“Thanks, Pete,” she said again. “I hope you have a merry Christmas.”

“Not seeing you in my hospital again will make my holidays go a lot better.”

Holly smiled and nodded and then sank back onto the pillows behind her as the doctor left the room. A few moments later, the door swung open again and her husbands stalked in, suspicious looks on their faces.

“I thought you said Pete wasn’t coming by until later.” Ryan said with a scowl. “We just passed him in the hall and it looked like he’d just come out of your room.”

Holly put her hands over her lap and smiled serenely. “He did.”

Adam sighed. “Let me guess. You strong-armed him into letting you go and you sent us out on a fool’s errand so we wouldn’t be here to disagree.”

She grinned because she wasn’t about to try and deny it. Her husbands knew her far too well.

“For God’s sake,” Ethan grumbled as he sat on the edge of the bed next to her. “Do you even want what we brought back for you?”

“Yes! I’m starving,” she said, pouncing on the bag Ethan held out.

“Do you even have time to eat?” Adam drawled. “Or will you be pushed out of here in the next fifteen minutes?”

She made a face. “I have an hour at least.”

Ryan’s eyes went heavenward and he shook his head in resignation.

“I want to go home,” she said stubbornly. “I’m not spending Christmas in the hospital.”

To emphasize her statement, she raised her arms and crossed them over her chest. She thrust out her chin in a gesture of defiance and sent them a mutinous glare.

Ryan leaned down and kissed her furrowed brow. “We worry about you. You know that.”

She went completely soft and she turned her face up to stare into those intense blue eyes so like Callie’s. “I know you do and I love you for it. But if you want what’s best for me? That’s to go home and be surrounded by my husbands and my children and to spend Christmas there. Not here. I can rest much easier there, and I’ve already promised Pete I wouldn’t overdo it. He’s going to give you a list of dos and don’ts so that he’ll be sure you enforce them.”

“I’ve always liked that man,” Adam said approvingly.

Holly snorted. “You just like him because he sides with you.”

Ethan grinned beside her and tugged her hand into his. “You know it.”

“I’m ready to be home,” she said softly. “There’s no other place I’d rather be.”

“And we want you there,” Adam said, emotion knotting his throat. “You gave us a scare, baby.”

Ryan stroked her cheek with his palm and then lowered his lips to hers. “Don’t do that again.”

She smiled. “I’ll try my best not to end up in the hospital ever again.”

“That’s what you said the last time,” Ethan grumbled.

Knowing her food was getting cold, she gestured for the portable tray and Adam wheeled it over to the bed, sliding the arm over her lap so she’d have a place to eat.

While she dug into the food, Ethan made phone calls to the boys and to Callie to let them know she was coming home that day.

Holly smiled in anticipation because she knew they’d all be waiting. All gathered in her home, just where she liked them.

CHAPTER 14

SETH, Michael, and Dillon stood across the room from the couch where Lily lay sound asleep, and they smiled. She was curled on her side, head nestled on one of the cushions.

They were all tired. The last few days had been nerve-racking as they’d waited for their mother to be released from the hospital. Now that she was finally home, the dads had banished all the children to their own homes to get some much-needed rest.

“This pregnancy seems to be kicking her ass,” Seth said in a low voice. “Even before the thing with Mom, I mean. I’m as nervous as hell over this. I don’t want her getting so beat down that she feels even for a moment like she did with Rose.”

Dillon’s expression grew fierce. “That ain’t going to happen. I don’t care if I have to sell the damn pub or have Callie take it over so I can spend every waking moment with Lily. I don’t want her to ever feel that kind of despair again.”

“I second that,” Michael said somberly. “She’s had a hard time coming to grips with this. I don’t think she was ready. Hell, I’m not even sure how she managed to get pregnant. I know birth control isn’t foolproof but it still has a pretty damn good success rate.”

“No sense belaboring that point now,” Seth said. “What’s important is how we make her feel from this point forward. I don’t want her to doubt, even for a moment, our commitment to her and our child. I want her to go into the delivery room knowing that she has absolutely nothing to worry about this time.”

Dillon nodded his agreement. His jaw was set into a fierce line and Seth knew he was probably already planning the next seven months and beyond. It wouldn’t surprise Seth whatsoever if Dillon did let the management of the pub go. However, he doubted Max would ever allow Callie to take over the running of it full-time, and in this instance Seth would fully support his brother-in-law. Callie didn’t need to be stuck behind the damn bar every night, nor did she need to be dragging home at all hours of the morning.

He’d had his doubts about Max being the dominant force in his relationship with Callie. It had pissed him off, truth be told. But Max adored and worshipped Callie, and it was hard to find fault with the hard-ass when he would cut off his right arm before ever allowing any harm to come to Callie.

“Has she been sick in the mornings?” Michael asked.

Michael often left early, before everyone else was out of bed, so he wasn’t around when Lily began her day. His workday started early at his veterinary clinic but he always made it a point to be home by the afternoon. It was a schedule they worked out together. Dillon, more often than not, worked evenings at the pub when things were busier. Callie covered some nights for him so he wasn’t always away from home. Seth could be called out at literally any hour of the day or night. His traditional hours were eight to five, but it was rare for him to stick to that schedule. As sheriff he was on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, rain or shine, holiday or not.

But they’d arranged it so that someone was always home with Lily, and now Seth was more grateful than ever that they’d taken those steps.

Dillon grimaced. “Some, yeah. The problem is that she’s been sick at all intervals of the day.”

