Page 18 of Ever After Between the Lines (Montgomery Ink Legacy)

LIAM

“Jasper, buddy. What are you doing?” I asked, shaking my head.

I knelt down in front of our white Siberian Husky and ran my hands over his face and flank.

He licked at my chin, and I rolled my eyes before kissing him on the top of the head.

I stood up next to him and grinned down at the dog Arden and I considered our son.

“You’re acting antsier than usual. What’s going on? ”

Considering Jasper was getting a little bit older in years and way more behaved than this usually, I was worried. He had been Arden’s before we got together. In fact, he was the reason we had found each other after seeing each other in the hospital the first time we had met.

I shook my head, thinking about it. I had been hurt at a wedding after scaffolding had fallen and had changed my life. Arden had been in there for a reaction to the sun, just another one of her many problems that came with having lupus.

She had been in such pain, had had red splotches all over her face, and had felt like crap. I had needed stitches and had a probable concussion.

She had looked so freaking beautiful.

I’d walked away thinking I’d never see her again, despite the fact I’d wanted to. Jasper later had been the one to run away from Arden while taking a walk, something he had never done before and, God willing, hadn’t done since. He had run right to me as if bringing us together again.

I’d like to think of him as our good luck charm, but right now, he kept barking and running around and chasing his tail. I had to wonder what the hell he was doing.

“Hey Dad, sorry, we were playing hide and go seek, and I think he’s winning.”

I swallowed hard as I looked up at Lake, my heart doing that little pitter-patter twist whenever my daughter called me Dad.

It had been less than a year, really only a few months, since Lake had come into our lives and been formally adopted.

It had been an odd and stressful time through the system for Lake to be ours.

We were still getting used to this whole family thing, but we had a daughter.

Ten years old, sweet, kind, a little quiet, and totally in love with Jasper.

Jasper went from paw to paw, shook his tail, gave that doggy grin, and went right over to Lake.

She let out a little giggle and ran her hands down him before hugging him tightly.

Jasper, the little suck-up, wrapped one paw around her, rested his little head on her shoulder, and let out a contented doggy sigh.

Jasper was just as pleased at having the new addition to our family as we were. We had known that Jasper would be great with kids and babies, but we hadn’t known the connection the two would share.

We were in the process of finding another dog as well, because Arden needed a medical alert animal around her in case she had another spell or reaction to her meds.

Jasper was great at what he did, but as he was getting older, we all wanted to make sure that Arden had someone else trained and would let Jasper relax a bit.

Jasper had many more years with us, but he didn’t need to be working full time.

And now that meant that Lake would get a new puppy brother or sister.

And maybe one day a human one too. But as we were only a few months into this big family thing, I didn’t want to put the cart in front of the horse.

After all, the rest of my brothers and sisters were having all the babies these days, and Arden and I felt like we were catching up.

“Sorry if I worried you,” Lake said and winced.

She ducked her head, and I swallowed hard.

I knew all that was in Lake’s file, everything that she had gone through before we had found her.

Or, in essence, she had found us. But we didn’t talk about it outside of therapy.

That was fine. We had time to do so. And I hoped to hell she would.

If not with me, then with Arden or one of her many aunts and uncles.

I didn’t like the fact that she had gone through what she had, but she was ours now.

Our perfect daughter, and now that she was in her double digits, one day, she would be a teenager, and I’d have to deal with the next phase of being a parent.

“Why are you growling?” Arden asked as she walked in, her eyes bright. She was wearing a sexy red top that showcased her curves, but not too much, just enough for me. She wore black leather leggings with lace cutouts, knee boots and looked gorgeous.

“Just thinking about the future.”

“You’re doing that whole Papa Bear Montgomery thing, aren’t you?”

“I can’t help it. Just thinking about the guys or girls she’s going to want to date later, and it’s going to freak me out.”

My wife laughed. “It’s only been a few months. Breathe first. We have time.”

“I’m going to have to talk with Austin. He’ll know what to do.” I’d make lists and read books in order to figure out how to be a father of a teenager. Giving her boundaries while not acting like an overprotective idiot was going to be a balance I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find.

Arden rolled her eyes. “I guess Lake and Leif are decently close in age when it comes to the cousins,” she said, speaking of my cousin Austin’s oldest son.

