“Oh nothing. Just checking my messages. Seems I’ve missed a lot of stuff while I’ve been here,” I said, mindlessly scrolling down the list.
“Anything bad?”
“No, not at all. Most of it is just some of the employees either telling me different things that are going on with the restaurant, or wishing me a Merry Christmas.”
“Well, that’s good, I guess. Looks like things are running pretty smoothly while you are away.”
“Yeah,” I said. I placed my phone on the island.
He took a seat next to me. “Hey, you okay?” he asked, grazing the back of his hand across my cheek.
I leaned into him and we kissed again. “Of course I am. Merry Christmas,” I said.
“You too.” He stood up off the stool and lifted me into his arms, wrapping them around my waist. He leaned his lips to mine, and his tongue grazed my bottom lip. Moaning, I opened mouth and invited him inside. After several minutes of making out like teenagers, he reluctantly broke the kiss.
“If we keep this up, we’ll never get out of this house, and there are some kids waiting on us.”
I grinned brightly. “Then let’s get going, Santa. I’ll call Daisy in the car and let her know we’re on our way.”
The pediatric ward of the hospital was decorated to the nines, with a large Christmas tree full of homemade decorations and colorful lights. The chair for Santa and his reindeer helper was sitting by the tree, and there were dozens and dozens of presents in piles around the tree. It was beautiful. If I wasn’t already in love with Luke for doing this for these sick children, he personally bought all the gifts he was going to give the children. That was another thing he and Evan traded off doing for the holidays. Next to Daddy, he had to be one of the most generous men I’d ever known.
Luke and Jack were getting dressed in their costumes, which gave Daisy and I time to chat. We had gone to the cafeteria to get some tea, and had just come back on the unit and taken a seat on a sofa in the lobby, which was filled with the patients and their families. My heart was breaking for these poor innocent children, being ill and stuck here on Christmas. There was one little girl in particular that I couldn’t look away from. She had large, beautiful brown eyes, and was wearing a pink rhinestone scarf on her head. Most likely to cover the loss of her hair. She was quiet, and was watching everyone around her with an aching serenity about her, like she was taking it all in. For a second, our eyes met, and she smiled at me. I smiled warmly back at her, and just as quickly flicked her eyes over to the bright, sparkling tree. I took a drink of my tea, and turned to Daisy. I asked, “So, how you feeling? Any more morning sickness?”
“No, it’s actually getting better. Jack put a mini refrigerator in our bedroom and it’s stocked with everything I need to help my stomach in the morning. He’s been taking ridiculously good care of me.” I smiled widely at her. “What is it? What is that face?”
“You said ‘our bedroom’. That’s so cute.”
She smiled. “I know, right?” She took a deep breath and sighed. “I can’t believe I freaked about this relationship for so long. It just feels right. Jack, our baby, living with him…it’s been a wonderful surprise. I’m so happy. Isn’t that crazy?”
“It’s not crazy at all.”
“I just wish I hadn’t wasted all this time being stubborn. He’s such a great guy. I’m lucky he held on through all my fear and was willing to wait.”
“Well, you are worth waiting for, Daisy.” She reached over and squeezed my hand.
“Aw, thanks.” She took a sip of her tea and looked around. “What’s taking the guys so long? The kids are all waiting.”
“I don’t know,” I said. And then, right on cue, I heard jingle bells. All of the kids started to cheer, and as soon as I looked up, I saw Luke and Jack dressed as Santa and Rudolph, walking down the hall. Luke had his arms open and all the children that were mobile ran to him and hugged him. Jack was high fiving some of them, and pulled a boy into a one armed hug. It was so sweet. Daisy laughed, and after my initial shock of seeing him in his suit, I started to laugh too. At that moment, Luke’s eyes met mine, and he winked at me. I waved and mouthed, “Hi.”
He smiled at me, and he and Jack walked over and took their seats near the tree.
