I immediately start to feel some panic and doubt about what happened last night. Was it not as meaningful for him as it was for me? Am I a fool for thinking it was?
Geez, girl. Chill. It’s Christmas.
I get out of his large bed and quickly put my yoga pants and sweatshirt back on, leaving my bra and t-shirt on the chair. I want to tempt him a little bit in case he’s having second thoughts and being braless will help do it.
I pop into the bathroom to freshen up my mouth with his toothpaste and mouthwash. My hair is a wild mess and I try to fix it with my hands, but it’s not really cooperating. After a few minutes of fighting with it, I give up and head downstairs.
I’m not sure what to expect. Breakfast? A swift kick out the door? I try to get myself ready for anything, but when I turn the corner and see what Ethan is up to, I realize I’m not ready for this.
“Oh my God!” I say with a gasp when I see the lit-up Christmas tree in the living room beside a roaring fire. There are lit candles everywhere and Ethan is dancing to upbeat Christmas music in the kitchen as he makes a delicious smelling breakfast.
He drops the spatula when he sees me and rushes over. “Merry Christmas,” he says as he cups my cheeks and gently pulls my mouth to his.
I moan as he gives me a warm deep kiss that has my toes curling in the slippers I stole from him.
“Merry Christmas to you too,” I say as a rush of heat settles in my chest. I’ve been dreaming about waking up in Ethan’s house for years, and it being Christmas morning is making it that much better.
“Coffee? Mimosa?”
“Yes, and yes,” I say with a grin.
He smiles, kisses me one last time, and then rushes back to pour me a cup. “How do you take it?”
“A little bit of almond milk if you have it.”
“I do.”
I sit at the island and watch as he fixes my coffee and pours a mimosa into a wine glass from the huge pitcher.
I’m grinning as I look around at his place. It was dark last night when we came in and we headed straight upstairs, so I didn’t get to look around.
I’ve always wondered what the inside of his house looked like and I’m like a kid on Christmas morning as I look around. It’s a gorgeous place, just like I expected it would be. A huge open floor plan with a giant kitchen. There’s granite and stainless steel everywhere.
And Christmas decorations.
“You decorate for Christmas?” I ask with a laugh as I look at a gingerbread man hanging off one of the shelves.
He looks at me over his shoulder with a frown. “Something wrong with a grown man enjoying the holidays?”
“Not at all,” I say with a laugh. “I just wasn’t expecting a fully decorated Christmas tree.”
“And I wasn’t expecting to fall in love on the 24th. Life is full of surprises.”
I smile as I replay his words over and over again. Fall in love…
It’s too perfect to be true.
“Mind if I take a look around?”
“Help yourself.”
He turns back to the scrambled eggs cooking on the stove as I take my coffee and head over to the tree. It’s nice and warm by the fire. I breathe in a long contented breath of air as I look at all of the cute decorations hanging on the real tree.
I smile when I see one that Christine made for him when she was a kid. It’s a candy cane made from hardened Play-Doh. Even this one is shaped like a penis just like her cookies.
“You have a soft side, Mr. Ethan.”
He takes the pan off the stove and smiles as he walks over to join me. I moan as he strokes my cheek. “I have a soft side for sweet and beautiful things. Must have been why I fell for you.”
I step back and look at him skeptically. This is nice and everything, but I don’t want to fall even deeper for him only to have him tell me that it was only a holiday fling once it’s time for me to go back to school.
“You know I have to leave in two weeks, right?”
He winces and puts a hand over his heart. “I know. Don’t remind me.”
“So, is this… like a two-week thing?”
The look on his face gets me right in the feels as he grips my wrists like he’s not going to let me go.
“No,” he says with the most intense eyes. “This is a forever thing.”
“But I have to go back to college.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“What?!”
“Not to college,” he says. “But we can rent a place while you’re there. I’ve been looking to buy another radio station and there’s one that’s on my radar close to your campus. Maybe I’ll buy it. What do you think?”
I’m stunned. I wasn’t expecting this.
“I think that Christmas is the time for dreams to come true. But…”
“You still don’t believe me? Why?”
“You haven’t settled down before even though hundreds of amazing women must have thrown themselves at you over the years.”
“Hundreds?” he says, trying not to laugh.
“Okay, thousands.”
This time he does laugh.
“How can I believe that you’re finally going to settle down with me?”
He reaches past me and grabs something out of the tree. It’s a little purple box that has my heart hammering away. Is that?
It is.
He opens it, revealing a giant diamond ring. It’s an old fashioned antique ring with a stunning diamond. Just like I’ve always wanted.
I love jewelry that has a history. That has a story. Not just a random ring that is one out of a hundred thousand other identical rings on the corner store. But something that is truly one of a kind.
And this is more than I ever could have dreamed of.
Ethan drops to his knee in front of me and I have to shake my head to make sure I’m not dreaming.
“Marry me, Mandy. Make this the merriest Christmas ever and marry me. Please.”
I drop to my knees in front of him as tears stream down my cheeks.
“Yes!” I say in a gasp.
He looks so thrilled as he throws his arms around me and we fall to the floor laughing and kissing in front of the crackling fireplace…
…and getting some practice for our honeymoon…
Epilogue
Mandy
Ten Years Later…
The kids are like wild animals as they jump on our bed on Christmas morning.
“What time is it?” Ethan grumbles as he rolls onto his back.
“Too early for this,” I grumble back.
Our three-year-old Andy jumps on his stomach and Ethan flies up with an oomph. “Okay, okay, I’m awake,” he says as he rubs his eyes.
I look over at the clock and there’s a five at the beginning of it. It’s too early to get up, but once I see the excitement on my four children’s faces, it’s contagious.
“Go make some coffee, Mr. Clause,” I say as I struggle to push Ethan out of bed.
He groans as he gets up. “All right, Mrs. Clause. Don’t get your pantaloons in a bunch.”
The kids are all gripping their overflowing stockings as they bounce up and down on the bed. This is the eleventh Christmas morning I’ve spent with Ethan and each one keeps getting better and better (and they’re starting earlier and earlier).