie’s house for the holiday. The loving couple have been married for about two months now, and I couldn’t be happier for them. Natalie isn’t a sister by blood, but she’s been a part of this family for years. She and Jules, the youngest and only girl of the Montgomery clan, are the best of friends. With the addition of Luke’s parents, Lucy and Neil, and two siblings, Samantha and Mark, along with my parents, this house is overflowing with bodies, loud with voices and laughter, and is a little too warm.

There is nowhere I’d rather be.

“Stace, how is your blog going?” Jules asks next to me.

“It’s going well, thanks. I really love it.”

“She’s being modest,” Isaac cuts in with a grin. “It’s going great. She’s got over ten thousand followers, and her reviews have been picked up by some publishers to add to book covers.”

He smiles down at me and kisses my forehead, his blue eyes shining with pride. God, I love him.

“What kind of books are you reviewing?” Natalie asks.

“Romance novels,” I reply with a smile.

“The dirty kind?” Will asks hopefully, earning a smack in the arm from Luke’s sister, Samantha. “What?”

“Don’t be a perv,” she mutters, glaring at him.

“Actually, all kinds, but yes, the erotic novels are pretty hot right now,” I respond and wink at him.

“Oh! Have you read those books that everyone’s been talking about?” Samantha asks. “You know, the ones where the guy ties her up and spanks her and is all kinds of naughty?”

I feel my ears burn as I blush. The guys all roll their eyes, but Matt, Isaac’s younger brother, clears his throat and won’t look anyone in the eye.

Interesting.

“Yes, I’ve read them, Sam.”

“I could use some of those,” Jules whispers in my ear. “I’ve hit a dry spell.”

“I’ll e-mail you a list,” I whisper back, and we giggle.

“What are you whispering about?” Isaac asks, pulling my hand up to kiss my knuckles.

“Just books,” I reply.

“Okay, gimme the baby.” Natalie stands and walks around the table, her arms open, and scoops Sophie up off of Isaac’s shoulder, nuzzling her. “Hi, precious. I missed you.”

My gaze finds Luke. He’s watching his wife, his blue eyes full of love and contentment. Natalie is pregnant herself.

“Anytime you want practice with middle-of-the-night feedings, you’re welcome to it,” Isaac tells her.

I roll my eyes and smack his arm. “Quit trying to give my baby away.”

He winks at me and takes a bite of his turkey. “I’m just kidding.”

“You know I’d keep her in a heartbeat,” Natalie responds with a happy smile and kisses Sophie’s cheek, making her giggle.

Isaac’s phone rings in his pocket. He checks the display and scoots his chair back. “I’ll be right back.”

I wonder who it could be. Surely not work on Thanksgiving. I shrug it off and finish my dinner, and then help clear the table and clean the kitchen. With all of us chipping in, the chores are done quickly, and we all settle in with wine or coffee to chat and recover from the delicious Thanksgiving meal.

Finally, Isaac returns from his phone call, a frown on his handsome face.

“Who was that?” I ask.

“It was nothing.” He shakes his head and walks to the kitchen to pull a beer out of the fridge before sitting next to me on the couch.

“It was some
one
,” I respond.

He shakes his head again and takes a pull from his beer. “Don’t worry about it.”

I frown up at him. This is new. It’s not that we have to share every little detail about who we talk to, but we usually do. He’s never been evasive before.

Before I can argue with him, he takes my hand in his and links our fingers, bringing them up to his lips. “Just drop it.”

He grins down at me and winks, then strikes up a conversation with Will about his football season with the Seahawks, effectively closing the subject. With a full belly and a warm fire blazing not far away, I settle in next to my firm husband, rest my head on his muscular shoulder, and watch the activity around me.

“Stacy, here are the photos we took last week of Sophie.” Natalie hands me a thumb drive. “I think you’ll like them.”

“Oh, I know I’ll love them! Thanks again for doing it. I’ll order Christmas cards next week.” I grin at her as she takes a seat across from me with Jules.

Jules and Nat soon have their heads together, as usual, cooing over a sleeping Sophie. I smile at the three of them. Three beautiful girls. I pull my phone out of my pocket and snap a photo of them.

Sam sits next to them and kisses Sophie’s head, and I snap another photo.

All of our parents are settled around the dining room table with coffee, chatting about grandkids and Christmas plans.

Will and Isaac ramble on about football, with Matt, their other brother, and Luke chiming in here and there. Mark saunters in from the kitchen, passes Luke another beer and joins them. The only one missing is Caleb, who is off on some SEAL mission.

I hope he’ll be home for Christmas.

“You okay?” Isaac whispers.

“Mmm.”

He grins down at me and kisses my hair. My eyes are heavy. I let my eyelids fall and listen to the conversations around me.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” Isaac catches my chin in his fingers and kisses me softly. I never get tired of his lips. My man can kiss. He moves away from me and lowers me onto the couch so my head is on the armrest, and I feel him walk away from me.

Will, Luke and Mark are enthralled in football talk, passionately arguing about the offensive line.

Suddenly, my eyes blink open, and I wonder how long I’ve slept. I didn’t mean to drift off.

Our moms have left their husbands at the table and joined the rest of us girls in the living room. My mom cradles Sophie in her arms, earning a frown from Jules.

“I never get to hold her. Between Natalie and you guys, I never get her.”

“Don’t whine,” Natalie mutters.

“Shut up,” Jules responds, and I giggle. They are so funny, even when they bicker.

“Stace, I’m glad the blog is going well,” Luke’s mom, Lucy, says with a smile.

“Thanks, me, too. I just need something to do while I’m home with Sophie. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bored, but I just…” How do I explain that I need something, just for me, without sounding selfish?

“I get it,” Lucy responds.

“So, let’s talk strategy, girls.” Jules rubs her hands together and perches at the edge of the couch with a large stack of newspaper ads. “Black Friday.” She grins excitedly and bounces on the cushion, her pretty blond hair bouncing with her. She licks her finger and grabs the ad on top, flipping through it.