Christmas Magic

Copyright © 2016

All rights reserved. This book or any portion therof may not be reproduced or used in any matter whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover art by: Cover Me Darling Formatted by: Brenda Wright, Formatting Done Wright

Create Space ISBN-13: 978-1539832362

ISBN-10: 1539832368



Table of Contents 1. A Christmas Connection - Melody Dawn 2. Twice Upon a Time – B.A. Dillon 3. Taking Back Christmas - R.J. Loom 4. A Christmas Chance - Janet A. Mota 5. Merry Christmas Baby – Carissa Porter











Copyright © 2016 Melody Dawn

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite eBook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Edited by Crystal Snyder

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence Two roads diverged in a wood And I— I took the one less traveled by And that has made all the difference ~Robert Frost

On an unusually cold December morning in Houston, Texas, Tyler Peterson grabbed his mail as he opened the front door of his newly acquired home. There was a musty smell signaling that no one had lived there for a long time or at least the two years it had been sitting empty since his Uncle Jonathan had died. In addition to the odor, there were dead insects lying on the floor, and dust flew as he disturbed the eerie quiet with his presence. Setting his briefcase down on the counter along with a pile of junk mail he had pulled from the box, he happened to catch a familiar name as he quickly perused the pile: Dr. Jayson Reece. The lone envelope actually said “Dr. and Mrs. Jayson M. Reece,” which let him know that his childhood buddy was now a doctor and married. The sight of the name was an unsettling blast from the past and Tyler wondered how they knew their communication would find him. He had been gone for a long time and there was no reason for either Jayson or his wife to think he would be here even during the holiday season. Just the glimpse of his friend’s name brought back dozens of memories, both good and bad. Throughout the years, he wondered how Jayson was doing and more than anything, he regretted that he had pushed him away. With a grimace, he remembered the last time they saw each other; it was forever burned into his memory. It was a few weeks after the alcohol-fueled accident had stolen his girlfriend, Amy. Although Tyler had not been driving, because of his out-of-control drinking as well as the severity of the accident, he had been sent to rehab to conquer his dependency and to mend his broken body. At the time, he had been angry, filled with both physical and mental pain, and lashing out at anyone who dared to speak to him. He was not only secretly angry at himself for not dying, but pissed off at his friends for insisting he go to a place he didn’t need to be at, and most of all…he was a nursing a broken heart for Amy. He had tried to be cool and act like she was just a hookup or a warm body; nothing could have been further from the truth. Tyler knew she was it for him and she died never knowing the truth. After her death, he swore to never forgive himself for his treatment of her and in leading her down a path of partying and alcohol. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Amy would have never gotten behind the wheel of her car in the state she was in that night had it not been for his influence.

Pure shame ate at him from the inside out and it had caused him to lash out at the wrong people… namely, his best friend. At their last meeting, 12 years ago, Jayson had stood next to Tyler’s broken body and messed up psyche proclaiming with determination that he was going to be there for him…something he hadn’t appreciated at the time. Thinking back to that day, he could hear Jayson’s voice even now. “You don’t have to let this stop you from living.” Not even able to flip him off due to his injuries, he went with an eye roll. “Sure, Jayson. Look back over your perfect life and find something…anything that lets me know you have any clue of what I’m going through. Since you can’t, save your Dr. Phil pep talks for someone else. In fact, it’s time for you to go…and I don’t want you to come back.” His voice had cracked at the end yet he had held firm. Jayson’s eyes grew intense with feeling although he didn’t take it out on Tyler. Instead, he said, “You’ll change your mind one day…and when you do, give me a call…even if it’s twenty years from now.” He turned his face to the wall and outwardly scoffed at Jayson’s words although secretly he had held on to them like a lifeline. Maybe one day he would contact him…

Scrubbing his hands down his face to ward off the memories of the treatment of his friend and of a girl lost too soon, he told himself to let it go…there was way too much to be done and even less time to sit around having a pity party. In a determined fashion, Tyler walked around the kitchen and took stock of the interior. Next, he moved from room to room cataloguing the pros and cons with a practiced eye. Though the house was in disrepair, it had good bones and wasn’t beyond being brought back from its former glory. Feeling the excitement of taking on a new project, his mind was going wild with a million new ideas. He knew without a doubt he wanted to rehab this house. It was the least he could do for his uncle… after all, he wouldn’t be where he was without him.

As he made his way back to the kitchen to retrieve his iPad from his briefcase, his mind on starting house plans, pain streaked up his leg. Even 12 years later, he still had debilitating pain and a significant limp, something he hated because it made him feel weak, not to mention the scars were not a

pretty sight either. Gritting his teeth, he stood still for a moment waiting for it to pass. While occupied with his pain, Tyler’s eyes were once again drawn to the mail. Swearing under his breath, he grabbed the stack and pulled out the envelope bearing the Reece name. Looking it over, he took in the pretty writing and debated whether he should open it. Almost positive, he was going to regret it, he opened it to see a festive Thomas Kinkade holiday scene peeking from inside the envelope. Seeing it made him want to fully open the card more than anything. If truth be known, he missed his friend and there was a hole in his heart with Amy and his Uncle Jonathan gone. The loss of such important people made him aware of the fragility of life. His deep thoughts brought about a rusty smile to his face. Tyler Peterson, the former party boy, was now a philosopher. He wondered what Jayson would say. That single thought induced him to pull the card out and open it. It bore the usual Christmas greeting and he could see the messy doctor signature as well as three new names. It was signed, “Hoping you find peace this holiday season. Merry Christmas, Jayson, Chloe, Brendon & Braxton Reece.” Those names meant that Jayson not only had a wife, but two sons. For a moment, Tyler set there thinking of what he had turned away from in life: his old friends, the chance of falling in love, kids, and the list went on. It was daunting to realize that he could be married with children and living a much fuller life…not just one where he was financially solvent. “Some things are just not meant to be,” he whispered to himself. Still the pain of knowing he had shunned all connections other than his work and the occasional friend or date rolled over him like a tsunami making moisture prick his eyes. “I’m not crying…it’s the damn dust in this house,” he said aloud. Shaking his head at his thoughts and now his crazy talking, he knew it was time to end the trip down memory lane. He was happy for his friend…glad that he was successful in achieving his career goals as well as having a family; that was it. Nothing good could come of him sitting there dwelling on the past. That old saying, “Sometimes you can’t go home,” it might not specifically fit his situation although the gist of it was how he felt. You can’t go back to what used to be. And even if he could, Tyler wasn’t sure he wanted to. He had worked hard to get to where he was and he couldn’t go back. With that in mind, he grabbed the card and turned it over to slide it into the envelope when a sticky note with female writing impeded his progress. Unable to stop himself, he read the contents: Tyler, My name is Chloe Reece; I’m Jayson’s wife. I’m hoping this card finds you well or finds you at all. This is the only address we have for you and I felt like I needed to send it…maybe it’s wishful thinking that you will get it. Jayson has wondered about you over the years and mentioned several times, he wanted to find you. He has also spoken about how you didn’t part on good terms and I know it bothers him. If you receive this card, please contact us. Just know that your friend misses you and would like to see you again. Should you get this card, please call 713-555-1212. This is my cell number or if you want to go directly to Jayson, his number is 713-555-1215. Hoping to hear from you and having faith that you will receive this card. Merry Christmas, Chloe Reece. Tyler stood there in shock, his breathing increasing at the thought of getting in contact with someone from his past. He had been gone for so long; could he do it? Without telling anyone except his Uncle Jonathan, he transferred to Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut. It was a small school, not known for partying, and one where no one knew him. Over the next three years, he had buckled down to his studies, rarely going out with girls or even friends. Making his studies priority for the first time in his life, he focused on achieving his degree in

Business Administration with a minor in Historical Architecture. Though not many people from his old life knew it, Tyler had a passion for old structures, specifically old houses. He wanted to start his own company rehabbing historical homes and after graduation, that’s just what he did. With all the history in New England, business boomed as word of mouth spread about his talent in restoring homes combined with his usage of green technology. From then on, Tyler had a growing business and no time for much of anything else. He had shut down any want of reconnecting with people from his past and only went back to Houston to occasionally visit Jonathan. Because Jon lived in the country, he never had to worry about running into anyone by accident. In fact, it wasn’t until two years ago when Jon died and Tyler inherited his house did he ever think about taking a break and coming home for more than a stay of a few days. Home. Was Houston still home for him? It had been so long since he thought of Texas in that aspect. His brow furrowed in response to his thoughts. No, Connecticut was his home now and once this job was complete and it warmed up a little, he would be going back. With the winter months in full swing, the restoration business had slowed down allowing Tyler to give in to the pull he felt to visit Texas. Still, all it was meant to be was a working vacation…one where he rehabbed his uncle’s home, not one where he took a trip down memory lane. He also had to make the decision to sell it or keep it. In fact, if he went through with putting it on the market, he would eradicate all ties to Houston leaving no need to ever return. Thinking back to the card, Chloe Reece’s words rang out through his mind: He has also spoken about how you didn’t part on good terms and I know it bothers him. If the truth be known, it bothered Tyler also more than he liked to admit. The idea of cutting the past off completely, even more then he had, rankled. Fiddling with his phone, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Did he want to do this? In a flash, he knew that he did. Before he could talk himself out of it, he typed the number for Chloe into his phone…he wasn’t ready to talk to Jayson yet even if that might make him a pansy. The phone rang and a female voice answered warmly, “Hello.” Tyler cleared his throat twice before he could get any words out. “Uh hi, this is Tyler…Tyler Peterson.”

Chloe answered the phone without checking the caller ID as she had her hands full with her two little twin exhibitionists. Trying to get them dressed after their bath was a massive feat especially when doing it alone. When the phone rang, her attention was diverted, which gave her three-year-old terrors the opening they needed to get away. Watching distractedly as their naked behinds took off, she barely heard the unfamiliar baritone of the man on the phone…until he said his name, Tyler Peterson. “Oh my god, you actually got my Christmas card,” she exclaimed. “How, I mean, where are you… Jayson is going to be thrilled…” Chloe couldn’t believe her husband’s long lost best friend was actually on the phone with her now. She had sent the note thinking that he most likely wouldn’t receive it and now knowing that he had, she was beside herself with joy.

Tyler laughed at her enthusiasm. How could he not? “I’m in Houston at my uncle’s house…or should I say my home now. I inherited it two years ago when he passed away. I live in New Haven, Connecticut; I’m just here to fix up the house, then I’ll be leaving again.” Why did he tell her all of that? He didn’t know this woman at all and here he was, spilling his business to her.

Chloe didn’t seem to think anything of it. Instead, she answered, “I’m so sorry for your loss. That must have been hard to lose him when you were so far away and hadn’t seen him in years.” Huh. Why would she think that? Tyler answered without thinking, “Yes, it was hard to lose him although I’ve gotten to see him most every year until he passed.” His voice trailed off when he realized he had just given himself away. “I didn’t know you had been in Houston recently. Jayson will be sorry to find out he’s missed you when you visited.” Chloe’s voice, once sweet, now dropped to glacial tones of disapproval. Shit. He knew he shouldn’t have told her anything about himself. How could he explain to her what had kept him from contacting Jayson for all these years? Not knowing how to respond, he decided he made a huge error in calling Chloe. He should have left the past where it belonged. “I apologize for disrupting your day. I should go. I’ll try to give Jayson a call sometime soon.” Tyler knew he was lying with every word he uttered. Obviously, he was transparent or Chloe had inherited the Reece BS meter upon marriage because she quickly stopped him before he hung up. “Wait, please. I’m so sorry, Tyler; I don’t have any right to be judgmental. I’m a little protective… ok, a lot protective where Jayson is concerned. I apologize for coming at you that way. Can we start over, please?” Tyler could hear the sincerity and worry in her voice. He knew he couldn’t say no to her any more than he could stop the sun from shining in Houston. “Of course. Things are bound to be a little awkward with me being gone for so long and I understand why you feel like you do. I’m glad my friend found someone who cares about him so much.” As Chloe started to answer him, a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the phone making him wonder what had just happened. “Do you need to go,” he asked worriedly. Laughing, Chloe said, “Give me a minute.” Tyler heard her cover the phone and then yell, “All right, you two little Connor monsters, get some clothes on those naked butts and then we’ve got to clean up the house…daddy’s friend is coming over later.” Wait, what? Coming back to the phone, Chloe said, “Sorry for screaming in your ear. I swear, they are Connor’s spawn sometimes…not my sweet husband’s children.” Tyler laughed harder than he had in a long time. “Sweet? That’s funny. I see Jayson has been keeping quiet about his wild younger days. He was just as bad as Connor, only in a different way. I’ve got lots to tell you.” “Well, that’s good. You can do it when you come for supper. Now, is there anything you don’t like to eat? Or are you a steak and potatoes guy…oh, wait, I bet you eat a lot of seafood, right?” Tyler got the picture that she wasn’t aware he was still on the phone. He knew he had to stop this right away. There was no way he could go to their house tonight. Getting in contact was one thing…going to dinner was something else entirely. All those questions; he was breaking out into a sweat just thinking about it. “Chloe, tonight isn’t good for me. I’ll give Jayson a call; I promise. We’ll get together before I go back to New Haven.” Tyler knew he sounded desperate; he had to get out of this. “Nice try, mister. Be here at 7:30. Jayson has a long shift this evening so supper will be later than usual.” He could tell her mind was made up…still he had to try and dissuade her one more time. “Is there

anything I can do to make you change your mind?” “Nope, I don’t think so. You might think I’m being very forward right now, but it’s time for y’all to get back to being friends again. You’ll thank me later; wait and see.” Tyler almost saluted and said yes ma’am until he remembered she was probably his age or younger. “Ok, then I guess I will see you tonight.” Tyler wasn’t sure he liked Chloe Reece at all…well, maybe he did; he just wasn’t thrilled with her right now. “It was great talking to you, Tyler…oh my god, I have to go. Braxton Tyler Reece, do NOT pee on my floor.” Braxton Tyler? Was Jayson’s son named for him? He decided it had to be a coincidence. Secretly it gave him hope…maybe, just maybe, his friend would forgive him after all. The phone call with Chloe abruptly ended and setting the phone down, Tyler wondered what he had just gotten himself into…and why the hell he was smiling bigger than he had in years.

Later that night, Tyler set in the driveway of the Reece home, contemplating the evening ahead of him. To say he was nervous was the understatement of the year. Gripping the steering wheel like it was a life preserver, he thought of all the reasons this might be a bad idea. Maybe he was going overboard about it. Still, he couldn’t get the thought out of his mind that he might not be welcome. Logically, he knew his feelings were stemming from the guilt he felt since Chloe had made it apparent that he was very welcome…hell, she had all but demanded he be here tonight. There was only one way to find out. Getting out of his rented truck, he shut the door behind him and followed the path leading to the front door. Tyler took in the Christmas decorations, the sparkly lights outlining the house and bushes, and the beautiful Christmas wreath hanging on the front door. It was like Norman Rockwell on steroids. Looking around him, it was obvious that Jayson was a family man now and Tyler was having a hard time reconciling the past with the present. In the middle of his musings, the door opened revealing a pretty dark-haired woman wearing a wide smile. “Tyler?” He nodded and she smiled so brightly that he automatically felt himself smiling back in return. “Come on in. I’m so happy you’re here. Jayson isn’t home yet, but I know he is going to be so thrilled when he sees you; I can’t wait to see his face. Tyler felt his heart drop. “He doesn’t know I’m coming?” Chloe attempted to appease him, “It’s going to be fine; I promise. He’s always said he wanted to get in contact with you again.” He hoped she was right otherwise this was going to be the meal from hell. Patting his arm, she promised, “You’ll see.” Opening his mouth to reply, he was interrupted as two toddlers barreled around the corner, stopping short when they saw him standing with their mother. One stepped in front of the other as if was his job to protect him. “Who are you?” Looking down at the two of them, he grinned and said, Wow. They look just like Jayson and

Connor. They’ve even got their girly mouth.” Tyler realized what he said and rushed to apologize. He and Chloe didn’t know each other very well and he didn’t want to offend. “Sorry about that.” Chloe laughed at his words. “Don’t apologize; you’re right. I call them Jayson’s mini-mes. If it wasn’t for them having my eye color and the memory of ungodly pain it took to have them, I would agree that it looks like I had nothing to do with getting them here.” Turning her attention to her sons, she nudged the one who was standing behind his brother forward. “This is Brendon. He’s named for his PaPa; Brendon Phillip Reece.” Brendon stepped closer and held out his little hand for Tyler to shake like he was twenty-three rather than three. “My name is Brendon and I’m older than him.” He jabbed his thumb in the direction of his brother making Tyler laugh. Kneeling, he shook the boy’s hand. “Hey, little man, I’m Tyler. I’m a friend of your dad’s.” Brendon nodded in response and Tyler felt a tug on his sleeve. Looking over at the second twin, he asked, “Hey dude, what’s up?” Chloe spoke up and said, “This is Braxton…Braxton Tyler Reece.” Braxton reached out his fist for a fist bump, which had Tyler laughing. Returning it, he looked askance at Chloe. “Braxton Tyler?” She nodded with a bright smile. “See, I told you; he has missed you.” Her words soothed his ragged nerves making him think tonight might be a success after all. They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Chloe looked around in a panic. “He’s early; stay in here. Come on boys, not a word to daddy about our friend…remember, it’s a surprise.” The twins nodded excitedly and Tyler knew they would be spilling the beans in seconds.

Chloe and the boys entered the kitchen as Jayson was shutting the door behind him. After a long day, he was exhausted and all he wanted was to hold his wife and sons; they always wiped away the memory of a hard shift. Giving each of his sons a hug, he then reached for his wife. Feeling her soft curves melt into him, he leaned down and kissed her. Just as it was getting good, Chloe pulled back. About to protest, he felt a hard yank on his scrub pants making him look down to where Braxton was making himself known. “Daddy, daddy, come here. Tyler’s here.” Not recognizing the name, Jayson thought it was another friend of his sons’. Chloe held out her hand, “Come and meet him.” Wondering what the big deal was over a little boy, Jayson checked his phone as he followed his family into the next room. Realizing it was quiet, he looked up and got a big surprise. There was no toddler waiting to meet him…in his place stood a tall dark-haired man with his back to them as he studied the family pictures on the built-in bookcases. Hearing them enter, the stranger turned to face them and Jayson felt twelve years recede in a flash. “Tyler Peterson?” His tone was incredulous and the look on his face, pure shock.

Tyler answered quietly, “Hey Jase, it’s good to see you again.” For a long moment, they both stared at each other until Chloe whispered, “Jayson…”

Tyler’s heart pounded like a bass drum as he waited Jayson out. Suddenly, he was coming towards him and they met in the middle of the room. Grabbing each other in a man hug, they pounded each other on the back. “Man, it’s good to see you; where the hell have you been?” “Ohh, mama, daddy said a bad word. Get the jar.” Not understanding what the little guy was talking about, Tyler looked confused as the family laughed. Jayson seeing Tyler’s expression explained, “I have to pay every time I swear.” Upon hearing this information, Tyler let out a big booming laugh. “Holy sh…I mean crap, Jase… you must be broke all the time.” Jayson grinned as he pulled out two dollars from his wallet in his scrubs pocket. “That I am. Although it’s nothing compared to what Connor and his wife have to pay when they’re here…and my mom...well, I’m sure you remember the F-bombs she drops when she’s pissed at one of us. My wife has quite the business going.” Tyler nodded with a smirk as he remembered being on the receiving end of Mrs. Reece’s lectures. Bending down to his sons’ height, Jayson held out a dollar to each of his sons. “Why don’t you go put it in the jar for me?” Each of his replicas grabbed their money and Chloe ushered them out of the room, giving the guys privacy.

Tyler’s nerves were all over the place. He still couldn’t believe he was here…and now that he was, he wanted to know everything he had missed. “Speaking of Connor, how is he doing?” Jayson pointed to the couch, “Have a seat. We can catch up while we’re waiting on supper. He’s doing great. He’s an engineer like he always planned and get this, he has a wife and six kids.” Tyler looked at him in disbelief. “You’re shitting me. Connor? Mr. Anti-commitment?” “Yeah, he went down hard his senior year of college. She got pregnant, they got married, and they

have an awesome family. We’ll have to get together now that you’re here. I know he will be glad to catch up with you as well as Brayden and his family.” Not sure whether he wanted to commit to how long he was staying made Tyler sideswipe the statement and answer a question with a question. “What about you? I see you became a doctor like you always wanted.” “I did. I was almost all the way through my ER residency and right at the end, we had some things happen. I recently changed to Pediatrics and though it’s way different than what I always planned, it’s the best choice I could have made both for my family and my career.” Both men grew quiet and Jayson looked over at him in question. “Where did you go? I looked for you forever. I don’t know why I never thought to ask your uncle where you were.” Tyler felt like shit hearing those words. Looking around to make sure they were alone, he replied, “I was fucked up, Jase…really bad. I went into rehab for my alcohol addiction and when I got out, I knew I had to leave.” Looking away, he said in a quieter tone, “I couldn’t stay…not with Amy gone.” Jayson nodded in agreement, “I understand.” Taking a deep breath, Tyler told his story. “I always loved visiting the New England area with Uncle Jon. So, when I was thinking of a place to start over, he suggested Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut. I don’t know what his connection was to the school, I just knew when he showed me their website, it was the right thing to do. I made a promise to myself that I would change everything…no more partying or alcohol…it was time to get my life in order.” Noting Jayson’s look of understanding, Tyler continued, “I’m not sure I ever told you this; I love old houses…anything historical. I got my degree in Business Administration with a minor in Historical Architecture and I never looked back. I started a company where I rehab historical homes with an emphasis on green technology in the New England area and that’s what I’ve been doing for the last twelve years.” At that moment, Chloe called, “Supper’s ready.” As they made their way into the kitchen, Jayson tried to make him more comfortable. “We can talk some more later…I’m really glad to see you.” Tyler felt relief at his words and tried to put aside old memories. Sitting down at the table, he took in the meal before him. Smiling at Chloe, he said, “This is my favorite meal.” Grinning back at him, she replied, “You can’t go wrong with pot roast. I’m so glad you like it. And you’re welcome here anytime so don’t be a stranger. Ok, everyone, dig in.” The pot roast melted in Tyler’s mouth and he teased Chloe with a twinkle in his eye. “I’m free if you ever want to leave this lug…all you have to do is promise to cook like this.” She blushed at his compliment and then laughed. “I haven’t been hit on in years. You’re good for a girl’s ego.” This time Tyler was the one with pink streaking along his cheekbones. “No, I didn’t mean…” “I’m kidding! Thank you for the compliment. I had better stick with him though.” Chloe put her head on Jayson’s shoulder as she said this and Tyler watched him kiss his wife’s head in response. To his surprise, the loving gesture made him feel something akin to envy. Shaking it off, he told himself he was being ridiculous. “Some best friend. You’re back for a minute and already trying to poach my wife,” Jayson said in mock anger. Hearing the words, “best friend,” stopped Tyler short. He hadn’t been much of a best friend yet that didn’t seem to matter to Jayson. He acted like he wanted to put the past behind them and that was fine with Tyler.

Falling into their old way of teasing, he answered, “I had to let her know she has options… especially with cooking like this.” Everyone laughed and Tyler realized he felt more like himself than he had in years. The good parts of him were still there; they were just buried deep waiting to come out.

Conversation continued and Tyler filled them in on his plans for rehabbing his home. Chloe immediately jumped in. “We know of an awesome decorator. Her name is Kristen Adams…and guess what, she’s single. Wait, do you have a girlfriend?” Tyler shook his head no and knew he looked like a deer in the headlights. “No matchmaking, baby.” Jayson tried to say it sternly and failed spectacularly. It was obvious to Tyler that he was a pile of mush around his wife. “Oh shush, I wasn’t serious. You should call Kristen, Tyler. She’s great at her job…she helped me decorate our house and everyone else has used her as well. I’m sure she could help you. I’ll get her information for you before you go home tonight.” “Thanks, Chloe. I’m going to need a good designer.” He didn’t comment on the woman being single. The last thing he needed was any type of personal entanglements, besides he would never date someone he worked with.

After dinner, the guys were left alone to talk while Chloe took the boys for their bath and bedtime. They didn’t talk much about the past other than to fill each other in on what they had missed in the twelve years they had been apart. Mainly, they kept it light with talk of the Reece family, Tyler’s projects, and Jayson’s patients. By the end of the night, they made a promise to stay in touch with each other and in Tyler’s mind, the night was a definite success. His mind replayed the evening as he drove back to his hotel and when it was all said and done, Tyler knew he had done the right thing in reconnecting with his best friend.

A week later, Tyler looked around the mostly gutted interior of his rehab project. He had a vision of how he wanted the inside to look and to him it was obvious that he needed help. Now that the demolition team had completed their phase of the project, it was time to get down to the fun stuff… bringing the house back to what it once was and making it even better with green technology. Remembering Chloe’s words, he pulled the business card out of his wallet. He ran his thumb over the raised print of the name, Kristen Adams, and debated on calling her. Tyler was very particular on who he worked with although he decided she must be good if Chloe and Jayson’s home was any indicator as well as the fact that the whole Reece family used her decorating skills. Tapping the number out on his phone, he waited for it to ring and connect. “Good morning, Kristen Adams Designs.” “Good morning. My name is Tyler Peterson and Ms. Adams was referred to me by one of her clients, Chloe Reece. I’m currently rehabbing a home here in the Houston area and I’m interested in having her come out and take a look at it. May I speak with her, please?” “Just a moment, let me check and see if she’s available.” Tyler expected to be told that Kristen would have to return his phone call. To his surprise, he was put through to her right away. The phone clicked and then a husky voice more suited to a phone sex operator greeted him. “Hello, Mr. Peterson, what can I do for you?” Her voice sent an unexpected surge of lust through him and he wanted to answer in a most inappropriate way. Gathering his wayward thoughts together, he tried to sound like the professional he was. “Hi, Ms. Adams. I was given your name by Chloe Reece. I was wondering if you might have some time in your schedule to come out and look at the home I’m rehabbing. I’m at the point where I need some help with the interior design and I was assured you knew your stuff.” Kristen laughed in a low tone making Tyler shiver in response. What the hell? “Thank you! The Reece family is great and are good friends of mine. I love working with them. Let me see…I have some time this afternoon…what do you think about 2:00 PM?” “That sounds great to me. I’ll text you the address. What’s your cell number?”

Kristen gave him the number and Tyler texted her back with his. “I’ve got it. I’m not familiar with that area code; where is it?” “I live in New Haven, Connecticut. I’m originally from here, which is why I’m working on a project in this area. Business is slow back home because of the weather so I thought this might be the best time to work on my house down here.” “Ah, I see. Well then, Mr. Peterson, I will see you at 2:00.” “Please call me Tyler; I’m not a formal guy.” Kristen paused for a moment and then replied, “Ok, Tyler it is. Please call me Kristen.” “Thanks, Kristen. Call me if you need directions.” The phone call ended and Tyler stood staring at his phone. He hadn’t reacted that strongly to a woman since Amy and it was just her voice. He didn’t even know if she was attractive. Oh well, it didn’t matter…he wasn’t here to meet anyone.

For the next few hours, Tyler worked on sanding down the floors. They were original to the home and in good condition…they would be perfect with a little TLC. Not realizing the time, he was surprised when the doorbell rang. He barely heard it above the noise of the sander, which gave him little time to dust himself off and prepare himself to meet his visitor. Wiping his hands, he walked to the door and opened it, unprepared for the vision that awaited him. Standing before him was a beautiful blonde woman smiling up at him with her blue eyes dancing. “Tyler Peterson?” she asked in her sexy voice. Yes, uh yes, that’s me.” Tyler stumbled trying to get his mind out of the gutter. “Hi, I’m Kristen Adams.” She reached out her hand for him to shake and he stood there staring at her. “Tyler?” Feeling his cheeks heat with a dark blush, he internally scolded himself. Get it together…what the hell is wrong with you? “Hi Kristen, please come in. Sorry, I lost track of time. It’s a little dusty in here; I’ve been sanding the floors.” She smiled sweetly in response to his words and it almost knocked Tyler on his ass. This wasn’t going to work. He couldn’t hire someone he was sexually attracted to. At the same time, he knew hell would freeze over before he sent her away. Stepping back so she could enter, Tyler watched as she stepped across the threshold. The back was just as good as the front in his opinion. She noticed him watching her and gestured to herself. “I hope you don’t mind that I changed out of my skirt into my yoga pants. I figured it might get messed up with the dust.” “Of course not; I don’t expect you to be dressed up on a job site. As I said before, I’m not a formal guy.” Kristen nodded and looked around the space they were standing in. “Your home is beautiful and I love where you’re going with it.”

Tyler looked at her in surprise as he hadn’t given her any background on the house or his rehab plans. “I can tell you’re going to modernize it while keeping the history intact. I love that in a house. So many of them today are cookie cutters.” She smiled at him again and between that and her thoughts on his home, Tyler thought he might have just fallen in love. Ok, not really, but he was certainly interested in Miss Kristen Adams.

