Free Silent Night by Colleen Coble Page A

“Hang on, don’t open them until we tell you.” His voice trembled a little.
    Bree could barely stand the suspense. “Here is yours, Anu.” Kade handed out the other gifts.
    Dressed in a creamy gown overlaid with exquisite Finnish lace, Anu wore her fair hair high on her head in a coronet of braids and was always the lady. Anu’s gift was a bib that read I LOVE GRANDMA . Bree couldn’t wait for her to see it.
    Anu held up the bib. “ Kulta , is this true?”
    “Our little one is due in July.” Bree went to her knees in front of Anu. Though nearly sixty, Anu’s shining hair held no trace of gray, and her face was as unlined as Bree’s. From the moment Bree had married Rob and became a Nicholls, Anu had claimed her as one of her own, and Bree loved her so much.
    Davy ripped his package open and lifted high a T-shirt that had BIG BROTHER on the back. “I’m getting a baby brother!” He leaped up and threw his arms around his mother, then raced to hug Kade.
    “It might be a baby sister,” Kade reminded him. “You already have Samson. He’s your baby brother.”
    The dog’s ears perked at the mention of his name. He pressed his head against Davy’s knee.
    “Samson’s my big brother,” Davy said. “He takes care of me. He takes care of everybody.” He touched Samson’s cast.
    Cassie’s and Lauri’s gifts were teddy bears wearing diapers that read BEST AUNT IN THE WORLD . Hilary’s gift was an AUNT coffee mug, and Mason’s was wool hunting socks with a baby on each sole. As each of them ripped into their gifts, the shock and amazement brought more tears to Bree’s eyes.
    Cassie wiped her eyes. “How long have you known?”
    “Just since yesterday.” Bree’s face hurt from smiling.
    “You didn’t let on.” Lauri poked her brother. “I hope he has your good heart.”
    Kade’s blue eyes smiled back. “I hope she has your courage.”
    She colored and dropped her gaze. “You’re a good brother, Kade. So patient in spite of all I’ve put you through. I’m going to do better, I promise.”
    “I love you just the way you are, squirt.” He hugged Lauri.
    Watching them, Bree’s tears overflowed. God was good, so good.

Epilogue
    T he nurse dimmed the lights and left them alone. Bree should be tired, but energy strummed along her veins and kept her lids wide-open. She stared into her husband’s face as he drank in the baby’s face in the crook of her arm.
    Then switched his gaze to the baby in the other.
    “Twins,” he breathed. “I still can’t believe it. The early ultrasound didn’t show this.”
    Bree drew her finger along the downy face of her daughter. “The doctor said a twin hiding behind the other baby only happens in 1 percent of the cases. I guess God decided we needed a bonus.” She raised her gaze to Kade’s. “You have a son.”
    “And a daughter.” He pressed a kiss on each downy head. “She’s got your eyes and hairline.”
    “It’s too soon to tell,” she protested. But she saw it too. The tilt of their daughter’s eyes, the tiny widow’s peak along the hairline now hidden by the tiny cap. She inhaled the salty-sweet aroma a newborn carried for only a few weeks. “I want Davy. And Anu.”
    “And Naomi?”
    “Of course.” She wanted to show her children to the world. She watched Kade step to the door, but he didn’t have to go far. Everyone was waiting right outside in the hall.
    “Mommy!” Davy barreled into the room.
    When was the last time he’d called her mommy? She patted the mattress. “You have a brother and a sister, honey.”
    “Both?” He stopped in his tracks, and his mouth formed an O. Then he gingerly clambered up beside Bree and stared at one baby, then the other. He reached out and his sister grasped his finger. “She likes me!” He beamed.
    “Of course she does. You’re her big brother. You have to protect her. Teach her all the things she doesn’t know.”
    Behind him, Anu had stopped as well. Her tender gaze lingered on