Page 110 of Christmas with Brother's Best Friends

Josh puts his arm around Emma’s shoulders and kisses her temple. “We’re so grateful to have you as ours, beautiful. You’ve been the most incredible mom.”

A look of awe fills Emma’s face. “Thank you. You guys have been my rock. You’re amazing dads to Nessa.”

“We have been slacking on one thing, though,” I speak up from behind them as I walk next to Max.

Emma glances over her shoulder at me. “What?”

“That house we promised you,” I tell her.

Emma’s face softens. “It’s okay. We’ve all been really busy.”

Josh gently takes her arm and pulls her to a stop in a large driveway. “We fixed that.”

Emma flashes him a confused look before moving her eyes to the two-story, modern colonial-styled house at the end of the wide driveway. Her jaw drops in shock. “No way. You guys can’t possibly mean…”

I move to her side and kiss her on the cheek. “Welcome to our new home, baby.”

Emma’s eyes immediately start watering as she shakes her head in disbelief. “It’s huge! And it’s so beautiful. Did you guys really buy this house?”

“We needed a place to call our home,” Max tells her as he motions for her to follow us up the driveway toward the porch.

I give Emma an encouraging smile before we all head to the front door. “We found this place on the market not too long ago, and we jumped on it fast after a tour and a meeting with the real estate agent.”

Josh fishes the key out of his front pocket and unlocks the front door so that we can step inside of the large foyer. “We wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Oh, I’m surprised,” Emma assures us as she wheels the stroller deeper into the house, checking out the kitchen with its granite breakfast bar and the living room with its cathedral ceiling.

“There’s four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. A screened patio. An outdoor kitchen and pool,” Max lists off some of the amenities. “Even a theater room.”

Emma’s eyes widen. “Seriously? A theater room?”

“We made sure to get a house that had everything we could possibly want,” Josh tells her before gently taking Nessa out of her stroller and holding her against his chest. “Follow us.”

I take Emma’s hand and follow Josh and Max up the stairs to the second floor where the bedrooms are located. We head down the hallway and walk into the last room on the left side, sunlight streaming through the two windows facing the front of the house.

“What would this room be? A guest bedroom?” Emma asks as she glances around the empty room.

“We were thinking the nursery,” Max says with a warm look on his face.

Emma presses her fingertips against her lips, her eyes glistening. “That would be perfect. This place is perfect.”

Josh gently bounces Nessa as he holds her. “What do you think, Ness? Want this to be your new home?”

Emma turns to me and wraps her arms around my neck in a tight embrace. “Thank you. I can’t believe this is our house!”

I smile as I hug her back, my heart thumping wildly. Witnessing all the joy that she has felt over the past year has made me happier than I’ve ever felt before in my life. That’s all I want for her for the rest of our lives.

Happiness. Peace. Fulfillment. Passion.

I want it all for her and for our daughter.

Emma slips away from me to hug Max, smiling as he pecks her on the cheek. “You guys were really sneaky about this. I had no idea you were house shopping.”

“We were determined to find a place as soon as possible, especially after Nessa came into the world,” Josh replies as he hands our daughter over to me.

I briefly move her hat so that I can kiss the top of her soft head. When I look at her face, she definitely looks like Emma, but she has the dark hair of Max and Josh. She’ll be a perfect mixture of all of us.

“You guys did amazing,” Emma says as she reaches for Josh to hug him. “I’m trying really hard not to cry right now. I’m tired of crying!”