35. Lottie

LOTTIE

" N o, Lemon." Everett pushes out a dry laugh. "I can assure you we won't be needing to add another wing to the house to accommodate anyone. Nothing like that. In fact, we did a little digging, and as it stands, the Family Tree Tracker app is locked up in a handful of lawsuits for wrong DNA matches."

"Wrong DNA matches?" I inch back. "What does that mean? Oh, dear Lord, you are not going to tell me that we're related after all, are you?"

"We are not related," he says emphatically.

"That's right." Noah chuckles. "Just like Santa, we had them check that list twice."

"I don't think this is funny," I say. "Where is this leading?"

Everett's chest expands with his next breath. "Harper isn't suing me because we found out that she's not my child."

" What? " I gasp at the thought. "Oh my word! Oh, Everett, I'm so sorry—I think?"

He nods. "I'm sorry, too." He shrugs. "And as it stands, Mia isn't mine either."

" What? " I squawk twice as loud. "Are you sure?"

He nods. "And I relayed the information to her mother and stepfather. Ryan apologized emphatically to me—and kindly ask me not to sue them."

"Everett." I offer him a firm embrace and take in his spiced cologne as I hold him close. "I'm so sorry. What a rotten app that turned out to be." I suck in a breath and pull back. "What about the twins? Ava and Olivia?"

He tips his head.

"They can call him Daddy," Noah says.

"They can?" I look to Everett and he nods.

"They can," he says as I embrace him once again and my own twins give a kick of excitement. "And we scoured far and wide—so far there are no other children out there that I know of."

"Well, you've got these kids on the way," I say, patting my belly. "And there's no denying they're yours."

We share a little laugh.

"The next set will be mine," Noah teases and Everett shoots him a look. "What? I thought we were trading off?"

"Very funny," I flatline just as a soft knock erupts at the door and Everett and Noah are right back to exchanging a dark glance. "I wonder who that could be?"

"It's my mother," Everett says. "And my sister. I hope you don't mind."

"Why in the world would I mind?" I say with a laugh. "I've tried all week to invite them, but they were acting cagey."

"There might be a reason for that." Everett offers an apprehensive glance to the door. "My mother invited Ava and Olivia."

"Your mother invited Ava and Olivia?" I blink up at him, stumped to how this could be.

"That's right. I'm not sure if you remember, but the night I called Haley from Mangias, she mentioned the fact they knew one another. They're on the hospital board together," he says. "My mother has known them for years, and apparently, they call her Mimi Lizzy."

"That's right! Oh my word!" A laugh gets caught in my throat as we rush to the door and, sure enough, Everett's mother Eliza and his sister Meghan shout merry Christmas all at once while looking every bit like Everett's doppelg?ngers in female skin.

They step aside and we see a woman a little older than me with dark hair, almond-shaped eyes, and a friendly smile.

"Hi, I'm Haley," she says and holds out her hand my way. She's dressed in a fitted gray wool coat with a dark red hat and matching scarf. "You must be Lottie."

"It's so wonderful to meet you," I say, hardly able to take in the moment.

Next to her is a man with gray hair and eyes that crinkle around the edges as he smiles. He's wearing a suit and introduces himself as Richard, an accountant and Haley's fiancé.

And then there are the girls.

Two adorable twelve-year-old angels dressed in glittering red holiday dresses with matching white coats. They have dark hair, serious smiles, and Baxter-issued blue eyes.

Haley makes the formal introductions. We each shake their hands, and they can't take their eyes off of Everett.

"Mimi told us all about you," Ava says.

They're twins, but they look just enough like sisters that I wouldn't lose track of who's who. Ava's features are sharper, where Olivia has a heart-shaped face with bowtie lips.

Olivia nods up at Everett. "She says you were a little rascal when you were a kid. She let us look through all of her photo albums." She blinks over at Noah. "Hey, you're one of the brothers that our dad got when Mimi married that moron!"

Noah frowns for a brief second before both he and Everett share a laugh.

Everett ushers them in and introduces them to everyone in the room, and soon they're surrounded with love and affection.

Evie hugs both of her new sisters, and they quickly migrate to the sofa where they exchange social media handles and phone numbers, and they're talking a mile a minute about any and everything. Even Lyla Nell has traded baby Levi as she tries to entice the girls with some of her dolls.

They're all so adorable together it brings tears to my eyes.

My mother and Eliza are busy entertaining both Haley and Richard, and it looks as if they've all been a part of the family for years.

Everett offers me a firm embrace from behind as Noah crops up next to us as well.

"What do you think, Lottie?" Noah asks while nodding to the gaggle of girls on the sofa.

"I think this is one of the best holidays we've ever had."

"I agree," Everett says, brushing a kiss over my cheek. "Merry Christmas, Lemon."

"Merry Christmas, indeed."

I glance up at the tree as a spray of golden stars swirls around its uppermost branches before trailing off in a twinkling of an eye.

It looks as if we have a little extra Christmas spirit here this evening, and I have a feeling I know the exact elf who sent it. And with this big family, we will have it in abundance from here on out.

The sound of car brakes screeching to a halt emits from outside, loud enough for the three of us to hear it. And just as we're about to turn toward the window, Suze zips past us.

"I knew it," she hisses. "I knew they'd be making the drop."

"What drop?" I ask as Everett and I follow her to the door. Thankfully, no one else in the house seems to be the wiser to Suze's suspicious behavior.

She opens the door and just about shuts it right on our faces.

"No need to follow me out," she says, trying her best to shoo us away with her fingers. "I think I left a few gifts in my car. I'm just parked at the base of the driveway. I'll be right—" She turns toward the porch and a short-lived scream evicts from her.

Everett, Noah, and I file out onto the porch with her and the three of us all but strop breathing once we see it.

"Oh my goodness," I pant. "Is that man—?" I don't dare say the D word on such a holy night.

All four of us scamper down the porch, down the driveway, and right over to the hood of Suze's car where a man as naked as a jaybird lies sprawled over it, save for a Santa hat on his head.

Noah quickly checks the man for a pulse and shakes his head at us, confirming the worst of our suspicions.

Everett squints that way. "What's that in his hand?"

"Oh, I'll get it," Suze cries as she starts to tiptoe that way and Everett catches her by the elbow.

Noah pulls on a pair of gloves before picking it up and unfurling it. He quickly reads the note before frowning at his mother.

"Well?" I ask. "What does it say?"

"It says, you're next ."