Kristen watched as the beautiful man with the arresting whiskey colored eyes became breathtakingly gorgeous when he grinned at her words about his home. When he answered the door, it was so hard not to react and now with him smiling, she was a goner. The beauty of it stole her breath away as well as made her heart flutter like a hummingbird’s wings. Thank you, Chloe! Kristen thought while hoping her thoughts weren’t showing on her face. Not that she had any hope of anything happening between them. At least the scenery would be excellent while she worked on this project. And the house was fantastic…just the sort of project Kristen loved to work on. She got so sick of the same old thing with so many of her customers. This was the type of project a designer could put her stamp on and if Tyler Peterson hired her, Kristen would do just that with his help. For the next few minutes, Tyler showed her around the home noting little things here and there that he wanted to either change or keep the same. Kristen made notes on her tablet to keep up with his ideas just in case she got the job. Coming to the end of the tour, Tyler turned and asked, “So, what do you think? Is this a project you might be interested in working on?” “Yes!” Kristen said loudly. Oh god. Come on, girl. You are a professional; act like one. “I mean, yes. Sorry, I hollered so loudly.” She dipped her head in embarrassment at her earlier very loud declaration. Tyler rushed to appease her. “It’s ok. That means you’re passionate about the project. I like that.” His last sentence was said in a deeper tone and Kristen felt goosebumps stand up on her arms. Attraction simmered between them and it looked like Tyler was leaning towards her although she wasn’t sure because he jerked backwards when his phone rang. Was he going to kiss her? No; she was being an idiot. He was fine, like F-I-N-E, that was all. She tried to convince herself that the heat she felt was all one-sided in addition to not caring what it would be like if he kissed her. Where were these thoughts coming from? She was usually more reserved than this. She had a three-date-rule before she allowed anything to happen. Again, she told herself to stop…there weren’t going to be any dates. This was a job…plain and simple. Just as she was unsuccessfully trying to make herself believe it was all a fluke, Tyler ended his call and shoved the phone in his pocket. “I apologize. Now, where were we?” You were about to kiss me. This was bad…very bad. She had to get it together. “You were asking if I was interested in the job

and I yelled at you in excitement.” Once again another smile from Tyler made Kristen sigh in response. “Why don’t we have dinner tonight and talk some more about the project? How about 7:00? That would give us both time to go home and get cleaned up.” She opened her mouth to say she didn’t date clients and instead the opposite came out. “That sounds wonderful. Where would you like to meet?” Tyler’s eyebrow went up at her words. “I would like to pick you up if that’s ok with you.” Kristen knew right then that this was not a “talk about the job” dinner…it was a real date…with a very hot guy. Knowing she was being super unprofessional and not caring at all, she agreed. “I don’t normally give my home address to men I don’t know. Since you are friends with the Reece’s, I think it will be ok this time.” “I promise to be a gentleman…Scout’s honor.” “Lord, I hope not,” Kristen blurted out in response. His eyes widened, then darkened, and Kristen couldn’t decide if she wanted a hole to swallow her up or if she should press her lips to his to find out if it would be as good as she suspected. Suddenly realizing what she said, she shut her eyes in embarrassment. Opening them after a second, she saw him staring at her and all she wanted to do was get out of there. “Ok, I’m going to go. I’ll refer to you to one of my associates. I’m sorry!” Kristen made it to the foyer when Tyler caught up with her. “I don’t want one of your associates. I want you.” Sweet mother of god. This was something that happened in her cheesy romance books she swore she would never let on that she read. “I didn’t think you would want to work with me after I said that. I know it was completely unprofessional of me. I don’t blame you for wanting to work with someone else.” “It didn’t bother me at all. I do want to work with you. I also want to take you to dinner separate from the project.” He looked away bashfully, “Sorry if I wasn’t clear. I’m a little rusty with all of this.” Kristen’s smile was full blown wattage at this point. “Don’t sell yourself short; you’re doing great.” Another heated look sent hot sexy images through her mind. Dear lord, I’ve become a ho. Kristen turned once again to go. “I’ll see you tonight then. I’m glad you called me, Tyler Peterson.” “I’m glad I did too…more than you know.” Ok, she had to get out of there before she attacked him. Waving goodbye, she speed walked to her car with the thought to group call Chloe and Madison as soon as she was out of sight.

Meanwhile, Tyler watched her leave with his eyes trained on her sweet ass and took his phone out of his pocket. Dialing Jayson’s number, he waited for him to answer.” “Hey, Kristen Adams was just here. Do you remember her?” When Jayson replied yes, Tyler asked, “Is she still available?”

Once Tyler’s house was safely out of sight, Kristen called Chloe. Chloe had no more said hello when Kristen yelled, “Oh my god, I love you!” Chloe laughed at her friend’s exuberance. “Ok, I love you too. What’s bringing on this sudden burst of love?” “I’ll tell you in a minute. Let’s get Madison on the line first.” Kristen switched over and added Madison Reece to the call. “Ok girls, it’s official…I’m a ho.” “Well, we already knew that,” Madison said with a grin in her voice. “Not like this you didn’t. I’ve achieved super ho status. I just met Tyler Peterson.” “You did not sleep with him!” Madison screamed into the phone. “You slept with him?” Chloe screamed louder. “Geeze ladies, no I didn’t sleep with him…yet.” All three girls giggled in response and Chloe said, “I take it the meeting went well.” Kristen sent her a text after her initial phone call with Tyler so Chloe knew she would be meeting him today. “Yes, it did. I got the job and we have a date tonight.” At those words, pandemonium broke out and everyone was talking at once. “Chloe, you didn’t tell me what he looked like. I thought my tongue was going to fall out of my mouth when he opened the door.” “He is hot, isn’t he?” Chloe agreed. “Hold the fucking phone. Did you just say another guy was hot?” Madison teased. “I’m telling Jayson…someone’s getting her ass spanked.” “Madison!” Chloe hissed. “Shut up now.” Kristen joined in the teasing, “Ohh, you’re in trouble.” After more laughter, she went on to tell the girls about her meeting with Tyler and her exclaiming that she didn’t want him to be a gentleman. “Thank god, I’m not the only slut…finally, I have company.” This was from Madison. “I’m not sleeping with him on our first date.” Kristen said in reference to Madison and her first date with Connor, which resulted in their oldest son, Caleb. “Uh huh.” “Sure.” Neither of the girls sounded like they believed her and Kristen wasn’t too sure herself. Yep, she was a super ho alright. “I’m really not,” she protested. “But wow, was there some major chemistry between us. You could

practically see it. I thought he was going to kiss me at one point.” The conversation continued from there and by the time Kristen got home, she was walking on cloud nine.

Across town, Tyler was getting into his truck to head to his hotel with his head full of one Kristen Adams. Catching his huge grin in the rear-view mirror, he realized it had been a long time since he felt so free and happy.

Tyler stepped out of the shower and was drying off when the phone rang. The name on the screen made him pause…Chloe Reece. Wondering why Chloe would be calling him, he swiped the bar on the screen to find out. He expected to hear a traditional greeting yet all he heard was a bunch of noise and then two muffled female voices. “I don’t think he’s going to answer. Let’s hang up.” “No way, Chloe. We’re talking to him. Don’t you want to help Kristen?” Tyler grinned at himself in the mirror. His callers were Chloe and Madison Reece otherwise known as the Reece twins’ wives. He had gotten to know both since the night he went to dinner at Jayson’s house and he secretly dubbed them Trouble #1 and #2. “Hi ladies.” The phone went silent and Tyler waited to see what they would come up with. “Heeyyy, Tyler. Sorry, I must have called you by accident.” “Really, Chloe? That’s what you came up with? We’re on a conference call…he’s going to know we called him on purpose.” Tyler knew it was time to cut in or he would be late to pick up Kristen. “How can I help you ladies?” Madison ignored his question and asked one of her own. “Hi Tyler. So, what are you doing tonight?” “And you think I’m transparent. That was totally lame.” Chloe said with a huff. Laughing quietly so he stayed out of the line of fire, he cut in, “I’m taking Kristen out to dinner although I’m betting you knew that as soon as she left my house.” Chloe said quickly, “Bring roses, she loves them…and take her to eat Italian food; it’s her favorite.” Madison made him laugh as she went right to the point. “Don’t forget to bring condoms. Or have them ready at your hotel. And…” “Thank you. I think I’ve got it covered.” Tyler interjected quickly before she could finish her

thought. “Ok then, y’all have fun…” Madison’s voice trailed off then grew strong again as she took him to task. “I like you, Tyler Peterson. Don’t make me change my mind by hurting Kristen. If you do, you’re dealing with us.” “Yeah, Tyler. We’re badass and can make you sorry you’re alive.” Chloe chimed in. Thankful that he wasn’t on a Facetime call, he said in a serious tone even though the smile that spread across his lips was huge. “Got it. If something happens, I will be very afraid.” In a more serious tone, he emphasized, “I promise you, there’s no need to worry; I’m not going to hurt her.” A few minutes after his assurance, the phone call with the girls ended. His thoughts still on their concerns made him think about the woman in question. He knew that he would rather hurt himself than hurt Kristen. Realizing what that meant, he wondered why he was having such intense feelings for someone he barely knew. Those questions circled his mind as he finished getting ready for the evening. Once he was done, he checked his appearance for the last time. He saw the same thing he always did except this time he noticed his eyes were alive and happy. Tyler decided if Kristen could make him look this way when no one else could, it didn’t matter if his feelings were most likely too intense; he would deal with it later. Right now, he was going on a date with a beautiful woman…end of discussion.

Kristen waited on pins and needles for Tyler to arrive to pick her up. She hadn’t been this excited about a guy in forever…maybe never. As she paced her living room, she wondered what it was about him that was so appealing. Yes, he was gorgeous, but there was something else…she couldn’t put her finger on it…she just knew whatever it was, it called to her. Her thoughts made her roll her eyes. Obviously, she was reading way too many romance novels. Interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell, she took off like a sixteen-year-old, ready to rip the door open for her first date. It was only right before she pulled the door open that she made herself slow down and breathe…no need to have an asthma attack while trying to greet him. Alright, let’s do this. Act like a twenty-nine-year-old woman…not a teenager. Waiting a few seconds more, she opened the door with a smile on her face. Seeing the man before her made her smile bigger and the teenager was back in full swing. Well, no one would blame her if they saw what she did. He was wearing black dress pants and a dark grey button up shirt that only served to showcase the powerful body beneath. With the collar and first button undone, his tanned skin showed through the opening and she stared at that patch of skin thinking how ridiculous it was that she found it sexy. Tyler cleared his throat and Kristen’s eyes flew up to meet his. He was sporting a little knowing grin that made her shake her head and laugh. She knew she was busted. They both began laughing and once again, Kristen was pulled in by the beauty of Tyler’s whiskey colored eyes. She was so taken in that she completely missed the bouquet of roses he was holding until he lightly pushed them into her hands. “Wow, these are so beautiful, Tyler. Thank you!”

They each stared at the other until Tyler spoke up, “You look gorgeous.” Kristen tilted her head to the side. “Beautiful flowers and flattery? I thought you said you were rusty when it came to dating.” Tyler answered with a smirk, “Suddenly, I feel my skills coming back.” Clutching her heart in an over-the-top gesture, Kristen replied, “With that smile and those skills, I think I might be in trouble.” Her antics made Tyler laugh which once again lit up his entire face. She meant what she said…all it took was for him to smile and she was in trouble. Kristen put those thoughts aside, grabbing her purse and pashmina, and taking a moment to wrap it around her neck and shoulders. From the look on Tyler’s face, he seemed to like what he was seeing.

As Kristen locked up, Tyler thought about how amazing she looked. Mesmerized, he watched her curves as she walked ahead of him to his rental truck. Quickly, he stepped around her and opened the passenger door to help boost her up into the seat. Once she was comfortable, he pulled the seat belt across her and as he leaned in to click the belt into place, he felt Kristen’s intake of breath. Tyler looked into her beautiful blue eyes and without thinking, he pressed his lips to hers in a sweet kiss. As if they had done it a million times, Kristen sighed and immediately opened for him, sending a rush of desire through his body. The kiss grew hotter and Tyler knew he had to stop or they wouldn’t be leaving her house. Reluctantly, he made himself pull back and though they were still breathing heavily, both smiled at each other in a kiss-drunk haze. Knowing he had to let go of her made him shut the door and jog around to the driver’s side. As he buckled himself in and got ready to back out of her driveway, he leaned over and kissed her one more time. Tyler kept the kiss short and then settled in to get going. Once they were on the road, he broke the silence. “You’re dangerous, Miss Adams.” Staring straight ahead, she answered with a little smile. “Right back at you, Mr. Peterson.”

Kristen’s alarm rang the next morning after her date with Tyler. Just the thought of it made her cheeks burn from the smile that stretched across her face. He had taken her to a locally owned Italian bistro that she loved and the date was heaven from start to finish. The quiet setting of the restaurant created an intimate atmosphere allowing them to tell each other things that usually didn’t come out until further into a relationship. It might have been their first date yet it felt like they had been there before. She remembered Tyler laughing ruefully, “I don’t know what it is about you. I haven’t talked to anyone about this stuff in years.” He was referring to his wild party days in college, the accident that took his girlfriend Amy, and finally walking away from everyone in his life to start a new one. Her heart hurt as he told her of his guilt concerning Amy and it made her want to hug him until he realized that everyone made mistakes in life. She couldn’t stand to see the pain in his eyes. She understood that pain although for her, it was the death of her parents and sister. She told Tyler of the circumstances surrounding their loss and how she felt unworthy to be the one that survived. Tyler looked at her with eyes of understanding and for once, she felt like someone knew how she felt. After they ate, he had taken her for a horse-drawn carriage ride around downtown Houston allowing her to snuggle into him. Tyler kept his arm around her and Kristen couldn’t remember ever feeling safer as well as turned on. Yep, she had it bad for this guy. Thankfully, it looked like he felt the same.

With the night before playing out in his head, Tyler hurried and dressed in jeans and a black thermal in preparation for his day working with Kristen. On his way out, he grabbed a Patriots ball cap out of his suitcase and made his way out to the hotel parking lot. Stopping on the way to his house, he drove through the Starbucks drive through window for hot chocolate with peppermint flavored whipped cream hoping she would like it. He didn’t know if she liked coffee so chocolate seemed like a safe bet. He was very aware that he couldn’t wait to see her this morning. It had all but killed him to deliver her to her door and walk away with need swirling between them. He hated every minute of it yet he knew it was the right thing to do. Sometimes being a gentleman sucked! Tyler arrived at his uncle’s house and started preparing for his day. He had to get it into his head that this was his house now. Turning on the heat, he set the hot chocolate down and pulled out his tablet, bringing up the house plans he had finally decided were the ones he wanted to use. As he looked them over and calculated costs in his mind, he heard a car drive up, causing his heart to leap into his throat. He scowled in response and told himself to stop acting like a boy with his first girlfriend. He thought he had talked himself into behaving like the thirty-one-year-old man he was until she walked through the door. Once again, his heart gave a jump as she made her way over to him for a hug. Hugging her in return, Tyler wondered how he was going to get any work done. He felt her curves press into him, which caused his body to react. Kristen felt it too and said with a wink, “Work now, play later.” Although he was embarrassed, Tyler laughed and after handing her the hot chocolate, which she acted like was the British crown jewels, they got to work. It wasn’t lost on him how well they worked together. In addition, Tyler was extremely pleased with her design aesthetic, something he was known for being very particular about. Working with her didn’t feel like work at all. Tyler and Kristen spent the day picking out flooring, deciding on finishes, paint colors, and making decisions on landscaping. At the end of the day, she had hugged him and walked toward the door to leave. Neither had brought up their first date and Tyler wondered if she was having second thoughts. He decided to let her go until her hand grasped the doorknob and he blurted out, “Are you free this evening?” Kristen turned to him with relief in her eyes. “I thought you decided to only keep things professional since you didn’t bring up our date.” Tyler pulled her to him. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable while we were working. During business hours, I like to focus on the job as I can tell you do too.” She nodded in response and he pulled her closer still. “After hours is another thing altogether.” He leaned down and kissed her letting her feel how much he wanted her. Her hips ground into him in response and Tyler had to count backwards to keep from giving into the need to feel her beneath him. He wanted to take her right where they stood. The only thing that made him resist was the knowledge that she deserved better than a drafty house with a dirty floor. “You need to go before things get out of hand,” he whispered against her lips. She nodded in response to his words and laid her head upon his chest. “Want to come over for

dinner and a movie?” Tyler answered in a rush, “Hell yes.” They both laughed at his adamant reply and after one more kiss, she told him to be there at 7:00 PM in his comfiest clothes. Tyler agreed and walked Kristen to her car where they shared one last kiss.

Waving at Tyler as she drove away, she waited until he was no longer in sight to revel in the happiness she felt since she met him. At the next stop sign, she did a victory dance as much as she could while being restrained by a seat belt. Little did she know that when she was no longer in view, Tyler had a celebration of his own.

As the clock edged towards the time Tyler would arrive, Kristen began getting ready for the evening. Wanting to keep the atmosphere cozy and informal, she dressed in yoga pants, a long-sleeved tshirt that said “Designers Do It Better” and big slouchy socks. Normally, Kristen wouldn’t let a guy see her in her comfy clothes unless they had been together for a while yet with Tyler she felt like she could be herself. Checking her appearance one last time, she gave a fluff to her long blonde hair and decided she was ready. Having some time before he would get there, Kristen made her way to the den where she built a fire in the wood burning fireplace so they would be warm while they ate and watched a movie. She decided to shield Tyler from that fact that she was challenged in the kitchen and hoped he wouldn’t mind eating takeout. Finally, she made the call for the Chinese food she had decided on and set the table all the while keeping her eye on the clock. Her jumpy nerves making her crazy, she forced herself to sit down in the den to wait. Staring into the fire, she thought about the short time she had known Tyler; she was still shocked at her response to him. The logical side of her told her they were moving too fast yet she couldn’t bring herself to care. A knock on the door interrupted her musings and with a giddy smile on her face, Kristen moved to quickly open it. Tyler stood before her in faded jeans and a t-shirt that made her mouth water. Although she knew she was being obvious, it didn’t stop her. She took her time letting her eyes move up his amazing body and by the time she got to his face, she was smiling widely.

Tyler stood in Kristen’s doorway and waited while her eyes traveled up his body. He liked that she didn’t hide her reaction to him. His body felt heated as she took him in and when she looked up at him with her pretty smile, he moved to shut the door behind him and scooped her up in his arms. Her laughter rang out as he carried her down the hallway looking for a place to sit. She directed him to the den and he entered a room with oversized fluffy furniture and a blazing fire. In the back of his mind, he acknowledged that it was an awesome room and then moved on to more important things, namely the woman in his arms. He settled them into a large recliner and they simultaneously reached for each other. Tyler laid small kisses along Kristen’s jaw until he reached her full lips. As she had the night before, Kristen opened for him and he slid his tongue into the hot sweet cavern of her mouth. With each slick of his tongue against hers, Tyler felt like he was going to explode. Never had a woman made him feel like this from a simple kiss. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Tyler realized that once again he was acting like a damn teenager. With what seemed like a herculean feat, he gentled the kiss until it was no more than a whisper. Smiling at her in an embarrassed manner, he apologized. “Sorry about that. You looked so beautiful when you opened the door, all I could think about was kissing you. Did I even say hello?” Kristen waved away his worries. “Please don’t apologize. You do the same to me. I like the way you let me see you with no pretenses. “That’s not usually how I am with people…ah, I mean women.” He stopped talking at the sight of the huge grin on her face. “See, I told you I was rusty at dating. What I’m trying to say is that this is not the usual for me. I feel like I can be myself with you; I haven’t felt that way in a long time.” His words hit him like a strike of lightening. Yeah, he agreed it was great to be more open, but he was saying things that should be said after a few weeks at least, not a couple of days. Tyler opened his mouth to retract everything when Kristen laid her fingers across his lips. “Let’s stop worrying about timelines and what should or shouldn’t be said. I think we both feel something we haven’t felt with others. For now, that’s enough.” “That’s a great way to put it,” Tyler agreed. “My man card has somewhat of a promise of being reinstated.” Kristen rolled her eyes playfully at his words and cuddled into him. With Tyler’s arms wrapped around her, they talked of the rehab project and she asked more about his life in Connecticut. For the first time in years, he wished his life was back in Houston because he realized as he gave her details, anything he started with her had an expiration date. The implications made him feel as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head.

The doorbell rang with their takeout delivery and after paying for it, she pointed Tyler to the bar stools around the island in her kitchen. As they ate, she noticed something seemed to be bothering him. He was still laughing in all the right places at the things she said and answering her questions…no, there was something different. He was holding himself back when he hadn’t been before. “What’s wrong, Tyler?” His head jerked up and she could see the emotions whirling in his expressive eyes. Running his hand through his hair, he looked almost sick when he replied. “Talking about my life in New Haven reminds me that my life is in Connecticut. I’m going to go back after the holidays and now I’m wondering if it’s wise for us to have more than a professional relationship.” Kristen took in what he was saying. It wasn’t something she hadn’t already thought about. She didn’t want her heart broken any more than the next person. “You’re not wrong although I do think we can handle it. We’re two adults that are attracted to each other and we live in opposite parts of the country. You’re going to go back to your life and I’m going to be here in Houston. So, we go into this knowing there’s an end date and when you leave, we remain friends with a great memory of being together.” Tyler looked troubled at her words and it killed Kristen to utter them. What else could she say? It had only been a couple of days since they met. She couldn’t change her life for someone she barely knew and neither could he. “Ok,” he replied slowly. “I think that’s the best way to approach it.” Stretching out his hand to her, she took it and interlaced his fingers with her own. “I don’t want to hurt you, Kristen. I like you a lot. I don’t want to screw it up because I want you more than my next breath.” His words went a long way to soothe the hurt she was feeling of knowing they couldn’t have more than a few weeks of a physical relationship and she squeezed his hand in reply. “I appreciate that, Tyler. It lets me know I was right about you. You’re a good man…and you just made me like you that much more.”

Tyler let go of her hand and pushed his food aside. Walking around to where Kristen was sitting, he picked her up and asked, “Where’s your bedroom?” Waiting on her response, not just about where her bedroom was located but whether she wanted to go further seemed like a lifetime. Once she gave him directions to her room, he found the room easily. Her

bedroom was just like its owner, beautiful and feminine, but not overpowering. He set her down next to the bed and begin slowly removing her clothes. It took restraint; he wanted to rip her clothes off and slide into her beautiful body. When he was done undressing her, she stood before him in black and red lace…a sexy secret she had hidden beneath her comfy clothes. “You’re fucking gorgeous,” he growled. His words caused a visible shiver to go through Kristen’s body and it made Tyler feel like a caveman. Before he could forget, Tyler pulled out a condom and set it on the pillow for later. He stepped back, removed his own clothes, and then went back to where he left her standing. Reaching behind her, he released the clasp on her bra allowing the straps to fall. As her small breasts made an appearance, she looked somewhat embarrassed. That wouldn’t do at all. To Tyler, she was everything he ever wanted. “Perfect, baby…and made just for me.” Aware that he was taking it beyond a physical affair, he decided to deal with the consequences of his words later. He knelt before her and sucked her pretty pink nipple into his mouth. Nipping it with his teeth, she let out a whimper and he began alternating sucking and licking each hardened tip until she was moaning and pressing into his mouth. Next, he slid her panties down her legs and she stood completely bare before him. He thought he felt like a caveman before; now, he felt like a certified Neanderthal. He wanted to claim this woman in every way possible. Tyler pressed her back onto the soft bed and followed her down. He kissed every part of her body, leaving nothing untouched. With each kiss, he told her how much he wanted her, how sexy she was, and how he couldn’t wait to feel her coming around him. When neither of them could take anymore, he ripped the condom open and together they smoothed it down his hard length. Tyler, knowing he wasn’t going to last with her touching him, pulled her hands above her head and held them in one of his own. With his other, he grasped her hip and slid into heaven. “Fuck.” It was all Tyler could get out to express what he was feeling. Dropping his head, he buried his face in her neck and begin moving in a slow rhythm. As Tyler thrust forward, Kristen moved her hips in response. Every movement felt magnified between them. “Faster, Tyler…please.” Kristen begged. “No, just like this.” Tyler kept his pace and reached between them to stroke the small bundle of nerves at the top of her sex. “Come on, baby…let me feel it.” Kristen came with a small scream and finally Tyler allowed himself to let go, pounding into her hard and fast until his own release raced down his spine, while praying that she would come again. When they were both spent, he released her hands and rolled over, pulling her on top of him. Still joined, he let himself enjoy holding her for a few minutes until he knew he had to slide out and dispose of the condom. Once that was done and they were both cleaned up, Tyler got back into bed and pulled Kristen against his body. She hadn’t spoken a word and it was starting to worry him. “What’s wrong, baby?”

Kristen knew she could say what she was feeling or she could keep it light. He didn’t need to know that the experience was both wonderful and terrible at the same time…terrible because it meant that this was all she would have of him and wonderful because she had never experienced sex where the guy was so in tune with her. Deciding it was best for them both if she didn’t dig too deep, she maneuvered herself until she was looking directly into his worried face. She gave him a brilliant smile and said with a laugh, “I think you ruined me for life.” Her words made Tyler let out a deep laugh and he tucked her head beneath his chin. Once again, she felt safe in his arms. Snuggling closer, she sighed in pleasure. “Do you want to stay?” She hoped he would more than anything. It had to be his decision. She wasn’t going to push him. In the last moments before she drifted off to sleep, she heard him answer, “I’ll stay,” and she burrowed deeper into his arms.

Over the next three weeks, Tyler and Kristen settled into a routine. By day, they worked on the rehab project and by night, they grew closer as a couple. They cooked together or rather he was teaching her how to cook, watched movies, decorated her home for Christmas…he didn’t even go to his hotel anymore. At her insistence, all his things had been moved to her home. Tyler knew they were playing a dangerous game yet he couldn’t make himself stop. Kristen drew him like a moth to a flame and it was the same for her. Each time he tried to tell himself he needed to pull back, it made him sick to even think of doing so. The Christmas holiday was upon them and they were issued invitations to the Reece family Christmas dinner. Knowing that Christmas day was going to be crazy, Tyler decided to make Christmas Eve just about the two of them. After talking with Chloe and Madison, he found out Kristen’s favorite holiday movie was “White Christmas” as well as what her favorite holiday junk food was…some of which he knew from their long talks about anything and everything. She told him of the lost holiday tradition of watching Christmas movies and eating an array of junk food that didn’t seem to go together yet did. With her family gone, she was usually alone on the holidays and Tyler could see the hurt shining in her eyes as she tried to play down how she really felt. He wanted to fix it for her; he never wanted her to hurt again so he was going to recreate it for the two of them. Setting everything out in preparation for her arrival, he lit a fire in her den…the room they used the most besides her bedroom. Lucky for him, winter in Houston was a lot colder than usual and they had a fire more often than not. Everything was ready; the only thing left was the arrival of the woman who was coming to mean everything to him.

Kristen drove home after tying up some loose ends at her office. While happily singing along somewhat offkey with the Christmas carols on the radio, she thought of the man waiting on her. Her thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing and the screen popped up showing Ava Reece. Aha. She loved Mrs. Reece…she was wonderful to work for and hilarious to be around. They became close on a project she did for Ava and their friendship remained strong since. Tapping the screen, she answered, “Hello gorgeous lady, how are you?” Ava’s laughter came through the speaker and she replied, “I’m doing great, honey. So, tell me… how’s it going with Tyler. Have you convinced him to move back to Houston yet?” Kristen’s smile died as she replied, “I wish.” Hearing Kristen’s tone, Ava turned serious. “Are things not good with y’all?” Kristen sighed. “No, that’s the problem. They’re too good. It’s only been three weeks, Ava, and I feel like I’m going to die when I think of having to let him go. This was supposed to be fun during the holidays with a hot guy. What am I going to do?” “I wish I could tell you, sweetie. Tyler’s been hurt so he’s likely going to be afraid to put himself out there. What do you want?” “Honestly, Ava, I want him in whatever way is possible.” “Would you give up your life here for him?” Kristen contemplated Ava’s words and no question, she knew she would. What did that say about her? She knew some people would think she had lost it. “Yes, I would. I know it sounds crazy…” “Then do it. There are no rules in love, honey.” “That’s easier said than done; how do I do that…how do I even know if he wants me to do that?” “I’m pretty sure he does. He looks at you like you’re his world. So, first, bind him to you through great sex…” Kristen giggled at Ava’s directions and then listened as she grew solemn. “Show him your heart. Let him see that you’re the one for him. And don’t give up…even if he takes a step back. Men sometimes need a push, you know?” “Thanks, Ava; you’re the best.” “I know.” Shaking her head in laughter at Ava’s exalted opinion of herself, they talked some more about Tyler and the Christmas day dinner. Kristen said goodbye as she pulled into her driveway and parked in a hurry. Making her way into the house, she had one thing on her mind: Tyler. Tyler came around the corner and the sight of Kristen made his eyes light up. The sight of it warmed her and she launched herself at him, kissing him in earnest.

“Hey you, you’re home earlier than I expected.” “I couldn’t stay away any longer.” Her confession caused Tyler to fall deeper into “something.” He was afraid to label what he was feeling although he knew exactly what it was. “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve got a surprise for you tonight.” Kristen hugged him tightly, her feelings suddenly too big for the moment. “You’re wonderful, Tyler Peterson. I’m so thankful to have you in my life.” Her words caused a warm look to come into his eyes and he kissed her forehead. “I feel the same.” They stood wrapped in each other’s arms for a moment until he pulled back. “Ok, no peeking in the kitchen or the den. And get your comfy clothes on or don’t wear any at all.” Kristen giggled as he winked at her with a wicked grin. “I think we better wear clothes or your surprise is going to be forgotten.” “True. We’ll save that for later.” She turned to go and Tyler popped her on the butt. “Don’t be too long.” Tyler stood in the hallway watching her go with the primary thought that he would wait forever if it meant he could keep her.

Kristen hurriedly changed out of her work clothes into a pair of flannel pajama pants and a thermal top. She brushed her hair out, pulling it into a messy bun, and then found a warm pair of holiday socks. After putting them on, she was ready for whatever Tyler had in store for her. Walking into the kitchen with her hand over her eyes, she said, “Ok, I’m here, but I’m not peeking.” Tyler had changed into a pair of sleep pants and a t-shirt himself and when she opened her eyes, she forgot everything except his yummy body. He motioned towards the table and she dragged her eyes away from him. Focusing on the table, she realized it held all her favorites. It was a mishmash of foods: sushi, Queso and chips, veggies and dip, wings, and Domino’s supreme pizza. In addition, he had brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and double stuffed Oreos. Her hand flew to her mouth and she gasped. “How did you know?”

Kristen had tears in her eyes. She hadn’t had this since the loss of her family. Tyler gathered her to him. “You told me, baby. And I might have had some help from Chloe and Madison.” Sighing happily, Kristen snuggled deeper into Tyler’s embrace. “I love…” She stopped herself just in time. “I love it. Thank you.” Feeling him drop a kiss on her head, Tyler whispered, “I love it too.” They hugged tightly knowing that it wasn’t what either of them wanted to say yet it was all they could for now.

