“And what does that look like?” he asked her, as he watched her. He still couldn’t believe his good fortune to be sharing the relationship they had. It felt like a dream to him too.
“I’m not sure.” The possibilities were limitless. “Maybe we should take a trip together.” She hadn’t been to Europe in seven years, or anywhere else, except L.A.
“We could eat our way through France,” he suggested, liking the idea.
“Or Italy,” she added with a smile.
“Or both. Even better.”
“Maybe next summer. Maybe Michaela and her family would join us, or we could rent a house somewhere. I have a family again.” It made everything more exciting, and added new dimensions to her life. And Norm did too. She liked sharing their everyday lives, and meeting up at the end of the day. “Let’s think about it. Could you get away?” He was always busy building houses for his clients, but he had a good crew and several foremen he could leave in charge.
“I can plan it, if I know ahead of time.”
They went upstairs before midnight, and lay in bed talking. She was half asleep and beginning to mumble while he was still talking, and she drifted off to sleep while he watched her. He slipped a long, slim box under her pillow while she slept. He had gone to Boston to shop for her, and found just what he wanted.
She kissed him when she woke up in the morning, and he peeled off her nightgown and admired her.
“Merry Christmas,” she said, smiling at him, and then pulled him toward her.
“You missed Santa last night. You were snoring when he came by,” he said and kissed her.
“He hasn’t been here in ages. I’m not on his list,” she said with a grin.
“Well, he was here last night. I think he left something under your pillow,” Norm said innocently. She thought he was teasing her, but slipped a hand under it and found the box he had put there. She was smiling broadly as she pulled it out, and he watched with pleasure as she opened it. She gasped when she saw it. It was a heavy bracelet of gold links and on the back of each link there was a word engraved. All together it read “Happy First Christmas. I love you, N.” She liked the idea of it being their first Christmas. It suggested that there would be more. She hoped they would be lucky enough for that to be true.
“I love it.” He put it on her wrist, and she reached into her night table and handed him a box too. It was a sturdy stainless steel Rolex watch he could wear every day at work, with a chronograph, a stopwatch, and all the extra dials and features she knew he’d love. He put his gift on too, and looked like the proverbial kid at Christmas when he thanked her.
He slept naked and she pressed her body against him as they kissed. She loved feeling his body against her. He was powerfully built with broad shoulders and strong arms, and he loved the silk of her skin next to his. He could never get enough of her. He never wanted their lovemaking to end.
“I love you, Mel,” he said in a husky voice.
“I love you too.” It was the best Christmas she’d had in years. He started making love to her, and she arched her back as he entered her. Everything about their lovemaking was so sweet, and so sensual. They always seemed to be in tune with each other, as they were now. It lasted as long as they could bear it, and then their insatiable hunger and passion took over. They lay spent afterward and smiled at each other. As she looked at him, Melissa couldn’t think of a single thing she wanted. She had it all.
Chapter 14
By Christmas, Marla had finished shooting her most recent film. Post-production was winding down, and she only had to go into the sound studio a few times. She was already studying her next script. She was thoroughly professional, always prepared, and rarely went out or saw people when she was learning lines. She did research for months before every picture, and had set a strong example to Michaela for excellence and perfection. Michaela had developed a powerful work ethic like her adoptive mother, and admired Marla for her discipline.
Marla joined them for dinner on Christmas Eve, and after the children were put to bed, she sat and talked to Michaela and David. The tree was lit, and Andy and Alexandra had opened their grandmother’s gifts that night. She gave them books and practical things that they could learn from. She had definite ideas about how children should be raised and what they should be taught. She’d applied them to Michaela. She had taught her to read when she was three, and Marla had taken her on location with her, with a nanny, before she started school. After that, the long separations while she worked on movie after movie had begun. She regretted it now, but her career had come first. Michaela understood it and didn’t hold it against her, and she had loved her nannies. Marla had insisted on good manners, and the nannies she hired were British and well trained. Michaela had a more informal style with her own children, and she had less help. She liked taking care of them herself whenever she could. David helped on weekends. Michaela had missed having a father. Marla never introduced her to the men in her life. She kept that separate and never discussed it with her daughter.
“I have to admit,” she said, as they relaxed in front of the fire after dinner, “I was shocked when you told me you had met your birth mother. After they told you about the fire at Saint Blaise’s, I assumed that would never be possible.”
“So did I,” Michaela added. “I was shocked when her sister came to see me at the office. At first I thought it was some kind of scam.”
“I was afraid of that too,” Marla admitted. “But I was even more afraid that it might be real, and worried about why she wanted to meet you. It’s been such a long time. She wasn’t at all what I expected when I met her at Thanksgiving. I thought I’d be jealous and she’d try to ‘steal’ you. Instead she turns out to be this very nice, normal woman. She’s had a sad life, and I realize that she needs you, maybe more than you needed her. I don’t think she’s trying to take you away, I think she really just wanted to know you’re all right. And it turns out that we all like each other. She’s young enough to be my daughter too.”
“I thought that when I met her. There’s something very dignified about her, and proud, in a nice way. She was so impressed by you. She thought you were real too. She’s kind of like a young aunt, or an older sister. They both are. I like Hattie too. You’d like her. She doesn’t seem like a nun. She’s very practical and down to earth.”
“So is your birth mother. I like that about her too. That’s an awful story about her son. I know what you mean about her being dignified. She doesn’t come across as needy or desperate, but there’s a terrible sadness in her eyes. Fate takes strange turns. She loses him, and finds you. And now you have both of us. I didn’t feel threatened by her, or jealous. I thought I would,” she said honestly, “but I don’t.”