“You really think so?”
“Oh, I know so,” I assure her.
“I can’t wait to tell all my friends,” she admits quietly, her gaze still filled with wonder.
“Bet this has made you rethink my Christmas present now, huh, Miah?” Max goads.
Miah snorts. “Pretty sure if I told your school what you are giving out for Christmas presents, you wouldn’t be so cocky about it.”
“Language,” I lightly scold.
“Sorry, Lily.”
“Boy thinks he’s a man,” Max retorts.
“Stop baiting him,” Maverick warns.
“Alright, alright. I’m going to see what’s going on in the kitchen.”
“Do you want to hold her?” I ask Miah.
Horror fills his expression, and he shuffles back on the sofa, moving away from me. “God no. I’ll break her.”
“You won’t break her. Come on, say hello.”
“Do I have to?”
“No, I’ll never force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” I assure him.
He watches me for a moment before groaning, sitting up straighter. “Okay.”
“Can I hold her after?” Star asks, not taking her gaze off my daughter.
I tap her button nose. “Of course you can. Let your brother hold her first.”
“Support her head over the crease of your elbow,” Jaxon warns, as I gently place her in Miah’s arms.
“He’s got it, Jaxon,” I tell him.
“God, she’s so tiny. Aren’t you afraid you’ll hurt her?” Miah asks, gazing down at Rose.
He doesn’t know what his question means to me. Or how fundamental my answer is. “No, Miah; no, I’m not afraid I’ll ever hurt her.”
He gazes down at her, his expression soft, and whether he realises it or not, a small smile tugs at the corner of his lips.
“I guess she’s okay—for a baby.”
“Dinner’s ready,” Mum yells. “Come to the table.”
I smile, gently taking her from him. “Quickly jump up so Star can have a hold. Are you staying for dinner?”
“No. We are actually off out, which is why Blanche hasn’t come in. She said she will pop in when you’ve not got so many visitors. Personally, I think Hayden scared her away.”
Jaxon quickly runs over how to hold Rose to Star as I reply to Miah. “She is more than welcome here,” I tell him.
Star takes in a breath, her entire body tense as she holds Rose. “I love her so much.”
My heart melts at her words. “She loves you too.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m her mummy.”
“Come on, squirt, time to go. We can come visit another day,” Miah tells her.
“But—”
“It’s fine. You go on out. You can come back anytime you want to,” I assure her.
“You promise?”
Tucking Rose to my chest, I smile. “I promise.”
She slides off the sofa, jumping to her feet. Once down, she leans over, pressing a kiss to Rose’s head. “Look after her while I’m gone.”
I chuckle at her order. “I will.”
As they leave, Jaxon takes Rose from me. “I’ll put her in her Moses basket while we eat.”
“But—”
“Angel, you haven’t eaten since yesterday. You need to eat. We don’t know what the night will bring or how tired we will be tomorrow.”
I sigh, dropping my hands to my side. “Okay.”
“You okay to walk or are you too sore?”
“I’ll be okay,” I promise as we make our way into the kitchen.
I gasp when I see the large table set up how Mum sets hers at Christmas. Lights are pinned wall to wall around the room, and Christmas songs are playing softly in the background.
But there are also ‘It’s a girl’ banners with a few pink balloons scattered around.
“Merry Christmas and congratulations on the birth of your daughter,” they cheer as we step into the room.
“Guys,” I murmur, dropping my head against Jaxon’s shoulder.
This is just…
Phenomenal.
Jaxon pulls out the chair for me, before gently laying Rose down in the Moses basket between us.
The food is bursting over the table, the smell divine and tantalising. They’ve put so much effort into everything. There are personalised name plaques, personalised crackers, and red, pink, and gold confetti, mixing the two celebrations together.
I tune out the chatter around the table and face my husband, my heart bursting with joy.
This is what he promised me.
And this is what he gave me.
He feels my gaze on him and turns to me, his expression soft and filled with love. “You okay?”
“Just thinking that maybe Christmas isn’t the only time magic happens.”
He smirks, leaning in, our daughter sleeping between us. His lips brush against mine. “No, the magic starts with you. Always with you.”
He is wrong.
It’s our love.
“Merry Christmas, honey,” I rasp, and before he can reply, I press my lips to his, kissing him with all my love, all my heart, and all my mind.
Our future is unknown; but our love is not.
And together, we don’t need Christmas to make it magical.
We just need each other.
Always and forever.
BONUS CHAPTER
FAITH
He’s being mysterious, which I’m not sure is a good sign. Beau has always been so honest and upfront.
Yet, whatever this surprise is, he has been tight-lipped about it. I have no clue what it is other than it needed me to dress up but keep casual.
Maybe he’s taking you out for dinner.
However, that doesn’t explain Buster and Roxy being here. Restaurants don’t exactly take too kindly to dogs being brought inside. And it’s not like we could leave them in the flat. We are still waiting for the papers to be signed on the new property. Heck, I still haven’t seen the new property. Borrington Fields are huge and go on for miles, with dozens of landowners. I fell in love with a property down there, but the owner will never sell.
He pulls over onto the side of the road, and a smile lights up his face.
“Is this where you kill me and dump my body?” I joke.
That knowing smirk is back. God, he is killing me.
“No, this is where I blindfold you.”
He pulls out a silk, black sleep mask. “What? Why?”
He pauses with it over my head. “Trust me?”
My shoulders slump because I do. “With my life.”
“Then let’s put this on, and no peeking,” he warns.
I let him slide it over my eyes, blanketing me in darkness.
What kind of surprise involves an eye mask?
“Can’t you give me a little hint?” I ask as he pulls off.
“Nope. All will be revealed in a minute. We are nearly there.”
Nearly there?
I should have taken note of my surroundings. I hadn’t because the nerves started to kick in and all I could think about was where he was taking me.
Around fifteen minutes later, the sound suddenly changes as the car moves off the smooth tarmac and onto a gravelly road. I try to hear something, anything other than the tyres to clue me in to where we are.