Later that night, after watching “White Christmas” and a host of other Christmas movies, Tyler held Kristen on his lap, staring at the flames. He couldn’t remember when he had a better Christmas Eve and it was all because of the woman he held in his arms. “Are you ready for bed?” “Not yet. The tree is so pretty and the fire is so warm. For once, it actually feels like Christmas… usually, it’s not like this.” Tyler nodded silently remembering his own Christmases in Houston when it felt more like spring. Lost in his thoughts, he interlaced their fingers together and he caressed the small hand held in his larger one. He marveled at the strength of the connection between them. Lifting their joined hands, he pressed a kiss onto the back of her hand. Tyler heard her whisper, “Do you feel it?” He knew she was referring to the feeling tying them together. “Yeah, I do.” He answered gruffly. His response caused her smile to widen and her eyes to dance with happiness. The emotion he saw on her face made his chest tighten in response and Tyler knew if he could keep that look on her face, he would be the happiest man alive. He made the vow to do whatever it took to make her happy in addition to his earlier vow to keep her…now he just had to figure out a way to do so with him in Connecticut and her in Texas.

The next morning, Kristen and Tyler dressed and drove out to Phillip and Ava’s home in Hempstead, a rural suburb of Houston.

Everyone welcomed them when they arrived and after they ate, all eight grandkids erupted in a state of happy chaos as they got to open presents from Santa and their Nana and PaPa. Tyler watched with amusement as wrapping paper went flying. Looking over at Connor, Jayson’s twin, he said, “To think you’re responsible for most of this.” He was referring to six of the kids being Connor and Madison’s. “What happened to your woman theory?” Madison cut in before Connor could answer. “Yeah, he’s done with all of that…or he better be.” She winked to let Tyler know she was joking. Connor smirked in response. “She took one look at me and wouldn’t let me go. I didn’t want to break her heart so I gave in and let her have me.” Tyler broke out in a laugh. “You haven’t changed at all, dude.” “Why mess with something awesome?” Everyone groaned in response and Madison shook her head in loving exasperation. As the day flew by, Tyler acknowledged that indeed Connor had changed some parts. He was hands-on with every one of his kids and never too far from his wife. It gave Tyler hope that he could have the same…well, maybe not 6 kids…he could handle three. Watching Kristen with the children, he realized that she was the first woman that made him think of settling down and though it probably should, it didn’t scare him at all.

Christmas and New Year’s came and went in a flash. In no time, they were heading into the middle of January. Renovations were almost complete on the house; now they just needed to furnish it…and he needed to decide whether he was going to sell it or keep it, carving a life out here in Houston. Kristen was already in his truck, ready to go and look for furniture. He knew she was waiting on him to decide on whether he was simply going to stage it or make it live-in ready. For him, it was a no-brainer. He couldn’t sell Jon’s house and he couldn’t leave Kristen behind. He didn’t know how he was going to make it all work and he hoped she would be willing to try. He dialed his long-time friend’s number and Jayson answered, “Hey Tyler, what’s up?” Tyler let out a deep breath, “I’m going to ask her to come back with me to Connecticut for a visit…and I’m keeping the house. Who the hell knows; maybe we can live in both places…when it’s winter, we come here and during warm weather, we stay there.” “I hope it works out for you, man. Let me know what she says. I know it’s killing Chloe about y’all staying together.” Agreeing to give them a call later, Tyler made his way outside to where Kristen was waiting.

Kristen twisted her scarf around her fingers as she waited for Tyler to drive them into downtown Houston. The time had finally come for him to decide about the house. She knew if he only wanted to stage it, it would most likely signal the end of whatever they had going.

She watched him walk out of her house with a smile on his face and when he got into the truck, he leaned over and kissed her hard and deep. Pulling away, her breath ragged, she remarked, “You seem extra happy today.” Tyler smiled and replied cryptically, “I’ve been thinking about the house. I need furniture, art for the walls, sheets for the bed, towels; everything to make it livable.” Kristen felt herself go rigid. Was he staying? “Does that mean you’re keeping it?”

Tyler had hoped to do this over dinner, anywhere but the cab of his truck. He decided not to wait; he could see she was worrying herself sick with wondering. Pulling into a parking lot, he put the truck in park and reached for her hand. “I wanted to do this in a romantic way. I’m sorry that we’re in my truck sitting in a parking lot. I’m keeping the house. I’m trying to figure out how I can go back and forth. I know I can’t leave you here while I go back to my life up north. I love you, Kristen.” Kristen hurled herself across the console and climbed into his lap. Crying, she hugged him and gave the words back to him. “I love you too, Tyler.” Upon hearing her confess her love, Tyler felt his world tip on its axis. All he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and never let go. “I vote we forget the house for today and go back to yours for a celebration.”

Settling her back into her seat, he took off driving as fast as he dared with Kristen laughing at how he was racing to get them back home. It seemed like it took forever although it only took minutes for them to arrive. Tyler parked quickly and got the door unlocked allowing them both inside. They undressed and dove right into bed upon which a long hot makeout session ensued. Stopping them before they went any further, he told her, “I’m so glad I came back to Houston.” Kristen replied breathlessly, “I’m so glad you did too. No more talking; I’m going to show you how glad I am.” Then Tyler felt her kiss her way down his torso to the V-shaped muscles that pointed to what she jokingly referred to as the promised land. Right about now, Tyler agreed with her…if her mouth did any

more of what it was doing, he would forever agree with anything she wanted. Although more than anything, he wanted to feel her wrapped around him as they celebrated their decision to be together. Getting his wish, he slid home and felt the connection humming between them. It was so much more than physical; Tyler loved this woman with every fiber of his being and he knew she felt the same.

Tyler looked up from his blueprints on his tablet upon hearing Kristen’s words. “Honey, are you almost done? We need to leave for the airport. Our flight to Houston leaves at noon.” “Yeah, I’m good. I had to make some last-minute adjustments.” “All work and no play makes Tyler a dull boy. We’ll have to do something about that.” He could see she was trying not to laugh and in return, he felt his mouth tip up in a grin. “I’m all yours, baby. Is everything ready to go?” “We’re all ready. No worrying; we’ve done this two years in a row…I’ve got it down to a science.” She was referring to their combined business, which now had locations in Connecticut and Texas. After a year of flying back and forth, they decided it wasn’t fair to ask either of them to give up the businesses both had worked so hard for. So, as a compromise, they combined them to offer a full-service company that ranged from construction to design. They lived most of the year in the northeast and the rest of the year down south. One thing that was non-negotiable: they were always in Houston for the holidays. Yes, they both compromised but Tyler secretly thought he had gotten the best end of the bargain. In years past, he had been a loner depending upon his work for happiness. Now, his life was full both professionally and personally. As Tyler turned out the light in his office, he silently thanked Chloe Reece for sending the Christmas card that gave him back his best friend and Kristen, the woman who had come to mean everything to him. She was waiting on him with her usual bright smile and Tyler was overcome with how much he loved her. Pulling her in for a heart stopping kiss, Kristen melted into him. He loved that she gave him everything without reserve. “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?” Dropping another kiss on her lips, he replied, “Because, I love you.” Kristen’s cheeks flushed with pleasure at his words and he continued. “I’m so thankful that we

met, baby. You’ll always be my favorite Christmas connection.”



Melody Dawn is an aspiring contemporary romance author residing in the southern part of the US. She started reading romance novels when she was a teenager and became addicted to Happily Ever After’s. She got her own HEA when she met her soulmate 20 years ago and they have been together ever since. They have two furbabies who think they are Kings of the Castle and require a ton of attention. When she is not reading or writing, she loves to refurbish old furniture into new pieces, scrapbook, and most of all spend time with her main guy.

Also by Melody Dawn To Live Again (The Living Series, Vol 1)-Jayson and Chloe’s story

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Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AU This is Living (The Living Series)-Jayson and Chloe’s story 9 years later Free on Kindle Unlimited

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Edited by Dawn Waltuck

Featuring the characters of the TIME Series

Chapter One – Luke Tethered Through Time

Chapter Two – Isaac A Vision in Time

Chapter Three – Josh Shattered by Time

Chapter Four – Julia Shattered by Time



Luke “What time should we expect everyone this afternoon?” I ask while pulling Emma away from a sink full of dirty dishes. After three years, I still can’t get enough of her. I’d take her right here, collect on my “stocking stuffer” right now, but her kids and their significant others are in the next room. I love having Grace and KJ here because it makes Emma so happy. But I’m ready for an end to this month of holiday gatherings, parties, and fancy dinners. I was a confirmed bachelor for so long the idea of Christmas with the family was never on my radar. Now, I see them almost every day. I’ve spent so much time with the entire crew I seriously have nothing left to say to anyone. “Around three. I know it’s kind of last minute, but once Julia and Josh realized we didn’t have any formal plans today, they both had a mini-meltdown.” Offering me a quick kiss the woman’s smile thaws my Bah Humbug attitude and sends my hands roaming. For a moment I have her all to myself and take advantage of the time. When my hands find her beautiful bottom I pull her in close and let her know exactly how happy I am to have this moment. “Josh mentioned they had something they wanted to share with the entire family today,” she mentions while attempting to control her bated breath. “You are insatiable this weekend, Detective Myers.” “I don’t want to share you today. That’s all.” “One more meal with the family, and then I’m all yours for six full days. But for now I can’t wait to hear their news. Josh was very firm that we all be together today.” So that’s it. “I knew he couldn’t wait. Hundred bucks says they’re getting hitched soon. I asked Josh at Grace’s wedding a few weeks back if he planned on slipping a ring on Julia’s finger anytime soon and all he did was chuckle and ignore my question.” There’s a good chance Julia walks into my living room today sporting a Christmas engagement ring. Emma’s gonna be distracted. I don’t think anyone loves weddings more than my wife. Life has sure settled for all of us the last few months. The case that brought us all together – my undercover operation three years ago that sent me to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the upper thigh

and a knot on my head the size of a softball, is finally over. Josh, Isaac, Emma, Mia, Julia and I will all have to testify when Frank Montana finally appears in court . . . but I can feel a difference this Christmas. We all feel lighter . . . happier. And I didn’t think I could get any happier. Thanks to some pretty unique coincidences and decent police work, we are finally out from under that very dark cloud. Even with all the craziness that the holidays bring, everyone is truly full of the holiday spirit. Since Thanksgiving, Emma and I have been swamped with all the entertaining, which is why I am somewhat irritated the crew is stopping by again today. We’ve been together almost every hour this month. Just thirteen days ago we hosted the second wedding of the century at Scott and Brandon’s farmhouse. My step-daughter, Grace, and her fiancé Ian finally said their “I dos” in a candlelit ceremony in the Wilson-Lawrence barn. Thanks to Scott and his catering and party-planning company, Amuse Bouche, we gave Grace and Ian a beautiful ceremony and one terrific party. After, Emma immediately dove headfirst into Christmas mode and spent the following days prepping for the holiday. And when my wife preps for Christmas – I stay out of her way. Every night since the wedding we’ve decorated, shopped, wrapped, and baked. There were days I wondered if I suddenly moved to the North Pole. Between our two office parties, the wedding, and all the holiday preparations, the month of December has been a blur. Grace and Ian returned from their honeymoon trip to Hawaii two days ago. We haven’t seen very much of them. Ian mentioned jetlag. But Grace’s beautiful smile and bridal glow tells a different story. Emma’s son KJ and his new crazy intelligent main squeeze, Caroline, flew into town yesterday morning. They just returned from Madrid where they are managing the construction project of a new wind-farm in the mountains. We haven’t seen much of them either. KJ also mentioned jetlag. At least that’s what they claim. KJ did tell both Emma and me that he’s ready to settle down and believes Caroline is the woman he’s been waiting for. Every time I hear that name, my eyes find Emma and we share a knowing glance. My dad and Abby wanted to start a new tradition this year, and had everyone over to their house on December 23rd for Christmas “Eve-Eve”. KJ missed the new tradition, but everyone else was in attendance. Mia and Isaac’s kids loved the hotdog and marshmallow roast over the fire pit, but it was the decorating of dad’s outside broad-leaf evergreen that put the entire crew into the holiday spirit. I think we strung several hundred yards of lights through the branches of that large tree which created quite a spectacle in Dad and Abby’s front yard. I made two ornaments with the kids during arts and crafts time and displayed them both front and center on the tree. One was for my brother, Matt. His death last summer put both my dad and me in a funk. But on Christmas Eve-Eve we celebrated who he once was. We shared a couple memories while studying the night sky and I think my dad actually smiled while talking about him. After, he wrapped me in a tight hug and told me how much he loved me and the rest of our family. Hugging is new for us. Emma’s responsible for that. She brings out the best in me. The night ended with a Wii Just Dance dance-off. I lost after the first round. The contest was most definitely rigged. My new son-in-law, Ian, was the big winner. I thought he looked like a chicken strutting around my dad’s living room when he danced but the points on the screen didn’t lie. Ian is our first danceoff champion. Mia and Isaac hosted Christmas Eve. The crew was small as Scott and Brandon welcomed both sets of their parents to their new home for their first holiday with the kids. It feels like Samantha, Connor, and baby Isabella have always been a part of this family so everyone was slightly disappointed they couldn’t be with us for the night before Christmas. To appease the family, Scott had our entire meal delivered to Mia and Isaac’s house. He cooked. That was our gift. A night out of the kitchen. Everything was delicious – especially the ham and Scott’s secret sauce. He’s one hell of a cook. Mia’s been crazy sick with what Emma likes to call all-day sickness. Compliments of the little bun-in-the-oven who everyone is already calling Baby Jacob. I think Isaac is having sympathy all-day

sickness too. Isaac’s a pain in the ass when he’s whining about not feeling well. This baby can’t get here soon enough. Ever since my dad married Mia’s mom, I’m technically, by marriage, related to Isaac. Which is beyond weird. I’ve known the guy since he was a scrawny high school kid and eventually worked side by side with him in the Tampa Police Department for years. But now he’s my bro-in-law. I guess that means I’m technically related to his brother Josh too. That’s why he insisted on family time again today. For the third time this week. In my house. They need to leave. Grumpy old Luke has returned. “Honey, I just heard car doors. You might want to give Isaac a hand. They’re bringing over the left-over ham and pies from last night.” Emma’s in company-mode again. That means she won’t sit down all afternoon and will pass out on our bed as soon as they leave. I was hoping for an extra merry-merry holiday celebration that only included my wife tonight. One can dream. As much as I love these people, I wish they’d leave already. “Hey everyone! Merry Christmas!” I love my wife’s reaction – like she hasn’t seen them for days. Hugs and kisses all around. “Is that the wedding Barbie, Sophie?” she asks. Our nieces are adorable. They should go home so they can play with their new toys! “Yes! I got a new Ken doll too, Aunt Emma. Want to see him?” The kid is adorable. Crap! Bags of toys. Guess that means they’re staying awhile. “Is Samantha coming today?” When Sarah asks the question, I know why. She doesn’t want to be here either. “No, honey,” Emma coos while wrapping Sarah in a tight hug. “Scott and Brandon’s parents are visiting. I think Samantha, Connor, and Isabella are getting to know their new grandparents. Go see what Gracie and KJ are up to. I bet they’d be willing to play cards or something.” Forever the negotiator, counselor, and party planner who wants everyone happy all the time. Hey . . . Emma! Send everyone home! I’d like to organize a private party . . . in the bedroom . . . with just you. Then I’ll be very, very happy! “Merry Christmas, Emma. Where do you want me to drop the food?” Isaac asks while kissing her cheek. How about back to your car as you take your family home? Wow! I am in one hell of a grumpy mood. “I’ll take it,” I grumble while darting for the kitchen. The look on Emma’s face tells me I better find my way out of this shitty mood soon or I’ll get an earful before the night is over. Oh . . . and no private party! “You okay, Luke?” Isaac questions while setting down the rest of the leftovers on the kitchen counter. There’s enough food to feed a small army. How long are they planning on staying? Merry Christmas,” he offers while reaching for my hand. “I’m fine.” My response is clipped. Two words in under three seconds. “Merry Christmas to you, too.” He’s a decent guy so I’ll shake his hand. But not Josh. He’s responsible for today. “Hey listen. I didn’t want to get dressed today either. But it sounds like this is important. Josh and Julia wouldn’t have called everyone together if they didn’t have something important to say.” “Yeah. I know. Sorry for biting your head off. But can we agree on one thing?” “What’s on your mind?” With a smile and a chuckle, I blurt out exactly what’s on my mind. “As soon as we eat and hear the news, take your brood home. Let’s keep this gathering short and sweet and on message.” “Agreed.”

All it takes is food and the love of a good woman. I don’t know how it happened, but suddenly a full belly and Emma’s arm around my shoulder seems to have lifted my shitty mood. The kids are cute, the dogs are adorable in their holiday collars, and I’m married to the smartest, sexiest, most beautiful woman on the planet. Okay . . . everyone can stay . . . for one more hour. The conversation has shifted, I guess leading up to Josh and Julia’s big reveal. But why anyone wants to talk about their worst Christmas ever is beyond me. Why would I dwell on the past? Life before Emma and her kids was grey and dark and dismal. I’m not getting sucked into this conversation. Clear the dishes. Escape. Give everyone a reason to leave. “What about you, Luke?” Julia asks before I can vacate the dining room. Her question surprises me since I rarely think about life before Emma. What’s the point? My head shakes as I lower my rising body back to my chair and let go of a monster sigh. “Anything and everything before Emma no longer matters, Julia.” “Great answer, Agent Myers, but come on? Can you top Josh’s eating a Christmas fruitcake alone in a Wawa parking lot?” I take a moment to scope out her left hand. No ring. They must be hiding it. “Julia, before Emma I worked every Christmas Eve and day. For twenty years, I worked. So did my dad and Isaac. We always tried to put the guys with families first. Christmas for me was just like any other day.” “That’s not a story, Luke. No Christmas memories?” Julia asks again, pressing for another story. Don’t they have an announcement to make? “Well . . . I remember one day a week before Christmas about four years ago. It was kind of a unique day.” “Feel like sharing?” When Mia asks the question, I want to table the topic and tell Josh and Julia to make their special announcement and then get out. But when Emma gives me that look . . . encouraging me to share, there’s no denying her request. I would do anything for her. “The holiday before I met Emma was like every other. Work, work, and more work. But on the last Saturday morning before Christmas while I was out picking something up for the old man, I witnessed a pretty horrific car accident. An elderly gentleman, who probably shouldn’t have been driving, ran a red light and t-boned a family van. The passengers included three kids and one was a baby. Luckily the entire family escaped with only mild cuts and bruises. The side airbags did their thing. But the old man wasn’t so lucky. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Died of a heart attack I think. We knew he was heading somewhere special because we found bags of new dolls and video games in the back seat. I learned later that afternoon while processing my report that he volunteered every weekend at the Children’s Home down on Dickerson Road, and was heading there with gifts he purchased that morning. So after I was done with my paperwork, I delivered the gifts for him. I thought it was the least I could do.” “Honey, that’s so sweet. You are such a good man, Luke Myers.” The minute Emma looks my way I can see how much she loves me and that is the best gift of the day. She’s proud of me. The quiet table full of my extended family and the hug and kiss from my wife reminds me how truly blessed I am. “Well, thank-you. But that wasn’t really the story. After leaving the Children’s Home, I was feeling

a little lost . . kind of like those kids I just visited. So I stopped at my favorite coffee house down on Waters Avenue instead of heading home. I almost didn’t stay. The parking lot was overflowing and there were about one hundred pre-teens running between the burger joint and the coffee shop. I heard a school chorus and band were scheduled to perform around seven. Eventually, the chaos was organized and I found a quiet seat with my morning paper on the back patio behind the shop. At first the noise was deafening and I could barely make sense of the words I was reading. But then silence fell over the entire scene. I was curious, so I grabbed my coffee and headed for the front. And that’s when the music began. Seventy-five kids’ voices singing in perfect harmony my absolute favorite Christmas Carol of all times – Little Drummer Boy. They even had a few drummers tapping out the beat and keeping time. I was mesmerized by the entire scene and ended up staying and watching the entire performance. That’s one of the many reasons I’m in awe of all three of you – Emma, Mia, Julia. The teachers that night were amazing. Moving groups of kids on and off the risers, adding instruments and props. I was baffled by how easy it seemed. The music was amazing and the memory stuck. What started as a pretty crappy day ended on a high note.” “Oh my God!” Emma whispers while wiping at her tear-stained cheeks. Her reaction almost surprises me, and the quiet table has me looking around for help. Really? The story wasn’t that sappy but everyone is seriously tongue-tied. “Luke, um, you should know . . . that was us. That was the Pride Middle School Chorus and Band. Emma was there. The three of us were all there.” When Mia solemnly announces everyone’s connection to my story, I have no words. “Emma was the woman you saw moving kids on and off the risers.” The table is quiet as the crowd focuses in on Emma and me. I can’t tear my gaze away from the woman who owns my heart. When Mia continues, I’m a little embarrassed as I have a few tears escaping my eyes too. “You were pulled to Emma long before you ever met her. I just can’t believe you stood less than a hundred yards away from her that night.” “I can,” Emma whispers while wiping away a few stray tears. “I’ve always believed in destiny. I believe that with all my heart.”

Isaac “So I guess terrible Christmas stories was a bad idea!” Julia chimes in while resting her head on my brother’s shoulder. Luke was hoping to shut this family gathering down early, but I believe his grumpy old heart just melted into a great big pile of goo and this late lunch is going to blend into dinner. “How about you, handsome?” Mia questions. “Do you have any special stories from long before you met me?” My first thought is why would I want to remember any time before Mia? And then I remember my mom. She was in a class all by herself. “Hmmm, well maybe. I was very young. Maybe Josh can help me fill in the blanks. Do you remember going to see the movie, The Santa Clause with mom and me?” “How could I forget? You wouldn’t shut-up about Santa for weeks before the release. Sometimes I think you were too smart for your own good!” “Are the kids occupied, babe?” I ask while scoping out the side rooms. This is a story for when they’re all grown up. I need my girls to still believe in the magic of Christmas. “The girls went with Grace and Ian to walk the dogs. We have a few moments. Why?” “Well, my story involves Santa Claus or rather my disbelief in the old man,” I begin. “Go on,” Mia selfishly begs while wrapping her arm around my shoulders. Some days when I look at her, all I can think is how did I get so fucking lucky? “I think I was in the first grade and I had become a little combative about the whole Santa Claus thing. My teacher, Mrs. Sass, was mean as a hornet, telling me to stop questioning everything. But all I wanted to know . . . to understand was how one man, Santa Claus, could fly all over the world in one twenty-four hour period and see every kid on the planet. It was a reasonable question.” Luke is smiling, and I think Julia’s Christmas story-telling adventure has left him wanting to know more. “What he’s leaving out, is he terrorized all the kids in his class. Parents were up in arms that little Isaac Miller was ruining Christmas for everyone.” Josh chuckles as he remembers one of our last family Christmases. “Mom was beside herself. Our dad was overseas at the time, so mom was parenting this

teenager,” he laughs while pointing at himself, “and that little rebel all on her own.” When Josh points my way my smile grows wide as I remember a truly happy time. “Anyway, it was opening weekend for The Santa Clause and the movie theater was packed. We were up at the old Northdale Theater . . . you know? Our gym took over the space when all the multiplex movies theaters began to open up. The line was down the sidewalk and I didn’t think we were going to get in.” “That’s when I met up with my friend, Jake, from school and ditched my mom and Isaac and The Santa Clause.” Josh’s additions to my story cause the room to erupt in laughter. “Luckily for me, my mom and Isaac got the last two tickets and I went to see something else.” “What movie did you end up seeing, big guy?” Julia’s smile when she looks at my brother reminds me why we’re here. They have some big announcement today. For a moment, I wonder why the delay? “I have no idea, babe. I should have stuck with them,” he smiles and follows with a kiss to her nose. They have a secret! Mia’s right – they’re getting married. Shaking my head and turning back toward the rest of the crowd my memory brings me nothing but smiles. “Anyway, Mom and I filed into the theater with a big bucket of popcorn and about 250 other patrons and found only one seat in the third row. I was only six so I only remember the details because my mother told this story multiple times over the years. The lady sitting next to the open seat recognized the situation we were in and gathered up her little girl in her lap so we could have the two seats next to them.” “The part Isaac is leaving out,” Josh continues, “is how much he loved that movie. Like seriously loved the flick. Mom said his eyes never left the screen once the movie began. It was like he finally could understand how Santa traveled the world in one twenty-four hour period. Once again, little Isaac Miller was a believer.” “Awe baby, I love that story,” my beautiful wife coos while planting a kiss on my cheek. “We should watch that movie tonight.” Picking up a lock of her hair my finger winds around one of the long curls as I offer her a quick wink. “Wait, Mia. There’s more.” Josh smiles large for everyone to see. Remembering our mom on Christmas day reminds me how much I miss her. “There’s more?” Mia questions with a beautiful smile. “Yeah. I really don’t remember the details but according to my mother I was so engrossed in the movie my fingers found their way into the long curls of the little girl sitting in her mother’s lap next to me. From what my mother told me, my fingers never left her curls.” I have to stop for just a moment and admire my wife. I guess long beautiful curls are my thing. “Supposedly I put the little girl into such a trance, she slept through the entire movie.” “And the entire drive home.” When Abby, Mia’s mom, first speaks, her voice is barely a whisper and the expression on her face says it all. Awestruck. “Abby?” I question with a shaky voice. Seriously, I think I love where this story is heading. “Her eyes never left your face, Isaac. She wasn’t interested in The Santa Clause at all . . . only you. Your mom and I watched the two of you together and both shed a couple of tears that day. Mia fell asleep about twenty minutes into the movie and slept through the drive home and through the night. She had been sick with bronchitis earlier in the month, and that was our first day out of the house in weeks.” “Mom?” You can hear a pin drop right now as Abby turns and gives Charlie and then my Mia a beautiful smile. “That was me?” “Yes, darling. It appears your first date with Isaac was quite a long time ago.” Closing her eyes and shaking her head Abby can barely speak. “Isaac, Josh . . . your mother was so sweet. We connected as friends that day. I even met her for coffee on New Year’s Day and I truly thought we’d be friends for life. But then Mia’s father was transferred to San Diego and we moved four weeks later. We lost touch. I

always wondered what happened to her and that sweet boy. I can’t believe that was you.” “I can, Abby. Like Emma said, Mia was my destiny and now I understand why. I have loved her for my entire life.”

Josh The storytelling today is amazing. It’s almost hard to believe that the story my mother told over and over was about Mia and Abby. Destiny definitely worked her magic with the six of us. Our story doesn’t have that warm and fuzzy feel. Our first meeting was difficult – one that Julia barely remembers. But we somehow managed to find each other again. And this time, it’s for keeps. After Isaac’s happily ever after, I need a break. I need our time to be perfect and now everyone is all wrapped up in the fact that Emma and Luke’s and Mia and Isaac’s love stories began long ago. Did they forget? Today is all about our announcement. “So, Josh, are you and Julia ever gonna tell me why I had to get dressed today?” My brother’s incessant badgering causes me to laugh and pull my girl under my arm a little tighter. If you had told me a year ago that I would be sitting around a table on Christmas Day with the people I now call family, I would have thought you lost a marble or two. But here I am. With news. Julia and I have one big announcement that will probably shock these people into silence. And I have one more big surprise even Julia isn’t expecting. “I’m in no rush. There’s plenty of ham and potatoes left. I’m heading back for seconds.” When Isaac’s napkin flies in front of my face, all I can do is laugh. Everyone around the table stops and waits for the big announcement, but I’m waiting on confirmation of one more surprise. I’m calling in favors in order to make this Christmas Day a moment my girl will never forget. What I’ve discovered this holiday season is my life is a miracle in the making. An honest to God miracle. My life with Julia is perfect. I know perfect doesn’t really exist, but it’s really close. Like 99.9% perfect. Back in October Julia decided the view from my condo really settled her soul and hasn’t left since. Gradually almost everything from her condo made its way to mine. We never discussed who would move where, it just sort of happened. First it was clothes. Then we bought new bedroom furniture. We never discussed that either. We just walked into a furniture store one night after dinner and bought an eight-piece bedroom suite. It’s nice, but it was way too much furniture for that one room.

Three days later she walked out of the master bathroom holding a little white stick looking like she’d seen a ghost. And this is Julia we’re talking about. She talks to dead people. She’s good with ghosts. But this news surprised even us. On day five we bought a dining room table. I believe this is called nesting, but we both began nesting very early. I’m not sure either one of us said anything about that white stick for several days. Everything about our lives went on as normal. We talked about the weather. We talked about work. We even shared a word volley about the position our presidential candidates took on the second amendment. But we never said baby. In fact it took us two weeks to say the word. Baby. Shock. We were both in shock. Julia had been told many times she was unable to have children. And we’d talked about that on more than one occasion. We both planned on a life without kids. That’s why we practiced “not” making babies without protection all the time. In November, we finally had a conversation that involved seeing a doctor. That was the day after the presidential election. Julia was one happy democrat. Me . . . not so much. That morning my girl convinced me there had to be some kind of mistake with the first test. So she bought another one. A different brand. After she peed on the stick the damn thing turned bright blue without even waiting the suggested two minutes. Neither one of us said a thing for about thirty minutes. We just sat in the bathroom staring at the damn blue stick until I finally took control and suggested we see a doctor. She agreed. A week before Thanksgiving Dr. Kate Duncan confirmed Julia’s pregnancy. We’re having a baby! I can’t believe it. Our little miracle in the making. Julia cried the entire way home – but they were happy tears. That night we talked for hours. With my hand on her belly, I told her I was the happiest man on the planet which only made her cry more. Excitement is the only way to describe how I felt those first few days. Then reality set in. We’re having a baby. I’m gonna be a dad. A week ago we bought a house. A great big four-bedroom massive house with a pool and a yard. Now we need a lawnmower and I need to learn how to mow the lawn. At least now our bedroom furniture fits in our room. “Hey! Josh? Where’d you go?” When Emma asks the question, I don’t know what to say. But I’m wearing the silliest grin. I wear that grin all the time now. “I didn’t go anywhere, Emma. I was thinking about how different my life is this year compared to the last twenty and that made me smile. That’s all. I’m a lucky guy.” “Are you ever going to tell us why we had to get together today?” “All in due time, my friend. First I want more of Scott’s ham.” As if on cue, Emma and Luke’s front door opens and Scott along with his entire family noisily crash the party. Thank God. I couldn’t do this without Scott. He’s the only one who knows my little secret plan today. As the long line of the Wilson-Lawrence crowd enters, Luke looks like he wants to punch someone . . . possibly me for now extending this party into the evening. But Sarah and Sophie are thrilled to have Samantha, Connor, and Isabella here and disappear into the family room to show off their new toys. Luke looks like he wants to murder me when Scott and Brandon’s parents walk through the door along with Scott’s brother, Anthony. Our party just exploded to an even two dozen. Even Emma looks a little stressed. “Merry Christmas, everyone!” Emma looks worried, but I think she’s one of those people who would say the more the merrier all the time. I can barely climb out of my chair to help her drag chairs from the kitchen into the dining room. Luke looks mad as hell that he’s sandwiched into the corner of the dining room and can’t get out to help his wife. Once again I’m on the receiving end of a look that clearly states, if I could reach you, I would punch you in the face. Soon he’ll be thrilled.

