Page 24 of Ever After Between the Lines (Montgomery Ink Legacy)

FRANCINE

I had made many mistakes in my life, but somehow I had ended up the most blessed and happiest woman in the entire world, at least from where I was sitting.

Liam had just returned to the waiting room after dropping off Arden, Lake, and Jasper at home.

Lake had wanted to be there, but it was nearly midnight now, and she had fallen asleep.

Arden had needed to take her meds and get some rest as well, as her flare-up was starting to get worse.

But she was doing okay. And I was grateful for that.

I love my daughter-in-law. She was vivacious, with whatever energy she had.

She was brilliant, caring, and one of the most generous souls I had ever met.

She had brought Liam out of his shell and brought him back to us.

I held back a sigh that twisted my heart, familiar but gentler than it had been over the years.

I had almost lost him, not due to circumstance or outside forces, but because of my own decisions.

We had nearly lost him, I thought, looking over at my husband.

He gave me a small smile and squeezed my hand.

He gestured towards Liam, and I knew his thoughts were along the same as mine.

After over three decades of marriage, our minds tended to do that.

He might not be Liam’s biological father, but he was his dad in every way that mattered. We may have stumbled on our way to this peace of mind, but now we were one big happy family that was slowly watching our children raise their children.

And sometimes the emotion was too great for me even to bear.

“You doing okay, Mom?” Liam asked, as he squeezed my shoulder.

I leaned into my son, wondering when he had gotten so tall.

Bristol was the only one my height, but my boys had gotten their height from the other end of the gene pool.

They were all over six feet, broad, muscular, and sometimes strained my neck to look at.

But even with all that width and strength, they were gentle.

“I’m doing just fine. I’m waiting to hear more news coming,” I whispered.

“It should be soon. And hey, if things speed up in the next hour or so, we’ll have a Christmas baby.”

“Of course, Bristol would want to do that. She needs to make sure everything is sparkly and in celebration.”

“That’s my baby sister,” he drawled, before moving out of the way for Ethan.

“We need to head home,” Ethan began, “though I’ll stay. As long as you don’t mind giving me a ride home?” he asked Liam, and Liam nodded.

“No problem.”

“Thanks,” Ethan said before looking at me. “We don’t want Kingston to be sleeping here for too long, and honestly, I think I heard Lincoln sleeping earlier.”

“It was only a little snore. I’m fine.” Lincoln leaned forward, kissed the top of my head.

He was just as big as my sons, and I felt like he was my own.

I liked his parents, though I wished they were here more often.

However, I got another son and daughter and the cutest grandbaby in the world out of it. So I didn’t mind.

“You guys lasted longer than I thought you would,” I said, and then leaned into put a kiss on Lincoln’s cheek, and then Holland’s. “Are you two safe to drive?”

“I’m good. That little power nap there helped,” Lincoln said dryly.

“Tell Bristol we love her, and we’ll come to see the new baby when they arrive,” Holland said, and I leaned forward to kiss the top of Kingston’s head. “We were just here a couple of days ago for Kingston’s first round of shots, and we’ll be here soon for the second round.”

“That was a couple of weeks ago, darling,” Lincoln said, and Holland crossed her eyes.

“Days, weeks, they’re all blurring together,” she said on a laugh. “Update us, even if it wakes us, we want to know when there’s a new Montgomery in the world.”

“I’m pretty sure the earth will rotate off its axis just a bit when that happens,” my husband said wryly. “Every time a new Montgomery is born, the world shudders.”

That made me laugh. “That is our family slogan.”

“Good to know,” Lincoln said. “See you soon.”

“And Merry Christmas,” Holland added. They walked out, and I just smiled after them, my eyes watery.

“We did okay,” my husband said, and I looked up at Timothy.

“Oh?” I asked.

“Francine, darling, we did better than okay. Look at all of them, bringing new life into this world, and soon we’re going to have enough chubby cheeks to pinch and babies to spoil. And as soon as they make a mess or start to stink or make a loud noise and cry, we hand them off to their parents.”

