“Hello, you two,” Noel greeted as he stepped out of the living room and into the entryway.
“Hi, Grandpa! We got you and Grandma a present,” Miller said excitedly as she extended her arm.
His father-in-law grinned as he closed the distance, taking the gift from his granddaughter before he kissed her cheek. “Thank you, and I have a present for you, too.”
“You do?”
“I do.” Noel walked over to the briefcase by the hallway table and bent down. After he rummaged through it, he stood, held something behind his back, and smiled apologetically. “I think you’ve been missing a friend.” Then he brought his arm from behind his back, and Miller gasped.
“Einstein!” she said as she took her toy from her grandfather. “I’ve missed you!”
Evan was astounded Noel had it all this time. This morning, AJ had called her parents, but they hadn’t come across Miller’s plush. “Where was he?”
“Seb hid him in my briefcase. I found him during a meeting. I’m sorry Seb took him. He’ll apologize when he gets back from hockey.” Evan set his daughter on her feet, and she ran into the living room.
“Kyle’s not happy that Seb’s enrolled in that hockey program,” he told his father-in-law.
Noel laughed. “It’s only because Kyle can’t skate.”
“Mummy, you’re here!” Miller said, getting Evan’s attention.
His brows met as he stepped away from Noel and entered the living room to find his wife on the couch with a white fluffy blanket over her. Miller was already by AJ’s side, both checking on the toy’s welfare.
She glanced over his way, and her lips pressed in a small smile. “Hey.”
He had multiple questions for his wife, but the main one being if she was okay. Taking her in, AJ was pale, far paler than before she left for Harvard.
“Miller, why don’t I get you a snack, and you can show me this present you got Grandma and me?” Noel asked.
“Okay, Grandpa,” Miller said as she jumped off the couch. Then she handed AJ her toy. “Mummy, can you look after Einstein for me?”
“Of course, my love. Go enjoy your snack.”
“I’ll be back,” their daughter said before she walked around the couch and grasped her grandfather’s hand. “Let’s go get you a snack, Grandpa.”
Noel chuckled. “I was getting you a snack.”
“You need one, too. We can share snacks.”
“We can share,” Noel agreed as he walked Miller out of the living room, leaving Evan with AJ.
The guilt in her eyes shone as she shuffled across the couch and patted the space she made. “Come sit with me.”
Evan walked over to the couch as his wife lifted the blanket. He sat down, and AJ covered his lap with the blanket. Reaching over, he took her hand and flinched at how cold she was. “AJ, is everything okay?”
Like their daughter before, she squeezed his hand. “I had a bad day at Harvard,” she admitted with a layer of shame in her voice.
“What happened?”
His wife sighed. “This freshman …” She shook her head. “He just said some things that hurt.”
“What kind of things?” he asked, releasing her hand so that he could turn and face her properly.
Her chest rose with her deep breath. “That I didn’t deserve my Nobel Prize nomination, and my research was nothing special.”
Anger and disbelief filled him. In the five years she had been a TA at Harvard, everyone had loved and appreciated her. They were proud that AJ had chosen them over MIT. She was a Nobel Prize-nominated physicist. Her formula had saved the aviation industry millions, if not billions. How could anyone see his wife as anything less than special?
“Baby,” Evan whispered as he closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her to his chest.
“I know it’s so stupid to be this hurt. I don’t know why I’m so emotional over it.” She lifted her chin to look up at him. “I know I deserve that nomination. I know how hard I worked on that formula and how hard I’ve been working on my dissertation. At that moment, this freshman got under my skin.”
“He’s a stupid kid.”
That had his wife laughing. “Evan, he’s brilliant and smart. If he applied himself, he’s easily smarter than I am. I guess I felt threatened—which is so stupid because I’m actually a physicist. An award-winning, peer-reviewed physicist. Guess all those nights working on my Ph.D. left me a little exposed to criticism.”
“Hey,” he whispered as he cupped her cheeks and pulled back. “He won’t be half the physicist you are. I can assure you.”
“You have a lot of faith in me.”
He smiled at his beautiful wife. “I believe in you because I’ve seen you earn what you deserve. You’re miles ahead of that kid.”
“You’re just saying that because I’m your wife.”
“And I’ve seen you at work. Don’t forget I used to come to the Rodahawe Institute in Zürich with you. I’ve seen you work with the world’s best scientists, and you belonged in that room. You created space for yourself, AJ. You’ve earned where you stand. You did that.”
Tears gleamed her green eyes before they slipped down her face. “God, I love you,” she breathed.
“I love you, too, but can I ask why you’re here at your parents’?”
AJ pulled back, her hands falling to their daughter’s toy and setting it on her lap. “I wasn’t feeling well and asked Dad to take me to the hospital.”
His eyes immediately roamed over her. He didn’t see a scar or a scratch. “Jesus, AJ. Why didn’t you call me?”
“I’m sorry. We had a stressful morning as it was with Miller and her missing toy and then the Christmas tree … I didn’t want you to worry or tarnish your shopping day with our daughter.”
“Alexandra,” he breathed her full name. “You mean more to me than you realize. I would have dropped everything to take you to the hospital.”
“I know, but it’s okay. It was just exhaustion, I promise. Professor Miller is letting me start winter break early.”
There was a gleam in his wife’s eyes that he didn’t trust, but because of how exhausted she was, he dropped it. He was just glad that her father was with her when she went to the hospital.
“Hey,” AJ said in a low voice as she set the toy between them and cradled his jaw in the palms of her cold hands. He missed her warmth and would ask Noel to turn up the heating for her. “I promise, I’m fine. I’m just tired.” Then she pressed her lips to his in a sweet kiss, and it was enough for his worries to fade a fraction.
Chapter Four
Evan
The remaining five days before Christmas were a dream. The mornings spent with his wife and daughter were easy and sweet, and he hated that he had to leave for work. AJ was starting to look better, but Evan hadn’t missed how tired she still was when he came home from work. She continued to reassure him that she was okay, but he had his doubts as Christmas crept closer. Thankfully, on Christmas Eve as they baked cookies with their daughter, AJ appeared happy with some color in her cheeks again. There was no doubt it was the spirit of Christmas and her excitement to bring out the presents for when their daughter woke. And like the Christmases before, Miller was up bright and early, running into their bedroom to wake them to see if Santa, the elves, and the reindeer had visited.