Scott gives me a sideways glance and a head nod toward the kitchen. Thank God I never sat back down. I couldn’t get out if I tried. The only person that notices our absence is Luke. He’s one fine FBI agent and detective. He can smell a secret a mile away. “Did the box come yesterday?” Even though I bought Julia tons of presents this Christmas, nothing is going to top this one. “Amazon Prime did their thing. Anthony is pulling it out of the truck as we speak. “I had to let my brother in on our little secret,” Scott confesses. “I needed Anthony to work out the arrangement.” “And what about the other necessity?” I asked sounding worried. “I got an email last night confirming my new title. We don’t have to wait for my official certificate.” “And . . . we’re good for New Year’s Eve?” I ask practically holding my breath. “We are.” “When do you close on the house?” “December 29th – in the morning I think. I apologize for the late notice. Are you sure you can pull this together by next week?” “A party for 25?” Scott winces. “A piece of cake! Unless you want pie?” “Whatever Julia wants.” In the background I can hear a baby begin to cry. Scott halts everything wanting to get his arms around baby Isabella. That will be me this summer. “Sounds like I need to feed and diaper my munchkin. Hang in there, pal. I’ll be ready in fifteen.” I’m nervous for the first time today. Fifteen minutes. With a nervous sigh my fingers find the small box resting in my right pocket. Here we go. Merry Christmas, Baby.

Julia When Josh finally finds his way back into the dining room I decide I cannot hold onto our news for one more second. When our eyes meet, my excitement skyrockets. This is it. Time to let the cat out of the bag. Besides, the look on Luke’s face spells trouble. I think he’s lost every ounce of his Christmas spirit. But he’s watching Josh watch me, and the gears begin to shift. When he smiles my way, I know he’s on to something. But he probably thinks there’s a wedding in our future instead of the news we’re about to share. Baby. We’re having a baby. “Everybody! Can we squeeze everyone in here for just a moment,” Josh announces while waving me over to his side. “You all know Julia and I have something we’d like to share with everyone today. We’ve been sitting on this news for several weeks and decided we wanted to share our news on Christmas Day.” My body easily melts into Josh’s side as he presses a sweet kiss to my temple. “You all are our family, and this is news you share with family.” “Out with it, brother. When are you two getting hitched?” Isaac bellows from his seat across the table. “We’re not getting married. That’s not what this is about,” I answer with a huge smile. Josh wraps me up a bit tighter and we share a simple kiss. “You’re not getting married?” Luke questions while standing up. “What’s wrong with you, Josh?” “Luke! Remember what I told you on Thanksgiving? Josh and I like doing things a little different than the rest of you.” All I can do is smile and decide to toy with the family’s emotions a little longer. “We bought a house a few weeks ago. In Glendale, just around the corner from Mia and Isaac.” “That’s it?” Luke questions again. “You gathered two dozen people in my dining room today to announce you bought a house? Really? That’s why we’re here?” “Luke,” Emma whispers in a tone that’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard from the two people who center us all. “Yes. I’m so excited!! We bought a house!” I have to stop and enjoy this moment. Everyone is

stunned. They expected a wedding announcement so the entire group is looking around like they’ve been cheated out of some fantastic news. Luke even looks angry. The expression on Josh’s face is adorable and he’s quick to encourage me to put the crowd out of their misery. “Well that and . . . we’re having a baby in July.” I know our news catches the entire crew off guard because no one says a thing. As my words hang in the air, a look of comprehension, then wonder, and finally acceptance seems to settle in everyone’s hearts at the exact same moment. Tears begin to fall immediately from Emma’s baby blues as her hands fold together under her chin in some sort of silent prayer. Mia’s reaction is to grab Isaac around the neck as her other hand flies up to cover her squeals of joy. Scott releases a muffled sigh as he snuggles into Brandon’s side with sleeping baby Isabella soundly in his arms. Within seconds our family is up and out of their seats offering hugs and kisses and tons of warm wishes. This baby is such a gift, a true miracle and I’m thrilled to share our miracle with our family. “Julia. Josh. Oh my God! This is such great news. Completely unexpected, but fabulous news!” Emma coos while wrapping her arms around us both. Luke hasn’t made his way forward yet. Instead he’s placed himself in the background and watches our every move. His eyes dance with excitement but his lips have yet to give in to the joyous news. Before I know it, a celebration is in the making. Gracie and Caroline drag all the desserts to the center of the table as Emma begins pouring the milk. Seriously? We’re toasting with milk? Not my thing, Emma! “I can’t believe our kids are going to be born in the same year!” Mia squeals while wrapping me in a sound hug once again. “I’m so happy for you, Julia.” Pulling me aside so only I can hear, she continues with tears in her eyes. “I thought the doctors said . . . I didn’t think having a baby was possible for you?” “Believe me, neither did I. This little one growing inside of me is a true miracle, Mia. She’s my little gift from heaven.” “It’s a girl? You’re having a girl?” “No confirmation yet. I just know,” I smile while whispering a silent message to the angels that guard our family. Another hour passes and no one seems to be in a hurry to go anywhere. Our celebration has left the entire table a complete disaster. There’s barely a morsel left, as everyone enjoyed another dessert war. The only thing missing is Scott’s chocolate cake – the 10-layer chocolate piece of heaven that everyone devours when we gather together. But Scott wasn’t expected today. He dragged his family here for me. He’s one hell of a friend but he’s almost avoiding me. I’ve barely spent two minutes with him tonight. For the last ten minutes Josh has been huddled up with Scott on the far dining room wall in a very private conversation. Both Luke and I continue to watch both men, wondering what they’re cooking up. My guess. A baby shower. Probably at the Wilson-Lawrence farm . . . in the barn . . . this spring. As Luke and I share a smile among friends, Josh and Scott finish their little pow-wow and separate quickly. “So my friends, I’d like to ask you to help me with one more surprise. But this surprise is for my girl. Julia? I need you up here close to me.” “Okay.” I answer with trepidation. I’m not sure what he’s up to, but everyone is sporting huge Christmas grins. “Julia unwrapped a lot of presents this morning. I went a little overboard this Christmas,” he announces to the crowd. “But babe, I have one more gift for you to open. It’s pretty big. Scott and Anthony are bringing it in now.” “What did you do, big guy?” His answer . . . his trademark silly smirk. “You way over did this Christmas.” His only comment is to secure me in his arms and whisper I love you. “Did you know about this, Emma? Mia?” Before Emma or Mia can answer I hear the front door

open and close. The entire crowd is watching the boys’ movement by the front door, except for Luke. He’s watching Josh watch me. “I didn’t know a thing, Julia,” Emma answers without looking at me. My position next to Josh blocks my view, but I can tell whatever it is must be pretty special. Emma is crying again. “Julia,” Josh whispers while turning me toward him. “I love you,” he smiles. “You are my greatest gift. You and our miracle in the making.” Before I can answer and return the sentiment, I’m distracted by music. Someone is playing the piano. Probably Anthony is tinkling the ivories in Emma’s living room. Heads turn in the direction of both the front door and the living room when Josh takes my hand and begins to guide me in the direction of the music. Scott and Anthony are now singing. Words. A love song. The crowd parts almost on cue as our steps pull us closer to the music. I recognize the lyrics. Never Stop by Safety Suit. One of my all-time favorite songs. Again almost as if this is planned, Emma carefully removes a small bouquet of flowers from a vase on the foyer table and hands them to me. At first I question Emma’s gesture, but then I can’t help but look at Josh. He’s watching me as this moment unfolds. Scott and Anthony’s voices blend beautifully together with words that mean more to me today than any other moment. Without any direction, Emma and Mia line up next to me while Isaac and Luke line up next to Josh. Our family, without prompting, gathers around us for what feels like a wedding. But we’re not engaged. Josh hasn’t asked. As if he can read my thoughts, Josh turns my body to his and kneels before me. “Julia, I want to marry you right here, right now. I know we don’t have a marriage license. I know we’re not prepared to host a wedding and reception tonight, but I want to marry you . . . today. No. I need to marry you today. A commitment of forever, you taking my name, and you wearing this ring,” he stops while fishing out a small box from his right pocket, “is all I want for Christmas. Tell me you’ll marry me today. Right here. In this moment surrounded by the people who love us the most.” “Josh. I love you,” is all I can manage before kneeling down in front of him. The ring box is open which ignites a wonderful reaction from everyone . . . including me. “It’s beautiful.” With shaking hands Josh removes the delicate thin band surrounded in tiny diamonds. When I see the center stone a gasp escapes my lips. The round diamond surely weighs in at over two carats. I’ve never been one for jewelry that makes a big statement, but my man has excellent taste. It’s simply elegant. I love it! Josh removes the ring from the box and asks without words if I’m ready to accept his ring. With tears streaming down my face, I can only nod. Josh understands as he slides the ring onto my finger. With a gentle kiss and my hands resting over his heart, I have only one answer. “Of course I’ll marry you. But today? Don’t we need a license and someone to officiate? And I’m not really dressed for the occasion.” Without thinking my eyes fall to my simple red t-shirt and jeans. “I can officiate, Julia,” Scott answers as he moves in front of us. “You’re looking at the newest Florida Notary Public. My official certificate is in the mail, but I have an email confirmation that says I can officiate a wedding. You and Josh can get your certificate tomorrow and we will sign it then. Your anniversary won’t be December 25th legally, but I think it is more important to act on what’s in your heart at this moment.” “I’m not sure what to say. I haven’t even thought about vows.” “Speak from your heart, babe. I already booked Scott and Amuse Bouche for New Year’s Eve. We’ll have our reception on December 31st in the barn at Scott and Brandon’s place. You can get a dress this week. I’m sure Mia and Emma would love to help you. Scott is ready to pull the reception together and give us a great party next week. Our anniversary can be a week-long celebration every year for the rest of our lives. All you have to do is say yes.” I can’t help but notice the few lines of worry creeping in around Josh’s eyes. He wants to marry me today? I can’t believe we’re on our knees facing each other in Emma and Luke’s living room with everyone watching. The room is quiet. Too quiet.

“Josh, it doesn’t matter to me when, or where, or even what I’m wearing. Yes. Let’s do this. Let’s get married right here, right now.” My smile is large and captured immediately by Josh’s incredible lips. “But, babe, I think you’re supposed to wait until Scott says you can kiss the bride!” “Maybe you both should try standing up for this,” Scott laughs while attempting to organize the crowd. “KJ, can you come up front with your phone and take pictures. Take lots of pictures.” Carefully he pulls a few pieces of paper from his back pocket and works to straighten them out for reading. “Okay everyone. Let’s have ourselves a wedding.” Scott announces with great enthusiasm. Carefully Josh and I stand and face Scott. I have my best friends on my right and Josh has his on his left. Josh gives my left hand a squeeze and then nods Scott’s way to begin. “Friends, family, I’ve never felt more honored. When Josh called me last week and explained his plan, I thought he was a tad crazy. But then, I love big, over-the-top weddings. Everyone here understands what it means to love someone with your whole heart and your choice to marry today. Julia and Josh were brought together more than twenty years ago, and their decisions and life choices brought them together again at just the right time. If I were writing their story, I would begin with Twice Upon a Time.” “Scott? You have no idea!” I manage before laughter erupts throughout the room. “Okay, what did we miss?” Both Scott and Brandon question together. While Brandon places a sleeping baby Isabella into his mother’s arms the rest of the crowd share tearful smiles. “Later,” Josh winks adding a serious throat-clear in Scott’s direction. “Josh? What would you like to say to Julia?” Glancing up at his dancing eyes, I’m entranced by his brilliant smile. “Julia, you and I say all the time . . . life is about moments. You know I never really truly understood that phrase until my life was full of moments with you. From the moment our paths crossed, you’ve challenged me, distracted me, and captivated my heart and soul in a way no one else could ever do. I’ve fallen in love with you countless times. Over and over again. I love the way you move your hips when you have your favorite tunes blaring in your ears. I love that you add more milk than coffee to your morning drink, and that you leave the freckles that dust your nose uncovered. I love watching you grade papers. With your pen in your teeth you scan the entire page before making one mark. I love that we can disagree on the issues and that you always have facts and stats to back up your argument. And I love that I know what you’re thinking by the color of your eyes. Today . . . I’m staring into a beautiful shade of sea green. And with all life has thrown at you, babe, I love and admire your strength, your courage, and your zest for life. I am a lucky man because you chose me. Because of who you are and who we are together, I choose you Julia Shaw. You are my best friend . . . the other half of my heart. I promise to be true only to you. I promise to tell you at least one funny joke every morning so we start every day with a laugh, and always kiss you hello and goodbye. And I promise to keep updating my vows because what you need from me today might not be what you need from me tomorrow. Today may seem like the start of a new journey, but since I already belong to you – mind, body and soul – I finally feel like I’m home.” My face is a mess. The tears will not stop. How do I follow that? Scott, always prepared, hands me three tissues . . . and a pacifier from his front pocket. The room erupts in laughter as I examine this tiny piece of plastic and silicone. Scott very gently removes Isabella’s binky from my hand and slides it back into his pocket. Isabella doesn’t need it right now. She’s soothed by the love of her dads and this family. I think I take a minute to scan the room and make eye contact with everyone here before resting my gaze with Josh. “Julia. What would you like to say to Josh?” “I have to tell you, this feels a little unfair. You knew this wedding was going to happen today. You prepared and I can tell. Wow! We’re actually getting married right here, right now.” I have to take a moment. A moment to truly look at my man. Handsome. Sexy. Kind. Romantic. Smart. Mine. My head shakes as I find a little laughter on this very exciting Christmas Day.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I believe a house, a husband, and a baby were in my future. Just when you think you have life all figured out, there’s a moment that changes everything. The moment I found you again. What you made me feel our first night together scared the hell out of me because I knew it was more than I ever felt before. Life is about moments, Josh. And every moment with you is a gift. I love everything about you. I love that you challenge my mind but remind me to be silly and play. I love that you always take your shoes off by the front door and I never have to offer a reminder. I love that you know that’s important to me. I love that you make pancakes every Sunday and that you order in during the week so well. I love that you shave in the morning and that this scruff that defines your jaw is back by breakfast. And I love that you ignore flirty waitresses and always sit next to me in a booth. And with all this life has thrown at you, I admire your common sense, your sense of humor, and most important, your sense of family. I am a lucky woman because you chose me. And because of who you are and who we are together, I choose you Josh Miller. You are my best friend . . . the other half of my heart. I promise to be true to only you. I promise to laugh at your jokes. I promise to never try a new restaurant without you and to always be your best friend. I promise to hold your hand every chance I get and to always defend you . . . even when you’re wrong. I give you my hand to hold and my life to keep. We are finally home.” There’s a ten-beat pause where no one says anything. Scott finally pipes up with a weak voice. “I could ask these questions,” he pauses while folding the papers back into his pocket, “but that would be pointless. Your vows of love and life is all that needs to be said. Do we have rings?” My eyes dart quickly to Josh and with his trademark silly smirk, he handles the lack of rings with grace. “Like Julia said, we like doing things a little different. We’ll pick them out together this week or maybe the week after.” “Well, okay then. Please join your hands together again.” We are quick to intertwine our hands and begin to lean in to kiss. “Oh no you don’t! Not yet. You need to let me finish.” Picking up our intertwined hands Scott continues. “Julia. Josh. These are the hands of your best friend. These are the hands that will help you build your future. These are the hands that will comfort you when you need comfort the most. These are the hands that will cradle and guide your children through life. These are the hands that will give you strength when you are weak. And these are the hands that will fill you with passion and cherish you for the rest of your life. It has been my privilege to give you this gift of marriage on this Christmas Day and my honor to announce that you are now husband and wife. Josh, you may now kiss your bride.” With nothing but cheers of happiness, we somehow find a way to seal this marriage with a kiss that becomes part of our very first dance. A kiss that last minutes. Anthony is playing the piano again, but I have no idea what song we are dancing to. I only know that I have never felt so happy and so loved. “Hey gorgeous, I have one more gift for you today,” Josh whispers in my ear. When his arms wrap around my middle I give into the moment. “I wanted to give this to you this morning, but I also wanted everyone to be here for this moment, too. Hey everyone, gather around.” Once again with questioning smiles from the entire crowd, Josh and Brandon disappear into the foyer and return with a fairly large item. When the blanket covering my gift is removed I’m left staring at a beautiful white fabric rocking chair sporting a giant pink bow. The pillowed high upholstery spells comfort and the fabric feels smooth and soft. “It’s for the nursery, babe. Do you like it?” He asks with a tentative smile. “I absolutely love it! And I love you.” My emotions get the best of me as my husband pulls me into his arms once again. The room is full of laughter and our family full of love and joy. “Everyone?” Luke questions with a bellowing voice. Find your glass. Mia and Isaac brought in several bottles of non-alcoholic champagne. Let’s toast to the newly married couple and soon to be parents.” Emma and Gracie soon deliver everyone a sparkling glass of bubbly as the group circles together around Emma and Luke’s eight-foot spruce standing in front of the large center window of the living room.

The tree stands tall and proudly holds many strings of twinkling lights, and beautiful store-bought ornaments intermingled with many hand-made memories of Christmases past. The group is quiet, taking a moment to reflect upon a Christmas filled with exciting news, happy children, and wonderful love stories. My husband twists and turns the ring he put on my finger only moments ago. Luke steps forward with Emma tucked into his side ready to toast this special Christmas Day. “Some days don’t really begin the way you would like. Today was one of those days for me. But I’m always grateful for any day that simply begins – because that means I’m alive and can stare into these beautiful eyes.” Luke shares a quiet moment with Emma before continuing. “Life is a series of tiny little miracles. Some we never notice. But what happened here today was built on many tiny little miracles. Julia. Josh. To say I’m thrilled for your happiness is an understatement. Today is a day I’m unlikely to forget. I am blessed with everything I need and I believe everyone in this room would say the same. So in the spirit of Christmas, on this day of special gifts, may the love of this family fill your hearts with compassion and joy. May the love of your children remind you to live with grace and generosity. And may our stories of Christmas magic, second chances, and so many tiny, little miracles remind us that life with each other is the only thing that matters. I love you all with my whole heart. Merry Christmas!”



B.A. Dillon is a devoted wife and mother of two grown children, and a dedicated middle school math teacher. In addition to the Time Series, Dillon also writes a column, Turn the Page, for the monthly magazine 85 South, Out and About, published in the Atlanta area. She lives in the Tampa area with her husband and two very spoiled dogs. Dillon has a slight obsession with Pinterest, music, words, books, and martinis! With a Bachelors in Education and a Masters in School Counseling, Dillon has spent the last 27 years teaching a variety of subjects to middle school students. She hopes to retire in three years and concentrate on writing full-time.



Also by B.A. Dillon Tethered Through Time Emma and Luke’s story

A Vision in Time Mia and Isaac’s story

It’s About Time Scott and Brandon’s story

Shattered by Time Julia and Josh’s story

Tales of the Night (Shadows of Time with ALL of the Time Series characters)

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Copyright © 2016 by R.J. Loom

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Christian “I cannot be held responsible for what will happen if those doors don’t open in the next five minutes, Liv.” As usual, she ignored my threats and continued to merrily greet those passing on the way to the end of the lengthy line. Her short blonde hair poked out from beneath the Santa hat she wore, giving her an innocent, almost cherub appearance to the strangers she greeted. If they only knew the spitfire she hid beneath the façade. “Happy holidays!” Liv smiled at each stranger and held out a candy cane, complete with a little red and green bow. When she glanced my way, she rolled her big brown eyes. “Relax, Christian. Joe is just about done with the breakfast burritos.” My gaze shifted over to where Liv’s husband stood in front of a portable grill he had set up behind his truck. He was a good guy, average in every way – average height with light brown short, neatly combed hair. He was always wearing a suit or on the rare occasion like now, khaki’s and a polo. I had only been tailgating before football games. The fact that people were grilling in the middle of a discount department store parking lot and getting psyched up for what they were about to face was both cool – because food – and beyond my comprehension. I slid my own candy cane from one side of my mouth to the other then bit down. Hard. My patience with this little adventure had worn thin within the first hour. After sitting here for five, I was now not only freezing my ass off but fucking starving too. “Season’s Greetings!” Another candy cane was handed off. “Merry Christmas!” “It’s still Thanksgiving,” I muttered under my breath. “Only for…” Liv pulled out her phone from her back jeans pocket to check the time. “Five more minutes!” A store employee announced as he emerged from behind the locked front

doors. When he began to hand out papers to everyone in line, it was like a switch had been flipped. Liv stowed away her candy canes in her bag and turned toward me. Her previous holiday cheer was gone and had been replaced with a competitive gleam in her eyes I was all too familiar with. Liv was one of my closest friends. We grew on the same block and our parents hung out together often. Which by default, made Liv and I become good friends too. Playing board games as children was no joke to Liv. Basketball, kickball…any game where there was a victor, she was in it to win it. Liv was like a boy in a girl’s body. Not that I noticed. She was family more than anything. While Liv scanned over the paper the store employee handed her, I once again looked over toward her husband. His grill had already been dismantled and he was in the process of storing away food and closing up shop with the expertise of a man who has done this numerous times before. My stomach protested with the realization filling it would have to wait. “Up!” Liv ordered. The incredulous look I shot her was met with an impatient sigh and wave of her hand to hurry. “Up!” She repeated, tugging on the mesh camping chair her husband was kind enough to offer me for the hours upon hours of sitting. I rose from the chair; ass numb from the frigid temperatures and lack of circulation from sitting for such an extended period. The chair was swiftly packed away while I cracked my neck and shook out my stiff legs. While I did this, I briefly wondered if at the age of 24, I was already getting arthritis. “You remember the game plan, right Christian?” I opened my mouth to respond, but she continued with a candy cane poised over the paper – which I now realized was a store map – the employee handed out moments ago. “You are to go here to get the X7,” Liv instructed, circling a square in the far-left corner of the store. “It’s too big for me to carry. Joe will be getting the Learn2Tab and I have to get the Galactic Justice action figure.” “Tate is two, Liv. He doesn’t need a car. He would be perfectly happy playing with the shoe box for my work boots. Don’t you think you’re going a bit overboard?” The militant shopper expression on her face softened when she looked up at me, as if she were picturing her son in her mind. “You haven’t seen the way Tate’s face lights up when he sees it on TV though, Christian. You don’t understand.” I flinched. I didn’t mean to. It just happened. “I’m sorry, Christian. I didn’t mean— “ I took a deep calming breath and averted my eyes above her head to the parking lot beyond. “Are we doing this or what? Even though I could no longer see her face, I felt her pitying stare tugging at me as I turned to join the mass of holiday shoppers entering the store – pleading with me to know she did understand. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. It was pointless for her to even try.

Eve “Thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five,” the store clerk counted off as she ushered us into the automotive aisle at the back of the store. My best friend Leanne squealed with joy over the fact we were among the first thirty-five people in line for the laptops which were on sale. Thirty-five being the magic number since they only had that many of them in stock. “I told you I’d get you a new laptop, Eve!” “Well, you did break mine,” I pointed out. “And you always replace what you ruin. Soo…” Saying Leanne was accident prone was an understatement. It didn’t matter how new her phone was, there was always a crack in its screen within the first week. The hall closet in the apartment we

shared was a graveyard of medical boots and crutches from injuries past. Many a ding in my car could also be attributed to Leanne’s curse. As well countless articles of my clothing, torn, stained or had otherwise fallen victim to clumsy fingers and a scattered mind. It was one of those things only really close friends could joke about. Not that any of those things mattered. We were quite the pair – her the bull in a China shop and me the fragile glass everyone was worried about chipping. As many scars as Leanne has accumulated in her life, it matched the huge one I had bisecting my chest. But it’s in those scars we learned to roll with life’s punches and probably why we got along so well. Leanne was the type of person you simply could not get mad at. Her heart was too big. She was the most caring, selfless person I have ever met, even if it was hidden under sarcastic comments and a sometimes-grumbling attitude. At the end of the day, she would give the shirt off her back to anyone. She was someone I had come to rely on heavily the past few years. All those broken things meant nothing. Not in comparison to all she had given me. If anyone owed anyone anything, it was I who owed her. Which meant, there was no way I would allow her to pay for the laptop. “Yes but this laptop is going to be so much better than your last one. It was old and,” Leanne’s face twisted into a grimace, “glitchy. I did you a favor by dropping it down those stairs.” “This is true,” I said, head bobbing in agreement. There was no disputing the fact my laptop was a piece of crap. My parents bought it for me after my senior year of high school, knowing I needed one for college. Unfortunately, I didn’t even make it through my sophomore year before my health took a nose dive and I had to drop out. Research for class assignments turned toward research on alternate treatment options to keep me comfortable. Yeah, I was ready for some new in my life. It only took fifteen minutes for Leanne’s joy to vanish – when the reality set in of spending the night in the automotive aisle with ten strangers, including a toddler who belonged to one couple. Other shoppers who weren’t there for certain limited quantity door buster deals, were given free rein to shop at their leisure even if nobody could check out until 5 a.m. when the store officially opened. “Why couldn’t they quarantine us in the toy aisle?” Leanne asked absently, watching the blonde haired little boy burst into tears when his mother took a quart of motor oil away from him. I rolled my head to the side to look at her where she sat next to me then over to the little boy. I did feel bad for him. We still had four hours and forty-five minutes left stuck in this aisle and even I was feeling antsy. “I have no idea. I feel bad for the poor little guy though.” “Excuse me,” a deep voice interrupted. I looked over and first laid eyes on black work boots. My eyes traveled up over distressed jean covered legs, lingering for a moment on an obviously toned chest covered by a white thermal under a black winter coat, then finally landing on a devastatingly ruggedly handsome face. A strong jawline was covered with a days’ worth of stubble and accentuated full lips. With a straight nose, dark slashes of eyebrows over the most striking sky blue eyes I have ever seen and close cut brown hair, the man made me momentarily speechless. Thankfully, Leanne had the whole speech thing covered. “Yes?” She said, eagerly jumping to her feet. The man glanced at my friend then returned his eyes to me as I too, slowly rose to my feet. Now I’m not a big believer in love at first sight but I do believe at times during our life, we come across people we feel an instant connection with – a strange familiarity as if we have known them our whole life. Or maybe that they somehow belonged in our lives. This was one of those moments and he was one of those people. The connection pulled me in even more than the timber of his voice, the spicy scent of his cologne or his very impressive good looks. By the way he maintained eye contact with me, it made me wonder if he felt it too. “I was just wondering if there is the car safety kit that’s on sale down this aisle?” He pulled his gaze away from me and looked down the aisle at all the other Automotive department prisoners. His brows pulled down in confusion, no doubt wondering why the hell we were all there.

I finally found my voice. “Yes, it is.” “Car safety kit,” Leanne called out at the same time, letting the others know they needed to pass one down. Then a smile spread across her face. She looked at me then back to the man as she leaned against the shelves. “A Christmas present?” “Yes.” “For the Mrs.?” Leanne added, glancing at the large battery operated ride on car in his shopping cart. Sky blue eyes shifted over to meet mine when he answered, “No.” “Oh good, Christian! You got it!” A woman wearing a Santa hat wandered over with other items she tossed into his cart. She then gave the aisle 19 detainees the same baffled look the man, Christian, gave moments earlier. “What are you all doing?” Her confusion seemed to morph into interest as her eyes scanned the shelves. “Is there a deal down this aisle I don’t know about?” Before I had a chance to answer, the woman quickly pulled out her holiday ad and was flipping through its pages. “We’re holding our spots for the laptops that are on sale. They won’t hand them out until five o’clock when we can check out,” I answered, hoping to spare her the search of the automotive section of the ad. “Oh.” The woman looked up and over to my other companions as she tucked her ad away. “Well, I’ll meet up with you in a bit,” she told Christian, turning her attention back toward him while placing a hand on his arm. “I want to grab some of the sheets that are on sale.” When the woman walked away, Leanne shoved the car safety kit into my hand and inclined her head toward the man. “Right.” How quickly I had forgotten why he was even standing there. With a wide smile, I turned toward him and handed it over. “Here. It may not be heartfelt but it is a practical gift for whoever the recipient is.” The immediate frown that marred his beautiful features made me realize I had inserted my foot into mouth. Something I often did when nervous. And this man made me nervous. In a good way, if I was being honest. “I’m sorry! I mean…” Those blue eyes met mine one again as he raised a brow and tossed the car safety kit into the cart. “Is that so?” “No! I’m sure there are lots of people who would love a car safety kit! I’m just not one of them.” The verbal vomit was in full force. “I mean…never mind. My opinion doesn’t matter. Ignore me! Please.” The last I mumbled under my breath not sure if I was pleading with him to ignore me or for a higher power to save me from myself. I could feel my face heat with embarrassment as I averted my gaze to the cracked beige and beiger speckled linoleum floor. If only the crack would turn into a sinkhole and swallow me up to remove me from this situation. When I chanced a glance up, he was still standing there staring at me. Only now his arms were crossed and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was a small – miniscule really – smirk pulling at the corner of his ridiculously full kissable lips. I reached up to twist my long brown hair around my finger. It was a nervous habit which – as I did it now – reminded me I needed to get that haircut I had been putting off and maybe needed to revisit things like makeup and tweezers. It had been so long since I put any on, I wasn’t sure I would remember how. Making a mental note to spend a night very soon watching how to accentuate hazel eyes video tutorials, I returned my attention to the man in front of me. “What would make for a heartfelt gift then?” “Sheets?” I blurted out the only item I seemed to be able to remember the store carried in that moment.