It had been an inspiring afternoon. Luke and Jack were so entertaining, and the children seemed to forget their troubles, even if it was for just one day. After almost two hours, there was only one child that hadn’t seen Santa yet…the beautiful little girl that I had seen before. A woman that resembled the little girl, presumably her mother, wheeled her over to the tree. She seemed too weak to get out of her chair, so Luke leaned over to her and took her hand. “And what is your name, pretty girl?” he said, in his Santa voice.
“Arabella,” she said quietly.
“Well, that’s a beautiful name. I hope you are having a Merry Christmas,” he said.
She looked up at her mother with her beautiful brown eyes, and looked sad. “I guess so,” she said, and looked back to Luke.
“You guess so? Well, tell Santa what he can do to make it special. What do you want or Christmas?”
She lowered her head, shaking it. Her mother gently patted her shoulder and said, “It’s okay, Arabella. Tell Santa what you want.”
“It’s all right, sweetie. I’m sure if you tell Santa what you want most in the world, he might be able to help,” Jack said.
After a few moments, she looked over to me. She leaned into Luke and said, “Is that lady an angel?”
My eyes widened slightly and my heart constricted, and I felt a huge lump in my throat. Daisy squeezed my hand.
Luke moved his eyes from Arabella to me and back, and he smiled. “Why do you think that?”
“Because she’s so pretty.” I really thought I was going to cry.
“Yes, she is,” he said, winking at me.
“Santa? Can I tell you what I want for Christmas now?” Arabella asked.
“Of course you can. What is it, sweetie?”
“Can you ask the angel to help my mommy not feel sad when I’m gone?”
I gasped sharply, and her mom let out a sob. Before anyone could respond, I let go of Daisy’s hand and stood up off the sofa. I walked over to Arabella and knelt down in front of her chair. Taking her hand, I said, “So, I guess you discovered my secret, huh?”
She nodded. “Uh huh. I’m pretty smart.”
“Yes you are. You love your mommy, huh?”
“Yeah. She’s my best friend.”
“I bet she is.”
After a moment, she looked at me. “Can you help me? I don’t want my mommy to cry when I’m gone.”
“Sweetie, where are you going?”
“To heaven, with my daddy,” she said. Her mother gasped.
I was fighting hard to keep the tears at bay. “Your daddy?”
“Yes, he died in Iraq. He’s been protecting me and Mommy from heaven, and I can’t wait to see him again. I just don’t want Mommy to be sad.” Her mother was understandingly sobbing, and Jack had his arm around her, trying to provide some comfort.
“Why do you think you’re going to heaven?”
“Because I’m so tired,” she said.
This was so incredibly difficult to see. I didn’t know what else to say, so I decided to go with my instincts. “Well, your Mommy is going to be so sad if you leave her, because you are a pretty special girl. But, I can promise you that I will tell all the angels in heaven, even your daddy, to watch over your mommy and we’ll keep her safe for you, okay?”
Arabella’s face lit up for the first time all afternoon. “You promise?”
I touched her nose with the tip of my finger. “I promise.”
She held out her arms. I leaned in and hugged her tiny frame. “Thank you, angel.”
“You can call me Lilly,” I whispered. I looked up at her mother, and she mouthed, “Thank you.”
I nodded at her, and I pulled away from Arabella. As I was about to walk ba
ck to the sofa with Daisy, Luke grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I looked at him, and a few tears escaped my eyes. I weakly smiled at him and I walked back to the sofa. Daisy looped her arm through mine. “That was such a great thing you did, Lilly.”
“I just had to,” I said, my voice breaking. I was afraid that Arabella would see me cry, so I took several deep breaths and stashed my tears for later. I was sure they would come.
It had turned out to be a wonderful afternoon, despite the sadness. These children looked like they were happier than they’d been in a while. Luke had gotten some pretty incredible gifts for them, complete with some pretty popular toys and electronics. It was like he bought several of every toy on the top gift lists. Once all the children were back in their rooms, and Jack and Luke were back in their regular clothes, we were all heading out. We were heading to Mama’s for Christmas Eve dinner. As we were waiting for the elevator, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Arabella’s mother standing there, tears in her eyes.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry to bother you. Lilly, is it?”
