Mistletoe and Memories (Evergreen Hollow Christmas #4)

Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The whole family—Nora, Caroline, and Margo, Rhett and Jay, Aiden and Madison, Rhonda and Donovan, and Spencer—gathered at The Mistletoe Inn on Christmas Eve to celebrate, just as they always did. They were settled in at the table in the kitchen, with the small tree perched in the corner, to have their private celebration.

There was a huge spread on the table, including the Christmas charcuterie board that Rhonda always put together every year. It had all their local favorites—duck pastrami, cured goose, venison salami with blueberries and lamb salami with juniper, honeyed goat’s cheese, sheep’s cheese and crumbling blue cheese as well. There were tiny pickles, blue-cheese stuffed olives, small pots of fig and raspberry jam, ground mustard and a little hive-shaped pot of honey. There was also a cookie plate with Rhonda’s decorated sugar cookies, homemade fudge, and gingerbread, and a slow-cooker full of hot, spiced apple cider.

The tradition every year was to give each other one gift, and then open the rest over breakfast on Christmas morning. Everyone would come back first thing tomorrow for Rhonda’s huge breakfast spread, peppermint mocha coffee and hot cocoa, and open the rest of the gifts under the tree.

Most of the day, Caroline reflected wryly, revolved around food.

Rhonda would make turkey sandwiches for lunch on homemade rolls, and then there would be a huge Christmas dinner. And in between all of that, there would be plenty of time to relax, go outside in the snow, or spend time inside by the fire.

She was enjoying all of it. She’d felt a bit better over the past few days, probably because the stress of the holiday season at the inn was winding down, and the chaos of juggling that along with planning the anniversary celebration was over. She’d also come to terms with telling Rhett about the baby soon, after talking to Donovan, and she thought that probably contributed as well.

She’d decided that she would tell him after Christmas was totally over, and they had a minute to breathe. She was no longer as worried about it, but she didn’t want his reaction to be tinted at all with the stress and emotions of the holiday. They could talk about it quietly, privately, once the holidays were done and everything was back to normal.

“All right, everyone hand out your gifts,” Rhonda announced, as she began to distribute hers from the small pile next to her. “I can’t wait to see what everyone got.”

“I know which present Rhett should open,” Nora piped up suddenly, and Caroline’s stomach dropped, realizing before her sister could even finish that her careful plan was about to go up in smoke. “Caroline is the only one who can give it to him though.”

Thanks to the fact that she’d blurted it out to just about everyone in the family except for Rhett at this point, she could feel everyone’s eyes turning toward her. Rhett was looking at her, confused, and she took a deep breath.

At this point, she knew continuing to hedge her bets about it was only going to make it seem like she really was hiding something. And after all, she thought, maybe it was the right time. This Christmas had been full of new beginnings already, with Jay getting his first crush, and Margo and Spencer getting engaged, and it being Madison’s first holiday.

What better time, she thought, to tell everyone that she was going to have her first baby?

She swallowed hard, looking at Rhett. “I kept trying to find the right time to tell you this, and I kept putting it off,” she said slowly. “But I’m—I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a baby.”

Every fear that she’d had dissipated in an instant as she saw his face light up with joy. There was no chance that he was pretending, it was so entirely immediate and genuine. “We’re having a baby?” he asked, and Caroline nodded, a smile spreading across her face.

“That’s amazing. I…” He stood up and walked over to her, then tugged her up out of her chair and wrapped his arms around her. “I had no idea,” he said, giving her a kiss on the temple. “Although in retrospect, the jalape?o poppers should have given it away.”

“Probably,” Caroline agreed. She pulled back a little, looking at his face. “You’re happy?”

“I’m thrilled,” he assured her. “I couldn’t be happier. It’s the best Christmas present I could imagine, making our little family bigger with you.”

“I’m going to have a brother or sister?” Jay shouted excitedly, and when both Caroline and Rhett nodded, he jumped up and down. “Yes!” he exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air, and everyone around the table broke into laughter.

Rhett wrapped his arms around Caroline, and she leaned back against him, relief filling her. Honesty really had been the best policy after all, she reflected as everyone began to open their gifts, nothing but happiness filling her as she relaxed into all the possibilities ahead of them.

Donovan raised his mug of cider, looking around as he set his gift—a new tackle box—aside and smiled at his gathered family. “This Christmas, I’m so grateful for all of you,” he began. “My incredible wife, and my wonderful daughters, and the sons-in-law and the grandchildren that I have because of them. I’m overwhelmed by how much you’ve done for us, and I couldn’t be happier that this is my family. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas!” everyone echoed, raising their mugs as well.

As she sipped her cider, Caroline looked around, thinking of next year when she would have her own baby, and their Christmas celebrations would be just a little bigger.

She couldn’t wait.

This truly was the most wonderful time of year.