Chapter 10

TEN

Hugh

Five Years Later…

“Are we wrapping presents now?” Letty asks as she pokes her head into my office, her pale green eyes filled with excitement.

“Yeah, I’m ready. Let me just finish up this last email.”

“Hmm, if only you had an assistant to help with that,” she teases me, and I grin.

“I know, right? My current assistant has been busy these days with our little munchkins.”

“Well, she can always make some extra time to help out if you need it,” she offers as she tucks some of her blonde hair behind her ear, and I shake my head.

“I can handle this. She’s doing all of the heavy lifting right now,” I tell her.

She laughs, rubbing her swollen belly.

“Literally doing all of the heavy lifting,” she says with a giggle.

“You’re gorgeous,” I promise her as I hit send on the email and then push to my feet.

She holds her hand out to me, and I take it, interlocking our fingers as we sneak past the kids’ rooms and head downstairs.

The house is quiet for once, a rare and fleeting miracle in the Walters household. The kids are asleep, their rooms dimly lit by the glow of nightlights. Letty and I tiptoe down the stairs, her hand warm in mine as we move toward the living room where the chaos of wrapping presents awaits us.

The sight of the living room makes me smile. The Christmas tree stands tall in the corner, its twinkling lights casting a warm glow across the room. Boxes of wrapping paper, bows, and ribbons are scattered on the floor, and a stack of gifts is waiting for the finishing touch.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this now,” Letty whispers, her voice soft with amusement. “Every year, we say we’ll be more organized, and yet here we are—wrapping gifts at midnight two days before Christmas.”

“It’s tradition at this point,” I reply, tugging her toward the couch. “And anyway, it’s the only time we can do this without the kids trying to ‘help.’”

She laughs, settling onto the couch with a groan as she shifts her weight. “True. Max would’ve torn half the paper, Emma would’ve stolen all the ribbons, and Charlie… well, he’d probably eat the tape.”

“Sounds about right.” I sit beside her, grabbing a roll of paper and a box of toys from the pile. “Alright, Mrs. Walters. Let’s see if we can pull this off.”

She grins at the sound of her name. Even after five years, it still feels good to say it.

We fall into a rhythm, cutting paper, folding edges, and securing everything with tape while chatting in hushed tones. Letty hums Christmas carols under her breath, her blonde hair falling into her eyes as she leans over a particularly tricky package. I reach out to brush the strands back, unable to resist the urge to touch her.

“You’re staring,” she says, glancing at me with a knowing smile.

“Can you blame me?” I reply, my voice low. “You’re stunning.”

Her cheeks flush, and she shakes her head, laughing softly. “You’re incorrigible.”

“And you love it.”

“Unfortunately for me, I do,” she teases, her eyes twinkling.

As we wrap, our conversation drifts to the past—how much has changed in these five short years. Letty is still my assistant, though really, we run the company together. We’re pretty hands-off these days since the kids keep us busy.

We’ve set up a comfortable life here in Wolf Valley. We’re still in the same house, and both of us are homebodies, so we spend most of our time here. Nowadays, we’re usually chasing after the kids and trying to keep them entertained.

We’ve heard from Letty’s brother once. It was right after we got married and he had reached out to her, acting like they were super close. It didn’t take him more than half an hour before he was asking for money and Letty asked him to leave. We haven’t heard from him since, and while I know that upsets Letty sometimes, we both know that we’ve built the family that we want and deserve here with each other.

“Do you remember our first Christmas together?” Letty asks, her tone nostalgic.

I chuckle, nodding. “How could I forget? You made me spend three hours assembling that gingerbread house, and it collapsed twice before we got it to stay up.”

“It was worth it,” she insists, laughing. “It looked amazing once it was done.”

“It looked alright ,” I tease. “But it was fun. That’s what I remember most—how much fun we had. Just the two of us, laughing and making a mess in the kitchen.”

“Hard to believe it was just the two of us back then,” she says, glancing at the stairs as if she can hear the quiet snores of our three little ones. “Now we’ve got a full house.”

