by Whitley Cox
Zak had had to stop himself from snorting a laugh.
The guy was at least six inches shorter than Zak and almost a hundred pounds lighter.
He watched as Craig took in Zak’s size, his height, his tattoos and then finally Zak’s truck.
Not one week later, when Craig and Loni came to pick up the kids again, Craig had traded in his Charger for a truck just a touch bigger than Zak’s.
Snort.
Yeah. He was that kind of a tool.
Compensating for much there, buddy?
Like how small his tool was, perhaps?
Poor little Craigy, not quite six feet, with size eight shoes and hands the size of a sixth grader’s.
Yeah, Zak had checked the man’s shoe size when he dropped the kids off at Loni’s one day and saw Craig’s biking clip shoes on the front stoop, caked in mud.
Poor little Craigy.
The thought of Craig’s tiny feet eased the rage in Zak’s heart just a tad.
Ordinarily he never would have mocked a man for his size or made fun of him in any way. Zak had been bullied enough as a kid for ten lifetimes and didn’t take kindly to bullying of any kind.
But Craig was different.
Craig had assisted in the dissolution of Zak’s marriage, and Craig never once showed Zak or his children an ounce of respect, so in turn Craig got no respect from Zak. The man was fair game for Zak’s belittling thoughts. Besides, it’s not like Zak ever said anything he thought out loud. They were just his way of keeping his anger in check without breaking the man’s nose.
His thoughts—and his punching bag downstairs—were all he had.
Speaking of his punching bag, he was feeling the itch, feeling the need to duck downstairs to his home gym and pound out a few rounds on the speed bag to release the tension that was building up in his shoulders.
At the moment, though, he had bigger fish to fry.
Like the woman who was probably sitting upstairs in his Jacuzzi tub waiting for him and how he was going to explain her to his two children.
Swallowing, he turned the corner into the kitchen only to nearly trip over his own feet as he slid to a stop, finding Aurora standing behind the island chatting with Tia and Aiden, who were both sitting on the bar stools.
“Dad, can we have a cookie, please?” Tia asked. “Aurora said we needed to ask you first, that it’s not her place.”
Zak’s pace was cautious as he approached the island, surveying the woman he’d come to know intimately over the last day and how she was with his children.
He’d never introduced them to anybody before.
Probably because he hadn’t been with anybody since Loni. Hadn’t dated or slept with a soul since the divorce. He just wasn’t ready.
Was he ready now?
Were the kids ready?
“She has the same name as Sleeping Beauty,” Tia added with a big grin that warmed his heart. “We like her.”
Tia was the easy one to win over. Aiden was the one who would remain a touch more guarded. He’d been the one who found out about his mother’s infidelity—and not in the best or gentlest of ways. Aiden was protective of Zak. Aiden was the most incredible son in the world.
“You can each have one cookie,” Zak finally said, making his way between his children and running his hands down each of their heads before pecking them on the temples.
Gleefully, his kids thanked him, then leaned over the counter, and each grabbed the biggest gingerbread man they could find.
Tia’s eyes suddenly went wide as she studied her cookie. Then she glanced back up at Zak. “Dad, what is on these cookies? Is that a penis?”
Oh shit!
He forgot about his R-rated icing job.
Aurora chuckled. “Your dad was just being silly. Yes, a few of them do have body parts.” She reached over and grabbed two cookies that had no more than buttons and smiley faces and exchanged them with the two suggestive cookies Tia and Aiden had grabbed. “Here, these ones have clothes on. See, buttons.”
Tia gave Zak a curious look. “You’re weird, Dad.”
Zak inhaled through his nose and nodded. “That I am. But you love me anyway.”
His daughter simply rolled her eyes. “I kind of have to.”
“I don’t care if my cookie had a penis,” Aiden piped up, picking off an icing button with his fingers and popping it into his mouth. “A cookie is a cookie. It’s just icing.”
Aurora snorted. “A cookie is just a cookie.”
“These are good,” Tia said, having immediately snapped off the gingerbread man’s head, crumbs tumbling out of her mouth.
