Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
COLE
Sierra kneels down and wraps her arms around me where I’m sitting on the floor in front of my parents’ Christmas tree. “I didn’t know you were such a good LEGO builder.”
I laugh and hold up my creation for inspection. Red, green, and blue pieces jut out in all directions. It was supposed to be an airplane.
Supposed is the important part here.
“Well, according to Finn, I’m not doing it right.”
Little Finn cracks up laughing, even rolls around on his side like a bug, kicking his feet in the air.
She kisses my cheek. “You get my vote, but I wouldn’t want to fly that. The wing is wrong.”
Sighing, I put the toy down next to the pile of random blocks. “How are ya doing?”
“Great. Wonderfully, actually. Stuffed. That dinner was over the top. But your mom’s special Christmas dessert is almost ready.” She drops her voice. “Now, don’t tell anyone, Nolene has been feeding us girls cookies while we were cleaning up.”
I pull Sierra into my lap with a quick grab and give her a fake scowl. “And you didn’t bring me any?”
Her laugh is throaty and pleased when I squeeze her. “Nope.”
“Jeez. Get a room,” jokes Liam as he stretches out on the floor in front of a tiny toy race track.
I stand with Sierra in my arms. “Good idea.”
My fiancée gasps and swats my arm. “Oh lord. Put me down, we are not doing that in your parents’ house—”
I’m laughing hard at the expression on Sierra’s face when Mom breezes into the room. “Cole Strong, what are you doing to that poor girl?”
Sierra grins victoriously as I set her down on her feet. “He’s crazy.”
Nolene shakes her head as she gives a little eye roll. “Boys, always up to no good... What time are your coworkers coming, Cole?”
“Any minute now.”
Mom turns on her heel and heads back to the kitchen, over her shoulder, she says, “Perfect, call the others in from outside, please. By the time they get their snow clothes off, I’ll be ready.”
I catch Sierra’s hand in mine, the one with the engagement ring. I pull it to my lips and kiss her knuckles.
She watches me with fascination as I lean into her ear. I whisper against her cheek. “You missed your chance. I was going to steal you away to the library and give you another present.”
A little choked sound leaves her throat.
“That skirt has my mind in one place…”
She pushes back from me. “You’re bad. Now, you better do what your mother asked, or she’s going to withhold dessert from you.”
My mouth starts to water. “That’s okay. I don’t need it if I’ve got you.”
Sierra’s eyes go wide. “Cole…”
A knock on the front door gives her a reprieve. When I swing the door back, Simona’s standing there with Marshall and Roark lording over her shoulder.
“Sprite!” I say with a smirk.
She groans and gives me a death glare. “Not you too. I hate that name.”
“But it fits so well. Merry Christmas.”
Grumbling, Simona steps into my open arms for a hug. “Thanks for having us. They told me I have to say that.”
“Thanks for coming.”
“Whatever,” she mutters, but her tone is light.
Marshall shakes my hand. Then Roark does too. “Come on in, guys. Mom’s going to serve dessert soon, then we can hang out in the library and talk.”
“Dessert?” Simona brightens. “Okay, maybe I don’t hate you.”
I laugh as I shake my head. “I didn’t peg you for an easy bribe.”
“I’m a softie at Christmas, what can I say.”
Sierra grabs Simona’s hand. “Come with me. Let me show you what’s in the kitchen.”
They walk away, chattering about something.
I shrug at the men. “Well, you guys want to hang out here with the kids, or go have some spiced rum—”
“I’m thinking about getting in on that snowball battle,” Marshall says with a devilish grin.
I know my eyes light up. “Let me grab my coat.”
Which I have to do without Nolene seeing me.
Marshall wasn’t kidding. Holy smokes. Two fortifications constructed from snow sit on either side of the field by the barn. Kids are screaming. My brothers are pelting each other. Bryan is in the middle of the field dodging incoming missiles.