Seth nodded. “Smells seem to do her in more than anything. Painting’s been hard for her in the past few days because the paint nauseates her.”

“She walked by the cat litter yesterday and had to run for the bathroom to puke her guts up,” Dillon said wryly.

Michael frowned. “What the hell is she doing near the cat litter anyway? She’s not supposed to be changing litter when she’s pregnant. I swear I’m going to get rid of that damn cat.”

Seth snorted in amusement. As if Michael would ever get rid of Lily’s precious cat. The stray had been dumped at the clinic on a day when Lily had been helping Michael, and she’d given Michael puppy dog eyes, and voilà, the cat found a new home. With them. And it had been with them ever since.

“I didn’t say she changed the cat litter,” Dillon said with a scowl. “I said she walked by it. As in, by the mudroom where the litter is. The cat had just taken a dump and it did Lily in.”

So deep were they in their discussion that they hadn’t realized that Lily had awakened. Only when she moved to sit up did Seth notice.

Her eyes gleamed with amusement and a soft smile curved her lips. She leaned her elbow on the arm of the couch and rested her face in her palm as she stared at her husbands.

“If you could only hear yourselves,” she teased. “Like a bunch of mother hens.”

Dillon moved toward the couch until he loomed over her. “I highly doubt a mother hen thinks how much she’d like to see you naked right about now.”

She arched one dark brow and then her smile broadened.

“Or what kind of vulgar, indecent things she’d like to do to you,” Michael offered as he went to sit beside her on the couch.

She laughed and then her gaze found Seth’s. “And you? Not going to add your two cents?”

His let his gaze stroke silkily over her until she was well aware of just what occupied his thoughts. “My brothers talk too damn much. While they’re telling you what they want to do to you, I’m going to be showing you.”

To prove his point, he pushed forward, pulled her to her feet before Dillon or Michael could react, and swept her into his arms, heading for the bedroom.

She laughed out loud at the what-the-fuck looks on his brothers’ faces and it hit Seth right in the gut. She sounded and looked so damn beautiful. She looked happy. Her eyes were full of joy and warmth. The worry was gone, even if the signs of her fatigue were still etched in the lines of her face.

He pressed his lips to her forehead and closed his eyes as they entered the bedroom. How much had his life changed over the last year and a half? Not only had he found the love of his life in Lily, but he was closer than ever to his family. Surrounded by his brothers, his sister, and his mom and dads.

Now his child would grow up sheltered by the love and support of his family. The same love he and his siblings had been given as children.

“Seth, are you all right?” Lily asked softly.

He refocused his attention to see Lily staring up at him, her blue eyes shadowed with worry. Then he smiled. He honest to God wanted to spin her around in a dozen circles and do something crazy like let out a series of whoops, but it wasn’t the smartest thing to do with a pregnant woman who had a queasy stomach.

“Yeah,” he said huskily. “I’m just so damn happy.”

He laid her on the bed with a gentle bounce. Dillon and Michael stood to the side as if waiting for him to finish his piece. Hell, what else was there to say? How could you possibly put words to indescribable joy?

“I love you,” he said. “I hope you know that.”

The worry faded, replaced by warmth and answering love. “I love you too, Seth. I hope you know I trust you.” She moved her head to include his brothers in her gaze. “I trust all of you. I know you’ll help me through the pregnancy and afterward. Our child will be so loved. I don’t doubt that even for a moment.”

“That’s good,” Michael said as he moved onto the bed beside her. He lay on his side, head propped in his palm as he gazed down at her. He put his hand over her belly, cupping protectively as if he were sending a silent message, a pledge of protection. And love.

“Make love to me,” she whispered, in turn seeking each of her husbands’ gazes. “Show me your love.”

Seth put both hands on the bed and lowered himself until their faces were just an inch apart and her lips delectably close. “If I have my way, you’ll know our love every single day for the rest of our lives.”

* * *

MAX slipped from the warmth of his bed, reluctant to leave Callie. She was exhausted and worn down both physically and emotionally, and she’d only just gotten over her bout with strep throat. Having her mother in the hospital and seeing how frightened her fathers had been had shaken Callie to the core.

Now that Holly was back home, the family breathed easier. The collective sigh of the entire town could be heard through the mountain air. Holly Colter was home. All was well.

But Max was driven to make Christmas extra special. More so than it would already be. He knew the Colters, and especially Holly, were thrilled to have all their children home for the holidays.

He and Callie had traveled last Christmas. He’d taken her to Paris and London, where they’d marveled at the Christmas lights and festivities, and then they’d gone on to Germany, where they’d spent days just absorbing the atmosphere.

Callie had been born a free spirit. It was how he’d met her. She’d been backpacking in Greece and he’d been there for a short vacation of his own. As soon as he’d laid eyes on her, he’d known that she would alter his life forever.

He hadn’t reacted well. It was shame he’d forever live with. He’d very nearly messed up the best thing that had ever happened to him, but thank God for Callie’s forgiving spirit because he’d messed up not once, but twice.

Yes, he and Callie both liked to roam. They were restless and eager to explore new places. But one thing he’d realized in the time he and Callie had been married was that she belonged here. With her family. On this mountain. In her meadow, the place where she’d been born. Callie’s Meadow.

And oddly, he found himself craving the return to the warm embrace of the Colter family when he and Callie were away. It had been he who’d suggested that they spend this Christmas with family. Not just Callie’s family anymore, but his own. And now Lauren’s.