I took the papers from his hands and moved so I was sitting in his lap, legs straddling him, looking down into his eyes. So pale and clear compared to mine which were always stormy and gray.
“I want to keep the baby,” I told him.
“You do?” he said, trying to hold back a smile.
“I do.”
“But you haven’t seen the list.”
“I don’t need to,” I said. I pulled his hand so that it rested on the bare skin of my belly under the long sleeve T-shirt I’d worn to bed. His hands were warm and soft as he slowly began to caress my skin. “This little life has made itself known. Like one of my stars bursting into existence. What would happen if it didn’t get a chance to burn bright and strong? I don’t have the right to end it.”
He had both hands on me now, caressing, slowly moving up from my waist to the base of my breasts and back down. I caught my breath.
“You have a choice, ‘Ley. It’s your body.”
“It is, but it’s our child.”
His breath hitched, and tears filled his eyes.
“What? You changed your mind? You don’t want to keep it?” I asked, and panic started to fill me. Now that I’d made up my mind to keep our baby, I wasn’t sure what I’d do if we’d somehow switched roles.
“You said our child.” His voice was thick with emotion, and his hands continued to roam, making the nausea all but disappear as other parts of me came awake.
“I have a question,” I said with a smile.
“Yeah?”
“On your list…” I paused, and he nodded, his beautiful smile matching my own. “Was one of the pros that we can have sex for months without using birth control and not worry about getting pregnant?”
His face broke into the wide grin that made my heart flip every time I saw it. It had since I was a little girl and he’d smile at me while giving me the last cookie. The one I’d always split in half and share right back.
“Nope. That sure wasn’t on the list, but I can tell you, that one thing pretty much pushes the pros way, way over the cons list.”
And he was kissing me. Hard and full of the emotions of the last few days. Anger and hurt and longing. Sadness and loss and regret. Going past that until there was hope and excitement and joy.
A banging on my door pulled our lips apart. We stared at each other, smiling.
“I’m not kidding, smartass. You better get down here before Dad goes ballistic.” Mayson’s voice boomed through the door.
“He’s going to go ballistic anyway,” Stephen said, but he was still smiling. I brushed my hands over his lips.
“He can’t kill his grandbaby’s daddy.”
“I’m sure Cam would prevent him from killing her best friend’s son.”
I giggled. “I don’t know. I’m more afraid of telling Mama than Daddy.”
“Tomorrow. We’ll tell them at Christmas. When we’re all together, and they’re distracted because there are so many people here. Some or all of our grandparents will keep them from killing us,” Stephen said.
“’Kay. But kiss me again and then leave like you used to—out the balcony and down the tree.”
He groaned but kissed me. Deeply. As if he were promising me something. And I answered back with the promises I’d been giving him since I was a little girl. I’d always be his, and he’d always be mine.
Stephen
THIS GIFT
“I'm down on my knees, there's no better time
It's something to last for as long as you live.”
Performed by 98 Degrees
Written by Bagge / Hosein / De Viller
When I walked in the back door of the house, Edie was in the kitchen, putting the cinnamon rolls in the oven. She was dressed in green leggings and a long, plaid top that made her look like a Christmas present, especially with her belly sticking out as far as it was. I’d never tell her that, though, or she’d poison me to death. But her belly made me think of Khiley and how, pretty soon, I’d be able to feel our baby moving inside her. It made a smile hit my face when, yesterday, it had all been anger and frowns.
“You talked to Khiley, I see,” she said.
I looked up, surprised. “What?”
She smiled. “Khiley and I took a little ride yesterday because you’d put her in an awful position.”
I nodded, the smile gone.
“But I can see you’ve made up,” she said.
“I had a moment of temporary insanity,” I told her truthfully.
“I think you’re allowed. It’s hard on a relationship when it’s unplanned,” Edie said, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of sadness cross her face. But before I could even ask her about it, she was back on my case. “You shouldn’t have left her.”
I nodded. “It won’t happen again. She’s my whole world, Eds. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
Tears hit her eyes, and now I was pretty sure her sadness had something to do with Garrett and why he wasn’t here with his wife and his baby. I put my arm around her. “You going to be okay?”
She nodded, pushing me away, deflecting like Edie usually did. “Of course I am. When are you going to tell Mom and Dad?”
“Tomorrow. When there are too many witnesses for them to kill me and bury the body.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure they won’t all bury you,” she laughed.
“Who’s burying who and why?” Mama asked, coming into the kitchen in jeans and a sweater. Mama was gorgeous even as she aged. Her strawberry-blonde hair showed signs of gray, but her sparkling blue eyes and her smile made her seem way younger than fifty.
“Just Ty,” I said and squinted at Edie to keep quiet. Not that I had to worry about it. Edie never spilled the beans on any of us unless it was life or death.
♫ ♫ ♫
I was a grumpy ass on Christmas Eve because the truth of the matter was I wanted to be with the woman I loved who was having my baby. I had meant what I’d said to Khiley. The way things had always worked was going to have to change. We were getting married. We’d need our own traditions. We’d need to make our own choices on where we spent the holidays. The family had to understand that. They had to expect it. It wasn’t like they hadn’t known we loved each other from the moment we’d first held hands. Even if we hadn’t said that we’d loved each other until years later.
It wasn’t until her fifteenth birthday when we’d first said it.
I’d spent all the money I’d saved working at Aunt Mia’s car dealership over the summer to buy Khiley a new telescope. I’d set it up on her balcony while she’d spent the day shopping with Ginny. When she got home, I took her outside, and when she saw the telescope, she squealed and jumped into my arms. I barely caught her before she started kissing me. Kissing me in a way that was different than our kisses used to be. These seemed like we were working up to something.