“Yes, that’s right,” I said, and placed my hand on her arm.
“I’m Kathryn Hayes. It’s nice to meet you.” She nodded at Daisy, Luke and Jack.
“It’s nice to meet you too. This is my sister Daisy, and this is Luke, and Jack. Or rather, Santa and Rudolph,” I said, smiling at her. “How’s Arabella after all the festivities?”
She softly chuckled. “She’s pretty worn out, but she’s seems happier than she’s been in a while. Listen, I can see you all are on our way out, so I won’t keep you. I just had to thank you before you left. What you did for Arabella…it meant everything to her. And to me,” she said, tears welling in her eyes.
“You’re welcome. She’s such a precious little girl. I just wish I could have done more. This must be so hard for you.”
“It is, but there’s nothing I can do but get through it. Losing my husband, and now my daughter…it’s devastating, but I can’t do anything to stop it. It is what it is, I guess,” she said, sadly.
“Oh, Kathryn,” I said, and pulled her into a hug. “What you must be going through, I can’t imagine. You have to be one of the bravest people I have ever met, next to your little girl.”
“I don’t feel brave, but thanks for saying it.” We broke apart from our embrace, and she sniffed. “Well, I won’t hold you up from your holiday any longer. I just wanted to say thanks. To all of you,” Kathryn said.
“You’re very welcome. Give Arabella a kiss from me, okay? And you stay strong,” I said. With a weak wave, she bid us goodbye and the elevator opened.
After we all climbed inside, Luke turned to me and said, “You are an amazing woman, Lilly Harrington,” and he kissed me.
Two hours later, we were at Mama and Daddy’s spending Christmas together. Between Mama and I, we had cooked an amazing Christmas dinner, and I was so stuffed. After we cleaned up and everything was put away in leftover containers, everyone was sitting in the living room in front of the fire. We were all chatting together, waiting to open gifts. After leaving the hospital, I had been pretty quiet. I made conversation when someone asked me a question, but I didn’t really initiate any of it.
Luke and I were sitting on one of the couches, and I was snuggled into him. He kissed the top of my head and said, “Are you okay, Lilly? You’ve been pretty quiet all evening.”
I sighed. “I’m all right. I just…”
“Just what, baby?”
“I just don’t know how you all do what you do every day and not bring that home with you if something goes wrong with a patient.”
“Well, that’s part of the job. When you go into medicine, you do it to save as many lives as you can, but you can’t save them all. That’s the hard part of being a doctor. Wondering what you could have done differently if you had more time or thought of something that could have helped sooner.”
I leaned into him more. “I could never do what you do. It would be devastating to lose someone and feel helpless.”
“It’s never easy to lose a patient, but you have to do your absolute best and take comfort in knowing you did everything you could do, sometimes even more.”
“So, you can just turn it off? Your emotions?”
“You have to, in a manner of speaking. Part of it will always stay with you, but you have to learn to compartmentalize. Save your emotion for later when you are alone, because right then, the patient and their family is what’s important.”
“I guess that’s why it’s a good thing I never went into medicine like most of my family. I am way too emotional.”
He lifted my chin with his hand so his icy blue eyes could stare into mine. “Just one of the many things I love about you. What you did for that little girl…Lilly that was beautiful.” He leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips.
“Thank you. You weren’t so bad yourself you know,” I said, smiling. “Those kids are going to have a great Christmas because of you. And, that Santa suit was kind of hot.”
He smiled wickedly. “Oh yeah?”
Before I could reply, Daddy cleared his throat. “All right, everyone, we ready to open some presents?” We all nodded, and Daddy said, “Okay then. Let’s get started,” he said, and started passing around the wrapped gifts. Everyone had a great time opening their gifts, but I have to say I loved the look on Mama and Daddy’s faces when they opened my gift. Their anniversary was in January, so I got them tickets for a romantic cruise to the Caribbean. Daddy tried to tell me that it was too extravagant, but I just reminded them that they were planning a vacation for their anniversary anyway, and this was my contribution to it.
