Grace's POV
Christmas rolled around and I was ready. All the presents were poorly wrapped, but still wrapped, and I had stayed up the night before to help my mom with some of the preparations for Christmas dinner.
Chester and I were still asleep when I heard little footsteps. I woke up with a fright as Sophie charged in, climbed onto the bed and shook me.
"Wake up! It's Christmas." She squealed and bounced on the bed and I groaned.
"Careful, peanut." Chester pulled Sophie into a hug so she wouldn't bounce anymore. "How about we say good morning first?" He chuckled.
"Morning Mommy. Morning Daddy." She kissed my forehead and I smiled, properly waking up.
"Morning, my little Elsa." I joked. "How about we go open some presents?"
"Yes please." Sophie grinned. "Nana and Grampy are making pancakes."
"Let's go, then." Chester said, helping my put my arms in my dressing gown, which I only wore to conceal the little life growing inside of me.
The three of us marched through the hallway, but I stopped outside Tim's door and knocked furiously. To my satisfaction, he woke up with a groan.
"Tim, get your ass out of bed. Merry Christmas." I giggled as I walked into the kitchen, where my mom was making pancakes and Sophie sat on my step-dad's lap.
"What are we waiting for? Let's open some presents!" Chester smirked irresistibly and I kissed him when no one was watching.
We all gathered around the tree, including a very grumpy and tired Tim, who cheered up over the course of the morning. Everyone was most excited to see Sophie open her presents. She went through clothes, doll sets, games, books and various other toys, thanking each person individually until she got to the last present, the baby doll we had bought her.
When she unwrapped it, she gasped and her pupils widened. "She's perfect." She whispered, furiously scrambling through the box to get her doll out and cradle it in her arms,
"Wow! It looks so realistic." My mom bent down and examined the doll with Sophie. "Now you're a mom too."
"You know why we got her that doll?" I could feel myself getting excited. Chester clutched my hand to give me confidence. "So she could practice."
"Practice being a mom?" My mom looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"Not to practice being a mom. To practice being a big sister."
"Oh, Gracie are you adopting again?" My mom was almost leaping out of her seat with excitement.
"No, mom." I laughed. "I'm pregnant." I took off my dressing gown, revealing my itsGrace shirt, which fit tightly across my stomach.
"Congrats, sis." Tim smiled genuinely.
I looked over at my mom, who was crying profusely.
"I'm so happy for you." She said in-between sobs.
"Me too, Gracie." My step-dad smiled and patted my hand lovingly.
Sophie looked concerned and climbed onto my lap. She gently touched my stomach and smiled, as she rested her head on my shoulder.
"She's 4 months along, so we're expecting the baby in May next year." Chester looked prouder than ever. It gave me a sense of accomplishment.
Chester's POV
That evening, after all the preparation for Christmas dinner was done, John arrived. Sophie and his kids had a grand time playing with each other all evening, and the adults chatted amongst each other, mostly about Grace, the baby and adoption. It felt strange to be the main focus of the evening, but everyone shared helpful advice around pregnancy and babies, so the evening ended with me feeling reassured and ready.
The next day was equally as blissful. We decided that we were tuckered out from the Christmas festivities and so all of us stayed in, huddled around the fireplace, speaking about the previous day's events.
Grace was clearly more comfortable in her skin, wearing clothes that didn't hide the fact that she was pregnant, but merely embraced it.
"Daddy, I don't want to leave tomorrow." Sophie sat on my lap and looked up into my eyes with sad, puppy dog eyes.
"I know, sweetie, but we have to. I want to stay too." I put my arm around her and she leaned into me.
"I'm gonna miss Nana and Grampy." She sniffled slightly for effect.
"We're gonna miss you even more, pet." Grace's step-dad spoke softly in an attempt to comfort her.
"But you know what? We'll come to visit you in a few months when your little brother or sister is born." Theresa gave a sad smile. She was going to miss us too. "How exciting will that be?"
"Yeah, think about that, Soph. You'll see Aunt Hannah, Aunt Mamrie, Nana, Grampy and your new brother or sister." Grace squeezed the little girl's arm gently, which sparked a small giggle.
In the short amount of time that we had been in New Jersey, it felt like we were really residents of the house. It seemed very different to our last trip here, which was full of anxiety and stress, but now we were calm, excited and we had a little happy spark in the form of our daughter.
It was a short, but eventful few days, but now we would be going back to reality and preparation for our little one.