“That is the best part of being a grandparent,” Marcus’s mother said as she walked forward. I hugged her tight, and her husband gave a small wave. “Seriously though, you guys are going to catch up with us in terms of numbers of grandkids soon if you’re not careful.”

“You guys had a head start with your three girls,” I said with a laugh.

“It’s true. But I know Marcus and Bristol are going to want more than one, probably to catch up with the rest of Marcus’s siblings because you know how competitive they are.”

I snorted. “We’re going to end up with like eighty grandkids each, and that might be almost too much for me,” I said.

“Maybe,” Marcus’s mom said with a smile.

“His sisters and husbands wanted to be here, and I have a feeling they will be here soon, just taking turns of who’s watching the kids.”

“That’s what we’re doing here. Eventually, we’re going to overfill this waiting room.”

“That’s because this one is smaller than the one we usually end up in,” Aaron said, leaning against the wall behind Marcus’s family.

I looked over at him and down at the sleeping Madison in the chair next to him.

She had her head resting on her thigh, looking sweet, and finally with a little more glow to her.

She had been looking so ill before, I had worried for her.

I would be a little grumpy that they hadn’t told me she was sick, but I understood.

They wanted time with the pregnancy news for themselves, but now they were going to have many eagle eyes watching her, making sure that she took care of herself.

“I could do well with never seeing the emergency room waiting room or the surgical area waiting room ever again,” I growled. “But it’s too much for our family.”

“I agree,” Marcus’s mother said, her voice stern. “I know you always joke about the Montgomery wing of the hospital, but it was getting a little ridiculous.”

I visibly shuddered and leaned into my husband as he held me close. “I’m just sorry that we had to deal with it at all, but it’s ok now that they’re all safe. I’m going to knock on wood as I say that.”

I laughed, and I looked around at my family.

Kincaid, Ronin, and Julia had gone home, and we had promised to update them.

They had stayed at the house to clean up and put all of the Christmas dinner fixings in the fridge.

I was forever grateful that I could trust them to do that and had left them a key saying that they could keep it because they were family.

They had all blushed, sputtered, but I had left, with the feeling I had gained new children. I knew that Ronin had parents that they spent time with, but the other two could use more parental figures in their life. And my heart was big enough for all of them.

Meredith was on the other side of Madison, looking down at her phone, and I knew she was stressed out as well.

I knew from what I could gather, either she or Zia might be next after Madison if all things turn out well, and so we would be waiting again for the next family member, even if she wasn’t my blood.

Zia herself was in the room with Marcus and Bristol.

I loved Zia, and while I would have loved her to be my daughter in truth, having married Bristol, that meant I wouldn’t have Marcus as a son-in-law. But now Bristol and Zia were best friends, and Zia was in the room with them, helping as Bristol’s coach.

Zia and Marcus had become best friends as well, both ganging up to make sure Bristol took care of herself. And I loved to see it.

We were a loud bunch and all a little hungry, though we had all snacked a bit.

This wasn’t the Christmas that I had planned, nor was it one anyone had imagined, but this was what we were used to.

In all honesty. A big family, someone changing the curve, and us being together.

We would be able to eat more than cheese and crackers later, though I knew my children would be fine with just that.

Their love of cheese knew no bounds, and they would all be surprised when they opened up their identical Montgomery family charcuterie boards that I had had hand-carved and branded with the Montgomery logo.

They would open it later, once we welcomed the new Montgomery into the fold.

“How much longer?” Aaron asked, and Madison woke up and scowled at her husband. “I hope you don’t do this when I’m in labor. Constantly asking, are we there yet?”

“He was like that as a child and hasn’t stopped,” I joked, and Aaron blushed while everyone began to laugh. On the end of that laughter, the doors opened, and Marcus walked in, a grin on his handsome face.

“We have a girl, seven pounds, eight ounces, and perfect,” Marcus said.

“What’s her name?” Meredith asked, leaning forward.

