Page 63 of Tuxedos and Tinsel

“I’m getting a kitten too. Santa’s bringing him,” she replied before tilting her head and switching gears in the way only children could. “Are you Aunt Susan’s boyfriend? Uncle Linus says you are.”

Lewis’s cheeks grew warm. He wasn’t expecting the third degree from a six-year-old. “I…um…” From his place behind his niece, Susan’s brother was waiting for his response.

Susan stepped in before he could answer. “Lewis is a very good friend,” she said. “He was helping me pick out your Christmas present.”

“Really?” Maddie’s eyes widened. “What did you get?”

“We can’t tell you that,” Lewis replied. “It would spoil the surprise.”

“Aunt Susan says surprises are overrated.”

“Yes, I know. She told me how she felt about them when we went to a basketball game recently.” Susan ducked her head to hide her pinking cheeks. Lewis waited until she glanced at him through her lashes and then he grinned.

The exchange didn’t escape her brother who scrutinized them both. “I’m sure Aunt Susan meant unpleasant surprises,” Linus said. “Not good surprises like presents.”

“Absolutely,” Susan answered. “Some surprises are definitely worth waiting for. Like Christmas presents. So you’re just going to have to wait, little munchkin.”

“Okay.” Maddie’s disappointed expression didn’t look very permanent. In fact, the frown disappeared about a second after it appeared, in correlation with the suite’s door opening up.

“Daddy!” the little girl bounced away from Susan and toward the dark-haired man who’d stepped into the corridor. He immediately scooped her up in his arms.

Thomas Collier, Lewis presumed. His shirt and slacks were wrinkled, and he had the shadowed cheeks of a man who’d been up for hours. “You made it!” He flashed a grin in Susan’s direction. “Linus said he was having trouble finding you.”

“I didn’t hear the phone,” Susan said. “I was out shopping.”

“With a friend,” Linus added.

“So I see.” Thomas turned his attention to Lewis. “Hello.”

“Congratulations,” Lewis replied. There was no welcoming handshake as the man had his hands full with his daughter, but part of Lewis wondered if there would have been one anyway. Clearly, Thomas was the more serious of the two. His gaze, laser-like in its focus, had a hint of wariness.

“Thank you,” he replied. “Kid was an impatient little guy—Rosie barely got settled before he decided to appear. Fifteen minutes later and he might have popped out in the lift.” The second half was directed at Linus and Susan.

“Sounds like a Collier,” Linus said. “Susan was born in the back seat.”

“Only because Belinda thought a back seat delivery would make for better drama,” Susan replied. Her face was beet red, the poor thing.

Not knowing what else to do, Lewis wrapped an arm around her waist. “If you’re going to make an entrance, might as well make it memorable, right, luv?” He pecked her on the cheek.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw both Collier brothers raised their eyebrows.

“Daddy, can I see Mummy now?” Maddie asked.

“Sure, sweetheart. Everyone can.”

One by one, the family stepped inside the pastel-colored room where a beautiful and tired-looking brunette lay in bed. A few feet away, in a clear plastic bassinet, a tiny bundle lay swaddled in a soft yellow blanket.

“Noel Christopher Collier.” Pride filled Thomas’s whisper.

“He looks like Dad,” Linus said. “Only with a little more hair.”

“You’re a jerk,” Susan said. “He’s beautiful. Really, really beautiful.”

“All Rosalind’s doing. She’s the one who did the work.” The adoration in Thomas’s voice was palpable.

Lewis stood by the door and watched the scene evolve. So much love and pride in one small room. Susan had told him on the way over that the Collier legacy meant everything to her older brother. It was evident. You could feel the sense of family in the air. How could Susan not see it? That she was part of the circle.

He wasn’t. He was the outsider. The unexpected, unwanted guest being politely tolerated.