TJ is still pretty keyed up, but the warm bath has made him sleepy, and he konks right out in the middle of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site. When I get back out into the living room, Jewel is camped out on the couch with a cup of cocoa, a candy cane sticking out of it.
“How you doin’?” I ask, flopping down beside her.
“Good,” she murmurs lazily. “Thank God I already wrapped TJ’s presents from Santa. I don’t have the energy to do anything more tonight.” She turns to look toward the hallway. “He asleep?”
“Out like a light.”
“Good. Let me finish this cocoa, and then let’s put his presents under the tree and go to bed. I’m beat.” She glances down at her cup. “This candy cane is a poor excuse for peppermint schnapps, by the way.”
“Next year you can drink all the spiked cocoa you want.”
“I’m already dreaming about it,” she yawns, patting her pregnant belly.
“Let’s get those presents,” I suggest. “In fact, just tell me where they are. I’ve got it handled.”
Jewel puts her feet up on the coffee table and directs me to the spot in the garage where she’s hidden TJ’s Santa gifts. I plant them all around the tree, including a tiny balance bike that looks like a red motorcycle.
“There’s something very sexy about watching your man play Santa,” Jewel murmurs as I finish.
“I thought you were tired,” I remark.
She quirks up her lips, giving me a sly look. “Not that tired.”
“Well, well, well, Mrs. Abbott. Are you trying to seduce me?”
“As much as I can with this belly.”
“You’re the hottest pregnant chick in the world.” I lean over the couch and pull her into my arms. “And I’m about to show you exactly how hot.”
And then I take her into the bedroom, and I do.
Twice.
After, we lie awake with her in my arms. The bedroom is lit by the white Christmas lights Jewel insisted on putting in here. I put my hand on her belly.
“I can’t wait to have a little Jewel.”
“It could be another boy,” Jewel points out.
“Nope. It’s a girl. I’m positive.”
“How can you know?” Her voice is skeptical.
“Because. Last time you were pregnant, your cravings were pretty much all salty foods. Chips, pretzels, stuff like that. You’re hardly eating any of that stuff this time around.”
Jewel looks up at me, arching a brow. “That’s old wives’ tale stuff.”
I shrug. “Maybe. But your feet are a hell of a lot colder this time around, too. And your boobs are bigger.”
She’s amazed. “Are you serious right now?”
“Bet ya.”
Jewel snorts. “You know, I don’t think I’m gonna take that bet. Something tells me I’d lose.”
“Sam would be happy if I’m right. Our little girl would be the perfect age for Sunny to play with.” Sam and Hawk’s little daughter is eleven months old, born about a month after last Christmas.
“God,” Jewel breathes. “Remember back last Christmas? I was so jealous of Sam, eight months pregnant and ready to burst. I thought I might never manage to get pregnant again.”
“And now look at you,” I quip. “Big as a house.”
Jewel punches me in the shoulder, then chuckles and lays back against my arm. “A lot sure can change in a year,” she breathes.
“That it can, darlin’,” I agree. “That it can.”
* * *
Thank you so much for reading Forgiveness!
Turn the page for a post-book segment that I like to call “Daphne Talks Out Her Ass…”
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A few more things you might be interested in!
Daphne Talks Out Her Ass About Forgiveness
It’s funny. I think it’s easy to think about Christmas as the time of year where family gets together, and everything is happy and merry and perfect. Pretty white snow, and gleaming decorations. Perfectly-wrapped presents. The clear, familiar ring of sleigh bells. Santa Claus’s deep, untroubled belly laugh.
But for many of us, the holidays are a difficult time. Many of us have losses in our lives that cause us pain. Deaths in the family. Friends and dear ones who have fallen out of our lives. Or in some cases, people we have had to cut out of our lives.
That pain can run deep. For some of us, Christmas is a time of much more hurt than joy.
My own parents have been gone for years now. My dad died in 2003. My mom followed him in 2007. Twelve years after I became an orphan, it still hurts. I think about both of them every single day. And because of that, Christmas can be very hard.
On top of that, I don’t have siblings. And I don’t have biological children of my own.
But what I do have are a wonderful husband, and two fantastic stepdaughters. My daughters are grown now, and that means I am now a grandma to two little boys, with the prospect of more to come.
This Christmas, I’m so thankful that the concept of family can mean many things. And that we don’t have to let the Hallmark perfect image of the holidays make us feel like our own lives don’t measure up. Friends and family come in all different shapes and sizes. There’s family you are born with, and family you choose.
And this year, I’m so very, very thankful for the family I choose. And I’m thankful for you, dear readers. Thank you for choosing to spend a little time this Christmas with the Lords of Carnage family, and with me.
Love and peace,
— Daphne
Forgiveness isn’t the end! There are more Lords of Carnage books coming! TANK is next!
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RUSH, CRASH, RIDE, and STAND will leave you breathless and on your knees for these hot alpha heroes!
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ABOUT DAPHNE
Daphne Loveling is a small-town girl who moved to the big city as a young adult in search of adventure. She lives in the American Midwest with her fabulous husband and the two cats who own them.
Someday, she hopes to retire to a sandy beach and continue writing with sand between her toes.
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Contact her via email at [email protected]
Books by Daphne Loveling
Motorcycle Club Romance
Rush: A Stone Kings Motorcycle Club Romance
Crash: A Stone Kings Motorcycle Club Romance
Ride: A Stone Kings Motorcycle Club Romance
Stand: A Stone Kings Motorcycle Club Romance
STONE KINGS MOTORCYCLE CLUB: The Complete Collection
GHOST: Lords of Carnage MC
HAWK: Lords of Carnage MC
BRICK: Lords of Carnage MC
GUNNER: Lords of Carnage MC
THORN: Lords of Carnage MC
BEAST: Lords of Carnage MC
ANGEL: Lords of Carnage MC
HALE: Lords of Carnage MC
BULLET: Lords of Carnage MC
Iron Will: Lords of Carnage Ironwood MC
Iron Heart: Lords of Carnage Ironwood MC
Dirty Santa: A Holiday MC Romance
Los Perdidos MC
Fugitives MC
Throttle: A Stepbrother Romance
Sports Romance
Getting the Down
Snap Count
Zone Blitz
Players: The Springville Rockets Collection
Paranormal Romance
Untamed Moon
Forgiveness: A Lords of Carnage MC Christmas Page 8
