“Three months or two, I seriously doubt she’s all that concerned with much more than eating and sleeping and the occasional bounce on the knee.” He nudged JT, who sat between them. “Unlike a certain boy I know who is always thinking about hundreds of things and so busy I can hardly keep up with him.”

JT snorted a laugh. “I’ve just got a lot to do.”

“Indeed.” Luke laughed with him. “Speaking of which, I understand there’s a Christmas program at the school. Am I invited?”

“You are most assuredly invited,” JT said in a very grown-up manner. “All of our family is supposed to come, and I consider you family now. You’re like my big brother.”

Luke’s gaze met Gloriana’s over the top of the boy’s head. He liked the way that sounded. He was a part of their family.

To his surprise, once they were away from the town proper and found a place to focus on getting their tree, Gloriana lost track of the time and became caught up in their objective.

“I like this one,” JT said, standing beside a tall pine. “But it’s too big.”

“Indeed it is,” Gloriana replied. “We couldn’t even get it through the front door.”

“What about this little one?” Luke asked, pointing out a much smaller tree.

JT frowned and shook his head. “It’s too little to put even a few ornaments on it.”

Luke grinned as he played the game. “I see your point.”

They finally settled on a beautiful balsam fir. It was about as tall as Luke and, as JT pointed out, had soft branches that wouldn’t hurt Sally.

The boys cut it down and loaded it on the back of the wagon, looking like a couple of lumberjacks. Gloriana laughed at their antics, which was the purpose for them in the first place. Luke wanted more than anything to see her happy and carefree.

By the time they drove back to town, they were all famished. Luke pulled up to a Swedish bakery he’d tried several days earlier. Gloriana protested, declaring they should just get the baby and head home, where she could reward their efforts, but he insisted.

“They have the most amazing Swedish doughnuts here. They are full and heavy, yet light at the same time. I can’t describe them. You really just have to try them.”

Luke ordered a pot of hot chocolate and three cups, as well as a dozen doughnuts.

“We’ll never eat a dozen doughnuts,” Gloriana protested.

“Speak for yourself. JT and I are hungry. We worked hard today and got very cold.”

JT nodded, his mop of curls springing out around his face. “We did.”

“I need to trim your hair. Goodness, when did it get so long? I just cut it before the . . . memorial.” Her voice faded and she looked away.