Leanne elbowed me in the side and coughed, “Subtle.” “Sheets?” He repeated, raising a brow. “Uh…” I looked around, searching for gift ideas. Unfortunately, paint supplies, towels, vacuums and plastic tumblers were what lined the end caps of the aisles in my line of sight. Practical? Yes. Heartfelt? Not so much. With a sigh, I looked back up at him. “It depends on the person. What are their interests?” “I’m still figuring it out.” The intensity with which he looked at me, made me shift on my feet and avert my gaze once again. “Okay. Well…it doesn’t have to be something big or expensive. You could even make something for them. Or set aside time to go to dinner or catch a game. Something that tells this person they are important to you and that you care about the things that are important to them.” “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, moving back over to his cart. A strange feeling settled over me as he began to walk away. I didn’t want him to go. As a lastditch effort to keep the conversation going, I called out, “Happy Holidays!” Christian paused and turned back, those blue eyes doing a once over of me before meeting my gaze. A slight smile lifted his lips but it seemed bitter and not at all what I was expecting. “Yeah,” was all he said before he turned and walked away. “That was…odd,” Leanne was ever so helpful to point out. “Yes, it was.” Only, there was no way Leanne could understand the weird familiar connection I felt with the stranger. Or the way sadness seemed to dampen my mood as I watched him walk away.



Eve There was no better alarm than the train that passed our apartment building at eight am every morning. The horn announcing its passage was the perfect amount of annoying to make it impossible to go back to sleep yet not so much that the first thing I would want to do was murder someone. Thankfully, any other time of day I could tune it out without a problem. A week had passed since Black Friday and I had finally gotten all my boxes unpacked after moving back in with Leanne. I loved my parents and appreciate all they have done for me but it felt good to be returning to the life I had been trying to build for myself prior to my surgery. Knowing it was useless to try to go back to sleep, I tossed my comforter aside and dragged myself out of bed. Past the icicle lights I hung in my bedroom window, the skies beyond were a gloomy gray with the promise of snow. The anticipation of big fluffy flakes forecasted to fall later in the day made me smile as I moved out into the hall toward the bathroom to begin my morning ritual. Steam quickly billowed from the shower after I turned it on and began to undress. When I caught my reflection in the mirror, I slowly raised my hand to the puckered scar which ran down the center of my chest. Every morning I wished it would fade just a little bit more. But immediately after making that morning wish, I would remind myself what that scar meant – that I was alive. After taking a quick shower, I dried off with a towel and wrapped it around me before opening the medicine cabinet above the sink. Yellow and white pill bottles were lined up on the bottom shelf like soldiers ready to help my body keep the peace with itself for another day. It was a delicate balance I would have to keep for the rest of my life – keep my body from rejecting the gifted organ I received and avoiding illnesses and infections my lowered immune system couldn’t handle. No morning routine would be complete without the coffee calling to me from the kitchen. Leanne was perched against the counter wrapped in her fluffy, dancing reindeer bathrobe and clinging to her red “Tis the Season” mug as if it were the Holy Grail. Her auburn hair was tossed up in a sloppy ponytail which appeared to have endured a night’s sleep.

“Morning!” I said as I grabbed a mug in the shape of Santa’s head. It was my favorite because it was large enough to hold two average cups of coffee. Our apartment looked as if Christmas had come and thrown up all over it. From dishtowels, throw rugs and dishes to candle holders and even our shower curtain, there was not a room a person could enter without being assaulted by the holiday spirit. Snowmen shaped wax warmers, filled the air with scents of pine, cinnamon or baked sugar cookies depending on the day. Even on my bad days when depression tried to take hold, the cheerfulness of it all lifted my spirits and brought a smile to my face. “Morning,” Leanne muttered before taking a sip of her coffee. “Today’s the big day back to work, huh?” A smile spread across my face as I poured my coffee. “Yeah. Is it weird to be anxious to be back to work?” Leanne shook her head and set her mug down. “Nope. Not at all. It’ll be good for you. I’ll stop up there after work to see you. That is, if his highness allows me to leave on time.” The attorney Leanne worked for at the small law firm around the corner, often made her work late into the evening. He was cranky man, set in his disorganized ways and always waited until the last to sign off on anything. I rolled my eyes. “You mean, to see Tony don’t you?” Tony was my boss’s brother and he often bartended. Leanne had a thing for the tall, well-built man and would often stop in just to admire him, always hoping he would notice her too. Well, notice her in more than the friendly bartender way he acknowledged all customers. Leanne flinched back in mock offense, even as her lips twitched with a smile full of guilt. “Of course not!” “Maybe you should talk to him sometime? You know, before I went in for surgery, I made a vow to myself, if I made it through I would live each moment without regret. I think you should give it a try too.” The humor faded from Leanne’s face as she looked down into her coffee mug as if it held the answer to my suggestion. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” With one last swig of her coffee, she rinsed out the cup, gave me a hug and headed out of the kitchen. “I’m not sure what I’d do without your daily wisdom, Evie Reynolds!” She hollered back. I chuckled and shook my head. I had no idea what I was doing half of the time and felt so far from wise. But the vow was something I truly believed in. Not just for myself, but as an outside observer on others’ lives. Especially those I cared about. There is so much people miss out on because of fear of taking chances or stepping out of their comfort zones. There was so much to be learned from deviating from a familiar path in favor of a new one. I was given a second chance and I wanted to make the most of it by experiencing it all. I just hoped I recognized new paths and opportunities when they were presented to me.

Christian “You’re not bailing out on us tonight, Christian,” were the first words out of Liv’s mouth when I stepped through the front door of her and Joe’s house. I was balancing a ridiculously oversized Christmas tree Liv had to have but was too large to bring home in anything other than my truck. “I’m not bailing, Liv. Relax.” “And you’ll be wearing an ugly holiday sweater?” It was a simple enough question but coming from Liv it was issued as a threat. “Isn't it enough you're forcing me to go to this thing?” I grunted, navigating the tree trunk into the stand next to the front window, while Joe awkwardly wrangled the other end. “No. No it's not.” The scornful look on her face would have been comical if I didn’t know she

was dead serious. Liv gave me a once over and as if she concluded I wouldn’t wear the ugly sweater, blurted, “Hold on. You can borrow one of Joe’s Christmas ties.” Moments later, Liv emerged from her room with a red tie with a large reindeer on the front. “Here. You can wear this,” she said tossing the tie at me with a little too much force. I draped the tie over my shoulder with no intention of putting it on. Instead, I edged my way toward the doorway hoping I could get out of there without Liv forcing me to agree to any more things I didn’t want to do. “You know, if you got out a little more and met someone, you would have a date to bring with you to these things. It might make them more enjoyable.” My muscles tensed. This was one of the reasons why I hated going out at all; hearing the lectures or the not so subtle and very much unwelcome suggestions I meet someone. I knew Liv meant well. But if I were interested in dating, I would. I was perfectly content to bury myself in work, getting my security systems business on solid ground. Sensing my discomfort, Liv walked over and began to adjust the tie around my neck to make it easy to slip it on later when I got ready, removing any excuses not to wear it. “She’s moved on, Christian,” she said, quietly. Looking away from the concern in her eyes, my gaze landed on a metal wreath hanging on the closet door several Christmas cards were tucked into to display. As if a connection still lingered, my eyes caught on one card in particular. Jolene, my ex-wife, with her long blonde hair, green eyes and radiant smile, posed with her new husband and newborn son on her lap as they sat next to a Christmas tree surrounded by red and green wrapped presents. The ever-present pain that resided in my chest burned a little more at the sight of her. She certainly had moved on. To end the torture, I pulled my gaze away from the Christmas card. “Don’t worry, Liv. I have no confusion on that. I appreciate the reminder though.” Her hands fell away from the tie as I took a step back. “I’m gonna go.” “Christian…” My name as it fell from her lips was a plea, an apology and full of more of the sympathy I didn’t want to hear. “I’ll meet you guys there,” I said, as I stepped outside and closed the door on more shit I didn’t want to deal with.

Eve “What a sight for sore eyes!” A warm smile spread across a rounded face as Ronny, my boss spotted me when I walked in the employee entrance to Hemlock Bistro. He quickly swept me up in a big friendly hug before pulling back to do the ‘are you okay’ once over of me – something I have grown accustom to people doing in the past year. “You look great! How are you doing?” A wide smile spread across my face. “I’m good. Really good. Thanks for letting me have my old job back, Ronny.” He waved off my thanks and leaned back against the stainless-steel prep counter. “You’ll always have a job here, Evie. You know that. The only thing I ask is that you let me know the second it gets to be too much. Okay?” The stern look he gave me let me know he was serious. I gave him a reassuring smile and nodded. “I promise. But Ronny, I really could use any hours you can give me.” His eyes narrowed. I knew he was hesitant to allow me to do anything more than the bare minimum. I understood his concern but it was important to me to start pushing boundaries or at least stretch to find out where my boundaries were. “Please?” “How about this… we ease you back into things tonight with this party then see how you do on day shift? I think the lunch rush will be more manageable for you than the dinner rush for now. And if you feel up to it beyond that, I’ll put you on for some of these holiday parties we have coming up this month. Sound good?” “Sounds great.” I leaped at him to give him another hug. “Thank you so much! You’re the best!” Ronny really was the best. He opened Hemlock Bistro at the age of 27 and it has been voted the best upscale restaurant in the area for each of the years it has been open. I started working for Ronny three years ago and worked every shift he was willing to give me to help pay for my college classes up until a year and a half ago when my condition dramatically worsened. He had always been very understanding

when I needed days off for doctor’s appointments and allowed me to do less strenuous tasks when I wasn’t feeling up to par. “Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes at my praise and patted my back as he pulled away. “You’ll really love me when you see the party that’s coming in tonight.” “Oh yeah?” I asked as I tied my black apron around my waist. “Ugly holiday sweater party,” he said with a wink. “Yes!” Ronny knew I loved everything about the holidays but when you add humor? Best thing ever. He laughed. “I figured you’d enjoy that.”

A couple hours later as I was refilling trays for the mashed potato bar set up in the back room for the party, I felt a strange awareness as if I were being watched. I glanced around at the unfamiliar faces of those dressed in too small, too large, awkwardly fitted and gaudy holiday sweaters. Men and women of varying ages drank, chatted and laughed as they lingered around high top tables. The relaxed atmosphere made me momentarily forget the tingling awareness I felt moments earlier. Until a smooth deep voice slid over my shoulder from behind me. “Automotive aisle girl.” I jumped and spun around, nearly knocking over a basket of silverware. “Careful now,” Christian said, reaching a hand out to help steady me. I stepped back and braced myself on the table while holding onto my chest, willing my racing heartbeat to slow. Ronny shot me a concerned look from across the room. I gave him a slight shake of my head to let him know I was okay and looked up into sky blue eyes I would remember anywhere. “Eve.” Christian’s brows pulled down in confusion. “That’s my name, Christian. Not automotive aisle girl.” A pleased expression softened his rugged features and the corner of his full lips tilted up in the corner. Not really a smile but from my limited interactions with him, I suspected he didn’t smile much. It made me wonder what one of his smiles would look like. “I see you remembered my name.” “I’m…uh…good with names,” I lied. Heat from embarrassment rushed to my cheeks and tips of my ears as I shifted my gaze over to the rest of the party. I spotted the woman who was with him on Black Friday, laughing and on the arm of another man. Maybe that meant she wasn’t his wife like I had assumed? I hadn’t noticed her or Christian moments ago. Which meant they must have just arrived. In a black button-up shirt with a red and greed satin fabric stuffed into his pocket, Christian stood out among all the party attendees, amusingly dress in their hideous holiday attire. Although, I suspect he would stand out to me no matter what he wore. The strange familiarity I felt in the department store was still there and somehow felt even stronger. “So Eve,” he began, stressing my name now that he knew it. The almost smirk was back again, lifting the corner of his lips. “You might like to know; I took your advice and picked up a more heartfelt gift for my friend.”

My eyes snapped back up to his. “Really?” I’m not sure why, but the thought of Christian taking advice from a stranger surprised me. He nodded. “I did.” “Huh. Well, I’m sure your friend will be happy you did,” I said as I grabbed my tray and moved over to a nearby table to begin clearing away glasses. Christian casually followed all while a secret thrill burst through me that he did. After taking a glace around the room, I pointedly gave him a once over. “Where’s your ugly holiday sweater?” He groaned and looked heavenward before pinning me with those sky-blue eyes and a raised brow. “The truth?” “No, please tell me a lie.” I said completely straight-faced. Again, there was that almost smile I was becoming more and more intrigued with. “I’m not big on celebrating the holidays.” Even though his tone was casual, I could tell he was serious. To counter it, I tried to keep the conversation light and hopefully illicit another almost smile. With mock offence, I said, “We can’t be friends then.” “Friends?” He seemed to ponder the word as if trying it on for size. “Do you only hang out with people who celebrate the holidays and have questionable fashion sense?” he asked, motioning around to all the ugly holiday sweater party goers. I laughed and shook my head. “No. I just happen to love the holidays. The fact that you don’t is strike one,” I said, gathering my tray. “Next you’ll be telling me you don’t enjoy reading and that you’re not a dog person.” I began to walk away and again he kept pace with me. “Ah, would those be strikes in my favor then? Because I do enjoy reading and strongly believe dogs are man’s best friend.” Once I reached the bar, I set my tray down and turned toward him, for the first time wondering what a hot guy like him was doing following me around at work. Had I slipped into some alternate reality? Somebody else’s alternate reality? Because I couldn’t fathom this even happening in my alternate reality. “So…” He raised a brow and held out a hand. “Friends?” I eyed his hand skeptically before the vow to not live with regrets came to the forefront of my mind. Without questioning what was going on any further, I slipped my hand into his. “Friends,” I agreed. I’m not sure what a friendship with Christian meant but I hoped I would find out.

Eve The following Monday, I was behind the bar helping Tony stock and put away clean glasses when I heard the front door swing opened then closed. We were usually slow for the first hour before the lunch rush took hold, so it was unusual to have customers come in only a few minutes after we opened. I was bent over, busy putting bottles of wine in the cooler when I heard a familiar deep voice say, “Hey, Tony.” “Hey, Christian. The usual?” Tony responded. I slowly rose to my feet and turned around. Just as my eyes met Christian’s, Tony patty my shoulder. “I got this, Evie. Christian’s a new regular,” he said, before disappearing into the kitchen. “Is that so?” I asked, even though Tony was no longer in ear shot. Christian’s almost smile appeared, reaching slightly higher if I wasn’t mistaken. “It is. I work nearby.” He shrugged. “So this is convenient for lunch.” “Well, friend, what can I get you to drink? A Christmas Ale?” I teased, knowing he would say no. That beautifully rugged face of his twisted into a scowl. “Water’s fine.” I raised a brow. “Have you ever tried Christmas Ale?” “Can’t say that I have.” I nodded, figuring as much as I reached into the cooler and pulled one out, twisting off the cap before sliding it across the bar to him. “This one’s on me. Give it a try. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to drink it. I’ll even cross off the ‘Christmas’ on the label if that helps.” “Will trying this earn me friend points?” he asked as he lifted the bottle to his lips. “It will. If you actually enjoy it, you get double points,” I said with a conspiratorial wink as I leaned against the counter, watching him take his first sip. “So? What do you think?” “Not bad.” He glanced down at the bottle then brought it back up to his mouth for a second, longer swig. I decided then, I could watch him taste test beer all day. “Not bad?” I scoffed.

“Okay, it’s good.” “See the good things you’re missing out on by shunning the holidays?” I teased. “Yeah,” he said, as he set his bottle down. But there was a strange sadness underlining his tone. I decided to change the subject. “So you come here for lunch every day?” “Lunch and dinner but not every day. I live right across the street. Like I said, it’s convenient.” My eyebrows shot up. “You live right across the street?” He nodded and an inclined his beer bottle toward the large front window where the renovated old Savings & Loan building could easily be seen. “I run my business out of the bottom floor and live upstairs. The unit right below the clock tower.” Of course, I knew of the unit. Three tall arched windows jutted out slightly around the corner of the building. It drew any passerby’s eye up toward the architectural wonder of the clock tower which was normally illuminated at night. Pulling my eyes away from him, I looked across the street at his building and was reminded of something I had thought of many times recently on my way into work. “You need a big Christmas tree in that corner window!” The excitement of the idea had to be clear on my face as I turned back toward him. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to share in the excitement. Or at least it didn’t seem like it judging by the strange look he gave me. He looked equal parts repulsed and intrigued. A strange combination. But it could not have been that ridiculous an idea. I was certain many other people thought the same thing as they passed the old renovated building. Tony emerged from the kitchen with a plate of food he set in front of Christian. I tapped the bar and stepped away. “Maybe we’ll revisit the Christmas tree in the window idea over a few Christmas Ales sometime. Enjoy your lunch, Christian.” As I returned to work, I replayed in my mind the last few sentences that flew from my mouth, questioning if it sounded like I was asking Christian out. I was mortified and I wasn’t entirely sure why. I knew it was mainly because it was so out of character to put myself out there like that and to say it so casually. But it felt right in the moment. I was probably reading too much into it and hoped he didn’t hear me. Although, if I was being honest, I felt a thrill at the idea of spending any amount of time with him.

When I entered the apartment later that night, it was clear Leanne was in the middle of watching another marathon of some TV series. The signs were all there. Wrapped in a blanket, her hair was twisted up in a messy bun that was more messy than bun at this point. A graveyard of empty water bottles and food wrappers were scattered about on the table and the instant reflex to pause her show when I walked in, told me she had been at it for a while. “Hey, how was work?” She eyed the mess in front of her, probably just realizing it was there. “It was good,” I said as I kicked off my boots and hung up my coat. Afterword, I crossed over into the living room and plopped down into the recliner. “Long but good.” Leanne narrowed her eyes and motioned in my direction. “What’s that?” “What’s what?” Genuinely confused, I looked around.

“That there on your face.” She pointed. I wiped at my face, paranoid I had something on me. Leanne laughed. “The shit eating grin. What’s that all about? I don’t care how much you enjoy your job, nobody ever comes home from work looking like that.” My teeth pulled at my bottom lip as if I could stop myself from smiling. Only, it was difficult because I was smiling more now out of embarrassment from being caught. “Nothing.” “Right. Nothing,” she deadpanned before shifting forward in her seat. “Now spill.” I hesitated. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell Leanne about Christian showing up again at work. Part of me couldn’t wait to tell her. But that was also the problem. I didn’t want her to get too excited. I dropped down onto the couch next to her and began playing with my long brown hair, inspecting it for split ends I didn’t have since I finally got a haircut, just to avoid eye contact with Leanne. “Black Friday guy was back in today.” “Oh yeah?” Leanne’s interest seemed to jump tenfold as she shifted on the couch, tucking her legs beneath her. “Did he ask you out?” “No.” I paused my split end inspection. Leanne noticed. “Did you ask him out?” “No. I mean, I may have tossed out the suggestion to discuss his need for a Christmas tree over a couple drinks. But that’s not asking him out, right?” I glanced at her out of the corner of my eyes. I needed to know I didn’t stick my foot in my mouth in that way. “Wow. You’re taking this vow to live without regrets seriously. That totally was asking him out! Go you!” I groaned and leaned my head back against the couch. “How freaking embarrassing.” “Why? It’s clear to me you’re attracted to the guy. Why should you have to wait around to see if he asks you out?” “I don’t even know him!” “That’s why you ask him out – to get to know him!” I snorted. “Get to know him, then what? Shift the conversation over to my prescription regimen and obsession over cleanliness? I’ve been so preoccupied with my health for as long as I can remember I wouldn’t know how to act in a dating type of situation.” Leanne reached over and ran her hand down my back comfortingly. “You’re over thinking this. Just go with it. It’s been a year. Unless you’ve been lying to me, you’ve been feeling better than you have in years. Don’t get in your own way of meeting new people and don’t deprive others of the chance to get to know you.” Leanne was right as usual. My insecurities were sinking in to try to place fear in my way of living the life I want. Even if I needed her to remind me to get out of my own way every hour on the hour, I was determined to not let negative thoughts place doubt on my resolve to live a full life. I pulled Leanne in for a hug. “What would I do without you?” She laughed. “You’re never going to find out, Evie. You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not. Now pull on your big girl panties and ask the man out!” I shook my head as I rose from the couch and moved toward my bedroom. “Still not happening! But I love you for encouraging me to!”

Eve Just like the past two days, Christian entered the restaurant a few minutes after we opened and took a seat at the bar. He had never made mention of my casual offer to discuss his need for a Christmas tree over a few beers and I wasn’t about to bring it up again. Big fluffy flakes of snow were falling outside and just starting to accumulate. When Tony disappeared back into the kitchen, I passed Christian a Christmas Ale and inclined my head toward the large front picture window. “I’m deducting points if you say you are also anti-snowball fight.” He looked toward the window and watched the snow fall for a few moments before answering, “Nah. It’s just been a really long time since I’ve been in one.” “Want to know a secret?” He turned back toward me with a raised a brow. “We’re at the secret sharing stage of our friendship?” The hopeful look on his face made me laugh. “No. But this is an innocent one.” “Well by all means, I must know.” “I’ve never been in a snowball fight,” I admitted. “No way!” He playfully tossed a napkin at me. When he realized I was serious, he leaned forward. “Really? Not even when you were a kid?” “Nope. Not even when I was a kid.” He shook his head in dismay. “That’s it. We can’t be friends until this situation is corrected.” I nodded solemnly. “Well it was a good friendship while it lasted.” “It was,” He agreed just as Tony brought his food out and set it in front of him. But right before I turned away, I could have sworn Christian smirked and tossed me a wink.

“Chunky or smooth?” Christian asked as he took his usual seat at the bar the next day. I raised a brow. “Excuse me.” “Peanut butter. Chunky or smooth.” “Uh…okay. Smooth I guess,” I said in response to his bizarre question. He nodded his approval. “Horror movies…yea or nay?” I laughed. “What is this? I thought we weren’t friends anymore.” “We’re not. Doesn’t mean we can’t hold a conversation. You do have casual conversations with customers, sometimes don’t you?” “Sometimes,” I conceded. “Well then, horror movies…yea or nay?” “Yea.” I laughed when his brows shot up. “Surprised?” “I am actually.” When he opened his mouth to shoot out another question, I held up a finger. “My turn.” “That’s not how this works. I’m the customer,” he said as if reiterating rules to his made-up game. “That doesn’t mean I am obligated to answer your questions. Especially if you are unwilling to answer mine.” “Fine, go ahead.” “Clear or multi-colored lights?” He groaned. “Neither and I’ll have you know, you have officially sucked the fun out of this game.” “Come on, I answered your questions.” I raised a challenging brow. “Clear or multi-colored lights? If you were held captive in a cell full of festive things and were offered the choice, which would be less torturous of the two?” “In that particular situation, if my sanity were at stake, I would be slightly less annoyed by the clear lights. Those would be easier to pretend they were just lights.” I shook my head and pulled out a Christmas Ale from the cooler. “What? You look disappointed.” “I am.” I set the bottle down in front of him. “But since I’m not your friend, what do you care?” “So you would choose the multi-colored lights?” “I would.” He tipped his bottle toward me. “If you, my non-friend were in that cell with me, I might be able to tolerate multi-colored lights after all.”

Eve “I’ve noticed you’ve been getting dolled up for work a lot lately?” Leanne asked as I came out into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. “Have you been going to work or on hot dates?” I rolled my eyes. “Work.” So what if I had looked forward to Christian’s lunch breaks and wished they were dates. It didn’t change the fact that he still considered us non-friends. “Uh huh.” Leanne smirked. “Still playing the daily 20 questions with Christian?” “Maybe.” I had. Every day for the last two weeks he stopped in on his lunch breaks and we would play his ridiculous game. Although, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t having fun or that he wasn’t fun to spend time with. I’ve also learned a lot about him in the process. He in turn learned a lot about me too. Through this simple either or game we played, I learned he was an only child and his parents were still happily married, living in Arizona. He learned my parents too were still happily married and that I had an older brother. From small things like our shared belief Ranch dressing made everything better, to what genre books we read (it turns out he wasn’t lying about being a book lover) we covered anything and everything. All except why he didn’t like the holidays and anything about my health. Everything was so easy between us. It seemed as if we fed off each other’s teasing nature and curiosity yet shared a desire to stay away from heavier topics. “Right.” Leanne drew out that one word and laced it with heavy sarcasm. “So when are you going to ask him out?” “What?” I laughed as if it were the most absurd idea ever. “I’m not asking him out! I’m not even in the friend zone!” “Oh Evie.” Leanne tsked me. “You’re not in the friend zone because you both moved past that weeks ago.” “You’re wrong and I have to go. I’ll see you later.” My denial was strong but Leanne’s words swam around and around through my mind as I grabbed my bag and headed out the door.

There was nothing in the world like the relief I felt when a busy shift ended and I could go home. Even though I was a little disappointed Christian didn’t stop in for lunch today and a part of me wished my shift lasted a bit longer just in case he decided to come in for dinner instead, my relief to finally go home was still there. Stepping out of the employee entrance out back, I shoved my hands into my coat pockets and made my way to my car. Just as I opened the door, a thump hit the back of my puffy white coat and cold pellets splashed against the exposed skin of my neck, sending a chill down my back. I slowly turned to find the remnants of a snowball melting at my feet. Lifting my gaze, I found myself staring into laughing sky-blue eyes. Christian stood across the parking lot, packing another snowball with a mischievous grin on his face. A grin! I was so struck by the change in his demeanor, I barely dodged out of the way when he launched another snowball my way. Still stunned by the surprise attack, I turned toward him, closed my car door and raised a brow. “Oh, we’re doing this?” “Oh yeah,” he said as he reached to gather up more snow. As he packed it into a ball, his grin widened into a full-on smile. “We’re doing this.” His smile was an unfair snowball warfare tactic I was not prepared for. I found myself staring and distracted when another snowball hit my shoulder. The chill from yet more snow down the collar of my shirt brought me back to reality to seek out the first pile of snow I came across. I quickly packed a snowball and threw it, missing him by a mile. His taunting laugh only goaded me on more. The second one I launched hit his leg. Not the intended target but I felt confident I was getting better. The fight turned into a battle and then quickly into all-out war as we maneuvered around parked cars, dumpsters and snow drifts using anything as shields. I slipped and fell on snow covered concrete more times than I could count. My black khaki pants I wore to work were soaked and I didn’t spare it a second thought. I was having too much fun to care. With numb fingers, I packed two snowballs as I peeked around the corner of a black SUV. I threw one and waited as Christian dove for cover before running across the parking lot so I could sneak up behind him with the next one. I had to stifle a laugh as he looked around as I slowly edged closer. Just as I raised my hands to bring the snowball down on top of his head, he turned around and grabbed me around the waist as I squealed in laughter. He didn’t release me from his hold and I didn’t move my hands from the top of his head where a snowball melted underneath. Our laughter died off as we stared into each other’s eyes and caught our breath. “Friends again?” I asked. It took another moment before he responded and when he did, he said, “Yeah, something like that.” For once, I didn’t question what he meant. Because it didn’t matter. Moments like this were to be cherished and I would forever hold it close to my borrowed heart. His eyes drifted down over my red frozen hands and soaked clothes as I shivered. “Come on,” he said, grabbing my hand and guiding me toward the street. Confused but curious, I followed. “Where are we going?”

“To my place. You’re freezing and I can’t let you drive home like that.” I should have objected. It was only a few minutes’ drive to the apartment I shared with Leanne. I would have survived. But I was greedy and wanted to spend every minute I could get with Christian. We crossed the street over to his building and took an elevator up to the second floor. Pausing in front of his apartment door, he turned toward me. “There’s something I want to show you but first I need you to cover your eyes.” If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a glint of excitement in Christians eyes but it was also laced with a vulnerability I didn’t understand. Curious, I did as request and covered my eyes as I felt myself being ushered into his apartment by his hand on my lower back. Several steps later, his hands rose to my shoulders as he adjusted my position. “Keep your eyes covered,” he ordered as his hands left my shoulders. His boots thudded against the hardwood as he moved across the room. There was some rustling and then a few moments later he said, “Okay. You can look now.” The sight before me when I uncovered my eyes was so much more than I could have imagined. A perfectly shaped Christmas tree stood in front of the tall arched corner window, filling up its frame. Multicolored lights glowed in the darkened apartment and next to it stood Christian, shoulders hunched, hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans and wearing a hesitant, almost shy smile. “I hung the lights but I was hoping you could help me hang the ornaments.” “Christian…” I slowly crossed the room as I continued to stare up at the tree in awe. The tree was beautiful. But it was the gesture of a man who hated the holidays to put up a Christmas tree that made it difficult to find the right words to express what I was thinking…what I felt. “I thought you hated Christmas?” I asked, pulling my gaze away from the tree to meet his. He shrugged. “I do,” he said, crossing the room, closer to me. “But you don’t.” “You did this for me?” “I did.” Christian reached up to tuck a lock of my damp hair behind my ear. His fingertips lingered for a moment before they moved to brush across my lips. “Because I wanted to see this smile.” I didn’t even realize I was smiling because in that moment, and in spite of my chilled limbs, my heart melted. Never again would a Christmas tree mean so much. In a month, it would be nothing more than sticks with a few lingering needles. But the memory of this moment would last a lifetime. There were no words to express what I was feeling. I stepped forward and reached up on my toes to place a soft lingering kiss on his lips. “Thank you.” “Mmmm, does this mean you’ll help me decorate it?” he asked against my lips. I laughed as I pulled away. “I think that’s a yes.” He smiled a rare full smile and rubbed his hands together. “Good. Let’s get started then.”

