The Navy Dad's Return by Julianna Morris

Author:Julianna Morris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-12-12T16:55:13+00:00

* * *

KATRINA PUT HER hands on the railing and gazed at the calf she’d helped bring into the world. He was drying quickly under his mother’s careful attention and looking less disgruntled by the minute.

She understood. One minute he was warm, if cramped, and the next he was being dragged out by the feet and delivered onto a cold, hard floor. From his perspective it had to be completely unfair.

“How long do you think winter is going to last?” she asked Wyatt. Some years they’d had spring weather by now in Montana, but the chill and storms were lingering. Chinooks didn’t count—in fact, they were sometimes called a false spring.

“No telling. Predictions say well into April.”

“I guess the groundhog was right.”

“Excuse me?”

Katrina grinned. “Didn’t the groundhog see its shadow in February? That meant six more weeks of winter. Though around here, it’s more like ten to twelve more weeks.”

“The groundhog? Seriously? You probably believe there are pots of gold at the end of rainbows and that finding a fairy ring is good luck.”

“A little whimsy isn’t a terrible thing.”

“Not much of that in my life, now or ever, except for stories Jordan used to tell me and Dakota when we were small. I’m trying to keep Christie grounded. It’s how Amy and I decided to raise her before she was born, because that way she’ll have fewer soul-crushing disappointments later in life.”

Sheesh. Katrina pursed her lips. She’d never fully believed in the good luck of fairy rings or rainbows ending in pots of gold, any more than she’d genuinely believed in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. But it was a game her family played and she suspected the adults had as much fun as the kids.

“You realize her favorite book, Where the Wild Things Are, is basically a fantasy.”

“I know. It was a gift from Jordan and Paige, so I couldn’t refuse to read it to her. But I remind Christie that the story is just make-believe.”

Hmmm.

“At the very least you’re going to do the tooth fairy routine with Christie, right?” Katrina asked. “I’ve never heard that visits from the tooth fairy lead to soul-crushing disappointments, except if you don’t have a visit.”

“I haven’t decided.”

“Not to put any pressure on, but Mishka gets gifts from the tooth fairy and so will Daniel when he’s old enough. Christie might feel left out, which could be a big disappointment. Almost soul-crushing. I imagine Noelle’s baby will also have visits from the tooth fairy. Eventually.”

“Almost soul-crushing?” Wyatt gave her an exasperated look. “Is that your idea of not putting pressure on me?”

“Hey, I haven’t mentioned the dragons and unicorns all over Mishka’s bedroom or the mixed messages Christie might be getting between your practical approach and the fun that Mishka is having with a pretend fantasy world. That is, I haven’t mentioned it until now.”

He laughed. “All right, you win. I’ll be the tooth fairy. But I refuse to spend money on a spangled tutu in my size. It just isn’t going to happen.

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