by Patty Blount
Chapter Fourteen
In the early hours of Sunday morning, in a labor room at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Elena helped her sister grunt and sweat and push her daughter into this world. Baby Girl Larsen arrived with a full head of dark hair and weighed in at a healthy seven pounds even.
Elena cut the cord and as she looked into her niece’s blue eyes, felt her heart go splat for the second time that month. She snapped pictures as a nurse cleaned the baby, fastened hospital ID bands around her tiny ankle and wrist and grinned proudly when she got one of her own. She attached the images to a text message announcing “Milk Dud’s a girl!” to everyone in their circle including Lucas and because she was in a forgiving mood, shot one over to Steve Orland, too.
He might be an ass, but it was Christmas time and the man deserved to know he’d just become a father.
Her dad and brothers replied in seconds, promising they’d book the next flight. Aunt Enza said she’d be there with the gang in tow the minute visiting hours began.
The nurse changed Kara’s bedding and gown and Elena brushed her hair and got her comfortable. After mommy and baby had tried their first nursing session, Kara yawned loudly and handed her baby to Elena. Elena cradled the baby in the crook of her arm. “Look what you made, Kara. Mom would be so freakin’ proud of you.” Elena’s voice cracked.
“Oh, Laney, I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me, too.” Elena smiled. “Me, too,” she said again. “I’m so sorry for everything.” The baby let out a tiny squeak and both sisters gasped in wonder. “She’s absolutely perfect, Kara.”
“Laney, look. The sun’s coming up.”
Elena walked the baby over to the window that overlooked the city. A layer of snow covered the rooftops and the first rays of the sun shattered the darkness. “Look, baby. There’s a great big world out there and I know, believe me, I know it can be scary, but all you have to do is look for the light and you’ll be just fine.” Her voice broke but holding that brand new life in her arms, she couldn’t be sad—not all the way.
“Call him. Call Lucas again.”
Elena turned away from the window, but kept her eyes glued to the precious bundle in her arms. “Later. I’ll call him later. And I’ll keep calling him until he talks to me. I’m not giving up, Kara. He said he’s in love with me and he needs to know I’m in love with him, too. He needs to know I’m staying in New York, I’m staying with the SFG and I’m staying with you.”
Kara gasped. “Are you serious?”
“Completely.”
“Lucas changed your mind?”
Elena laughed once and thought about that. Nobody can change a mind that refused to be changed. “No. But he definitely helped.”
“So what did?”
“Your room number.” Elena looked up, found Kara recording her with her cell phone and adjusted the baby so the camera could capture that adorable little face. “When they directed us into this room, I couldn’t believe it. Six eighteen, Kara.”
It took her a second and then Kara gasped. “Mom’s birthday!”
Elena nodded and shrugged as the tears rolled down her cheeks. “It’s a sign, Kara. It’s Mom’s way of saying she was here with you—with us and that she loves us. I never would have connected that—wouldn’t even have noticed that—if I hadn’t met Lucas.” She carefully put the baby into her little plastic bassinet. “Kara, do you think there’s still hope?”
Kara tapped her phone, saved the video, and nodded. “There’s always hope, honey.” She shifted over on her bed. “Come on. Let’s shut our eyes for a while, okay?”
Elena smiled and slid beside her sister just the way they used to when they were little and thunderstorms pounded their house. They slept soundly for several hours until a nurse came in with Kara’s breakfast tray. Elena stretched, smiled, and looked at the baby, snuggled in her tiny bed next to them. She felt... she couldn’t find the words. Content. Light. Maybe even happy.
How was that possible?
Later, when visiting hours began, Cass, Jade, and Bree rushed in with balloons, flowers, presents wrapped in pink and red paper. Their moms, Aunt Vincenza, Aunt Joann, and Aunt Gigi—the women who’d stepped in—stepped up—when Kara and Elena lost their mom, followed behind.
“Awww, she looks like Marie,” Aunt Enza said in a voice thick with tears, as she stared at the baby in Kara’s arms.
“You think?” Kara smiled at her daughter. “I only see Steve.”
“Look at all that hair! That’s totally Marie.” Enza ran her hand over the baby’s head where a tiny pink bow held up a tuft of hair. Elena grinned wide. Mom’s hair had been thick and straight. When Elena was little—well before she’d discovered the joys of the Brazilian Blowout—she’d wished for straight hair that gleamed like her mom’s but she’d been cursed with her father’s wiry mess. It looked like her niece would be spared that nightmare.
“Let me see! All I see is blanket,” Aunt Joann complained. She peeked over Enza’s shoulder and squealed.
“Oh, she’s beautiful!”
“Good job, mama,” Jade added.
