“Yeah, as much as we can.”
Jasmine comes running into the living room, and like he has a sixth sense, Malik easily catches her in his arms when she jumps in his lap. She squeezes his cheeks together. “Can we open all my presents now?”
“Kid, we only brought you a few to open here. You’ll get to open the rest with us tomorrow.”
“Why not now?” she pouts.
“Remember, I told you that Star isn’t going to be seeing any of them tomorrow and they want to see her face when she opens them,” Amelia gently explains.
She rolls her eyes, shifting on Malik’s lap to get comfy. “Okay.”
He leans down, whispering in her ear. “Don’t worry, kid, I snagged another Nerf gun while Santa wasn’t looking. We can play that after.”
She pumps her fist in the air. “Yes. You are all going to lose.”
I chuckle at her excitement, before reaching out for Lily, helping her sit back down next to me. “You okay? You look tired.”
“Yes, I’m okay. We’ve finished the houses. The kids are going to eat them later.”
I place my hand over her belly, feeling the swell of our baby growing inside of her. “Are you sure? I saw you were in pain earlier.”
She leans into me. “Don’t worry. The baby was just moving to get in a comfier position.”
I press my lips to the top of her head, breathing in her strawberry shampoo. “Let me know if it gets too much for you. I’ll get everyone to leave so you can get some rest.”
Star runs into the room, her entire face pale. I sit up, going on alert. “What’s wrong?”
“I forgot Lily’s present.” She turns to her brother, her lips turned down. “Why did you let me forget her present?”
He snorts and points over to the tree. “I didn’t. I picked it up.”
She stares at the gift bag, then to her brother, before diving on him. “You are the best big brother ever.”
“I’m your only brother,” he mutters, clearly uncomfortable.
Max, who is the closest to him, ruffles Miah’s hair. “Awww, who’s the best big brother ever.”
“Shut up!” he grouches.
Max lets out a hearty laugh. “Don’t worry, kid, I’ve got your back.”
“Yeah, at least his girlfriend isn’t here this time,” Maverick comments, taking a seat next to Mum.
I hide my amusement at the reminder. Max really embarrassed Miah in front of the girl he’s studying with.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he defends.
Star pouts. “You kiss her a lot.”
Max bursts out laughing. “Kid, you are so busted.”
Lily tilts her head to the side, glancing at Miah in concentration. “I thought she was your study partner.”
He glances away. “Are we opening presents or what?” he snaps, but it’s not harsh, just filled with embarrassment.
“Lily has to open hers first,” Star yells, and races over to get it. “It’s for both of you.”
Lily gently takes the bag from her, and her entire body buzzes with excitement. “Thank you so much.”
“Open it. Open it.”
Chuckling, I help Lily by grabbing the first one out, and hand it to her. “Miah picked this one.”
Lily glances up from unwrapping the paper. “Thank you, Miah.”
“I, um, I…” He rubs the back of his neck. “It’s nothing.”
Lily finishes unwrapping it as a gasp leaves her mouth. I look down at the ash wood-coloured frame and notice her hands begin to shake. The picture is from our second time at the ice rink. I’m in the centre, holding onto Star’s shoulders as she grips the penguin in front of her. Lily is smiling so wide, her cheeks rosy from the cold air, as she stares at the screen. Miah is the other side of me, and he’s actually laughing in the photo.
“You moaned and said you didn’t want your photo taken,” Lily reminds him softly, running her finger across the glass frame.
She’s remembering the day it was taken. She wanted a photo of us all, but he moaned and refused for so long, until he finally gave in. Before the photo was taken, I had slipped, bruising my arse as I took Star with me. Lily made a joke as I got back up and he burst out laughing.
“I… Um, you don’t need to keep that picture in there,” he tells her when she doesn’t say anything else.
Her head snaps up, tears glistening in her eyes. “It’s beautiful, Miah. Really beautiful. And I’ll put it on my mantel later.”
I clear the ball from my throat. “Thank you.”
“It’s just a photo,” he grumbles as red rises up his neck to his cheeks.
“It’s not,” I tell him, meeting his gaze. Because it isn’t. They might not be our kids, or any relation, but they are family.
“And don’t think I’m not hugging or kissing you when I do get up. The only reason I haven’t yet is because I know it’s going to take me a while,” Lily teases, wiping under her eyes.
“Open this one next,” Star demands, handing her a smaller box. Next, she hands me a small gift. “This is yours.”
“You first,” Lily orders softly.
I unwrap the gift, laughing under my breath at the sight of two pairs of socks. “Thanks.”
Miah snickers. “Look at the bottom.”
A little intrigued, I pull them out of the paper, glancing at the bottom, before I burst out laughing. On one, it says, ‘I married’ then on the other, it says, ‘an angel’. The next pair has me pausing. They read, ‘I’m a dad now, I’m resting my eyes’.
“These are seriously kind of you,” Lily gushes, holding them up for the others to see.
“It’s nothing,” Miah states. “They’re just socks.”
“Just socks,” I scoff.
Max laughs. “I love it when you get uncomfortable,” he tells Miah.
Miah narrows his eyes. “Who invited you again?”
“I don’t need an invitation,” Max declares proudly.
“Open yours,” Star demands. “I picked this one out. I used up all my money to get it.”
“Star, that is incredibly sweet of you, but you didn’t need to do that. You should have saved your pocket money,” Lily gently tells her.
“I really wanted to,” she assures her. “Open it.”
Laughing at the little girl’s enthusiasm, Lily tears open the packaging to reveal a blue box. Lifting the lid, her eyes widen, and a few tears slip down her cheeks. The silver heart-shaped pendant has ‘mum’ engraved onto it, along with a rose pattern down the side. “We know you aren’t our mum, but you’ll be a mum, and we didn’t want you to forget us. This way, we can be with you, always. Isn’t it pretty?”
Lily’s breath hitches as she opens the locket. I pull her into my arms as we both stare down at the photos. The first two spaces for inserting pictures are blank, but in the last two spaces, pictures have been placed there. One of Star’s face, and one of Miah’s.
“You can put one of Jaxon and the baby in there,” Star gushes, pointing to the blank spaces.
“This is… I—”