I run right into the middle of it all with a war cry. Roark and Marshall run alongside me, hurling snow at my brothers. Yes! This is what a white Christmas is about.
For the next ten minutes, it’s an all out snowball war.
I laugh and tackle my brother Caleb into a snowbank. He yells when I stuff a wad of snow down his coat.
Suddenly, he stills. “Oh! Shhh… do you hear that?”
I lift my head and squint through the snow caked in my eyes. The bell on the porch is being furiously rung by one angry woman. “Uh oh.”
A guilty expression crosses his face. “Mom’s pissed. She only rings the bell like that when there’s hell to pay.”
I roll off of him and furiously brush snow off my jacket. “I was supposed to call you guys in the house about twenty minutes ago.”
He tips his head back and roars. “Lord, you like to live dangerously.”
Bryan extends a hand to me. His smile is big and genuine. The guy looks a million times better than he did that night at the warehouse. “I think that’s our call.” He pulls me to my feet.
“That’s the call for Cole to get an ass chewing,” Caleb says with a deep belly laugh.
He’s right.
I knock the snow off my pants legs. “Mom’s too glad to have me home.”
Caleb bumps my shoulder with his as we head to the house. “She’s too glad to have you engaged.”
“Guess we’re going to be brothers-in-law.” Bryan has a neutral voice. He’s yet to say anything positive. Like congratulations.
I bristle, even though things are fine between us. On the surface, at least. “I hope you’re down with that.”
He drops a hand on my shoulder. “I wouldn’t want it to be anyone else. But a little warning would have been good. I got all choked up at the dinner table when you told everyone.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I was there with ya, bro. I’ve never been so soft. Jesus. This love thing...”
Caleb laughs as he holds the mudroom door open. “You have no idea. It’s just beginning. Wait until she tells you she’s pregnant.”
My heart throbs for a few beats. “That would be music to my ears.”
When I look up, Sierra’s leaning on the frame of the door, watching the herd shed their winter gear. “Uh, about that…”
I take a step toward her and wind my hand around the back of her neck under the thick fall of her hair. “If you tell me you’re pregnant, I might just die of happiness right here on my parents’ floor.”
She smiles softly. “Then I won’t tell you.”
Growling, I press my mouth against the shell of her ear. “Don’t tease me like that, woman.”
“How do you feel about being a father?”
Pulling her into the hallway, I get us to a place for a private conversation. I turn her toward me and cup her face in my hands. “If you were pregnant with my baby, I’d be ecstatic.”
She drops her voice to a whisper only I can hear. “Well, it’s early, but I missed my period.”
For a thousand heartbeats, I’m frozen. “You didn’t tell me…”
“I wasn’t sure if I should wait until I knew for sure… I didn’t have time to get a test and I was already a week late when I realized.”
Pulling her into my arms, I fight back the lump in my throat. “The minute we can go to a clinic and find out, we are.”
She wraps her hands around my neck. “I knew you’d say that.”
I tip her back and kiss her. “I love you. We’re going to do this right.”
“I have no doubt. Now, let’s get going. Our friends and family are waiting.”
The kitchen is chaos as usual, and adding Roark, Simona, and Marshall to the mix is even more nuts. But my mother, true to form, has everything running smoothly in no time.
Within minutes, our plates are loaded with one or more of the mouthwatering choices. Cheesecake in three flavors. Flan. Pecan pie. You name it, Mom and Larson have baked it.
Sitting around the tree on the floor, on the couches, on the stairs, the entire living room is full from wall to wall with people oohing and ahhing, stuffing themselves with Christmas cheer.
“A toast!” my brother Caleb calls. He holds his apple cider up and the kids mimic him with sippy cups. “To our newly engaged couple. May the year be full of magic and new opportunities.”
The Agile team holds their cups high, clinking them together. A sense of deep gratitude fills my chest.
This is home.
Sierra. My family. My new job.
Everything is perfect. And if we’re pregnant, then that’s the icing on the cake.