“Don’t speak with food in your mouth, please,” Zak said, resting his hand on her warm little back again.
She glanced at him, then nodded. “Sorry, Dad,” she muffled through the cookie, sending more crumbs flying.
Zak rolled his eyes.
Aurora’s soft chuckle made his eyes finally drift up to hers.
“You changed,” she mouthed, pointing to his now clothed body.
He nodded stiffly.
When he saw through the living room window that it was Craig’s truck, he’d ducked into the garage and pulled a pair of clean sweats and a T-shirt out of the dryer.
“Are you happy we’re here for Christmas, Dad?” Aiden asked, his eyes darting back and forth between Zak and Aurora. “Or did we interrupt something?”
Fuck.
Aiden had always had a sixth sense for picking up on the undertones of tension in a room or the low humming vibe of something just a touch off.
Zak grabbed the cooling rack that held the gingerbread cookies and picked one up for himself, snapping off the head just like his daughter had. “Of course I’m happy you’re here, buddy. If I could spend every Christmas with you, every day with you, I’d be a happy Dad. But I didn’t think I’d be spending it with you, so I made plans with my friend Aurora and some of the single dads.”
Aiden nodded. His hair was just a touch darker than Zak’s, with natural darker, almost auburn streaks throughout. It’d be interesting to see what color his facial hair turned out to be and whether his beard went darker as well or bright red like Zak’s grandfather.
“That’s okay, Dad,” Tia piped up, licking a crumb off her thumb. “Christmas is about being together. The more the merrier, right?” She lifted her head back up, pinning her gaze on him. “Can I have another cookie … please?”
Zak narrowed his eyes at her. “What have you eaten today?”
She wrinkled her nose in thought, her amber eyes—the same shade as Loni’s—squinting at the same time. “Ummmmmm … toast and jam for breakfast with apple slices. Then McDonalds for lunch—I had a cheeseburger. Aiden had nuggets. And then we had pretzels and grape juice.”
Zak pushed down the fury that threatened to bubble over.
Had that been Craig or Loni feeding them garbage all day?
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but no more cookies today. You’ve had a fair bit of treats already, it sounds like. Thanks for being honest with me, though. Let’s have a really healthy dinner, and then we can talk about maybe having a couple of cookies tomorrow.”
His daughter made a face that said she was upset but understood.
This was the way it was in Zak’s house.
Clean eating and honesty. He also got the kids out doing regular exercise, or if the weather was foul, he took them downstairs into his home gym and had them do some fun, age-appropriate exercises.
Having finally finished his cookie, Aiden got up from his seat and wandered into the kitchen, grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and poured both him and his sister water from the fridge dispenser. He slid Tia’s glass over to her.
Zak loved how independent and thoughtful his son was growing up to be.
“Is Aurora sleeping over?” Aiden asked.
Zak nodded. “She is. It was too snowy for me to take her home. Do you guys mind if she stays over?”
Both his children shook their heads.
“
In your room?” Tia asked, her wide-eyed innocence causing tingles of nervousness to traverse the length of Zak’s arms.
“Of course in his room, silly,” Aiden said, taking a seat next to his sister again. “I think Aurora is Dad’s new girlfriend, we just hadn’t met her yet. She’s wearing Dad’s shirt. They’re dating.”
Aurora had been awfully quiet this entire time, and Zak had done his best to avoid looking at her too often, out of fear his children might read into something.
But apparently, they were just too damn clever for their own good—or Zak’s good.
“Your dad and I are friends,” Aurora finally spoke. “I will sleep wherever you guys are more comfortable with me sleeping. This is your home, your dad, and your Christmas. I don’t want to make either of you feel uncomfortable.”
Wow!
Zak’s bottom lip dropped open, and his eyes went wide.
Could this woman get any more amazing?
Tia shrugged. “You can sleep wherever. Dad’s bed is bigger and crazy comfy. No sense dirtying another set of sheets, anyway.”
Aurora’s mouth twitched.
Was she thinking what he was thinking? That his sheets in his bed were fucking filthy?
