AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Aubrey!” Claire lunges forward to hug her.
I grin, already in on the secret since Dalton told me he bought a ring over a year ago for her. He was waiting for the right moment, and it finally came.
“Another toast!” Marian calls out, hoisting the champagne in her hands.
We all congratulate Aubrey and Dalton, and carry on into the evening celebrating all the happiness and love we’ve managed to find.
Epilogue
Claire
Four years later…
“Grammy, Darren has more sprinkles than me!”
I sigh and shoot Marian a look. We’ve already filled both of Lauren and Caleb’s twins’ cups up with precisely equal amounts of edible decorations. Lauren was so tired of the bickering that she pulled out a food scale and proved that the digital numbers were the same.
Even though both boys were three and very smart, I doubted they knew what those numbers meant. And honestly, I have to side with Darren. Matthew’s cup of snowflake-shaped sprinkles does look fuller.
“Aha.” I dip my fingers in and snag the gumdrop he put in there. “That’s why it looks uneven.” I pop that candy in my mouth and smile.
“Aunt Claire!” Darren cackles in laughter. “No candy before dinner.”
“That’s right,” Marian scolds playfully.
I’ve never seen her smile so much as when she’s surrounded by us all here. We’ve all moved as close as we could to the Goldfinch. It’s the mothership, as Kevin jokes, moving out here himself since he’s taken a remote tutoring job instead of teaching at the local school. Lauren and Caleb live next door to the bed-and-breakfast with their adorable and hyper toddler twins. Jason moved in with Marian here once they married. Dalton and Aubrey aren’t far, and Sawyer and I built our forever home just on the other side of the property.
We’re all close here, keeping our de-facto “mom” happy. Marian’s “Grammy” as well, doting on the twins, and hopefully any day now, Aubrey and Dalton’s baby girl.
She waddles through the kitchen again.
“No snacking before Christmas dinner, Aunt Aubrey,” Matthew nags in his little voice as she goes for another bottle of ginger ale.
“I’m pregnant. Over-pregnant. I can do what I want,” she grouses playfully.
“I’m telling you, the stairs,” Marian says. “Have Dalton walk you up and down those stairs again.”
“It’s not working,” Aubrey whines. “That hasn’t worked for days now.”
“Only three days,” Lauren amends as she helps me teach the twins the fine art of decorating gingerbread houses.
Aubrey shoots her a dirty, narrowed-eye look.
“Okay. Okay.” Lauren holds up her hands. “I will not comment on how past due you are again.”
Aubrey huffs. “Better you don’t, Miss I-gave-birth-a-day-before-my-due-date.”
Lauren mimes zipping her lips shut.
Aubrey pouts. “How’d you evict them on time?” She points her bottle of ginger ale at the boys.
Lauren giggles. “Easy. I tried Claire’s attempt of enchiladas, and Ta-da!”
I laugh so hard I snort. “Oh, man. That time I put like four times the amount of pepper in by accident?”
Aubrey huffs and waddles to leave the kitchen. “That does it. Claire, I want my Christmas gift to be the spiciest freaking dish you can make a mess of.”
I giggle, and I’m happy as a lark until the boys fight over the candy. Marian can handle this one. Lauren referees, but Grammy knows best, distracting the toddlers with a suggestion that they should count the gifts under the tree again.
