32. Locke
LOCKE
“Uncle Locke?” Kenna bellowed at the top of her little lungs. “Where are you?”
Isla giggled from her spot on the couch. “You never have to worry about losing her in a crowd.”
“In the library!” I called back just as loudly, causing Isla to roll her eyes. We’d stopped to admire one of the many dazzling Christmas trees Weston had set up in Lochbrae, then the baby had started kicking, and Isla had sat down, groaning in contentment as she sank into the plush cushions.
I hadn’t had the heart to shuffle her on to the dining room just yet, despite Lena’s reminder that lunch was about to be served. I turned just as Kenna darted into the room.
“Uncle Locke, look!”
“What is it, sweetheart?”
She held a book out to me. “Fairy tales. See?”
“This is amazing,” I said, admiring the sparkly red and green cover. “Was this an early Christmas present?”
“Yep. Daddy gave it to me. We read it at bedtime.” Kenna turned to where Isla sat, showing her too.
“So many stories,” Isla marveled, flipping through the book. “How could you ever pick a favorite?”
“All the princesses are my favorites.”
“Oh, of course,” Isla said. “That makes sense.”
“Have you shown Aisling?” I asked Kenna. “I bet she’d like to see it too.” With a look of intrigue, she ran off in search of Aisling.
Isla grinned at me.
“What is it?” I asked, sinking down beside her. She immediately snuggled into my side. I pressed my hand to her belly, feeling the familiar flutter of baby kicks beneath her skin. I was convinced that our son was a professional footy player in the making.
“I kind of miss her calling you Unca,” she said. “It was really cute. She’s growing up too fast. Time is moving too fast.”
“Oof, don’t remind me.” I pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Before we know it, the baby will be here. Then we’ll blink, and it’ll be Christmas all over again. Blink again, and he’ll be one. Next thing we know, he’ll be running all over the inn with Ranger and off to school and—”
“Okay, let’s rein it in before you have an existential crisis,” Isla teased, patting my knee. “First we have to survive the holidays this year.”
I sighed, a smile stretching across my face as I nodded in agreement.
It had been a whirlwind of chaos since I’d relocated to Braeburn.
There had been baby showers and nursery chores and Christmas preparations.
Alistair and Kenna had finally moved into the estate he’d purchased outside of town.
It was a bit isolated, and I didn’t love that he seemed to be hunkering down and avoiding everyone except us, but after all he’d been through with the gossip rags, I couldn’t truly blame him.
At least he was close enough for Weston and me to keep an eye on him.
And he certainly hadn’t hesitated to put us to use, bustling us back and forth to help them settle in.
Honestly, I was excited to spend Christmas with everyone, but I was even more excited to spend a couple quiet months with Isla before the baby arrived. “It’s going to be a full house at Lochbrae this year.”
“Lena said we can just stay over on Christmas Eve if we don’t want to worry about driving in the snow. That way we’re already here for the festivities on Christmas Day.”
“Might be a good idea. I don’t fancy having to dig either of our cars out.” Braeburn was gearing up for a more blustery winter than usual. “Though are you ready for the six a.m. wake-up call?”
Isla groaned. “Tell Aisling and Kenna that pregnant ladies need to sleep until at least nine.”
“I think you’ll be really lucky if we make it to seven,” I said. “Weston has an insane amount of presents hidden in the safe. The girls are going to go feral.”
“So that’s where they are,” she said, laughing. “I’d been wondering. Lena said Aisling has turned into quite the little sleuth. No wonder Weston’s had to take drastic present-hiding measures.”
“Speaking of presents,” I said, “we’ve got to figure out how to get the sleigh up here.”
“I still can’t believe you and Weston ordered that,” Isla said, shaking her head.
I pinched my fingers together. “It’s just a little sleigh.”
“Yes, with Bonnie at the helm,” she murmured, clearly worried.
“Talk about horsepower,” I teased.
She grumbled at my joke. “You do know our son isn’t getting anywhere near that thing next year, right?”
“Well, obviously not,” I said. “It’s for Kenna, who loves the idea so much that she levitates whenever it’s mentioned. Our son will need to be at least three before he tries it, so he can really hold on. For next year, we’ll have to make him a smaller one to hitch to Ranger.”
Isla pursed her lips in amusement. “I trust him far more than Bonnie.”
“Lunch!” Lena called, her voice ringing out. “This is your last and final call!”
I snorted. “Okay, we better go. She sounds like she means business.” I helped haul Isla to her feet, and we made our way to the dining room, crowding in at the table with Lena, Weston, Alistair, and Kenna.
“Where’s Aisling?” I asked.
“Wait…” Weston said, flashing the table a funny smirk. “She isn’t here? That’s odd.” He rose to his feet and moved to stand in the doorway, pulling a tiny party horn from his pocket. He blew it hard. Beside me, Isla jumped, then giggled at the unexpected noise.
Alistair leaned toward me. “What’s going on?”
“No idea, mate.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Weston said, his voice booming across the room. “May I have your attention?”
“I think you’ve already got it,” Alistair muttered.
“Uncle Weston, I want that horn!” Kenna cried, jumping down from her chair. Weston pulled a second horn from his pocket and handed it to her, ignoring Alistair’s groan.
“As you know,” Weston continued, “earlier this year Lena and I fell in love with a little girl. She came into our lives and brightened our world until we couldn’t imagine being without her. Together, we’ve built a family. And today, I’m proud to announce that we are adoption official.”
Isla gasped beside me, pressing her hand to her mouth.