Probably.
“Yeah,” Aiden added. “Sleep in Dad’s bed. I don’t really mind. We appreciate that you guys gave us the option though. Mom and Craig didn’t.”
Motherfucking Craig.
“Yeah, Craig just moved all his junk into the spare room but started sleeping in Mom’s room right away,” Tia added, shaking her head and making a frustrated face. “And he takes sooooo long in the bathroom.” She held up her hands in confusion. “What’s he doing in there anyway? He’s not that big of a guy.”
Zak stared directly ahead at Aurora’s face and bit his lip to keep himself from laughing. She appeared to be doing something similar.
Out of the mouths of babes.
He’d never once spoken ill of Craig to his children either, or even within their earshot, and he’d certainly never commented on his height.
Tia was an observant little one, though. Always had been.
“Craig’s probably putting gel in his hair,” Aiden added. “The guy’s head is like a helmet. Have you ever touched it? Hard as a rock from all that gunk.”
Zak was about to open his mouth and say something about being nice to people when the doorbell chimed again.
Who the hell was it now?
If it was Loni and Craig back to ask for his children, he was going to blow a fucking gasket.
Both his children slid off their stools and followed Zak to the front door.
“Who’s driving in this stuff?” Tia asked. “They better have a truck, otherwise they shouldn’t be out in the snow. It’s treacherous.”
His little dictionary child. Tia had always loved words. Was talking circles around Aiden by the time she was two.
Zak peered through the window next to the door and once again nearly lost his balance.
He flung open the door to find his grandparents from freaking South Carolina standing on the welcome mat, suitcases by their sides, snow flurries in their hair.
“Grammy! Papa!” Tia and Aiden shouted, hurling themselves forward and into the waiting arms of Zak’s grandparents.
“Dad’s got a new girlfriend,” Tia said, pulling out of her great-grandmother’s arms and then catapulting herself into Zak’s grandfather’s arms.
“Does he now?” Zak’s grandfather asked, lifting his gaze to Zak and quirking up an eyebrow.
“Yeah.” Tia nodded. “Her name’s Aurora, which is just like Sleeping Beauty, and she’s in the kitchen. She and Dad baked cookies. Dad never bakes cookies, so we already like her more than we like Craig.”
Zak’s grandfather’s mouth slid up into a big smile, his blue eyes fixed on Zak. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
Zak let out a slow breath as panic swelled up inside him and threatened to swallow him belly first.
This was not at all how things were supposed to go.
This was not the plan.
This was too much too soon, wasn’t it?
It had to be.
Now he had to decide if he was going to just go with the flow and let Christmas take its course, allowing Aurora to stay and spend Christmas with his family and friends, or figure out a way to get her home and not hurt her feelings or crush any potential for something more with her.
Because one thing was for sure, he definitely wanted more with the woman who had broken his dry spell and then some. He just wasn’t sure if he was ready to have her spend Christmas with his family.
10
Aurora held her breath as she heard the commotion at the front door make its way through the house toward the kitchen. When she heard Aiden and Tia yell “Grammy! Papa!” she knew it had to be Zak’s grandparents.
The house just went from two to six very fast.
Was Zak feeling overwhelmed?
Was he ready for his entire family to meet someone he’d just started sleeping with—yesterday?
Aurora knew she wouldn’t be if the roles were reversed.
Perhaps she should just run upstairs and pack her bag, make the decision for him.
But oh, her heart.
Her Christmas gift to herself. Her birthday wish. It wasn’t complete. It wasn’t over, not yet. It couldn’t be.
Was that selfish of her?
She was about to climb the stairs when Tia, dragging a comely woman with silver-gray hair in a stylish bob and dark green eyes, came rushing around the corner.
“Grammy, this is Sleeping Beauty. Dad’s new girlfriend,” Tia said with a giggle. She tilted her head to the side, her smile wide and silly. “Just kidding. Her name’s Aurora.” She held up a finger, her face suddenly growing serious. “But technically that is also the name of Sleeping Beauty, so I’m not wrong.”