Two hours, a shared bottle of wine and several boxes of ornaments hung later, we found ourselves sitting on Christians couch admiring our amazing tree decorating skills. I was curled up in one of Christian’s sweatshirts and pair of sweatpants he let me borrow while my clothes dried. They were much too large on my small frame but I didn’t care. The material was worn and soft and it smelled of

Christian’s laundry detergent and spicy cologne. “How can you not like Christmas?” I asked for what felt like the thousandth time, not expecting an answer. Christian was quiet but I could feel him looking at me. Pulling my gaze away from the tree, I turned toward him. His sky-blue eyes seemed a turbulent gray, speaking to a sadness I had always sensed about him but until now, had no clue how deep it ran. He reached for my hand and began toying with my fingertips. “I was married once,” he began. “She was my high school sweetheart. We were young, got married right before I entered boot camp.” He paused for a moment before clearing his throat and continuing. “The following year, Jolene and I found out we were expecting our first child.” Christian’s lips tilted up in a sad smile. “A girl. We named her Anna Marie after her mother and mine. Jolene’s baby bump had just begun to show when I had to leave for a yearlong tour. She was out on Black Friday shopping when her water broke – almost a full two months before she was due. I wasn’t there for her for most of her pregnancy. I wasn’t there for her for all the doctor’s visits and late night cravings. I wasn’t there for her when the baby started kicking. I wasn’t there for her through all the aches and pains she feared meant something was wrong. I wasn’t there for her for the ten-hour labor and delivery.” He looked up and met my gaze. “And I wasn’t there to see my baby girl for the brief 15 minutes she was alive.” “Oh Christian…” I squeezed his hand, wanting to say something to comfort him but the emotion welling up inside of me made it difficult to find the words. Christian looked back down at our interlocked fingers and continued. “While others were going to holiday parties and Christmas shopping, we planned a funeral and buried our daughter. We were both devastated. I tried to swallow my grief so I could be there for Jolene but it was too little too late. When my leave was up, I was shipped back overseas. I wrote letters to Jolene every day. The only response I received was a couple days before Christmas. It was a letter from Jolene letting me know she was filing for divorce. I was thousands of miles away and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.” He leaned his head back against the couch and turned toward me. “That’s why I hate the holidays.” A sad smile spread across my face. As much as I wanted to ease the pain he obviously still felt, I knew there were no words I could say that would give back what he had lost. The loss of a child is something I couldn’t imagine. To lose the love of his life as well at a time he probably needed her most made the tragedy that much more heartbreaking. Nothing could change what happened. All I could offer was my wish for him to reclaim the one thing lost, should he find it again. “Well I hope someday you’re able to take back Christmas.”

Eve “I want to hear every detail.” Leanne demanded as soon as I entered our apartment, hours later. But her tone quickly turned from excitement to concern. “Evie? What happened? You look like somebody took away your puppy.” With a sigh, I tossed my keys on the entryway table and kicked off my shoes. “Nothing. It was… great.” “Great?” Leanne asked, with a raised brow. “It was. He put up a Christmas tree. We spent the evening drinking wine and decorating it,” I said, moving down the hall toward my bedroom. Leanne followed. “Wow. That does sound…great.” Her brows pulled together in confusion. “So why the sullen look?” Still wearing the sweats I borrowed from Christian, I tossed my work clothes into the laundry basket in my closet. “He also finally told me why he hates the holidays.” “Oh.” Leanne’s face twisted in a sympathetic wince. “That bad?” I dropped down on my bed with a sigh. “Yeah. That bad.” Leanne crossed the room and sat down next to me. “Did you tell him about…” I was already shaking my head before she finished her sentence. I knew she was referring to my surgery. “I couldn’t.” “Evie, you’re going to have to tell him.” “I know.” I turned to look at her. “And I will. I just couldn’t do it tonight.” “I guess I don’t understand how you haven’t told him already. You’ve always been very open about it.” Leanne was right. My heart condition – particularly post-surgery – was something I never hid. To me it was just part of my stats – age, height, weight, hair color, eye color, college major…cross to bear. My eyes drifted down to where I had twisted my fingers together in my lap. “I like him, Leanne.

He doesn’t look at me like I’m a porcelain doll that’s going to fall apart if somebody sneezes in my vicinity. I like that when I’m spending time with him, I’m not thinking about my condition. I can’t remember the last conversation I’ve had with someone where my surgery or my health hasn’t come up at least once. We don’t talk about medications or doctor’s appointments. I have fun with him. I can relax around him and just enjoy life without it being overshadowed with my complicated reality.” “But Evie…” Leanne said, reaching over to grab my hand in hers. “It is your reality. And if you want him to be a part of it, you have to tell him.”

Christian “Dude! Are you smiling?” Tony asked as I sat down at the bar a few days later. The incredulous look on his face spoke volumes to the miserable fuck I must have come across as over the past year. Normally it would make me defensive, but I wasn’t about to let anyone ruin the good mood I was in. “Christmas magic must be alive and well,” I said, spreading my arms out wide. “Which means, there’s still hope for you to land that friend of Eve’s. You know, if you magically grow a set and ask her out. Miracles do happen.” Tony shook his head at me, chuckling. “Your usual then?” “Yep.” I looked around the restaurant as Tony grabbed a beer from the cooler. “Where is Eve anyway?” He slid the bottle across to me. “She’s not working until later. There’s a party coming in tonight.” I was so anxious to see her that I completely forgotten she had told me about the change in her schedule the night before while we were exchanging texts. “What’s going on between you two anyway?” Tony asked. “We’re…friends,” I hedged, not about to get into a heart to heart with Tony. Friendship was one of many, many things I wanted to be ‘going on between’ me and Eve. Tony didn’t need the details. Tony pinned me with a doubtful look. “Friends?” “That’s right. Friends.” He nodded as he grabbed a towel and began to wipe down the bar. “Okay, even though you two are just friends, I’m just going to put this out there anyway. Be good to her, man. I think we both can agree she’s been through enough shit in her life that she deserves it. So just…be good to her.” While I agreed, Eve did deserve somebody to treat her right, my curiosity latched on to one small part of Tony’s comment. “What do you mean, enough shit in her life?” He looked at me like I was dense. “The heart transplant?” “Heart transplant?” I repeated. Maybe I was dense because this was the first I was hearing about

it. “Yeah. The heart transplant she received last year?” When I said nothing in response, Tony must have caught on that I had no idea what he was talking about. “She didn’t tell you?” A strange yet familiar pain began to build in my chest. Along with it, the realization that if I didn’t know this big, huge thing about Eve then it meant I didn’t really know her at all. Irrational jealousy that Tony did know this about her while I was left in the dark, joined into the tailspin I feared just begun. Tony must not have picked up on the internal struggle he set in motion because he continued. “I’m sorry, man. Everyone around here knows. I just figured…” Everyone. Everyone knew. Except me. “Yeah well, I didn’t.” I said with a calm I didn’t feel. The good mood I had been in was now gone. “Care to clue me in?” “I don’t know. I think this is a conversation you two should have. If Eve didn’t tell you, there must be a reason why.” “Please…just tell me.” Tony hesitated for several long moments, studying me for I don’t know what. Finally, I had to assume he saw how important Eve had become to me and how important it was to me to know. “All I know is that she’s had a heart condition since birth. She’s had surgeries over the years but they only served as temporary fixes to buy her time. It got to the point there was nothing else they could do but put her on the list for a transplant. It took a toll on her other organs and she got really sick.” Tony paused as if he were choosing his words carefully. “We all thought last Christmas would be her last.” Just when I thought the pain in my chest couldn’t worsen, it did.

Later that night I sat in bed with a bottle of Jack and my laptop. I ignored calls and texts from Eve while I read every article and study I could find about heart transplants. Google really was my friend. It told me things my friend Eve clearly didn’t think I could handle. It told me things about life expectancy after one year, five years but very little past ten years. It told me about statistics, quality of life, antirejection medications she would need to take forever and the lowered immune system those medications would cause. With each bit of information my new friend gave, I could feel the wall around my heart Eve busted through, involuntarily snap back into place. Maybe Eve was right to keep this from me. Because I wasn’t sure I could handle the thought of losing her too.

Eve “Is Christian in?” I asked when I stepped up to the receptionist’s desk. Debbie, a middle aged woman who sometimes stopped into Hemlock bistro for lunch, gave her usual warm smile and reached for the receiver on her phone. “He is. I’ll let him know you’re here.” I milled about in the lobby for several minutes before Christian appeared from around the corner, face blank but nervously rubbing the back of his neck. I smiled to try to put him at ease. Tony let me know he told Christian about my heart transplant and apologized profusely for doing so. I didn’t blame him. There was no way he could have known I hadn’t told Christian yet. I texted Christian countless times and called, leaving voicemail apologies over the last week. I received no response. I could understand why he would be upset but I didn’t know if it was because I hadn’t told him about my condition or because my condition was a problem for him. Even though I may not know exactly why he pulled away from me, in my heart it didn’t matter. In the short time we spent together, Christian touched my life in a way not many have. He didn’t make me feel fragile. He made me feel like I could make a difference in another’s life much like so many have done for me. Strength came in many forms – physical, mental, emotional, the strength of a smile or laugh or the immeasurable strength of the heart. I vowed to not live with regret. I had to have faith my sadness would pass or that if something more was meant to be between us, it would unfold as it should. I had no room in my heart for anger, resentments or even fear this would be the last time we would meet. All I could do was value the time we did spend together. “Hi,” I said as he approached. “Eve…hi. I…uh…wasn’t expecting you.” He looked uncomfortable and I didn’t want him to feel that way. “I just wanted to stop by to give you this,” I said, handing over the small book I brought with me. A big red bow was the only giftwrap I felt the gift needed. “The Precious Present by Spencer Johnson M.D.,” He read off the cover. His brows pulled down in confusion as he looked from the book then toward me.

“Yeah. It’s my Christmas gift to you. My mother gave me a copy years ago and the story kind of stuck with me. So, I wanted to pass it along to you. I think it might help you find your happiness. Read it.” I shrugged. “Or don’t. I just…wanted you to have it.” When I lifted my eyes back up to meet his, he looked pained. “Eve… I know I owe you an explanation.” With a smile that was much harder to feel than when I first saw him come around the corner into the lobby, I shook my head and took a step back. “Christian, don’t. If whatever caused you to not return calls and texts could be explained away by a simple conversation, then I think that would have happened by now. Which leads me to believe it isn’t something simple or you’re simply not interested. In either case, I can’t pass my time wondering. I won’t. Maybe I’m insane for not demanding answers but that’s not why I came here. I came here because I wanted to let you know, I’m glad I met you.” As silence stretched between us, I began to move toward the door. “Anyway, that’s all I came here for. If you ever are ready to have that conversation, you know where to find me.”

Christian The book Eve gave me earlier in the day, lay on the floor beside where I sat against my couch staring up at the Christmas tree I put up just to make her smile. My darkened apartment was only illuminated by multi-colored lights as snow slowly drifted down through the night sky beyond. I replayed through my mind the way she looked that night. The way she seemed to get emotional at the sight of the tree. As much as it made me happy to see her smile, at the time I didn’t fully understand what the tree meant to her. Now I did. It hadn’t taken long to read the book Eve gifted to me. I wondered if she knew she had given me the one answer I hadn’t been able to find in all my internet searches? The story was simple yet was something most people took for granted every day. What mattered was this moment. Every moment. With or without her heart condition, neither of us are guaranteed a tomorrow. I found I was asking myself those big cosmic questions. Was it our pasts that brought us together? It made me think maybe there was something to the instant connection I felt with Eve that first time I saw her on Black Friday. I let the sonogram picture of my baby girl I was looking at moments ago, slip through my fingers back into the cigar box on my lap. I had kept it there along with my dog tags and the last letter I received from Jolene letting me know she wanted a divorce. They would always be a part of the man I am today but that didn’t mean Eve couldn’t become part of my tomorrow. Tethering myself to my past only kept me from living in the present and looking forward to my future. And I wanted that future to start right now. I had no idea if Eve would want anything to do with me after how I treated her. But I knew I would regret it forever if I didn’t try. There was one person I hoped would guide me. So, that is where I began.

Eve Christmas Eve had always been a big deal in my family. My mother enjoyed decorating for the holidays and usually went overboard to make my childhood home feel warm and inviting as well as look like something out of a Christmas decorating catalog. A fire crackled in the fireplace in the living room. Green garland with white twinkle lights adorned the mantle while a Christmas village with fluffy white cotton snow sat on top. From silver candlesticks to large ornamental wreaths and free standing reindeer, snowmen and carolers, wherever my eyes traveled, the beauty of Christmas could be seen. “Dinner’s ready!” The announcement from my mother summoned everyone to the dining room. My brother and his wife took their seats while my father took his and my mother set the last platter on the gold table runner. I set a basket of rolls down and took my seat as well as I looked around at my family. I was momentarily struck by the sincere smiles on everyone’s faces, the easy laughter and the genuine happiness. It was such a contrast to how I remember last Christmas. Bundled up to offset the chill caused by my failing heart, the year before I could only watch while others took over my normal duties of helping my mother cook and set the table. I smiled to ease their worry. They smiled out of determination to make the holiday positive and special. Because we were all ignoring the elephant in the room that it was supposed to be my last. The doorbell rang to interrupt my thoughts. I glanced around the room wondering who could possibly be stopping by on Christmas Eve when my whole family was already here? Before my mother had a chance to rise from her seat, I stood and moved toward the door. “I’ll get it.” The sight that greeted me on the other side of the front door was something I would never forget. Sky blue eyes met mine while big puffy white snowflakes fell to dampen Christian’s hair. He had a white dress shirt on under his black coat with a red and green silk tie around his neck. I was dumbstruck as I looked at him from head down to his work boots then back up just in time to see a hesitant smile pull at

the corner of his full lips. “Hi.” “Hi,” I breathed out, still speechless to find him on my parents’ front door step. “What are you doing here?” “It’s Christmas Eve.” He shrugged. “I came to give you this.” Christian handed over a large gold gift bag I hadn’t realized he was holding. Hesitantly, I took it. “What’s this?” I looked from the bag over to him. “How did you know where to find me?” He shrugged as he shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “I stopped by your apartment and Leanne told me you were here.” He gave another shrug. “I may have bribed her to give me your parent’s address but it was worth it.” Inclining his head toward the bag, he urged, “Open it.” “Come on in.” I opened the door wider and stepped back to allow him to enter. “Evie,” my mother’s voice rang out as she stepped out into the foyer. “Who is it?” Her eyes widened when they landed on Christian. “Oh…is this the young man you were telling me about?” Heat from embarrassment, rushed to my face. When I glanced over at Christian, his head was bowed but I could tell he was biting the corner of his lip to keep from smiling. “Uh…” I turned toward my mother. “Mom, this is Christian. Christian, this is my mom.” “Nice to meet you.” He reached over and shook my mother’s hand. “I apologize for interrupting your evening. I just wanted to give Eve her gift.” “It’s quite all right. You are welcome to join us for dinner.” I sighed and shot my mom a look I hoped conveyed my wish she would leave the room. “Anyway, I’ll leave you two be. It’s nice to meet you, Christian.” Ah, message received! “Open it,” Christian once again urged when my mother returned to the dining room. The bag was oddly heavy as I took a seat on the bench by the door and balanced it on my lap. Reaching in, I pulled out a large plastic case and laughed when I saw it was the car safety kit Christian bought on Black Friday. “Would you consider it heartfelt now?” I turned to look at him as he took the seat next to me. “It reminds me of the first day we met. So, yeah.” He smiled and motioned toward the bag. “There’s more.” I reached in and pulled out the next item. “Sheets?” “If I recall correctly, you are the one who said those would make for a heartfelt gift.” A laugh erupted from my chest. “That I did.” “I have one more gift for you,” he said, reaching into his inside coat pocket. Pulling out a black square box, he handed it over. I took it and slowly lifted the lid. Inside a gold heart ornament sparkled against black velvet. The words “First Christmas 2016” were inscribed across the center. Lifting it out of the box, I admired the way the multi colored lights from the Christmas tree reflected off its surface and the intricate curves of the inscription. My eyes shot over to meet Christians, unsure what this gift was supposed to mean. It was beautiful and thoughtful. But I was still confused over the distance he had put between us. My heart raced with hope. But my defenses had me shooting out a dismissive joke to hide it. “How…festive of you.” His brows pulled together in a frown. “You don’t like it?” My humor died. “Christian, it’s beautiful. I love it. I’m just confused on what it means.” He raised his hand to my cheek where his thumb stroked gently. “A very wise, infinitely strong, beautiful woman gave me the best present and I want to start enjoying it now, with her, by first taking back Christmas.” Still clutching the ornament, Christian took my hand. “This is your first Christmas with your new heart and I want this to be our first Christmas together too. This is me offering you my damaged heart

if you’re willing to take it.” My eyes filled with tears as his words and what they meant sank in before I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. The sadness weighing me down over the past week, instantly melted away. His arm wrapped around me, holding me tight. “Is that a yes?” he murmured into my shoulder where he was nuzzling my neck. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, Christian. I’ll take it. It’s the only thing I wished for this year.”



R.J. Loom was born and raised along the shores of Lake Erie in Ohio, where she still resides with her husband, two children and two spoiled dogs. She loves books, music, travel and anyone with a great sense of humor. When she’s not writing, she can be found with her nose in a book, looking for more books to add to her “to-be-read” pile or spending time with her family. To learn more, please visit R.J. at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/RJLoom112 Twitter: @RJLoom Website: www.rjloom.com











Text and Story Copyright © 2016 by Janet A. Mota Books All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.



Maya “Why do you have to be so difficult?” Cora asks me with so much exaggeration. I love my best friend but she can be such a drama queen sometimes. In her defense though, I am being difficult. She wants to go to Disney World for her birthday but I’m resisting. How much fun could we possibly have at Disney World? “I’m sorry Cora. I just don’t understand why you want to go there for your birthday.” I say and she laughs. “Because it’s the happiest place on earth and I want to go to a place where I can feel like a kid again. I have been so stressed lately and I don’t want to think. Disney World is the best place to go to achieve that.” Her excitement in palpable and I giggle. “Okay, I get it. I can’t remember the last time I was there and you’re right about it being stress free.” I will admit that a part of me is wanting to go. A stress free place is just what I need too. “So you’re in?” She asks with a huge grin on her face. “Yes, I’m in.” I say and she jumps off my couch and hugs me. “Thank you!” She lets go of me and skips to the front door. She pulls her purse off the hook. “I have to go and pack. We’re leaving tomorrow as soon as we get out of work. I will pick you up at your office.” She leaves without giving me the chance to respond. I laugh at her excitement. I go into my bedroom and grab an overnight bag. I start packing for my trip when my phone beeps. I pick it up and look at it. It’s a text from Cora. Cora: Hey! My brother and his friend are tagging along. I have made all the reservations. I’m so excited. Me: Okay. See you tomorrow. I think about Cora’s brother, Lucas, and feel my cheeks get hot. Cora and I have been friends since kindergarten and I have been attracted to Lucas since. I’ve always had a crush on him but never said

anything to Cora or anyone for that matter. Although the crush was there, I never thought anymore about Lucas. He never showed any interest either so I just look at him. When the phrase ‘tall, dark and handsome’ was thought up, Lucas was the poster boy. He has a dark complexion, which comes from his mother who is of Native American heritage. His father is a Texas cowboy and they own a farm here in Jacksonville, Florida. Lucas is the business manager of the farm and has taken on most of the business. Lucas is about six foot two inches and almost two hundred fifty pounds of pure muscle. The man is sexy, smart and has a heart of gold. Cora, Lucas and their parents are the best people I know and I’m honored to consider them family. My parents died in a plane crash when I was four years old. My grandmother raised me and she was wonderful. She died when I was just shy of eighteen. Cora and her family were there for me and guided me through all that ugliness. I love them like they are my own parents and I can’t imagine life without them. They make my life complete and I don’t feel like an orphan. When I was thinking of buying my townhouse, Mr. Moore came over and inspected the place himself. He made sure that it was safe before he let me make an offer. He’s old school and I love him. Mrs. Moore brought over food when I moved in that fed me for a month before I had to cook. They are such an amazing family. I miss my grandmother like crazy every day but I can’t imagine my life without the Moores. My phone beeps again and I look at the screen. Cora: Mom and Dad are so excited you agreed to go. A smile creeps across my face. They know I’m the level-headed one and are now more relaxed since they know I will be going with Cora. They know how crazy their daughter can be and they constantly worry. Lucas is the responsible one but they want both of their kids to settle down. I thought Lucas was going to marry his last girlfriend but she disappeared from the picture soon thereafter. Lucas has always had a lot of girlfriends so I never questioned if they broke up. This last breakup surprised me though. He looked so happy together.

Maya Cora and I check in at the hotel and are standing in the lobby of Disney’s Contemporary Resort. It’s absolutely beautiful and I love watching the monorail come through it. The Christmas decorations make it look even more beautiful than normal. Disney sure does go all out for the holidays. Cora was right. I feel like a little kid again and I’m so glad she decided she wanted to come here to celebrate her thirtieth birthday. I made reservations for tonight at the hotel’s restaurant for her celebration dinner. It would only be the four of us but I was going all out. Cora certainly didn’t spare any expense on our accommodations. She insisted on paying for our hotel rooms since she works for the hotel chain. “Hello there, ladies.” I hear from behind me and slowly turn around. There is no mistaking that sexy voice. Lucas and his friend are standing there with goofy grins on their faces. I smile slowly at the sight in front of me. Both men are gorgeous but Lucas is looking finer than ever. I look away and check to make sure I wasn’t drooling. Cora hugs her brother and gives his friend a knockout smile. They make eyes at each other until Lucas speaks up. “Stop it you two or wait until later.” He says and rolls his eyes. “This is my friend Carter Hughes. Carter, this is my sister Cora and our friend Maya.” He looks at me and smiles. “Hi Maya.” He leans over and kisses my cheek. I immediately feel the blush on my cheeks. “It’s nice to meet you ladies.” Carter says and we shake hands. “Hi Lucas. It’s nice to see you. How long has it been?” I ask him, knowing very well that it’s been about three years since we last really saw each other. Lately, it’s been in passing. “Three years. If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were avoiding me.” “No, of course not. Life just got in the way. I apologize for that.” I say and avert my gaze. He makes me nervous. His sexiness is way out of my league. “I understand.” He says. Cora hands him a set of keycards. “I have checked you in. Here are your keys.” She smiles big. “Let’s go up to our rooms and freshen up. Maya made dinner reservations at Spike.” We all agree and head toward the elevators. A

few minutes later, Cora and I enter our room with Lucas and Carter a few doors down.

Dinner was a lot of fun. We gave Cora her birthday gifts and cut a cake for her. It was something special to see her so happy. It looks like Carter and Cora hit it off because they decide to go to Downtown Disney and go clubbing. They leave shortly after dinner. Lucas and I hang out at the hotel bar and listen to the live band play. They are quite good and some people do some dancing. We sit and catch up. “So, tell me, why the divorce?” He asks. I set my glass of white wine down on the small table and take a deep breath. I look over at him and he takes a swig of his beer. “I turned him gay.” Lucas spits out his beer and starts to cough. “What?” He says as he continues to cough. “I turned him gay.” I repeat. Lucas stares at me a second and then starts laughing hysterically. “Sweetheart, you’re either gay or not. You can’t turn someone gay.” He says when he can finally speak. “Well, he left me for a man. That doesn’t sit very well on my ego.” I say. “Asshole.” “What?” I stare at him. Did he just call me an asshole? “He’s an asshole for marrying you when he knew he was gay. It was a shitty thing to do to you. I’m sorry he hurt you like that and that you had to suffer through that. You didn’t deserve that.” “Thank you. It hurt like crazy to know that I grossed him out whenever he touched me. Now that I think back, I should have figured it out when sex just wasn’t something he was into. I usually initiated it and always expected it to be a turn down.” I look at the band to avoid looking at Lucas. I can feel his eyes on me. I said too much. Damn wine. Now he’s going to feel sorry for me and I don’t want that. “You are a beautiful woman. You are a very sexy woman and any man would give his left nut to be with you. Not only are your looks spectacular but you are brilliant. You’re a catch Maya. If a man is stupid enough to not see it then he’s not worth your time.” I look at him then. I can see that he means everything he just said. “Thank you.” I whisper. “Thank you is not necessary. I’m just stating the truth.” “Why didn’t you ever get married?” I ask as I change the subject off of me. I never expected him to say what he just said and I am stunned by his words. Lucas is a man of few words and he has never said anything like that to me before. “There is only one woman for me. No others ever compared. I can’t and won’t marry anyone that isn’t her.” “Have you told her?” I ask. “No.” “Well, how do you expect to ever marry this girl if she doesn’t know how you feel?” I’m intrigued on who it could be. I’ve seen Lucas with two girls in particular. I must admit, I would get jealous whenever I saw him with them. “She’s a few years younger than me. When she was finally at an age where I could approach her,

she started dating this guy. She seemed happy so I backed off.” I watch as regret floods his eyes. “That sucks. I’m sorry you have to go through that too. I still think that you should tell her. I believe that she needs to know.” I say as I look back at the band. I can’t help but wonder whom this mystery girl is. I’ll have to ask Cora about it later. Knowing Lucas, Cora doesn’t know either. “I think you’re right. She definitely needs to know.” I look at him and smile wryly. “Can you tell me who it is? My interest is peeked.” He chuckles. The band starts to play “Lonely Tonight” by Blake Shelton. He smiles at me and stands. “Dance with me.” He says and reaches his hand out to me. “You’re avoiding the question.” I say as I place my hand in his. The jolt that flows through my hand and up my arm takes me by surprise and I almost pull my hand back. “I promise to answer the question once we start dancing.” He says and leads me to the dance floor. Once there, he places his hand on the small of my back and pulls me close to him. His hand still grips mine. I place my other hand on his shoulder and can feel his breath on my ear. “Are you ready to find out who it is?” I can’t help the shudder that runs through my body. My body comes alive with his touch. The attraction for him has always been there but I never imagined that his touch would affect me so intently. “Yes.” I whisper. He pulls me closer and my heartbeat hitches up a notch. “It’s you.” He whispers in my ear. I pull back some and look into his eyes. “You are the woman I want to be with. I always have.”

Lucas Maya just stares at me and I’m starting to panic. I thought that she would be ready to hear my confession but I might have been wrong. I can’t read the expression on her face. What the hell is she thinking? “Say something.” I plead as I break eye contact and bring her in closer. She feels so perfect in my arms and I never want to let her go. Her body molds to mine so perfectly. “I can’t believe it. Me? Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” She asks. I can hear the apprehension in her voice and I need to make her understand why I kept my feelings from her. I’ve kept it bottled up for so long and now I need to let it out. “The first time I laid eyes on you is a day I’ll never forget. You were, and still are, the most beautiful girl I ever saw. I knew that you were the one for me but I also knew that you were young. I wasn’t about to stop you from living your life. You were sixteen and I was twenty-two. I was looking for a wife at that point and you hadn’t even been on a first date. I wanted you to experience life before I told you how I felt.” I look at her face and see a tear escape. She wipes it away quickly. “I get it but it could have saved us a whole lot of heartache.” She says. A sliver of hope fills my chest and I continue. “We both needed to experience what we did. We learned some great lessons and we now know what we want out of life.” The song ends and she steps away from me. We are standing in the middle of the dance floor just staring at each other. “I’ve always had such a crush on you. “ She simply says and gives me a small smile. I lead her back to our table. We sit and continue our conversation. I’m thanking my lucky stars Cora and Carter decided to leave us and go off on their own. “Do you think there’s a chance for us?” I ask. I decide to put it all out there. If she’s going to crush my heart, I would rather it be done quickly. She looks at me. “I think so.” She says and that was the end of that conversation. Cora’s voice interrupts us. I

wince. I didn’t even see her approach. I’m guessing Maya didn’t either since she startled at her voice. I need this conversation to end on a better note. It can’t end like this. There are too many things left unsaid. “Hey guys!” Cora says. “Hi. You’re back early.” I say, a little irritated by the interruption. “It’s three in the morning.” Cora says and chugs the rest of my beer. “Oh shit!” I say, glancing at my watch. Maya chuckles. “I didn’t realize it was so late. I’m sorry, Maya, if I kept you up.” “You didn’t. I was having a great time.” She says and smiles at me. My heart soars at those words. “I’m so glad you were enjoying each other’s company because I am going to be spending the next couple of nights with Carter. You both will be roomies.” Cora says. “What?” Maya and I say in unison. Cora and Carter start laughing. Are they drunk? “Cora, you just met him. Do you think that’s a good idea?” Maya asks Cora. I look at Carter. “Dude, that’s my sister.” I say through gritted teeth. I want to punch him and hug him at the same time. “I know and I’m sorry. I really like her and want to be with her. I think we have something man. I promise I won’t hurt her or disrespect her in any way.” Carter says. He’s a great guy and my best friend. If my sister is going to be with anyone, I would rather it be with someone I trust. “Fine. I don’t want to hear anything about it.” I say and he nods his understanding. Cora and Maya are whispering to each other and I can’t hear anything. A minute later, Maya hands me a key card. “Come on, Cora. Let’s get your bag from the room. We all need to get some sleep.” Maya says and starts heading toward the elevator. I pull out the key card from my pocket and hand it to Carter. He nods and we all follow Maya. I have no idea how this is going to work but I’m thrilled to be able to spend some more time with Maya. I am planning on finishing the conversation we were having.

I look around the room. Maya is standing by the door watching me. “Have you picked a bed yet?” I ask to break the awkwardness. “I don’t care. You pick.” She says as she walks further into the room. I sit on the bed closest to me and she stands in front of me. “If this is too weird for you, I’ll go down and see if there are any other rooms available.” I offer. The last thing I want is for her to be uncomfortable around me. “There is no need for that. I just don’t know what’s next for us in light of the conversation we just finished having.” She shrugs. “There is no formula for what happens next. We control it. We set the pace.” I say and she gives me a smile. My heart melts at the smile. This girl has always been able to do that to me. My knees go weak and I love that smile. “Okay. I’m going to shower and we need to get some sleep.” She heads toward her bag and starts

to rummage through it. I watch her. She’s nervous and it’s adorable. She finds what she’s looking for and goes into the bathroom. I hear the water turn on and take a deep breath. She doesn’t know how to act around me and I need to change that. I stand and remove my shoes. I grab the remote off the table in the middle of the two beds and turn on the television. As I’m flipping through channels, I hear the water turn off. I find Big Bang Theory on and start to watch it as Maya comes out of the bathroom. She’s wearing black sweatpants and a black tshirt. I never thought that it could be sexy, but on Maya, it’s sexy as hell. Her long brown hair is up in a messy knot at the top of her head. I can’t take my eyes off of her. “Fair warning, I am going to take another one in the morning. Well, I guess in a few hours.” She says and it breaks the spell she has on me. I smile and stand. “I always take a shower at night and in the morning. It’s just another thing we have in common.” I tell her as I get what I need for my shower. I can feel her eyes on me as I walk into the bathroom.