“Bristol wants to tell you each personally,” he said, shaking his head. “I think she’s excited, and hell, so am I. I have a daughter,” he whispered, and I started crying, leaning into my husband.

“Are we allowed to see her?”

“Yes, they’re just getting everybody cleaned up and ready, and even though it’s late, because it’s Christmas, they’re going to make an exception for us.

Only two of you at a time, and I’ll be in there with her.

” He turned to Meredith. “Zia is on her way out, and she promised not to spoil anything,” he growled.

“So, don’t try to get the name out of her. ”

“Why are you looking at me when you say that?” Ethan laughed.

“Because I know you.”

“Why don’t you two go first,” I said, looking at Marcus’s parents. “The Montgomerys will bring up the rear. There’s a lot of us.”

“Oh, we’ll have to call the girls. They’ll want to come in too.”

“They can come in the morning,” Marcus said. “It will be a long night, and I don’t want to tire Bristol out. Is that okay?”

“Anything you want, darling.”

I watched Marcus’s parents follow him in and leaned into my husband.

“A Christmas baby,” I said, looking up at the clock. We are six minutes away from December twenty-sixth, and a new Montgomery had been born on Christmas day. A Christmas miracle, a present, and everything I could ever ask for.

“Baby is going to be spoiled beyond all measure,” Ethan said.

I snorted. “You say that as if Kingston isn’t already spoiled by his grandparents.”

“That’s true,” he said on a laugh. “But I’m glad we’re all going to be able to have our kids grow up together. You know?”

I moved towards him, squeezed his hands, and leaned forward, so my forehead rested on his. “I know. And between your babies and all of your cousins having these babies, the next generation is going to be even louder than you guys.”

“I honestly didn’t think that was possible,” my husband said dryly from my side.

“I’m a little scared.” I smiled and leaned into my husband.

My kids brought up their phones and started updating those that weren’t with us, and I just held my husband close, wondering how I could be so lucky.

When Marcus’s parents came back out, crying and holding each other close, I rolled forward on the balls of my feet and bounced. “Come on, come on, I want to go see.”

“Okay, I won’t make you wait any longer,” Marcus said, and I followed my son-in-law towards Bristol’s private room.

I had given birth in a room with three other women and barely remembered it the first time.

I think with Bristol, I had been alone, but I couldn’t remember.

All that mattered at that time were my babies and my family.

We walked into the room, and Bristol was sitting there, her hair piled up on the top of her head, and though she looked a bit tired, she was all wide-eyed and bright smile.

“Hi, Mom,” Bristol said, and I looked down at the perfect little bundle in her arms. She was so cute and had the Montgomery nose, that much I could tell, and her father’s dark brown skin.

She was gorgeous, and I couldn’t wait to hold her.

But I also knew how a new mother could be and didn’t hold out my hands.

Instead, I squeezed my husband’s hand and fisted my other at my side. “Oh, she’s gorgeous.”

“Here, you can hold her,” Bristol said on a laugh. “You’ll have to give her back soon. I love her so much.”

Marcus sat on the other side, running his hand over Bristol’s hair.

“She’s beautiful,” I said, as the light weight slid into my arms. “Every time another one of you has a baby, including all of my nieces and nephews out there, I’m always shocked at how tiny you are. But look at you, my little baby granddaughter. I love you so much.”

“Can you tell us her name?” my husband asked, and I looked over at Bristol.

“Well?” I asked, a little anxious.

Bristol just groaned.

“Mom, Dad, meet your granddaughter, December Montgomery Stern.”

I blinked away tears. “December, I love it.”

“She’s a Christmas baby, so I figured that we’re going to do our best with future birthdays and everything else so she knows that she’s special, that we should throw out all the names we had planned, and go with something full of joy.

Montgomery will be her middle name, and it’s a big name to fill, but I think she can do it. ”

I looked down at my precious granddaughter and smiled.

“Merry Christmas, December. Welcome to the Montgomerys.”

I hope you loved this holiday special from the Montgomerys!