Not at all. That ended right after I joined Chris in the land of black sheep. If anything, my brothers tended to call him just to check up on me, and the three of them had becomefriends.
Would my brothers whip Josh’s arse if he did anything to hurtme?
You’d better believe it. That much hadn’tchanged.
We chatted for a few minutes—until my congestion kicked in and I could no longer talk. I handed Josh the phone, at Chris’s request, and left to hit theloo.
Josh had finished talking to him by the time I returned. He didn’t say anything about the call—just kissed me on the forehead and waited while I calledSimon.
“Mum showed me Noah’s ultrasound picture,” Simon told me after we had been chatting for a few minutes. “As far as I can tell, he’s gonna be quite the handsome little ankle biter. Definitely takes after his favoriteuncle.”
“She did?” I said, not really hearing what he had told me after the first part. Even though I knew what she thought about my pregnancy, I had sent her and Dad a copy of the ultrasound picture. On the back I had written, Noah wishes you a MerryChristmas!
I had included it with a Christmas card from me and Josh but figured she had probably ripped it up and tossed it in thetrash.
“Yes,” Simon said. “And I think she’s coming around. About the baby, Imean.”
That was hard tobelieve.
“One of my colleagues is having a baby,” he went on to say. “Or at least his wife is. And he said babies can hear voices from outside the mum’sstomach.”
“That’strue.”
“So can I talk toNoah?”
My eyebrows shot up my forehead. “You mean rightnow?”
“Yes, rightnow.”
I hiked up my top, revealing my belly, increased the volume on the phone, and placed it near my belly button. “Okay, you can talk to Noahnow.”
“Hey, little mate,” Simon said. “I’m your super-cool Uncle Simon. I know you’ll probably think Chris is cooler because he can fly helicopters—and I guess thatispretty cool, if heights don’t scare you.” Simon wasn’t a fan of heights. “But I can teach you all kinds of things that Uncle Chris can’t. Likesurfing.”
After he finished speaking to Noah, we talked for a short while longer, then ended thecall.
Next up? Calling myparents.
But because talking to my brothers had taken so much out of me, Josh and I watchedThe Princess Diariesfirst.
Afterward, I did the one thing I’d been dreading the most for the past couple of days. I pulled Mum up from my contact list and tapped onCall.
Why Mum and notDad?
Maybe because if I didn’t phone her first, I’d chickenout.
“Holly?” Mum’s voice sounded uncertain as sheanswered.
“I wanted to wish you and Dad a Merry Christmas.” Hopefully she understood what I’d said. Thanks to my cold, even my brothers hadn’t understood everything I’d toldthem.
Naturally, they thought it wasfunny.
“Merry Christmas to you.” She still sounded uncertain. “How are you and Noahdoing?”
Noah? Not thebaby?
Did I know what to make of it? Had the Titanic been hit by an icecube?
“We’re doing fine. He’s kicking a lot. I think he’s just excited to see his bedroom, which Josh decorated for him.” I smiled at my sweet and wonderful boyfriend next to me on thecouch.