Maya I am trying to sleep but I can’t. I’m exhausted but keep thinking of Lucas lying in the other bed. The lights are off but the glow from the television. I turned my back to him so he can’t see my face. I nearly passed out when I saw him come out of the bathroom in only sweatpants. I’ve only seen him without a shirt from afar. His chest is spectacular up close. I had this overwhelming urge to run my hands all over him. I had to sit on my hands to stop myself. I close my eyes and try to shake the image. No such luck. “I can’t sleep.” I blurt out. “Is it the TV? I can turn it off.” He says. “No. That doesn’t bother me.” I roll my eyes at myself. I’m such an idiot. “Then what is it?” I can tell by his tone that he’s genuinely concerned. I take a moment and contemplate on if I want to tell him what I’m really thinking. I decide to go for it and see what happens. “You are too far away.” I say in a slight whisper. Lucas doesn’t say anything and my heart is practically beating out of my chest. The TV shuts off and I feel the bed dip. I feel him come up behind me. He spoons me. “Is this better?” He whispers in my ear. I nod my answer and he grips me tighter. “I’m definitely going to sleep well tonight.” I close my eyes and drift off to sleep. Morning comes quickly. The alarm goes off at seven. I feel the weight of Lucas’ arm around my waist and a smile forms. I slept all night in this man’s arms. Never, in a million years, did I ever imagine this would happen. I’m beyond thrilled that we are going to try a relationship. It’s almost surreal. I love knowing that his family are the only people in the world right now that are my family. Lucas knows all the bad that has come into my life and he’s aware of how I feel about it all. I take comfort in knowing that he wants me in spite of all that. I have baggage and he doesn’t give a crap. I feel him stir but don’t look behind me. I’m savoring as much as I can before we have to get up and get ready.

“Good morning.” He says in a sexy, raspy morning voice. “Good morning. I hope you slept well.” I say, my nerves taking over again. “Better than I have the last few years.” He gets closer and whispers in my ear. “I guess all I needed was you next to me.” I feel the flush on my face. “Same goes for me.” I admit. “Unfortunately, we have to get ready to go. We are meeting Cora and Carter at seven thirty.” He groans and I giggle.

Walt Disney World is so much fun. The Christmas decorations around the park make it so magical. The four of us have had a great time together. It’s obvious how much Cora and Carter feel about each other, even in the short amount of time. They complement each other perfectly. Lucas is comfortable with the situation because he trusts Carter. He also knows better than to get involved in Cora’s relationships. I can see that he’s happy for his sister and his best friend. They are cute together and I’m happy for Cora. She deserves a good man. She has dated some real tools lately. Lucas has tried to get involved in some of Cora’s relationships and it only made things worse for her. Now, he watches from the sidelines hoping nothing comes of them. He smiles as he watches them playfully interact with each other. Lucas and I exchange glances throughout the day and even held hands some of the time. It all feels so right. Cora winks at me when she sees our hands linked. It’s like she’s known this whole time that Lucas and I were right for each other. I know it may sound creepy or weird but I don’t want him out of my sight ever again. I got a taste of being with him and now I’m stuck. I’m not the clingy sort of girl and I won’t do that to him but I want him close to me as much as possible. We haven’t kissed yet or shared any more intimate moments. We haven’t been alone and that’s sucked. I’m dying to have an intimate moment with him. I’ve imagined every possible scenario and so far, we haven’t had one other than in our room. It’s now ten in the evening and the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom are about to start. The four of us are watching the show and dancing to the rocking music playing. The boom of the fireworks startles me and Lucas puts his arm around my shoulder. “I’ve had an amazing day.” He says. “Me too. I feel like a kid again. I didn’t think about work or anything stressful. I needed this and I’m so glad I decided to come. Cora was right but don’t tell her I said that.” He laughs. “I didn’t either. I did think about you all day though and how much I enjoy being with you. Thank you for not laughing in my face at the thought of us. I was so scared you would brush me off.” He kisses the top of my head and I can feel the butterflies taking flight in my belly. I look up at him and smile. He smiles back and leans down. His lips lightly brush mine and a tingle travels down my spine. It was barely a peck but it left me with the most wonderful sensations. I want to taste and feel this man on every level. My body is craving him. I hope I have the same effect on him. I refuse to be in another relationship where I have to look and ask for affection. I’m not needy but I need to know I am loved. Isn’t it normal to want to be with person you love? I don’t know what that’s like and find myself questioning what a real relationship is like. “You’re beautiful.” He says. “I want to give you a real kiss later, if that’s okay.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” I respond and I place my arm around his waist. We watch the rest of the show cuddled up together. That simple embrace makes me feel wanted and safe. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes between us.

Lucas It’s nearly one in the morning when we finally make it back to our hotel room. What a great day. I was reluctant to come because it’s Disney World but I’ve had a great time being a kid again. I enjoyed the rides, shows and the company. It was the perfect stress reliever. The best part was having Maya by my side and knowing that we are taking a chance on us. I’m excited to see what the future holds for us. I know Cora is happy that we are together and my parents are going to hit the roof when I tell them. They love Maya like a daughter and have hounded me countless times to ask her out. I couldn’t keep my feelings from my family. They read me like a book and figured out how much I cared for her before I did. I open the door and take a step back to allow Maya to go first. She steps into the room and I follow, closing and locking the door behind me. She sits on the bed and removes her sneakers. “My poor feet are so tired.” She says and I chuckle. “Mine too. How many times do you think we walked that park?” “Around six. Cora is a nut.” I nod in agreement. “I’m so glad she’s enjoying her birthday. Do you think we can do this again tomorrow? We’re going to Epcot.” “I sure hope so.” We laugh and she stands. She goes to her bag and starts rummaging through it. She finds a tank top and shorts. When she stands, I’m right behind her. She freezes and I run my hands down her arms. I feel the goosebumps form and smile. I love that I have that effect on her. “Turn around, love.” She does what I ask and looks up at me. A small smile plays on my lips and I lean in. She closes her eyes and my lips touch hers. It’s a slow gentle kiss at first. My lips molding to hers. I need to taste her. I run my tongue along the seam of her lips and she opens for me. I slowly slip my tongue into her mouth. When our tongues meet, it’s like fire. The kiss becomes fierce and hot. Her hands grasp my shirt and she pulls me closer to her. My hands wrap around her waist and bring her even closer. She tastes like heaven. I’ve kissed many girls but none of them feel like Maya. It’s hot, intense and wild. It’s perfect. When we pull apart, we’re breathless and thirsty for more. We stare into each other’s eyes a

moment before wrapping in another intense kiss. My hands start to roam and they stop on her perfect ass. I want her so damn much. I’ve waited forever for this. I have to keep reminding myself to slow the pace but I can’t help myself. Her hands are in my hair and it’s driving me crazy. I nip her lip before our kiss breaks and I take a step back. “Are you okay?” She asks when she sees me step away from her. Her chest is heaving and I can’t help but look. “I need to take a step back a moment so I can get my composure back. I want you so much but I don’t want to rush anything.” I say quickly and she smiles. “I want you too.” She whispers and I smile at her. “Don’t look at me like that.” “I’m looking at you like this because I’m so happy we are where we are. I’ve waited so long for you. This was all just a dream two days ago. I finally have you in my arms and I’m not letting go. I have no idea how much longer I can wait.” I say, trying to be as honest as I can with her. I don’t want to scare he off but she needs to know how I feel. “Why do we need to wait? It isn’t like we met yesterday. We’ve known each other for years. You know everything about me. I know everything about you.” “You have a really good point.” I say and take a step toward her. She smiles big and walks back until she hits the wall. I start to laugh because she’s teasing me in her own way and I love that she’s being like this. “Are you trying to play hard to get?” “No, just want to spice it up a little.” She winks and I snort with laughter. She always makes me laugh. I lean down and start to kiss her neck. I move my way to her ear. “I’m going to make love to you.” I whisper in her ear and pull her earlobe into my mouth. I suck gently and she purrs. “Holy shit.” She breathes and I smile.

Maya A simple suck on my earlobe leaves me crazy. I’ve heard about a specific spot that turns people on beyond belief and he found mine in five seconds. I can already tell Lucas is going to be amazing in bed. I don’t know where I found the guts to tell him that I didn’t want to wait. There is no good reason to wait. I’m tired of not going for what I want. At this point, even if our relationship doesn’t go anywhere, I don’t want any regrets. If I don’t make love to Lucas tonight, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. The timing is right. I can feel it. He leans his body against mine and kisses me senseless. Our mouths and hands are frantic. My hands go to the hem of his shirt and I slip them under. I place my hands on his chest a few seconds later. He moans into my mouth at the sensations. He pulls away from me and peels off his shirt. He has the most amazing chest. He has a sprinkling of hair that’s just the right amount. I place my hands on his chest again and he growls. “Your touch feels like electricity is running through my veins. I feel so alive.” He leans down and picks me up. He carries me to the bed and lays me down. I sit up quickly and remove my shirt and bra. I

throw them on the floor and look at him. He’s staring like he’s never seen a woman’s chest before. “You are perfect.” “So are you.” I whisper. He crawls onto the bed and his hands go to the button of my jeans. He flicks open the button and pushes the fly down. I lift my hips and he drags my jeans and panties down in one movement. Within seconds, I’m lying naked in front of him. His eyes start at my feet and make their way up to my eyes. “You’re gorgeous.” He says and brings his mouth to mine. He’s hovering over me and it feels incredible. I can feel the hardness of his body and every part me is alive. I want him to touch me. I want to feel him inside of me. I never stopped to think about it because I never allowed myself to but I have always wanted this man. He has always stirred up sexual tension in me with just a look. He climbs off of me and removes the rest of his clothes. He walks over to his bag and removes something from it. I take the moment to admire his ass and damn it’s a nice ass. It’s absolutely the most perfect ass I have ever seen. He turns around and smirks at me. “Like what you see?” He asks. “Very much so but you’re taking too damn long.” I quip. He chuckles and takes two large steps back to the bed. He places what he pulled out of his bag on the night stand. He climbs back onto the bed and kisses me. I feel his hand on my inner thigh and his fingers are climbing quickly. He stops kissing me and pulls back to look into my eyes. When he touches my center, I gasp. I close my eyes and enjoy what his fingers are doing to me. I feel the buildup quickly and release. He catches my moans with his mouth and nestles himself between my legs. When I come down from the high, he smiles at me. He reaches over and grabs a condom. He rips it open and covers himself. He enters me and it’s the most incredible feeling ever. We are one and I can’t help the surge of emotion that flows through me. A tear escapes from my eye as I moan my pleasure. “Oh shit. I knew it would feel amazing but I never expected this.” He whispers and lowers his forehead to mine. His thumb wipes away my tear. He starts to thrust as we stare into each other’s eyes. After a while, I close my eyes and his movements increase. Soon we are both crying out each other’s names as we take each other to heaven.

Maya We are laying wrapped up in each other’s arms. What I just shared with Lucas is something I’ve never experienced with anyone. It’s so hard to explain the feelings running through me. I’m elated that Lucas and I took this step forward and my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest. I just realized something extremely important. I’m in love with Lucas. I always have been but refused to give light to it for fear of rejection. Making love to him opened my eyes to how I’ve always felt for him. “Are you okay?” He asks. “I am.” I say with a big smile on my face. His arms hold me tighter. “You know, you’ve ruined me for all other women.” I look up at him, stunned. He continues, “When I was young, my parents always told me that sex is not making love. They told me that when I make love, I would know it. They were right, as always. I just made love to you and it was incredible.” “You’re right. I feel the same way.” He rolls me so that he’s lying on top of me again. I look up at him. “I’ve had sex before but nothing has ever felt like that before. It was always a quickie. My feelings were never a consideration. But you…” My voice cracks and I blink away the tears. “You made sure that I was taken care of before anything.” I can’t hold the tears anymore and they fall down my cheeks. His thumbs run along my cheeks wiping my tears away. “You will always come first.” He kisses me then and round two begins.

A week later Christmas Eve Maya When we got back from Disney, we sit Lucas’ parents and Cora down. We explain that we decided to make a go of our relationship. They all jump for joy and even said that they were waiting for that news. I couldn’t be happier. Lucas and I adjust quickly into our relationship. In one short week, I can’t even imagine what it was like before him. Cora and I have spent all day in Mrs. Moore’s kitchen getting ready for our Christmas Eve dinner. Mrs. Moore goes all out every year for Christmas, especially since my parents passed. I come out of the guest room dressed in a maroon turtleneck sweater, a black skirt, tights and high heel boots that come up to the knee. I spent a little extra time on my make-up and straightened my hair. I want to look amazing for Lucas and our first Christmas together. I walk into the kitchen and Lucas’ mouth gapes at me. I smile at him and go to him. I kiss his lips lightly. “You look so handsome tonight.” I tell him. He’s wearing dark jeans and a sweater. He actually looks sexy but I won’t say that in front of his parents. He grabs my hand and spins me around. “You look hot.” He says and brings me close to him. “I want to devour you. You are going to kill me before this night is over.” He whispers in my ear and I shiver. I smile at him and feel the blush on my cheeks. We sit and enjoy a delicious dinner, like we do every year. Carter joins us and Cora seems very happy with him. After dinner, we decide to play some games. After some intense games of Uno, we decide to open presents and call it a night. I’m hosting brunch tomorrow and I’m exhausted. Lucas walks over to the tree and grabs a small package from the back of the tree. He walks over to me and hands me the small box. I smile at him and open it. Sitting in a small box is an infinity band ring. It has alternating black and white stones. I look up into Lucas’ eyes. “It’s a promise ring. It’s too soon to get engaged so I decided to go this route until it’s the right time for that. Until then, I would like you to wear this ring. I love you.” He stops a moment before he continues. Tears swell in my eyes as he continues. “I promise to always put you first. I promise to always be there for you. I promise to keep you safe and to take care of you.” The tears fall from eyes freely now. I try to speak but the words don’t come out. I clear my throat and wipe my face. “I love you too and I will wear this ring proudly. I promise you all those things you promised me.” He kisses me before I can take another breath. He doesn’t care that we are in front of his family. The kiss is passionate and intense. When we hear the cat calls and clapping, we break apart and start to laugh. Lucas takes out the ring and places it on my finger. He lifts the box and there is another compartment underneath where the ring sits. He hands it to me and I see a key. I look up at him for an explanation. “Will you move in with me?” He asks. I’m shocked but frantically shake my head. “I will.” I say and giggle. He knows my lease is up in two weeks and he’s been helping me look at apartments this past week. Lucas owns a big house about five minutes from where I live now. Everyone cheers again. Best Christmas ever since before my parents passed away. I wish they could be here for this. They would be so happy for Lucas and I. I link my fingers with Lucas’ while we watch everyone open their gifts.

Lucas One Year Later The past year has been something out of my dreams. Maya and I have had some downs but more ups than I can count. I am completely and utterly in love with her. Every single day, I fall deeper in love with her. I always knew we would be perfect together but I never imagined what we have. She is my everything. She completes me in ways I never knew I needed. I don’t have to tell her when I need her. She just appears and knows that I need her to hold my hand or hug me. She supports me in everything and doesn’t bat at an eyelash doing it. She works hard and is my equal in it all. Since last Christmas, we have moved in together. I own the house we live in. I bought it two years ago and its huge. I can’t wait to fill it with babies. More and more I think about that. There are only two things I want: to make Maya my wife and have a family with her. We have settled into a life together and things are great. My family loves that we are together and I still can’t believe that my best friend and sister are getting married. Carter proposed to Cora about three months ago and they are planning a summer wedding. I’m happy for them. They are great together. It’s Christmas Eve and I have a special gift for my girl. I reach into my pocket and feel the velvet box. I take a deep breath and look around the dinner table. Everyone is happy and enjoying the meal. There is talk about Cora’s wedding and how business is going. Carter and I started a business at the beginning of last year and it’s booming. We have created a state of the art alarm system and people are loving our product. Dinner is done and the girls clear the table. The guys head into the living room and turn on the television. Dad flips through the channels until he finds some Christmas movie. I’m honestly not paying attention but trying to figure out the best time to pop the question. I feel a hand on my shoulder and look up to find Maya smiling down at me. My eyes lock with hers and I see so much love in them. My heart swells at the vision.

“I made you a plate.” She says and hands me a plate of dessert. On the plate are all of my favorites: a slice of apple pie, a chocolate chip cookie and a vanilla cupcake. “Thank you.” I say and pucker my lips. She leans down and kisses me softly. I didn’t realize that Mom had set up the coffee table with the dessert and coffee. Maya makes herself a plate of dessert as well and sits next to me. We eat our desserts and I take our plates to the sink when we’re done. Mom follows me. “Relax.” She whispers to me. “I can’t. I don’t have a plan and I just want it to be perfect.” “Maya will think it’s perfect no matter what you do. You know that.” She pats my cheek. “Come on.” She links her arm with mine and I lead her into the living room.

An hour later, Mom announces that it’s time for presents. I stand to help her pass out the presents. We pass out all of them and I watch as Maya opens all of her gifts. She’s so happy opening her gifts and watching everyone else do the same. I haven’t touched my gifts yet. Maya stands and starts to collect the wrapping paper when I stop her. “Before you clean up, I have one more gift for you to open.” She turns to look at me and smiles. I pull the box out of my pocket and kneel on one knee. She gasps and her hand flies to her mouth. “I love you more than anything in the world. Will you marry me?” Tears stream down her face but the smile is still there. “Yes, of course.” She says and jumps into my arms. My lips find hers and we’re quickly lost in our kiss. Cheers erupt behind us and we break apart laughing. I grab her hand and remove the promise ring that she never takes off. I pull the ring out of the box and place it on her finger. She stares at it for a minute and looks up at me. “It’s gorgeous.” I place the other ring in the empty ring box and put it back in my pocket. I smile at her. “I’m glad you like it.” “I love it. Now I have a special gift for you.” She says and goes into the kitchen. I look at everyone and I can see that no one knows what she’s up to. She comes back and hands me a thin package. I look at her and she points at it. “Open it.” I rip open the package and can see that it’s a picture frame. I flip it around to see what the image is. I freeze when the words ‘Hi Daddy!’ appear. Underneath the words is a black and white picture. Tears swell in my eyes and I look up at her. “You’re pregnant?” I whisper. I want this moment just between us. She nods and more tears fall down her cheeks. I wrap my arms around her. “I love you.” “I love you too.” She says. I let her go and rub my hand on her belly. “I’m so happy right now.” I pull her to me again and hold her tightly. “What is it?” Mom asks. Maya starts to laugh and I join her. I let her go and turn the picture frame around so everyone can see it. They read it and suddenly everyone is on their feet and hugging us. There’s screaming and crying and it’s wonderful. For as long as I live, I’ll never forget this Christmas. Best Christmas ever. Somehow, I know that we will have many more amazing Christmas’.

Janet A. Mota is 38 years old and lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband and two children. She was born and raised in Miami, FL but both of her parents are from Portugal. She was raised like her parents were raised and her first language was Portuguese. She didn’t know English when she started school. Janet has three college degrees and is always striving to make more of herself. Janet works in Construction Law during the day and writes at night. She has been writing for fun since she was 10 years old. Her hobbies include reading, cooking and baking. She loves all things books.

Social Media links and website: Website: www.janetamota.wix.com/mybooks Facebook: www.facebook.com/janetamota Instagram: janetmota1015

Buy links to her books: Unexpected Surprises: Amazon US link: http://amzn.com/B00N08DFO2 Amazon UK link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1500733393

Shattered: Amazon US: http://amzn.com/B00TKOT79M Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TKOT79M

Undeniable: Amazon: http://amzn.com/B013Q4LOTM Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013Q4LOTM

Believe In Love: Amazon: http://amzn.com/B018IS1DXI

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B018IS1DXI

Attraction: Amazon: https://amzn.com/B01GDGX1YG Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01GDGX1YG













Merry Christmas Baby Copyright © 2016 Carissa Porter

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people.

Editor: Melody Dawn

Driving home from a typical Stevens family Thanksgiving, Tommy is quiet, almost too quiet. His chocolate brown eyes are fixed on the road and he is not even looking over at me. I wasn’t too sure about dragging him over to the wonderfully loud and always crazy fiasco that is a holiday with my family. When the Stevens get together it’s never a small occasion. With my brothers, parents, grandparents and tons of aunts and uncles and cousins, it’s bound to be wild. Maybe it would have been better for us to just spend our first Thanksgiving as a married couple at home where it is quiet. I know Tommy is not used to this. He grew up being bounced from one foster home to another. He always told me that holidays just weren’t his thing. In fact, when we first started dating, just over a year ago, we didn’t get to celebrate the holidays together because he was always working. We pull into the driveway of the little one story starter-house we bought right after getting married in September. It really isn’t much, with only three small bedrooms, one of which we use as a den, but it is ours and I love this house so much. We will definitely have to get something bigger once we start our family, which won’t be for a while. We quietly get out of the car, and I grab the bag full of leftovers of everything from turkey and stuffing to a whole pumpkin pie to take inside. Looks like I won’t need to cook for a week. I’m so glad the other women in my family like to cook. It’s just not my thing. Without a word, we enter the house. As I am about to apologize for making him go through all of that, he wraps me in a huge hug and whispers in my ear “Thank you.” I can hear his voice crack a bit when he says this. I look up into his beautiful brown eyes, “For what?” “For giving me my first real Thanksgiving.” I’m speechless. “I thought you were upset that I made you suffer through that, that… craziness! My family can get a bit overwhelming when they all get together.” “I remember from the wedding,” he chuckles, “and I love it. That was like a Norman Rockwell painting on crack. The ladies in your family go all out. The only place I’ve ever seen that much food before was at a buffet restaurant.” His eyes light up as he rubs his belly, “It’s like I have a food baby in here. I’m going to have to hit the gym extra hard this week to get rid of this.”

I rub it too, and say “I kind of like little junior, don’t get rid of him too soon.” Tommy has an amazing body, he is all hard muscles with ripped abs and an ass I just love to watch as he walks out of a room. He grabs me around the waist and begins to tickle me “Oh you like my food baby, do you?” Dropping the bag of leftovers that was still in my hand, I squeal as I break away from him and run down the hall towards the bedroom. He tackles me as we go through the door at the same time and land on the bed, laughing. All of the sudden he turns serious again, and I know that look in his eye, I love that look in his eye. He leans down and plants a soft kiss on my neck “Best.” Kiss “Thanksgiving” Kiss. “Ever”. Kiss. It is at this exact moment I know he is happy and I had not made a bad choice. Later that evening, while he is knocked out on the sofa, I’m sure still suffering from a food and love induced coma, I make up my mind that I am going to make our first Christmas together the best Christmas possible. I send out an emergency text to my besties Cory and Carrie for help pulling it all together. Carrie has such an amazing sense of style; she decorates for the holiday like it’s her sole mission in life to keep Christmas alive. Cory will help keep things light and fun. They are like sisters to me. Cory has been my best friend since we were ten and played softball together for the first time, and Carrie and I bonded while doing a group project for seventh grade language arts. To say they are a big part of my life is an understatement.

It’s three in the morning when I hear Cory’s SUV pull into my driveway. Last night in our texts, Carrie insisted we hit the Black Friday sales as early as possible. I was thinking more around seven or eight in the morning as early. This is the middle of the freaking night. As I jump in her big comfy SUV all I can think about is calling the whole thing off and crawling back into bed. We can just put up a Charlie Brown tree and put a big red bow on the front door. Yeah, that will be fine. I’m brought back into the land of the living when I hear the most glorious phrase coming from the front… “I brought coffee,” Carrie calls in a sing-song voice. “Care, what the hell, you are so not a morning person, why three am?” “Girl, all you have to do is say sale, and this crazy chick is all over it. She’ll get up in the middle of the night, or not even go to bed at all. Black Friday is more exciting to her than Christmas Day” Cory says. I can just see her rolling her eyes as we pull out of the driveway and head off on our shopping adventure. “Tell me you went to bed for at least a little while?” I ask her while inhaling the soothing scent of the dark roast coffee in my hands. “Sleep is overrated my dear friend.” As I feel the caffeine start to take effect, she asks “So what is your theme?” “Uh, Christmas?” I say with sarcasm dripping from my voice. “Well, I know that, but what is you color scheme? Will you be doing classic, old-fashioned, modern, eclectic?” What is she even saying? It’s Christmas, don’t you just put up a tree, slap some lights and ornaments on it and hang a wreath and stockings? “What have I gotten myself into?” I chuckle to myself as Carrie keeps rattling on about decorating

themes. Cory just laughs and shakes her head as she navigates through the dark streets in search of Black Friday sales. We grab a cart on the way into Target and head straight for the Christmas section. There, we are assaulted with too many choices of outdoor lights, indoor lights, lawn decorations, obnoxious blow up Santa’s and everything else you could possibly imagine, and some I would have never dreamed of. For some reason I want it all! I want Tommy to have the full-on Clark Grizwald Christmas Vacation experience, blown fuses and all. While Carrie is all serious about picking out the perfect decorations, Cory keeps things light by quoting lines from her favorite holiday movies every few minutes and making fun of all of the shoppers out in their pajamas with curlers in their hair. “Way to keep it classy lady,” she whisper-shouts and nudges me as a lady walks by wearing a shirt that says “Santa’s favorite ho.” After about two hours in what can only be described as Christmas hell, Carrie has officially declared us ready for decorating. We pile all of our purchases into the back of Cory’s SUV. We have so much, I think we bought one of everything, but now I know we are totally prepared to give Tommy the best Christmas ever. After all that early morning shopping, we decide breakfast is in order. We stop at the local all-night diner. Over a short stack of chocolate chip pancakes for each of us we decide that Cory will keep all the packages at her place and one-day next week while Tommy is working a day shift, we will call in the troops, and surprise him with the house fully decorated when he gets home from work.

The day is finally here, we got lucky that Tommy had day shift on a Saturday otherwise the surprise decorating would have been harder to pull off. As soon as Tommy leaves for work I put out the call for everyone to come over to my house for Operation Decoration. Everyone shows up all at once, Cory and my big brother Ryan pull up at the same time. I swear I hear Ryan’s car before I see it. He has always had a thing for big, loud muscle cars. In high school he was that All American guy; captain of the football team, homecoming king, prom king. Every girl wanted him, every guy wanted to be him. Carrie and her boyfriend Ryker pull up next. Ryker is not the type of guy you would expect with the fashionable Carrie. I think he is singlehandedly trying to keep the grunge look going himself with his flannel shirts, jeans with holes in them and his scruffy beard. But the look totally fits him. My mom and dad pull in the driveway next with my little brother shoved into the back of their SUV. I still love to call Lukas my little brother, he is ten months younger than me after all. We are the same height, I didn’t get the cute petite woman gene from my mom, I got the tall lanky one from my dad, but it worked for me during my high school and college softball career. You can’t have a little girl catching behind the plate. To my surprise, they have a huge tree strapped to the roof of their car. My parents are the absolute best. They are always wanting to help out without being those overly involved, butt-in kind of parents. I was thinking of taking Tommy to cut down a tree ourselves, but this works also. Now the house will be fully decorated, just adding to the surprise. I’m not even sure if that monstrosity of a tree is going to fit anywhere in our little house. The men wrangle the tree off the roof of the car, and it is something that I wish I was recording on my phone, it’s that hilarious. Mom, Carrie, Cory and I just stand there leaning on each other laughing and wiping tears from our eyes. “Are y’all gonna just stand there laughing, or come over and help us?” Lukas calls as the tree practically falls on his head. With tears in her eyes Cory says, “Nah, I think y’all can handle it.” Lukas flips Cory the bird as the tree practically falls on his head. They finally get this ridiculously large tree down off the roof, I take a look at it while Ryan holds it up. My brother is six-foot-three and this tree makes him look like an elf. It is a Douglass Fir with beautiful sturdy branches, it is full and perfectly shaped. There is space for larger ornaments, but no funny

gaps or flat sides that you would need to hide against a wall. It’s as if it came from a factory, not a field. Leave it to my dad to find the one perfectly shaped tree on the lot. I know just the spot for it. Ryan grabs his bowsaw from the trunk of his car to trim the bottom off and get it ready to go into the stand that we set up right in the front window so everyone driving by can see. Getting it wrangled through the front door is no easy job, but the guys manage to get the job done with little damage to the door frame. They get it all set up in the front window and it takes up almost the entire room. It looks amazing. Due to the open concept of our house, I can already picture in my mind being able to see the shining lights from almost everywhere in the house. We start to un-tangle the lights from the boxes as the men head outside, grab ladders and begin transforming our little home into a Christmas Wonderland. I trust my dad fully with the outside lights. He always does a fabulous job decorating the house I grew up in. “You would think lights new out of the box wouldn’t be this tangled, a man must have designed the packaging. One of these days I’m going to patent my amazing light storage system and make a million dollars.” Carrie muses. We all crack up laughing because she is the most organized person on earth. “Don’t make fun of my OCD. You benefit from it all the time, and you know you love it.” She’s right, I do benefit from her OCD tendencies. She singlehandedly organized my entire kitchen when we moved into this house. After she gave me a tour of my kitchen, I knew just where to find everything. We spend all day working on the house and with about a half hour left in Tommy’s shift we declare ourselves officially finished. It’s starting to get dark and I can see how fabulous all the lights are going to look when we turn them on. The kind we picked out have a remote with a ton of different settings. They stay a variety of different solid colors, twinkle, flash, and fade in and out. I think there may even be a setting that will help land a plane in an emergency. I decide I want to be with Tommy when he first sees everything, so I call him. “Hey sweetie, how was your day?” “Busy. I don’t know what it is about the holidays that makes people act all crazy. If we answered one more call for a domestic disturbance today I think I would have lost it. What is it about all of those obnoxious decorations that make people lose their damn minds? I’ve never understood the need for all that shit.” Feeling a bit deflated I begin to second-guess if he will like what we did. I guess it’s too late to turn back now. If he hates it, he can just take the “shit” down himself. With nerves in my voice I decide to go ahead with my plan, it’s do or die at this point. “I’ve been out Christmas shopping with Ryan for a present for Elise all day. I don’t get it, what’s so hard about shopping for a woman, if it sparkles and we can wear it, we love it! Anyway, do you want to meet somewhere for dinner? I can have Ryan drop me off since we are still out.” “Yeah babe that would be amazing, I’m starving.” “How about the steak house downtown? I’m totally in the mood for a steak.” I hear a sexy moan on the other end of the phone and wonder what the heck he is doing. “Um Tommy, what was that for?” “I haven’t eaten anything all day and was just thinking of how amazing a great steak and cold beer with my sexy wife will be right now.” “See you in thirty.”