“May I present to you: Aisling Kincaid!” Weston said, throwing his arm out and blowing the horn again. Kenna blew her horn too, giggling as she jumped up and down by his side.
Everyone broke into applause as Aisling danced into the dining room in her frilly blue dress, positively beaming. She ran straight to Lena, throwing herself into her arms.
“The adoption went through?” Isla said, voice cracking with emotion. I reached over and squeezed her thigh.
“On Friday,” Weston confirmed, sitting back down at the table.
“You didn’t say a word!” I said to him.
“’Cause it was a surprise!” Aisling said, taking Weston’s party horn for herself.
“And it was the hardest secret we’ve ever kept,” Lena said. “I ran into Isla in town shortly after and thought it would explode out of me.”
“I thought you were smiling extra hard,” Isla said, laughing as she blinked away the tears that had gathered in her eyes. “You guys, we’re so happy for you. Congratulations. And congratulations to you, Aisling.”
“Thanks!” Aisling said.
“So,” Weston said as the girls started marching around the table, making the most of their horns, “not only is today’s lunch to officially welcome Alistair and Kenna to town, but it’s also an adoption celebration.”
The table clapped again. Aisling tooted her horn extra hard. Kenna followed in turn, staring up at Aisling like she was the coolest person in the entire world.
“Look at us getting everything out of the way before the new year,” Alistair said as Lena passed warm trays of food across the table. “It’s going to be quiet next year.”
“Not that quiet,” Lena pointed out. She eyed Isla’s belly. “We all know what the next celebration is going to be.”
“Though maybe we can have less horns for that one,” Isla said, wincing as Aisling made a particularly shrill squeal. The table dissolved into laughter.
“Watch your steps there,” I called, leading the group across the hotel construction site. After lunch, I’d invited everyone over to the site to show them the progress on the hotel and the new gallery that Isla and I had been working on.
“Just stick to the gravel path,” Isla called as Aisling and Kenna ran ahead.
“Is the house live-in ready?” Weston asked, coming up beside me.
I nodded. “It still needs furnishings, but the construction is complete.”
Since returning to town and reconnecting, Isla and I had decided that our home base would be at the inn.
The nursery was already set up there, and that was where she was most comfortable.
But seeing as I no longer needed my own place to stay, that meant the MacRae house was free to be put to other uses, and we’d agreed to turn it into an art gallery to show off her mother’s paintings as well as pieces from the current artist in residence.
Isla had been super excited to move forward with the plans and had immediately started transforming the building.
“Just through here,” Isla called, leading the group toward the house.
The grounds were bare, a layer of frost clinging to the surrounding trees, but white winter light spiraled through the naked branches, making the space feel ethereal.
Isla walked up the porch steps, unlocked the door, and stood aside, welcoming everyone.
Aisling and Kenna were the first ones through the door, immediately racing up the stairwell to the second floor.
“Oi, you two be careful!” Alistair called. “Don’t go breaking anything.”
“They’ll be fine,” I told him. “The place is babyproofed.”
“Oh, it’s gorgeous,” Lena said, wandering down the front hall.
“You gonna show us around?” Weston asked. I inclined my head, leading the group through the main floor.
“The gallery starts just through here,” I said. We shuffled into the old sitting room where a bunch of Aileen’s artwork had been hung. Lena and Weston and Alistair spread out, examining the paintings.
“Is this Aileen’s earliest work?” Weston asked.
Isla grabbed my hand, grinning from ear to ear. “Yeah. We wanted to organize it by decade as you move through the rooms,” she explained. “These were all painted before I was born. The next room captures our early years here on the distillery property.”
“These are incredible,” Alistair said.
“We’re working to convert the dining room into a rotating exhibit for the artist in residence to show off their work.”
“What’s through there?” Lena asked, pointing out a smaller sitting room.
Isla grinned at me.
“This,” I said, leading them into the space with a drum roll, “is the new family gallery.” The group filtered into the room filled with Isla’s photographs.
We’d spent an entire day choosing our favorite moments from the past year: Weston and Lena’s vow renewal.
Babysitting Aisling. Alistair and Kenna at the summer festival.
Me and Isla and Ranger together at the inn.
“Isla…” Lena said, choked up. The group fanned out and soon everyone was laughing and smiling as they relived the memories.
“We’ve decided this will be a semi-permanent exhibit,” Isla said. “Locke insisted on it.”
I grinned down at her. “Your work deserves to be here. With your mother’s.”
“What do you mean by semi-permanent?” Alistair asked.
“Just that I’ll change the photos out on occasion,” Isla explained. “With our new favorites.”
“I see Locke’s resting grump face has made it onto the wall,” Weston noted, laughing.
“Definitely one of my favorites,” Isla agreed.
I rolled my eyes, more amused than annoyed by their teasing.
“I want to see,” Kenna said, running into the room. Aisling ran up behind her.
“Here,” Alistair said, sweeping Kenna into his arms so she could see better.
“That’s me!” Kenna cried, pointing to herself on the wall.
“And me and Ranger at the inn,” Aisling said. “I’m showing him my mermaid coloring book.”
There were so many perfect moments, I thought, marveling at the space.
But my favorite one of all had only been taken recently.
I stopped in front of the photo. Isla came to stand next to me, head resting against my arm as we stared at the shot of me hanging the mobile over the crib that I’d spent an entire evening building.
“I love this photo,” Isla said, threading her fingers through mine.
“So do I.” I was beaming in the image, proud of what I’d accomplished in the nursery and of the commitment I’d made. I turned to Isla, smiling even harder now because I knew I’d always be right there next to my family, present for every moment they needed me.
There really was nowhere I’d rather be.