“Kara, honey.” Aunt Joann cupped Kara’s cheek. “I am so proud of you and know your mom would be, too.”
Kara’s face wobbled and Aunt Gigi rushed over to fold her up in a hug. “Shh, shh, shh, baby, we’ve got you. You’re not alone. You’re never alone.”
“Oh, Aunt Gigi, it hurts,” Kara whispered. “I hate that my daughter will never know my mom. But I’m so glad, so incredibly glad she’ll have three grandmas.”
While the moms cooed over Mom and Baby, Elena glanced at Cassandra. She stood just a little apart from the group. Elena put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Cass.” But Cass only shook her head.
“Not needed, Laney. Everything’s just the way it’s supposed to be.”
Not everything, she thought when Cass sent a wistful look toward the baby.
“So what’s her name, Kara?” Bree asked.
Kara bit her lip and hesitated a moment. “Um, well, I’ve been going through that stupid book for weeks and there’s one name I like. I hope you guys like it.”
“Just tell us.” Jade danced up on her toes.
“Okay. It’s Nadia Marie.”
Elena eyes filled. “Oh, Kara.”
“What? What? It’s horrible, isn’t it? I was afraid—”
Elena shook her head violently. “No. It’s the most beautiful name ever.”
Aunt Enza carefully held up baby Nadia for everyone to see. “Welcome to the world, Nadia Marie. You are going to be so loved.”
A sniffle from the bed had all the girls smothering Kara with hugs. Elena watched them and knew with absolute certainty she couldn’t leave these women a second time.
“It means hope.”
At the sound of that deep voice, Elena’s heart stopped then took off soaring. Slowly, she turned to the door, found Lucas standing there with an enormous Teddy bear—both of them in Santa hats. He had a growth of stubble that only seemed to magnify the potency of his smile, and the sparkle was back in his eyes.
The hope she thought had died warmed her all over. She took a step, wanting to wrap herself around him and never let go. “Lucas, I—”
He stopped her with a raised hand, and stepped into Kara’s room. “I know.”
“How? How do you know?”
He put the bear on the bed by Kara’s feet and held out his cell phone. “When I woke up this morning, I found a present waiting for me.” He cued up the video Kara had taken early that morning and pressed Play. The whole room fell silent when Elena’s voice, cracking with emotion, filled it. It’s a sign, Kara. It’s Mom’s way of saying she was here with you—with us and that she loves us. I never would have connected that—wouldn’t even have noticed that—if I hadn’t met Lucas. Kara, do you think there’s still hope?
Elena looked up at him, at Kara, her heart bursting.
“Her name means hope, Elena.” And he smiled that breathtaking, joy-giving, w
orld-brightening smile of his and she knew. She understood what he was saying.
“Oh,” she said on a breath. “It’s a sign.” She turned to Kara. “Did you know that? Did you pick Nadia because it means hope?”
Kara said nothing, just smiled. Lucas reached out, squeezed Kara’s hand and pecked her on the cheek. “Thank you. Can I—would it be okay if I held her?”
“Absolutely.” When Kara nodded, Aunt Enza carefully transferred the baby into Luke’s arms.
Baby Nadia opened her eyes, blinked, and started to cry, but Lucas was having none of that. “Oh, no, no, don’t do that.” And then in a soft voice, he sang. “Said the night wind to the little lamb, do you see what I see?” Baby Nadia quieted and just stared up at him, eyes locked on his mouth, entranced by the sounds he made. When he finished, she gave a huge yawn and closed her eyes. Elena’s heart swelled with love and she wished she’d snapped a picture.
Her phone pinged. Kara held up her own with a wink and Elena snorted out a laugh.
Bree nudged Cass. “You were right. That’s a total panty-dropping smile.”
“Panty-dropping?” Luke’s eyes popped and then narrowed at Elena. “Is that what P.D. means?” And then he laughed. Elena felt a rush of love so strong, she wrapped her arms around Lucas and the baby and in front of her sister, her best friends—her circle—she whispered, “I’m sorry, Lucas, so sorry for not telling you I love you, too. I’m so in love with you. I’m staying right here and I hope you can forgive me for running. I tried to find you, to tell you—”
“I know.” He touched her face, wiped away a tear with his thumb. “I found your key to Kara’s place in front of mine. I knew you’d been there. And I read all your texts. I know you love me.” His face lit up with joy and Elena gasped. It was the one gift she’d never expected to receive. “You told me why Al’s signs freaked you out. I should have been patient, should have given you time and I didn’t. You should have been able to trust me and I let you down. Damn it, Elena, I’m sorry. Please say you forgive me.”
“Yes, yes, only please promise me you’ll smile at me like this for the rest of my life.”