I bought Daisy a pair of canary diamond stud earrings, which she loved judging by the attack bear hug she gave me. I bought Jack a nice leather messenger bag to carry a laptop or a tablet or what-not. I didn’t know where Luke and I would be in our relationship when I bought his gift, but I knew that he would like it. I bought him a beautiful platinum Rolex watch. I was worried that he would think my gift was too extravagant too, but he loved it. Smiling, he said, “This is the most beautiful gift I could have gotten. Well, next to you of course,” he said, making me smile. “Now I don’t feel so bad giving you my gift,” he said. Grinning like a little boy, he handed me a small black velvet box. Noticing the look of panic on my face, he said, “Don’t worry, it’s not an engagement ring.”
I visibly relaxed, and slowly opened the box. Inside was the most gorgeous diamond necklace I’d ever seen. The diamond was a dime sized circle cut pendant hanging from a delicate silver chain. I looked at Luke and leaned into him, kissing him hard on the lips. I heard Daddy chuckle. “Luke, it’s amazing. I love it.”
“I’m glad,” he said, pulling me into another quick kiss.
“Put it on me?”
“Sure,” he said, and took the necklace from the box and undid the clasp. I pulled my hair to the side and he placed the necklace around my neck and fastened it. He kissed the back of my neck. “It looks beautiful on you.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, and I turned and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“This was nice, having all of you here. The only thing missing was Violet and Evan, but I’m sure they are having a wonderful Christmas in Hawaii,” Mama said, snuggling into Daddy.
“Well, thanks for having us, Ros. This evening has definitely been the best Christmas I’ve had in a very long time,” Luke said. I looked into his eyes, and there was a trace of sadness.
I placed my hand in his, and laced our fingers together. “You miss them, huh?”
“I’ll always miss them, but holidays always make it harder.”
“Well, you have us, son. Always,” Mama said, and Luke smiled at her. She beamed back at him, her face full of love only a mother could give.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“Well, I think that we are officially out of gifts,” Daddy said, and took a sip of egg nog.
Daisy cleared her throat. “Well, actually, J
ack and I have one more gift left. For you two,” she said. Jack handed her an envelope, and she passed it to Mama. She looked at Daddy, and he nodded at her. Smiling, she opened it and pulled out a Christmas card. When she opened the card, her eyes went wide. Tears immediately filled her eyes, and she looked up at Daisy.
“Daisy?” she said happily. “You’re having a baby?” She was holding a sonogram picture.
Daisy nodded at her. “That’s why I had been so sick. Being a nurse, I should have known, I help deliver babies every day,” she laughed. “Jack and I are gonna have a baby. You’re gonna be a grandma.”
Mama jumped up off the couch and raced over to give her a hug. “Oh, sweetheart, this is the most wonderful gift I have ever gotten, apart from you and your sisters. I’m gonna be a grandma!” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. Daddy had stood up and had pulled Jack into a hug. I nuzzled into Luke, and watched happily as the joy of life beginning anew was all around.
Chapter 21
The Beginning of the End
I woke up to the sun light shining through the huge glass window in Luke’s bedroom, naked, his arms around me. I looked at the clock on the wall. Nine thirty. I wiggled so I could stretch and not wake him up, but a soft moan in my ear and Luke’s arousal on my backside pretty much told me he was awake. I rolled over and met his eyes, all ice blue and full of desire. “Good morning,” he whispered seductively.
“Good morning to you,” I answered. Before I could think, he leaned his head down and kissed me and wasted no time thrusting his tongue in my mouth. Moaning, I opened my mouth to invite him inside, and he rolled his hot naked body on top of mine. Breathless, I broke the kiss and looked into his eyes. He just smiled and began to kiss along my jaw. “Luke? Not that I’m complaining, but what brought this on? You are pretty aroused this morning,” I whispered.
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