Zak’s grandmother’s smile was equally wide as Tia’s, and her eyes held a glimmer of amusement to them. “Well, Sleeping Beauty or not, I’m pleased to meet you, Aurora.”
Aurora smiled as she stepped down off the bottom step. “You as well … Mrs. … ?”
“Mrs. Fraser,” Tia added. “Grammy and Papa are Mr. and Mrs. Fraser.”
Mrs. Fraser’s eyes sparkled. “That’s true, but please call me Daphne. My husband is Sherman, but we all just call him Papa or Sherm. Whatever you prefer.”
A small, cool hand took Aurora’s, and when she looked down, she found Tia smiling up at her. “Come on, let’s go meet Papa.”
“It’s all right, dear,” Daphne said with a laugh. “We don’t bite. But I’m guessing whatever it is between you and Zachary, that it’s quite new and you hadn’t anticipated meeting the whole Fraser-Eastwood clan so soon.”
The woman was a mind reader.
Tia pulled both Aurora and Daphne back into the kitchen where Zak, his grandfather and Aiden stood behind the island. Sherman was chewing on a gingerbread cookie.
“Papa, should you be eating that with your diabetes?” Tia asked, a look of concern falling across her young face.
Her great-grandfather rolled his eyes. “I’ll be fine, love. Don’t you worry about your old Papa here.”
He seemed to have a wordless conversation with his wife before they both broke eye contact and smiled at the rest of the people in the room.
Aurora’s parents had those kinds of conversations too. The kind where you didn’t need to speak a word to say a million things. They were the kinds of conversations you could only have with someone you were truly in sync with, truly connected with.
She hoped to have those conversations with someone one day.
“I’m so excited that Grammy and Papa are here for Christmas,” Tia said, bouncing up and down on her toes, jostling both Aurora and her grandmother, as she was still holding each of their hands. “It’s going to be better than Disneyland!”
“I still can’t believe you guys braved that blizzard,” Zak said, offering Aurora a sheepish smile before turnin
g back to his grandfather. “What were you two old coots thinking?”
Sherman’s head reared back as if he were affronted, but then his mouth spread into a big smile as he chewed his cookie. “Ah, it wasn’t that bad. Our flight was diverted to Vancouver due to the storm. Not such a big deal. It’s a beautiful airport and nice people. Then we rented a truck and after a short drive across the border—badabing, badaboom—we’re here. Nothing these two old coots can’t handle.” He grabbed another cookie, stared at it for a moment—it was obviously one of the ones with genitalia on it—but he did nothing but shrug and take a bite, scratching at his bright red but silver-speckled beard as he spoke. “Besides, we were thinking that we didn’t want one of our favorite grandsons to be all lonesome for Christmas. Figured we’d surprise you. But you surprised us with a houseful. Not that we’re complaining. We’ll never complain when we get to see Tia and Aiden.” He grabbed two more cookies off the cooling rack and passed them to each of his great-grandchildren, all before Zak could say a word.
But both children simply held the cookies in front of them.
“Dad?” Aiden asked.
Zak rolled his eyes. “Fine, whatever. But it’s broccoli for breakfast, lunch and dinner after the new year. Need to purge the sugar from your systems.”
Daphne made a dismissive noise in her throat, her green eyes rolling. “You need to lighten up, dear. I’m on board with being healthy, but you take it to the next level.” She grabbed a cookie for herself off the counter. “And that level can get annoying.”
“I’m going to take our bags upstairs to the guest room,” Sherman said, having finished his second cookie. “Aiden, be a good lad and help your Papa. I’m an old coot, after all.” He shot Zak a sarcastic look over his shoulder, his blue eyes full of humor and defiance. “Only got one good leg left.” And as if to prove a point, Sherman grabbed two suitcases and limped—though just slightly—toward the stairs.
“You only have one real leg left, Papa,” Aiden said with a chuckle, grabbing the two remaining bags and slinging them over his shoulder. “Will you show me your stump when we get upstairs? It’s so cool.”
“We’ll see,” Papa said, already a quarter of the way up the stairs.