His eyebrows shot up and he grinned, just a little bit wicked. “If that was a proposal, Miss Larsen, you need to work on your technique. This,” he said, pulling a box from his pocket, “is how you propose.”
As the girls all gasped, Elena’s mouth fell open and words clogged in her throat. When her knees buckled, he laughed. “Elena, you’re my loop condition, you orient all my objects and I can’t compile without you.” When she rolled her eyes and giggled, he turned serious. “Marry me, Elena. Make me part of your life.”
Part of it? He was the center of it, the sum of it, the whole of it.
He flipped open the box. “This was my mother’s.” He held baby Nadia in one arm so she slipped the ring on her finger herself. Lucas took her hand and kissed it. “A perfect fit.”
Laughing, crying, she squeaked out four words. “Must be a sign.” And then the hole in her heart filled with warmth as her sister, her friends, and her aunts hugged her, congratulated her. She would tell Lucas all of it later—about her doubts and how Al and the girls had helped her see things from a different perspective. She would devote her remaining days to looking for the light in the world. With a bundle of hope in their arms and love surrounding them, she drew Lucas closer and kissed him slowly, sweetly, knowing that with him in her life, she’d never be afraid of the dark again.
The End
Epilogue
On New Year’s Day, a fire burned in the fireplace, Christmas carols played on an iPod, and laughter rang out from every corner of the huge Gervais home. Outside, snow fell softly, turning the view from the rear window into a greeting card. Elena snuggled on the enormous sectional sofa, idly playing with the ring Lucas had put on her finger the day Nadia was born—one that had once belonged to his mother. He sat beside her, watching Bree’s daughter, Charlie, hold the baby, a pillow tucked under her arm for extra safety. Kara dozed on the other end of the sofa, exhausted by her first weeks as a mommy. Aunt Enza had insisted Kara and Nadia stay with her until Kara was recovered, a decision little Charlie had treated like an extra Christmas gift.
“Support her head, Charlie,” Bree reminded her daughter for the umpteenth time.
With an exaggerated eye roll, Charlie groaned from the chair opposite the sofa, a pillow tucked under arm. “I know, Mom.”
“I know I say this every year but this was a good Christmas,” Cassandra said.
Jade gave her a wide smile. “Santa sure delivered this year.”
“Brought us everything we always wanted,” Bree added, sipped her wine.
Charlie looked up. “Mom, are you ever gonna have another baby?”
Bree coughed and sputtered on the wine she’d just swallowed. All eyes shot from Charlie to Bree and back again. Time seemed to stop and wait while she thought of a response.
“Well, sweetheart, that’s something to think about. It’s a big decision.”
Charlie smiled. “I hope you do. Babies are so cute.”
Beside Elena, Lucas hid a grin and she was suddenly consumed by thoughts of their own babies. What would they look like? Would they have their Daddy’s bright smile? She couldn’t wait to talk to Luke about it because Charlie was right.
Babies were so cute.
Jade stared into the fire. “Do you guys believe in magic?”
There was a long moment of silence. “I do now,” Elena said, catching Luke’s hand and earning one of those quick heart-pumping grins. “It’s people. People bring magic to the world.”
“And happily-ever-afters to girls haunted by their pasts.” Cass teased Elena.
Elena looked at her sleeping sister and thought about that for a moment. “Not all of us. Kara needs a happy-ever-after.”
“Kara got a happy-for-now,” Bree said. “Trust me,” she added with a smile aimed at her daughter.
“Well said, Bree.” Jade raised her glass.
“There’s always next Christmas,” Cass reminded her.
Elena gasped. “Oh, can you picture Nadia? She’ll be walking by then, getting into everything.”
“She’ll understand a lot more by then. Family. Friends. Love.” Bree sat back, crossed her legs.
Elena gripped Luke’s hand and smiled. Christmas always used to fill her with dread and now, she couldn’t wait. “To next Christmas.” She touched her glass to Jade’s.
Their hearts full, the friends lifted their glasses in a toast as the lights twinkled on the tree and snow fell softly outside.
Christmas in New York series
If you enjoyed Goodness and Light, you’ll love the other stories from the Christmas in New York series!
A Light in the Window by Jolyse Barnett
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This Christmas by Jeannie Moon
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All I Want for Christmas by Jennifer Gracen Buy now!
About the Author
Powered by chocolate, Patty Blount is a hopeless romantic who frequently falls in love with fictional characters, only to suffer repeated broken hearts when the story ends, kicking her back out into the real world. Goodness and Light is her first contemporary romance for adults—to date, three of her novels for teens have been published, with a fourth expected in 2015. Look for her on Twitter and Facebook or visit her website at pattyblount.com.
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