Page 95 of Falling Together

“That one is from Poppy. She wanted to come, but Kade took her out to the ranch for riding lessons so we could have some adult time,” Presley says, pushing the package closer to me.

I open the package, haphazardly wrapped in paper with pink and white polka dots. A bright white stuffed goose falls out with a blue bow wrapped around his neck.

“He’s precious.”

“Poppy loves Strawberry, so she wanted your baby to have one too,” Presley says. “He doesn’t have a name, but Poppy said you should name him Milkshake.”

“Milkshake?” I laugh. “Why’s that?”

“Kade always takes her to get milkshakes after riding, so it’s their thing. I’m sure she’ll name some new stuffed animal she gets Milkshake too.”

“I’ll make sure to write her a thank you card and let her know I’m going with Milkshake,” I say. “Even if it might be weird for a goose.”

“Hey, Max has a stuffed tomato he now calls Walter,” Joey interjects.

“Walter? Really?” I laugh.

“Sam read Max a book with a cow named Walter and he loves it, so his tomato is Walter.”

Joey shrugs like it’s no big deal.

Just something I’m going to learn about being a mom. Kids do weird things that don’t always make sense, but you love them anyway.

“These are post baby presents for you,” Rylee says. “You don’t have to open these today. It’ll give you something to look forward to.”

“You guys did too much,” I say, fingering my cowboy boot necklace they’ve already given me.

“Nonsense,” Presley says.

“You know we’ll be at your house when this baby comes, dropping off anything you need. You won’t know what to do with yourself,” Joey agrees.

“Us and the entire town,” Rylee says. “Betty was talking about it at the diner the other day. There’s a pool going on names.”

“Already? Sheesh,” I say.

“You don’t want to give us any insider hints?” Joey asks.

I shake my head. “We’re waiting until he gets here.”

“I mean, what if it turns out to be a girl?” Rylee points out.

“That’s what I told Grant when we were deciding if we wanted to find out.”

“Are you glad you did?” Presley asks.

“Yes. It’s helping us plan things. We’ll be working on the nursery soon.”

“Are you buying two of everything?” Rylee asks.

“We haven’t really figured out all of the details on that yet.” Glancing at the time, I see it’s getting late. “I think it’s time we got out of your hair, Presley.”

They all pop up, starting to gather the presents and food to take out to my car so I can get everything home. I can’t lift a finger to help.

“It’s your day. You shouldn’t be helping,” Joey says.

Before I leave, I pull them all in for a hug.

“I don’t know what I would do without you girls,” I whisper.