As Ryan is driving me to the restaurant I’m staring out of the window worrying about Tommy’s comments on the phone. “What has you all tense over there baby sis?” “Nothing.” “Okay, just don’t tear a hole in my seat with your finger nails.” I look down at my hands that are gripping the sides of the seat so hard that my knuckles have turned white. “It’s just that Tommy made some comment about Christmas decorations being shit. What if he hates everything we did? What if he makes me take it all down?” “Well, if he makes you take it down he is a Grinch of epic proportions. I’d volunteer to come over and kick his ass, but I think Cory would beat me to it. She can be a pit-bull sometimes.” We both break out in laughter knowing how fiercely my besties and I protect each other. We arrive at the restaurant at the same time as Tommy. I jump out of my brother’s car anxious to get to Tommy who apparently heard the roar of Ryan’s supped-up Mustang and stopped at the door to wait for me. I walk over to him on shaky legs still unsure of what will happen when we get home. As I approach I see Tommy give Ryan a wave and then open his arms to me. I immediately throw myself into his arms and feel at home when he wraps his big strong arms around me and pulls me in for a kiss. I can feel just a little scratch from his five-o-clock shadow. He leaves the house smoothly shaven each day, but comes home with the sexiest stubble. I reach my hand up to feel the scratch on the pads of my fingers. He snuggles his cheek into the palm of my hand. “I missed you so much today. With everyone so crazy at the holidays I’m glad I have you to come home to at the end of the day. You always ground me, wipe away all of the bad stuff I see every day.” He kisses me a little harder then and I feel the tension of the day start to leave his body. We break apart as an older couple exits the restaurant. I hear the wife say to her husband “That was us fifty years ago. You couldn’t keep your hands off of me.” Her husband looks her in the eye and with a wink says “I still can’t,” and grabs her ass. As they walk away laughing, Tommy and I begin to giggle as well. “I hope we are as happy as they are fifty years from now,” Tommy says as he grabs my ass, mimicking the older man’s actions, and leads me through the door.

Dinner was delicious, as always, and since Tommy had two beers while I stuck to iced tea, I insisted on driving home. There is no way in hell my six-foot-four, two-hundred-pound husband is drunk, but to completely pull off my little surprise, I need to be driving. “You know I’m fine to drive, two beers are nothing for me, especially after eating so much food,” he says reluctantly handing me the keys. “I know, but you had a long day, let me take care of my man.” “You can take care of your man when we get home,” he winks at me. I just wink back and pull out of the parking space. I’m speeding down the highway towards our house, when Tommy starts laughing, “Admit it, you just wanted to drive my truck. You love the power of this big machine under your control.” “I do, I love the power,” I reply laughing. As we pull up our street, our house is just about to come into view. I stop the truck “Close your eyes, and keep them shut until I say to open them.” “Why, what are you up to,” he asks suspiciously? “Just do it. Please.” He sighs and closes his eyes. I pull up in front of the house. Just as I am slowing to a stop… “What the hell is that?” I hear him say from the passenger seat. Tears begin to well in my eyes, he hates it. “Hannah, what did you do?” “I’m sorry Tommy, I’ll take it all down tomorrow, I’ll return everything. I’ll give the tree to Lukas….” I’m interrupted by Tommy reaching over and slamming the truck into park just as he grabs my face and begins to kiss me. “Don’t you dare touch a thing,” he says laying a kiss on my lips with a big smack. He climbs out of the truck and just stands there staring at the lights. I climb out and slowly walk over to his side of the truck. He wraps his strong arms around me once again, “Did you do this all by yourself?” “No, I had some elves who helped.” “Let me guess, your family.” “Yes and Cory, Carrie and Ryker.” “Those lights have your dad written all over them.”

As we are walking up the front lawn towards our front door I ask, “So you really like it? All of it?” “Baby, I am speechless. I’ve never really had a Christmas like this. None of the foster families I was with really did anything like this for the holidays. Maybe a small plastic tree, and some lights that never really worked right. But this, this is absolutely amazing. I have no words that are good enough to thank you for all that you have done.” He bends down and grabs me behind the knees throwing me over his shoulder and finishes the trek up the lawn to the front door. “I guess I’ll just have to show you how grateful I am.” With me slung over his shoulder he struggles with the keys a bit. When he finally gets in the door he begins to head down the hall towards the bedroom. All of the sudden he stops and stands stock still. He begins to slowly lower me to my feet. “What’s wrong?” I can’t imagine what would stop Tommy from dragging me caveman style to the bedroom. Usually he is a man on a mission. Then I follow the track of his beautiful chocolate eyes. I can see the reflection of the twinkling lights in them as Tommy just stares at the fully decorated tree. He slowly steps closer to the tree and just stares for a minute. Then he reaches out and touches one of my favorite ornaments. It’s a police officer bending down giving a little girl a teddy bear. “It’s you, handing our future daughter her bedtime bear.” I say to him as I walk over and wrap my arms around his trim waist. He looks at me and has the biggest smile on his face. “I was just thinking the same thing.” He is still looking into my eyes, and I literally watch them darken. He then grabs my hand and practically drags me down the hall to our bedroom.

The final bell of the day rings indicating the beginning of winter break from school. Being a teacher has its perks. I have been so tired lately, like all I want to do is crawl into my bed and sleep for a week, kind of tired. The holidays and all the rushing around really take a lot out of you. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I’m off work until after the new year. I can’t wait to spend as much time with Tommy as I can. This will be our first official Christmas together. He is not working the holiday for the first time since starting with the police department. He usually volunteers to work so that other officers can have the day off to spend with their families. He told me that he took it off this year because he finally has a family to spend it with. He has no idea what he’s in for, spending Christmas Day with my family. He thought Thanksgiving was crazy. Add in presents and all the grandkids hyped up on candy canes and cookies, and New Year’s Eve in Time’s Square looks like a small, intimate gathering. My Grandma’s house is so full and loud, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a Stevens’ family tradition, no one misses Christmas Day. Everyone chooses another day to celebrate with the other side of their families. I spend the evening while Tommy is at work wrapping the final presents to take with us to my Grandma’s house on Christmas Day, and then wrap the one gift I got for Tommy, a new sports watch. He said he didn’t want anything, and we are still on a budget but I had to get him something. I’m so worn out from teaching all week that as soon as I get everything put away, I curl up on the sofa and put a movie on. Just as I feel myself drift off to sleep my phone starts ringing. Looking at my screen, I see my bestie Cory smiling at me. “Hey girl, what’s up,” I answer yawning and trying to shake the sleepiness out of my head. “Girl, It’s only nine thirty, are you sleeping already?” “Not yet, I was just curling up on the sofa. I’m totally worn out. I think I may be coming down with the flu or something. I’ve been tired all week and felt nauseous earlier this morning.” “Shit girl, you aren’t preggers are you? I mean you are a newlywed, and I’m sure y’all have been humping like rabbits.” I pause at her words. When was my last period? I can’t remember. I’m not really good about

keeping track of my period, but I guess now that there is a possibility that I could actually get pregnant, I need to keep better track. “Hello, Hannah. Are you there?” “Sorry, I was just trying to remember my last period. I honestly can’t remember.” “Do you think maybe? I mean could it be a possibility?” “I’m on the pill.” I say quietly, trying not to freak out. “You know it’s not one hundred percent effective. You do pay attention to what you teach in your health classes, right?” “Yes, of course I do, I’m sure I’m just run down from the holidays. Sleeping in tomorrow will do me a world of good.” I say unconvincingly. “But you should take a test, just to be sure.” “I’ll pick one up if I don’t get my period by the New year.” “Okay, talk you later babe.”

About thirty minutes later there is a knock on my door. Who could be here at this hour? “Open up H! I brought you an early Christmas gift” I hear my bestie call from the other side of the door. When I get to the door, Cory is standing there holding up a plastic bag from the pharmacy down the street. “Merry Christmas, we are going to see if there is a little bun cooking in your oven… tonight. And I’m not leaving until you piss on this stick.” “You are so crass Cor.” “Yeah, but you love it. I even brought extras. Maybe I’ll take one too. Just to keep you company.” “You are so foolish! You are not taking a pregnancy test just to keep me company.” “But you are taking one. I’ll never be able to sleep wondering if I’m going to be an aunt. So get your sleepy ass in there and pee on this stick!” She says as she holds out one of the boxes. I stare at it as if it will burn my hand if I touch it. Geez Hannah, it’s just a pregnancy test, and if you are pregnant, it’s better to find out sooner than later. Reluctantly I go in the bathroom to take the test. If nothing else, she will feel better and go home and I will be able to go to bed. I can’t believe how worn out I feel. I look in the mirror in the bathroom. I look like crap; I have huge bags under my droopy eyes, and my skin looks dull, lacking its usual healthy glow. I do the deed and then sit the test on a small square of toilet paper on the counter. I set the timer on my phone for the two minutes the box said it took to get results and begin to wait. “Are you done? I heard a flush,” Cory calls from the other side of the door. I open the door and we both sit on the edge of the tub and wait for the test results. Neither of us says a word. I’m lost in my head. On the one hand I’m scared to death. Tommy and I haven’t been married all that long. We definitely talked about having kids, but what if it’s too soon? We haven’t been able to enjoy life as a married couple for very long. On the other hand, I’m so excited. I have always dreamed of being a mother, and to have Tommy’s babies will be amazing. He is such a great guy who has overcome so much in his

life. If our kids are only half as amazing as him, I’ll be the luckiest mom ever. The timer on my phone rings. Cory and I look at each other immediately. I stand slowly and grab the test. The results are clear. In that little window is the word PREGNANT. We look at each other then we both throw our arms around each other, squealing. “I’m pregnant. Tommy and I are going to have a baby!” It’s at that exact moment that I realize I’m so freaking excited! I can’t wait to start my family with the man who has my heart. “How are you going to tell him? You have to make it so epic.” She asks with a huge grin on her face. I stand there for a minute, letting it all sink in. As my heart slows to a regular rhythm, it comes to me. “I’m going to put the test in the box, wrap it up and put it under the tree. He can open it after he opens the watch I bought him.”

It’s Christmas Eve and Tommy is on his last evening shift before the holidays. I’m settling in on the couch to watch my favorite holiday movie. It plays over and over for the next 24 hours on TV. I’ve seen it so many times that I can turn it on at any point in the movie and know exactly what is going on. It’s a tradition Lukas and I began when we were young. I’m all snuggled under a blanket with my comfy flannel pj’s on and a cup of mint hot chocolate. Just as the movie begins, my cell rings. Without looking at my screen, I answer knowing it’s Lukas calling to see if I’m watching the movie. “Hey little brother. You watching the movie?” “You know it. Just checking to see if you were.” We talk for a few more minutes when my phone beeps indicating there is another call on the line. I ask Lukas to hold on while I answer it. I was not prepared for what I was about to hear when I answered. “Mrs. McKay, this is Lieutenant Martinez I’m Tommy’s supervisor,” the voice on the other end of the line chimes in. I begin to break out in a cold sweat, my hands shaking and my brain getting foggy. I begin to repeat the one thing that Tommy told me about emergency notification from the police department. If it’s really bad, they will come in person, not call. “Tommy has been in an accident and is here with me at Mercy hospital,” he begins to explain. I’m not sure if I even hear anything else until he says “He is lying right here. Do you want to talk to him?” I nod my head like he can see me because I don’t have any words. “Hey baby,” Tommy says with a shaky voice. My heart begins to beat again and I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “Tommy, what’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay?” I fire off questions too quickly for him to answer. “Babe, babe, BABE. Stop! I’m fine. Really, I am. I need to explain what happened before you get here. It looks worse than it really is. I don’t want you to freak out.” He then explains how he was chasing after someone who jumped a fence, he jumped the same

fence. When he did, the guy he was chasing was waiting for him and hit him in the face with something he found on the ground on the other side of the fence. His eye is swollen shut and black and blue. They are about to take him back for an MRI to check for internal injuries. I’m throwing on clothes as quickly as I can to get out of the house and down to the hospital.

I’m in a complete daze as I pull into a parking spot and wonder how I even got there. I honestly have no idea. I just thank God that when I clicked over to Lukas on the other line, he refused to let me hang up and insisted on talking to me until I assured him I had pulled into a parking spot at the hospital. I run into the ER and see a police officer in uniform. I rush right up to him, “Are you here with Officer McKay?” “Yes, are you Mrs. McKay?” “Yes, I’m Hannah.” He begins to lead me to the doors clearly marked Hospital Staff Only, I guess one of the perks of being with police department, when one of your own is injured, you get special access. As he is walking me down the back hallway to the ER rooms he introduces himself. “I’m Lieutenant Martinez.” I recognize his voice right away. “He just got back from getting an MRI, and is resting.” He pauses just outside an ER room door, and turns to me, putting his big hands on my shoulders. I look him straight in the eye as he begins to inform me of what I’m about to experience. “Mrs. McKay, I need to warn you before you go in. It looks so much worse than it is, his eye is swollen completely shut and is very black and blue. I’m only telling you this because I don’t want you passing out when you go in, or completely freaking him out. The lights are low because he was complaining the brightness was bothering him.” I steel myself and walk into the room. What I see when I walk in takes my breath away. He is lying in the bed, his uniform is all disheveled, and is that blood I see on his shirt? My big strong man looks so vulnerable in that hospital bed. His right eye is swollen completely shut and is just one huge purple and black mass. He has some scrapes on his face, but nothing is as bad as his eye. He is sleeping and is not aware I’m even in the room. It looks so bad. I rush to him and stop short. I don’t know where to touch him. I don’t know what else hurts. They only told me about his eye, but if I know my man, he put up a big fight, and may have other injuries. He slowly opens his left eye and turns his head to look at me. “Babe, you’re here,” he says in a quiet gravelly voice as a small smile comes to his face. “Of course I’m here. I got here as quickly as I could.” I manage to swallow past the huge lump in my throat. try my best to put a smile on my face so I don’t freak him out like Lieutenant Martinez said. I squeeze his big hand in both of mine, and kiss his knuckles as I sit on the seat beside the bed. “How are you feeling?” “Like one of your softball players used my face for batting practice,” he chuckles. “What did the doctor say?” “Still waiting on MRI results.”

Just as he says it, a nurse walks into the room, “Hi, I’m Teresa, and I’ll be your nurse while you are here with us. Tell me Officer McKay, on a scale of one to ten, with one being very little pain and ten being the worst pain you can imagine, what is your pain level?” “I’d say about a two or three,” Tommy tells her. “Great, the pain meds have finally kicked in.” Nurse Teresa keeps looking at me as if she knows me, it’s kind of weird. The next thing I know a doctor in a white coat is coming through the door, “Tommy, if you wanted to get out of the Stevens’ Family Christmas, there are much less extreme ways of doing it than this,” my Uncle Noah, who is a surgeon in this hospital, teases. “Uncle Noah, what are you doing here?” I ask as I give him a big hug. I’m so thankful for my huge family as I feel the comforting arms of my father’s twin brother envelop me. It’s good to have family who work in the medical field. “Just doing one last check on my patients before tomorrow, when Lukas called me to come down and check on you both.” Teresa looks between Uncle Noah and myself a few times. “I knew you looked familiar. All of you Stevens look alike.” She looks right at Tommy and says “You married into this crazy family? I’m so sorry.” Then she winks at him, “I’ll send you home with some of the good meds, you’ll need them to survive tomorrow.” Uncle Noah checks Tommy’s chart, and then says he will go try to find his doctor and see if we can get the MRI results and go home. A few short minutes later he and another doctor come back into the room. The other man introduces himself to me as Dr. Anderson and shakes my hand. He tells us that Tommy has a broken occipital bone. It will take several weeks to heal, and Tommy will have to be on light duty for the next three weeks so that he doesn’t risk reinjuring the site. He sends us home with instructions for Tommy to rest for the next twenty-four hours, and for him to follow up with an ophthalmologist within the next two weeks to make sure that there is no change in his vision. After Nurse Teresa gives us Tommy’s discharge papers and prescriptions, he is wheeled to the entrance of the hospital with Tommy cursing up a storm that he is fine and can walk all on his own. Clay, the all too sweet orderly just keeps reminding him that it is hospital policy, and he has to wheel him to the curb. I bet with the look he has on his face he wants to wheel Tommy right off the curb and into on-coming traffic for the hard time he is giving him. I leave them at the curb to go get the car. “Try not to give Clay too hard of a time while I’m gone. He’s just doing his job.” I pull up to the ER entrance doors and Tommy goes to stand up to get in the car and begins to wobble a bit. Clay is quick on his feet and grabs Tommy by the upper arm to steady him, “This is why we wheel you to the curb,” he informs Tommy with a chuckle. “The bigger they are the harder they fall.” He is met by a growl from my husband who has about six inches on the man who is currently keeping him upright. After making sure Tommy is all secure in the car, I hop in the driver’s seat and we head off for home. Once we get home I help him down the hall to our master bathroom, out of his dirty blood-stained uniform and into the shower. After a nice hot shower Tommy comes into the bedroom and lays down on the bed with a big sigh. I’m so relieved to have him back home with me. “How are you feeling, can I get you anything? Are you comfortable? Are you tired? Am I asking too many questions?” “Babe, I’m okay, really I am” he says as he drags me over to him and presses me into his strong, muscular chest. I snuggle closer to him relishing in the fact that he is here with me, he is not badly injured and he is safe.

“How about you, how are you doing? Do you need to talk about what happened?” he asks with so much concern in his voice. “You scared the shit out of me tonight. I honestly have no idea how I got to the hospital, I was on total auto-pilot. Thank God Lukas would not hang up the phone until I got to the hospital. The pain in the ass kept talking to me and kept me talking the whole time.” A tear slips from my eye and lands on his bare chest. He wipes the tear away and kisses the top of my head. This does it, the damn breaks and I let out a sob that I didn’t even realize was stuck in me. My body racks as I let it all out. He just holds me tighter and rubs his hand up and down my back trying to soothe me. He keeps whispering “I’m here baby, I’m okay” over and over while kissing me on the top of my head. We both finally succumb to much needed sleep, wrapped in each other’s arms.

I’m hot, too hot. Why is it so hot in here? As I start to wake up more I realize that Tommy is almost smothering me with his big warm body. We spent the whole night wrapped in each other’s arms. Tommy is not a snuggler, he prefers his own space when sleeping. We may hold each other for a little while, but we both eventually roll over to our own sides of the bed. I think we both needed each other’s comfort last night. It is nice waking up wrapped in my husband’s arms, even if it is hotter than the fires of Hades! “Merry Christmas baby.” He whispers in his sexy, gravely morning voice. “Merry first Christmas handsome.” I whisper back as he leans down and presses his soft lips to mine. “It’s getting late sleepy head. We better get moving if we are going to make lunch at your Grandma’s house.” “You still want to go? Are you sure you are up to it?” “Well, we told everyone we would be there.” “If you aren’t feeling up to it, I’m sure they will understand,” I tell him not wanting him to feel like he has to go if he is not feeling well. “It’s your family, and I know how important holidays are in your family.” “But you’re more important.” His face falls a little bit and he gets quiet. “What is it Tommy, what is wrong?” “This is going to sound so corny, but I was really looking forward to spending Christmas with your family. Thanksgiving was insane, great but insane. I bet Christmas with all the gifts and everything is going to be even wilder. I want to see how the Stevens do Christmas.” I reach up to pull his face to mine for a kiss and forget for a moment the huge shiner he has going on. I almost grab his face then I realize it will cause him too much pain so I gently run my hand over his stubbly cheek. He leans in and gives me a slow lingering kiss. Then all the sudden there is a hard slap on my ass and he tells me to get in the shower before we spend all day there in bed together. It doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but we have so much waiting for us today. I get out of bed and my stomach starts to roll a little bit. I try to ignore the nauseous feeling, but as

soon as I hit the bathroom I can’t hold it in and empty the contents of my stomach into the toilet. Tommy comes rushing in. “Hannah, are you alright? Baby, tell me, what’s wrong?” I don’t want to ruin the surprise I have under the tree for him, so I tell him I think it’s just the stress from last night catching up with me, and that I’ll be fine as soon as I get some breakfast. I hop in the shower and stand under the hot water with my hands on my still flat belly. I think about all that not only I, but this little bun also, could have lost last night if things would have been worse. Am I strong enough to be a cop’s wife? Am I strong enough to possibly raise my child by myself? I’m finding out day by day that it’s not easy to be the wife of a police officer. Not only is there the long hours and rotating shifts that leave me feeling lonely when he works evenings or overnights, but there is also that constant worry that each day when he leaves the house he may not come back. As I stand there I realize that I cannot let that weigh on me. It will just give me unneeded stress and that is not good for me or the baby I am growing and nurturing inside me. I need to live each day and make the most of it, and thank God when Tommy comes home to me at the end of his shift.

Christmas at my Grandma’s was exactly what I was expecting it to be. Loud voices, too much food, and so much love and happiness, even if it was very often disguised by good natured ribbing. I can’t tell you how many times someone offered Tommy protection from me, as if I was the one who gave him the black eye. Tommy is totally wiped out. The accident yesterday is really taking its toll on him. While he insists he’s just fine and we don’t need to leave, the fact that he keeps falling asleep on the sofa with all of this noise around him tells me something totally different. If I’m completely honest with myself, I can’t wait to get home and give him his presents from me. “Tommy?” I whisper while giving his shoulder a shake. “Yeah baby, what’s up?” He says acting like he totally wasn’t just snoring. “Why don’t we head home now?” “Are you sure that’s what you want? I’m fine staying longer.” “Yeah, I’m sure. I know this has to be one of the most comfortable couches known to man, but the other men can’t hear the game over your snoring.” I tell him with a laugh. He blushes a bit and looks around the room at all of the men in various states of alertness. The game is blaring on the TV, but no one is paying much attention. “Sure, they mind. Maybe because it’s drowning out their own snoring.” I laugh out loud, lay my hand high on his upper thigh and give it a squeeze as I whisper in my huskiest voice. “You haven’t unwrapped your present from me yet.” Tommy jumps up from the couch, grabs my hand “Time to go.” I laugh out loud. “We do need to say goodbye and thank everyone for lunch and gifts.” “Ten minutes. I’m giving you ten minutes to say goodbye.” It usually takes us at least a half an hour to leave my family, but I see Tommy is on a mission. I

begin making my rounds saying good bye to everyone in my family. Tommy shakes hands with the men and gives the ladies hugs and kisses. Once we have said our goodbyes and loaded gifts and leftovers into the car, I insist he hand the keys over to me. He drops them in my hand with little protest. Yeah, my man is wiped out. Luckily is it a forty-five-minute drive home, so he can nap. We barely hit the highway before Tommy is sound asleep leaving me with my thoughts on the drive back home. Will he be as excited as I am? I know we haven’t been married long and really haven’t discussed when we would start having kids, but we both definitely want a family. Tommy mentioned once that he wanted to have a big family, five or six kids. I don’t know about that. Six kids are a lot, especially on a cop and teacher’s salary. But I guess we will have this discussion sooner rather than later. Then my mind switches from worry to excitement. I ponder, will it be a boy or a girl? Who will he or she look like? What type of personality will he or she have? Then all of a sudden a cold panic rushes over me. Twins run in my family, we definitely disprove the myth that twins skip a generation, my dad is a twin, and I have twin cousins. What if we are having twins? What will I do with two babies with his rotating work schedule? When he is on evening shift, I don’t see him for four days in a row. How will I do it on my own? I feel my heart rate ramping up and then take some deep breaths. Calm your crazy Hannah! You haven’t even gone to the doctor yet, the only way you even know you are pregnant is because you peed on a stick. The same stick that is currently wrapped in a box with a pretty bow sitting under your Christmas tree. Yeah, I think it’s too late to calm the crazy. The closer to home we get the more butterflies start to form in my stomach. I’m not sure if I am more excited or nervous about giving him his “big gift”, but I am definitely nauseous. Tommy wakes up just as we are pulling up our street. “Sorry I slept the whole way home babe.” “It’s fine, you need your rest. I think going to see my family was a bad idea.” Tommy grabs my hand and kisses my knuckles. “It was great. Thank you for making our first Christmas perfect.” I pull into the driveway and park the car. We climb out and walk hand in hand into the house. Once we cross the threshold Tommy pulls my jacket off with that hungry look in his eye. “What are you doing?” I giggle as he grabs at my sweater dress and begins to pull it up over my hips. “Unwrapping my gift.” He says in a husky voice as he kisses my neck. I begin to giggle and pull away from him. The look of disappointment on his face makes me sorry I turned him down, but not too sorry. If I don’t let this cat out of the bag soon, I am going to be sick. “Let’s unwrap the presents under the tree first, then we can unwrap each other.” I say with a wink as I lead him by the hand to the tree. “Open my gift first babe” he says handing me a beautifully wrapped box. I pull at the red satin bow and it easily falls away from the box wrapped in shiny green paper. I silently wonder if he wrapped it himself or had it wrapped somewhere. It doesn’t matter, even if he had it wrapped, it’s the thought that counts. As I slowly slide the top of the box off tears come to my eye as I see a beautiful diamond and ruby tennis bracelet. “Tommy, it’s beautiful. I can’t believe you did this. No way did you stay within budget.” “There is no budget when it comes to showing you just how much I love you,” Tommy says nuzzling into my neck. He lays sweet kisses up my neck and across my jaw. Our lips meet in a soft kiss. I pull away quickly with my nerves making a small sheen of sweat break out on my forehead. “Now it’s your turn,” I tell Tommy handing him his first gift. He rips open the wrapping paper and pulls out the box for the watch I got him. This watch has so

may dials and functions. I swear you could communicate with the man on the moon with it. He pulls it out of his box and puts it on his wrist without a word. “Do you like it? It has digital and analog displays,” I continue to ramble on as he looks at it, and pushes each button. “I love it, I needed a new watch and this one has everything. Thank you so much. I see that you didn’t stick to the budget either.” I just smile as a little blush creeps up my neck to my cheeks. I’m not too sure if it is more from the fact that I was caught spending too much money, or from the look Tommy is giving me. He is definitely ready to unwrap me, but I have one more big surprise for him. Tommy goes to grab the hem of my dress. “Hold on Romeo, there is one more present under the tree with your name on it.” “What did you do? I have you, this amazing watch, what else do I need?” “Well, I hope you will want what is in the box. I kind of can’t return it.” Tommy starts to rip open the wrapping paper. He pulls the top off of the long necklace box that holds our future. As he opens the tissue paper, I begin to feel nauseous and a bit light headed. Tommy freezes as he looks at the pregnancy test. He doesn’t say a word, just stares at it. I hold my breath waiting for him to say something, anything, but he doesn’t even move. “Tommy, please, say something. You are freaking me out here. I need to know what you’re thinking.” His eyes drift up to meet mine and I see tears starting to well in those beautiful dark chocolate orbs. “I… you…we, we’re going to have a baby?” he chokes out. I nod my head just as he tackles me down on the sofa we have been sitting on. “Oh my god, we are having a baby! I can’t believe it,” he says with excitement clearly building inside him. “Hannah, today has been the best day of my life. You have given me everything. My first real Christmas with a real family, and now, we are going to have a family of our own. There are no words to express how I feel today. How you make me feel every day. Thank you. Thank you for giving me everything.” All of the sudden Tommy begins to pull up the bottom of my dress. He pulls the waist band of my leggings down exposing my still flat belly. He puts his ear on my lower abdomen and holds it there for a few seconds as if he listens long enough, he will hear our little bun in there. Then he just stares at my stomach for a moment, like he is imagining it growing with the life we have created. I feel a tear drop from his eye and slide down my abdomen and off the side of my body. The next thing I feel is him giving me a sweet lingering kiss just below my navel. Tommy then looks up at me with more love in his eyes than I have ever see before and whispers in a husky voice “Merry Christmas baby.”



Thank you for taking the time to read my debut writing project. I hope you love Hannah as much as I do. She has a much bigger story to tell and I hope to have her full-length novel out sometime in 2017. I’d like to say a big thank you to Melody Dawn, BA Dillon, RJ Loom and Janet Mota for taking a chance on a new writer, your belief in me means so much. Thank you also to my beta readers, Debi, Andrea, Sheri, Tracy, Judy, Melody, Dina, Hayley and Jenn. Your feedback was invaluable in helping me bring this story to life.

Carissa lives just outside of Baltimore, Maryland with her husband, two teen daughters and yellow lab. She is an avid reader who never dreamed of writing until one day a character popped in her brain and started telling a story. When Carissa is not curled on the sofa reading, she can be found in the car hauling two busy teens to softball practice, piano lessons, and many other activities. She has an unhealthy addiction to chocolate, especially the Dairy Milk she receives in care packages from her “supplier” in the UK. She one day hopes to move to a mostly deserted beach where she can spend her time soaking up the sun and reading all day.

Connect with Carissa on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Carissa-Porter-1670539293260735/



Thank you for reading Christmas Magic. We hope you enjoyed our Christmas stories!

Melody Dawn ~ B.A. Dillon R.J. Loom ~ Janet A. Mota Carissa Porter

Table of Contents 1. A Christmas Connection - Melody Dawn 2. Twice Upon a Time – B.A. Dillon 3. Taking Back Christmas - R.J. Loom 4. A Christmas Chance - Janet A. Mota 5. Merry Christmas Baby – Carissa Porter