Luke
This is why I continued to work out. To show Zach exactly who the alpha male was in this house. He’d become one of my main motivators on gym days.
“Call me Daddy, and I’ll get off you,” I said, holding him pinned to the floor.
“Never, boomer.”
I chuckled and released him. He groaned and flopped onto his back as I stood.
“Never change, son,” I said, offering him a hand.
He grinned and gripped it, trying to yank me down, but I was ready for him. My ass was clenched, my footing solid.
He sighed heavily and allowed me to help him up.
“How’s everything going?” I asked, noticing the destruction.
I walked over to the broken ornament that had fallen off the side cabinet, gathering the pieces off the floor and leaving them on the cabinet for now.
“Really good. Living with Amber has been far better than anything I could have anticipated. It’s like we each have a separate rhythm, but together it’s a vibe.”
“Hm,” I hummed. “That’s quite perceptive of you.”
“This is the Gen Z class,” he said, smirking.
I nodded like I knew what the fuck that meant, but I’d look it up later.
It made me feel much better when he squealed like a girl at the sight of Bella feeding Lewis, before launching straight into dramatics until my poppet finally dragged him out of the living room.
It didn’t bother me that Bella called me out for my own immaturity at the wrestling match. I never wanted to lose touch with any of the kids, no matter their age. Somehow, the victory felt sweeter with Zach, precisely because of his initial resistance.
I sat beside Bella as Lewis suckled away, far more finesse in him than I’d ever managed myself.
Operation Baby Newbury’s First Christmas was underway.
Tomorrow was the big day.
I leaned in to kiss Bella’s cheek.
“It makes me so happy that everyone is home,” I murmured.
She reached up and smoothed my hair back into place. I knew it was dishevelled from wrestling Zach. Her hand drifted to my cheek, her thumb tracing gently over the skin.
“Look how much has changed since last Christmas,” she said, glancing at Lewis.
His eyes were drooping now, his suckling gone sporadic, slowing toward sleep.
There had been bumps along the way, but they’d almost entirely come from outside factors. Zoe’s fake lawsuit against me had gone nowhere, and Sadie remained locked away in a secure facility.
The soft, twinkling lights of the Christmas tree caught my eye.
“It’s because I picked out the tree this year,” I told her.
Her fit of giggles was everything.
? ? ?
My eyes snapped open.
Everything was quiet.
It was Christmas morning.
I turned to observe a sleeping Bella. So sweet and innocent. So very corruptible.
I slowly slid her nightdress up past her hip. She sighed and rolled onto her back, unconsciously luring me in. Like a predator, I shifted closer, slowly—but then I heard it.
“Ooooh-Aaah.”
Then the gurgling began. It all sounded very wet.
Lewis was awake.
I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, willing my morning wood away. It didn’t work particularly well, so I slipped out of bed without disturbing Bella and pulled on my robe instead.
I crept out of the room and into Lewis’s nursery.
His head jerked to one side, and he spotted me through the slats of his prison. He upped the tempo of his excitement immediately, arms and legs kicking with delight. I was standing over him within a second, undoing his covers and scooping him up against my chest.
I breathed in the scent of his curly hair before patting down his full nappy.
“Your first Christmas, son,” I whispered.
He didn’t care.
“Merry Christmas,” I said, lifting him high into the air.
He was delighted to be so high—so delighted, in fact, that the gurgling started, and I got an eyeful of spit for my trouble.
The joke was on him, though. He was going to wear three ridiculous Christmas outfits today, and we’d have photographic evidence for years to come.
I wiped my eye and began to hum as I changed his nappy.
? ? ?
There was a sea of wrapping paper on the floor. Isabella was recording everything, blissfully unaware of the nanny cams I’d already installed in almost every room.
Lewis sat on my lap, dressed as a Christmas tree, complete with stitched-on pom-poms, garland, and a few stars. I felt his cheek, since he looked a little pink, and lowered the romper’s hood so some of the heat could disperse. Bella assured me it was crocheted from cotton.
Zach held his racing car up high.
“Yes,” he hissed.
What a child.
“Amber, pass Luke the red and gold present,” Bella said from behind me.
I swapped Lewis for the present, and Amber instantly launched into a one-sided conversation with him, her voice softening into something sweet and gentle the second he was in her arms. Bella had been right about her being the best sister.
Watching them together, curls bent close over the wrapping paper, I felt something settle warm and heavy in my chest—this was what all of it had been for.
I found the edge of the box and tore the paper away.
“Ah-ha!” I shouted, raising my red racing car into the air.
Zach eyed it, then glanced down at his own black one.
“Third-floor hallway,” I said, already bolting out of the room.
“Oh, it’s on, old man,” he shouted behind me.
I heard Bella and Amber’s laughter chasing after us before it faded away entirely, replaced by the thunder of Zach coming up fast behind me, cackling the whole way.
“I’m going to beat you, boomer.”
The old me would have contemplated financially ruining him from the shadows for such impudence. But Isabella had taught me that family could be a little messy, and that was allowed to be okay.
I reached the top stair. Zach piled into me from behind.
We tore into the boxes together, laying out rules, agreeing on markers, arguing about start lines like it actually mattered.
It was all for nothing.
There were no batteries in either box.
We trudged downstairs, and Bella called my name. The second I stepped through the doorway, she tossed a pack of batteries straight at my chest.
“This is why I will always adore you,” I murmured, striding over to kiss her.
Amber chuckled. Zach groaned and made exaggerated gagging sounds. Lewis, meanwhile, remained entirely content in his role as Christmas Tree Number Two.
I couldn’t wait for next Christmas.
The End