“Yeah, everyone else seems to be a bit younger. But Leif has already taken her under his wing and drives up here to hang out with her and show her the Montgomery ropes. I kind of like it.”

“He’s a terrific kid. And, your cousin Meghan has a son and daughter close to Lake’s age, and everyone else isn’t too far down the line in the grand scheme of things.”

Hearing Arden’s voice relaxed me, and I tried not to let the unknown of the future bother me as much as I was letting it. It was odd since it was usually the opposite when it came to Arden and me. “That’s true. And who knows, maybe our next kid will be the same age or even older.”

We were whispering now, aware that talking about it too much might stress out Lake. But she knew that we weren’t done creating our family yet, and I wanted to make sure Lake had all the family she could handle. Lake wanted siblings just as we wanted a larger family.

“One step at a time. We’re still getting used to this whole thing,” Arden said, before she kissed my jaw. “Plus, my brothers are all working on starting families, and Macon’s son wants to hang with Lake more. So, it’s not just Montgomerys. You have to deal with the Bradys too.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” I said, before I kissed her softly on the lips.

She scrunched her nose. “Watch the lipstick. I don’t want it to come off.”

“That’s why you’re not wearing gloss.”

Her eyes narrowed. “It’s starting to scare me how well we know each other, especially since you know why I’m wearing matte lipstick instead of lip gloss.”

“Because I want to kiss you. I learn what I need to in order to have those lips on me.”

“Are we ready to go?” Lake asked, before she stood up and twirled around in her dress.

“We are, but first you need to find your shoes,” Arden said.

Lake blushed. “Oops. I forgot.” She padded off to her room, Jasper, on her heels.

“Christmas dinner with the Montgomerys. It’s going to be interesting.”

“Mom’s been stressing out,” I said softly.

Arden looked at me. “Why? Is everything okay? I thought things were good between everybody.”

Finding out that the secrets of my family had been a little deeper than we had all ever guessed hadn’t been easy for us, but we were better because of it. However, that wasn’t what was wrong for the evening.

“This is her first real Christmas as Grandma. I think she’s stressing Grandpa out to the point that he’s ready to come sleep on our couch,” I said dryly.

“Just joking, right? They are doing okay?” Arden bit her lip. I wanted to lean forward and lick at the sting, but I knew Lake would be back into the room at any moment.

I nodded. “Just joking. We know that Grandpa Montgomery is ready to play Santa to the hilt. He actually has a suit, you know.”

Arden laughed. “That I can picture. He has to compete with his brothers.”

“We all know that each Grandpa Montgomery likes to make Christmas the biggest that they can. At least we’re not having a huge conglomerate dinner. Tonight is just the Boulder Montgomerys.”

Arden smiled. “And at least my brothers aren’t coming to this since that adds an entire football team.”

“No, but they’ll be here for New Year’s. Along with Marcus’s family and a few others. As it is, we have my family, Zia, and Meredith, and Ronin, Kincaid, and Julia. I don’t think my mom even owns enough chairs, come to think of it.”

My wife laughed. “I’m sure they’ll make do. It does get a little confusing around you guys, though.”

“I’m ready.” Lake walked in and twirled again.

“Almost,” Arden said, and held out her hand. “This morning, we opened nearly all the gifts, and last night we opened your Christmas Eve gift.”

Lake smiled. “And it was awesome. I’ve never had a Christmas like this.

I mean, you always saw it in the movies, and I thought it was just something that they did for Hallmark and all that.

But like wow. I just...thank you guys. I didn’t really need anything for Christmas.

Because I had you guys, and I know that’s cheesy to say.

But we’re Montgomerys now. Cheese is what we do. ”

That made me laugh, I couldn’t help it. “Have you been talking to my sister?”

“Aunt Bristol says that cheese is life. And I tend to agree.”

My ten-year-old sounded so prim and proper just then that I knew she was mimicking a family member, but she was right. We had a fascination with cheeses in our family, and now it just became a snowball of jokes, hilarity, and damn good cheese.

“I’m glad you had a good morning with us for Christmas, and you have all your gifts, except you have one more that I’d like you to open.”

Arden met my gaze, and her eyes twinkled.

I nodded, and I went to go sit next to the tree.

“There’s one more here. Did you see it?”