“Look what Santa brought me!” Ella yells while reaching up to get her stuffed stocking.
“Whoa, let me get that for you before everything spills out.” Tyler places his son down and races over to where Ella is getting close to the fire.
Hunter leans up to grab his nephew off the floor to bring him to his lap. “What’s up, little man?”
The boy smiles brightly as he opens his arms to climb closer to Hunter. “Uncky,” he coos.
Hunter turns to me with a huge smile as the little boy attacks his mouth with his tiny hands and climbs all over him. “This is Thomas,” he says to me.
I rest my head on Hunter’s shoulder to see him better. “Hello, Thomas. How old is he?”
Thomas bounces up and down on Hunter’s legs while Hunter holds him around his waist.
“He just turned one. He’s my future wingman.”
“He’s a baby,” Melissa states.
“A baby who loves his Uncky and will help me woo the ladies,” Hunter banters back.
“You’re not that special. He loves anyone who will give him attention … just like his uncle,” she taunts in return. “And who are you wooing? Your girlfriend is literally sitting right there.”
Hunter turns to me with Thomas’s face smooshed up against his cheek. “What do you say, Katie McGee? Am I even more attractive with this meatball next to me?”
I don’t want to tell him that my stomach does a flip at the sight of his handsome face with a beautiful baby. In fact, I didn’t even know I could feel my ovaries until this very minute because they’re rattling with desire, making me want to crawl on Hunter’s lap and take him here on the couch. But that would be inappropriate. His family is here. He has a baby in his arms. And sex with Hunter is kinda off the table … I think.
“Stop, you two. Thomas loves everyone,” Nancy says, bending down to pick him up from Hunter and taking him into the kitchen.
“Yeah, but we share the same birthday, so we’re extra cool,” Hunter says proudly.
I turn to Hunter, wide-eyed. “You just had a birthday?”
He tries to blow me off. “It was a few weeks ago. No big deal.”
How did I not know it was his birthday? He sits by my desk every day.
“You should have told me. I would have done something nice.”
He smiles. “You did. You had on that green sweater with an otter on it. When I told you it was cute, you said, ‘Get otter here.’ It made my day.”
I hit myself in my forehead with my palm. “My jokes sound so corny, coming out of your mouth.”
He chuckles. “And then Branson asked you where the data was for the Nielsen report, and you told him to flip the file over because it was on the otter side.”
I shake my head in embarrassment. “It’s no wonder the man has never noticed me.”
As I say it, I can feel Hunter’s body stiffen. I might not know what this thing between us is, but bringing up Branson is probably a bad idea even if it is exactly how we started.
Melissa doesn’t seem to have heard our conversation because she continues, “Ugh, don’t remind me I have another boy Sagittarius on my hands. Hopefully, he’s not as prone to explore and roam like you are.”
Hunter scoffs, pretending to be offended, “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“You’re thirty-three and still single. Well”—she points at me—“semi-single, I guess.”
He looks at me and gives a wink. “There’s definitely no semi here,” he teases.
“Gross.” She rolls her eyes, and I laugh at his crudeness and ability to lighten the mood.
Ella holds up a Slinky she got in her stocking and runs to the stairs to see if it will walk down them.
“I need coffee,” Melissa states, probably needing the extra help that caffeine offers so she can deal with the Christmas chaos that has only just begun.
Hunter reaches behind him and pulls out a box. “Santa brought you something too.”
He holds it out for me, and my heart melts at the simple red bow tied so nicely.
“Hunter,” I say, exasperated, “you shouldn’t have.”
I undo the ribbon and open the box to see a snow globe. Inside is Rockefeller Center at Christmastime. The enormous spruce is set in front of the building, covered in colorful lights. The ice rink is in the foreground with tiny skaters whirling about, and the walkway is lined with angels trumpeting into the air. When I shake it, snow flurries over the iconic New York scene.
I cover my mouth even though it’s my eyes I should shield from anyone seeing how misty I’m getting over this gift.
“You said you love New York at Christmastime. Now, you can have a piece of it all year long.” He leans in and gives the globe a shake too.
My eyes start to pool with emotion. This is beyond thoughtful.
He puts the globe on the coffee table, and we watch the flakes fall on the inside. I’m mesmerized by it, touched by the sentiment.
Hunter hits my thigh and rises. “Let’s get something to eat.”
I stand and follow him around the couch. When we get to the hallway, away from the prying eyes of his family, I stop him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. And not the sweet Christmas kind. This is a stand on your tippy toes and take everything from your soul and pour it into him kinda kiss. As his arms snake around me, he pulls me in and kisses me back. And, no, there’s no semi here.
“What was that for?” he asks as our mouths part.
“I’m just really happy I came here.”
He smiles, taking my hand in his. “Me too, my Katie McGee.”
Hunter wasn’t kidding when he said the Johnstone family Christmas was a big affair. After breakfast, we get dressed for the holiday. I put on a red sweater dress with black leggings and little black booties, and then I go back downstairs to help Randy set the table.
Hunter busies himself in the kitchen to make the sides with Nancy while the food cooks in the oven. I play with Ella and Thomas, Ella showing me how to use her new toys and me showing Thomas how to use his.
I’m on the floor, sitting with my legs bent to the side, making toy train noises, when I glance up and see Hunter standing in the doorway, wearing a look of contentment. I smile but am quickly brought back in the land of trains when Thomas puts his hand on my face and literally brings my focus back there.
Every couple of minutes, the doorbell rings with more family arriving. Hugs are given, traffic is cursed about, and pies are handed off as, one by one, the extended family piles into the home.
Now that everyone is here, it’s a bit overwhelming.
I thought the tree was overloaded before, but now, there’s barely room to sit with the presents piled so high into the seating area.
Hunter never falters with introducing me as his girlfriend, and honestly, I’m not tired of hearing it. His cousins seem surprised. His grandma hugs him with glee, praising the Lord that he’s finally found someone. And his uncle Gerry tells me I am a fine piece of candy cane—a comment that has Hunter turning to me with an I told you so expression written all over his face. I politely thank the gentleman so as not to cause a scene.
“What’s the difference between snowmen and snowwomen?” Uncle Gerry asks, and then he quickly answers, “Snowballs!”