“Alright, Heath. I got to go. Callie and I are heading off to the airport soon.” Heath urged him to be safe behind the wheel before hanging up. After the call, Xavier told Callia, “As if Chester isn’t a big enough third wheel, now we have nine of them coming. We won’t get a chance to have a private chat.” Callia shrugged and said helplessly, “What can I do? I’m like an older sister to them. I’m the only girl in the family. “You’re stuck with me, my brother, and my cousins. Maybe you want to reconsider someone else.” Xavier tapped her nose. “Don’t say that.“You’re the only one for me. I will marry no one else. You have my heart. You’re not getting rid of me.” Xavier would ruin any guy who dared steal Callia from him. The Buchams were not to be messed with. Xavier did not mind tapping into his privilege just to keep Callia near him. “I was kidding.” Callia said with a smile, “I know you won’t want anyone else. Come on. We should get inside and let Uncle Austin know.

With Xavier behind the wheel, he took Callia and Chester to the airport. Two cars driven by bodyguards trailed closely behind them. Midway, Callia received a photo from Noelle. Callia was surprised as the message came from Noelle. Noelle was a kind soul who was like a sister to Callia. While Noelle adored Callia, she was not the type to send images. She would call for anything because, according to her, calling was just convenient and fast. Texting was a chore because typing took time. Noelle was just like Laurence. No wonder they fell in love. They were just the same kind of people. Callia tapped on the photo. It was a photograph of Laurence. Noelle must have snapped the picture. Hang on. What was Laurence doing? Sitting on the sofa, Laurence was knitting a sweater! Soon enough, Noelle sent a video clip. Callia tapped on the video to hit play. In the video, Laurence was all thumbs at knitting. The ball of yarn fell to the floor and rolled away, trailing a long st

“But if Xavier ever does something wrong and upsets me, I can consider punishing him by making him knit sweaters. He should knit a whole set of them and put one on to watch the snow at Uncle Austin’s.” Chester clapped. “That’s the way to do it, Callie. Make the punishment harsher. Xavier should knit a few for me, too. I haven’t worn a hand-knitted sweater before.” Satbury’s winters were freezing and heavy with snow. Even during the fall, the temperature fell lower than Wiltspoon’s coldest winter.Every winter break, Austin would send the children back to Wiltspoon to spend the season there. Chase and Chester preferred staying there. Though summer arrived early, it was not the hottest city in the country. Mainly, winter was just right. It was neither too hot nor too cold. Even with heating at home in Satbury, stepping outside in the winter was freezing, especially since the Yorks were accustomed to Wiltspoon’s weather. Before elementary school, Chester had even gone to kinder

Callia grinned as Koben ran toward her. Just before Koben reached her, Callia got down and spread her arms for him to plunge into her embrace. Though Koben came across as annoying and would not leave her alone at times, Callia still missed the little guy when they were apart. Their bond was something else since Callia practically raised him. She had babysat the other cousins, but none of them shared a bed with her as Koben did. Koben was her absolute favorite. “Callie.” Koben sprinted ahead and threw himself into Callia’s arms. She pulled him close and asked with a smile, “Do you miss me?” The little boy hugged Callia’s neck and replied, “I miss you so much. You didn’t even wait for my school break to come here. I had to be patient to get here. “If the others took any longer, I’d have told Dad to ship me over as cargo.” Callia carried him and said with a smile, “No one’s going to let you travel on your own. By waiting for the others, you can have a safe travel here to

With the arrival of the York boys, the O’Connor manor was filled with bustling energy. That night, Callia took her younger cousins shopping. She, as the older family member, would buy some things for them. In the end, the younger York boys forked out their allowances to shower her with gifts. They fought over anything pretty and suitable for her. Callia could not even stop them. The York boys said that the allowance they got every month was more than they could spend, so Callia would be doing them a favor. After a night of shopping, Callia came back, her arms full of purchases. Xavier spent the entire evening drowning in jealousy, but it was not like he could do anything about it. These boys were his future family whom he could not afford to upset. It was late into the night when Callia received a response from Chloe. Chloe explained the truth behind the sweater knitting. Callia could not stop laughing. She sent a voice message gleefully. “Chloe. I bet you didn’t think