“And another one on the way,” I add, reaching out to rest my hand on her belly.

She covers my hand with hers, her expression softening. “It feels like it’s all happened so fast. Sometimes I still can’t believe this is my life.”

“Me neither,” I admit, my voice rough with emotion. “I spent so many years thinking I had everything I could ever want. Then you walked into my life, and I realized I didn’t even know what everything was.”

Her eyes shimmer, and she leans in to kiss me, her lips warm and soft against mine.

“We’ve built a beautiful life together,” she whispers when she pulls back.

“We have,” I agree, my gaze steady on hers. “And it’s only going to get better.”

She smiles, her hand tightening on mine. “I love you, Hugh Walters.”

“I love you too, Letty Walters.”

We sit like that for a moment, wrapped in the glow of the tree and the quiet of the night, before a yawn from Letty breaks the spell.

“Alright, Mr. Sentimental,” she says, nudging me playfully. “We’ve got work to do.”

We return to our task, and as we work, the conversation shifts to the kids and the upcoming holiday.

“Do you think Emma will like the dollhouse?” Letty asks, her brow furrowing as she ties a bow onto a gift.

“She’s going to love it,” I assure her. “She hasn’t stopped talking about dollhouses since she saw that one in the store.”

“And Max? Do you think he’ll notice if I didn’t get the exact action figure he wanted?”

I laugh. “He might, but he’ll be too excited about the remote-control car to care.”

“And Charlie?”

“He’s one. As long as it crinkles or makes noise, he’ll be happy.”

Letty laughs, shaking her head. “It’s going to be chaos on Christmas morning.”

“Isn’t it always?” I reply, grinning. “That’s half the fun.”

We wrap and talk for another hour, the pile of presents gradually transforming into a collection of brightly colored packages adorned with ribbons and bows. The room feels warm and cozy, the air filled with the scent of pine and the faint remnants of the cookies Letty had baked earlier.

When we finally finish, I lean back against the couch, letting out a satisfied sigh.

“Mission accomplished,” I declare, surveying our work.

“Barely,” Letty says, but she’s smiling as she rests her head on my shoulder.

I wrap an arm around her, pulling her close. “We make a good team.”

“We always have,” she murmurs, her voice tinged with sleepiness.

As the fire crackles softly in the hearth and the twinkling lights of the tree cast a warm glow over the room, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude.

Five years ago, I never could have imagined this life—this family, this love, this happiness. But now that I have it, I know I’ll do whatever it takes to protect it, to nurture it, to make it grow.

“Letty,” I say softly, and she tilts her head to look up at me.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For loving me. For giving me this family. For being my everything.”

Her eyes soften, and she reaches up to cup my cheek. “You don’t have to thank me, Hugh. You’re my everything too.”

I kiss her, slow and deep, pouring every ounce of love I have into that moment.

When we finally pull apart, Letty yawns, and I chuckle, nudging her toward the stairs. “Come on, let’s get you to bed. You need your rest.”

“Only if you carry me,” she teases, but there’s a sleepy lilt to her voice.

“Always,” I say, scooping her up effortlessly.

She laughs, wrapping her arms around my neck as I carry her up the stairs.

As I tuck her into bed and watch her drift off to sleep, her hand resting protectively over her belly, I can’t help but think about everything we’ve been through—every challenge, every joy, every moment that brought us to this one.

And as I lay down beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing a kiss to her temple, I know one thing for certain: the best is yet to come.

Want more of Hugh and Letty’s story? Then be sure to check out this bonus scene of the birth of their first child!

Looking for Lilou and Milo’s book? Check out A Very Grumpy Firefighter here!

Loving Wolf Valley and all of the grumpy men there? Be sure to read the complete series!

Start here for Wolf Valley: Grumps - A Very Grumpy Best Friend

And start here for Wolf Valley: A Very Grumpy Holiday – A Very Grumpy Valentine’s Day