Gabriela stared after him, and her affection for him only grew during that moment, becoming so vast and deep that she knew affection was no longer the right word. Her feelings for him were so much more than that.
This…this was love.
She didn’t know how it had happened so fast, but it was real. People always talked about love at first sight, sometimes with enthusiasm, but more often in ridicule. They’d call it lust. Gabriela wouldn’t deny the lust was there, burning like fire in her veins, but what she felt was so much deeper. And no one had the right to judge her for it or tell her it wasn’t real.
I…love Broxen.
Gabriela’s heart fluttered, and she smiled wider.
With Ana’s direction and assistance, they decorated the tree. They laughed and smiled throughout, especially at some of the ornaments Broxen had bought—particularly the one that was just a cat’s hindquarters with a raised tail and a tiny pink butthole. They wrapped the tree in strands of lights, tied on one of the big red bows, and hung all the ornaments they could fit on the branches, including all the ones Ana had made herself.
Trash from the packages built up around the coffee table, pieces of plastic and cardboard tossed aside to be cleaned up later. Gabby couldn’t deny the joy of this. The decorations themselves didn’t matter, their lack of coherence made no difference. The only important thing was that she was doing this with Ana. That she was doing it with Broxen.
They were doing this as a family.
The little director of decorations allowed her assistants great freedom of expression when it came to the items that didn’t go on the tree, though she offered a few suggestions. Before long, they had wreaths, garland, and bows hung up all over the living room, dining room, and kitchen, and little Santas, snowmen, and reindeer scattered all over.
Ana hurried to the tree to put on the tree skirt, fastening it around the trunk just above the rim of the bucket. The polka-dotted fabric hung down like an actual skirt—or maybe a little more like a circus tent—with the rainbow pom-poms dangling against the side of the bucket, the bottom few inches of which remained exposed.
When Ana returned to the dwindled stockpile of decorations, her eyes widened. “Ooo, tinsel!”
As she tore open one of the tinsel bags, Broxen picked up another, studying the contents with a more thoughtful and serious look than any tinsel had likely received since it was first invented.
“What do we do with it?” He opened the package and slid out the piece of cardboard that held the silvery strands in place, brushing a finger through them.
“We throw it all over the tree,” Ana said with a big grin, “and maybe a few other places, too.”
Gabriela picked up another bag of tinsel, smiling down at it. She and her parents always put tinsel on their tree when she was young. Ever since then, a Christmas tree without it had never seemed quite right, but still… “This stuff makes a big mess, Broxen. We don’t have to put it up if you don’t want to.”
Broxen held up the cardboard, letting the strands of tinsel dangle down from it. “How big a mess?”
“Like we’ll still be finding pieces of it scattered around the house this time next year.”
He laughed and lifted hand, sweeping his hair back between those curved horns. “That’s all right. Whenever we find a piece, we’ll think of today, right?”
The way he looked at her as he said that, the way he smiled… There was that fire in his eyes, yes, but there was something deeper, too. Caring. Affection.
Love? I know he wants me, but…does he love me?
Gabriela stepped closer to him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. She tilted her head back and smiled up at him. “Right.”
Broxen leaned down and nuzzled her hair, drawing in a deep breath. He groaned softly. “I truly did miss you, Gabriela.”
“I missed you, too,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “And I was worried.”
He cupped the back of her head with one of his big hands and brushed his lips over her forehead. “It’ll take a lot more than holiday shoppers and some snow to keep me from you, my mate.”
My mate.
She shivered. God, she loved hearing that.
She sighed and brought up a hand, pressing her palm to his chest, over his heart. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“You better not be sucking tongues again,” Ana said.
“Not yet.” Broxen’s chest vibrated with those low, rumbly words.
Gabriela opened her eyes and laughed as she glanced at her daughter. Ana was staring at them with skepticism.
“I was just…making Broxen look a little more festive.” She reached into the bag of tinsel, drew out several strands, and hung them over the root of one of his horns. The silvery strands mixed with his hair and sparkled from the light hitting them.
Ana laughed.
Broxen lowered his hand from Gabby’s head and straightened, looking down at her with a smirk. “So, is this like a snowball fight now?”
Gabriela arched a brow. “Not unless you really want a mess. There shall be no throwing of the tinsel unless it’s onto the tree.”
He raised the dangling tinsel in his hand and glanced at it from the corner of his eye. “Hmm.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“But I like the sound of you draped in this…and nothing else.”
“Hello! Kid right here,” Ana said. “Let’s get this stuff on the tree before you two start kissing.”
Both Gabriela and Broxen laughed.
When they were finally done decorating, and Broxen had hung the stockings—with care—at the fireplace, they stood back and looked at what they’d accomplished.
Gabriela tilted her head. “You know…it really is a beautiful tree.”
“Told you!” Ana said, flashing a grin.
The tree was still leaning to the side, causing many of the ornaments and the tinsel to hang at an angle, the plastic bucket was still clearly visible under the bottom of the tree skirt, and none of the decorations matched, but it was bright, and sparkling, and Gabriela loved it.
Broxen wrapped his arm around Gabriela and pulled her into the shelter of his body. She leaned against him and hugged Ana.
It wasn’t a perfect tree, but it was their tree.
Eighteen
Christmas Eve had always been a day of frantic, last-minute preparations, a day of stressing about whether the gifts were what Ana really wanted or if Christmas morning would be special enough. But it had also always been a day of excitement. Perhaps, were it not for Ana, the Christmas magic would’ve worn off for Gabriela years ago. Ana’s joy, the light in her eyes, had ensured Christmas held its charm.
There were so many reasons for this Christmas Eve to be the worst Gabriela could remember, and those reasons had already been tumbling through her head when she’d woken up alone in Broxen’s bed this morning. Losing a home was a devastating experience any time of the year, but to go through it right before Christmas…that was especially crushing.
Gabby had borrowed the truck the other day and, after shifting the driver’s seat way forward, had gone into to town to buy stocking stuffers and a gift for Ana just so the girl would have something to open on Christmas. Still, it hurt Gabriela’s heart that she couldn’t provide more.