Instead, Nick sprawled on the sofa with his back against the armrest and Ally lay between his thighs, while his arms embraced her tightly, holding on as if he would never let her go. Ally sipped coffee from a Christmas mug decorated with candy canes and wreaths. She looked at ease and happy with Nick beneath her as they stared at the festive tree and talked lazily. Together they radiated contentment. Janine's heart swelled with joy.
"Good morning, you two." Janine beamed at them. She was still in her red and green plaid flannel nightgown with a white peter pan collar. She thought her heart might burst right out of her chest with happiness. Her Christmas wish had come true. Wait until she told Kayla—especially since Christine and Rosie were now an item.
"I put the breakfast casserole in the oven about ten minutes ago." Ally took a sip of her coffee and smiled at her mother. Her smile was sweet and happy, not the tight grimace she'd given her last night.
Praise be, they were back together.
"You looking to open your presents before breakfast?" Janine smiled slyly at them. "We need to wait for your brother, but maybe you could each open one."
Ally laughed and Nick grinned. "Whatever you want, Mom."
Janine knelt down beneath the tree and began to look for a present. Before she could pick out which ones she wanted them to open, Ally jumped up and ran into the guest bedroom, calling out, "I...have one more quick thing to add."
Janine stared after her daughter. "What was that all about?"
"She's your daughter, Mom. I'm just along for the ride."
Janine hesitated. She could ignore their reconciliation, but she thought, just maybe, Nick needed to know. "I'm really glad you're back."
Nick shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. "I don't know—"
"I'm not going to ask what was going on between you," Janine interrupted. "It's really not my business, but Nick, you have to know that I consider you mine, every bit as much as Ally and Andrew. Don't stay away again."
Her surrogate son looked away and swallowed hard. "Thanks, Mom," he said softly.
Janine ambled to the sofa with care. "Love you, sweetie." Nick stood and wrapped his arms gently around her. The hug was fierce and yet so very soothing, and once again Janine marveled at how well her daughter had chosen.
"Love you too."
The moment was broken when Ally rushed back into the room with a hastily-wrapped box and plopped it under the tree. She gave the package a worried look, then turned to face them with a smile that was only half-fake. Fortunately, the smile softened and turned real when she made eye contact with Nick.
Janine let out a little sigh. They were going to be okay.
***
Nick helped Janine over to the recliner, then got her settled with a cup of herbal tea just as the door bell rang.
"Drew is here!" Ally cried and rushed to open the front door.
Ally squealed in delight when her brother grabbed her in a giant bear hug and lifted her off the floor. "Hey, Allybean." Andrew's face was flushed with the frigid air that swept through the room. His eyes were bright, his hair tousled. He must have just rolled out of bed.
"Mom." Andrew's smile faltered when he saw Nick. "Hey, bro."
Nick realized that when he'd cut off ties to Ally he'd cut himself off from her family too. And the realization that he'd been a total idiot in more ways than one rushed through him. Nick strode over to Drew and gave him a man hug, complete with pounding on his back.
"Missed you," Andrew whispered into his neck. And Nick had a hard time swallowing again.
"Me too, man."
They stepped apart, embarrassed by the emotion swimming between them.
"Guess what?" Drew shouted. Before they could even guess, he launched into his story. "Someone found the treasure."
"The Bonny treasure!" Janine clasped her hands together, her eyes wide with wonder.
"You mean, they broke the curse?" Ally whirled around to look at her mother. "Holy cow, I have to call Caroline."
"Ally, dear, it's Christmas," Janine rebuked gently.
"You're right, you're right." But she eyed the phone anyway and Nick had a feeling the first chance she got she'd be on the line to her old high school pal.
"You know what this means?" Ally clapped her hands with almost childlike glee. "Time for presents!"
Half an hour later, all the presents except for two had been opened.
Nick's stomach plummeted as he realized that the final presents were his last minute addition for Ally and the one Ally had brought in right before they started—the one she was now eyeing as if it were a snake. She looked ready to bolt. She didn't look him in the eye as she handed him her small box. "I hope this makes you happy." She determinedly squared her shoulders. "Merry Christmas, Nick."
Nick grabbed her fingers and squeezed lightly. His stomach continued to churn as he battled 'what ifs' in his head. What if it was too soon? What if she wasn't ready? Sure, things had seemed better when they were naked, but now Nick wondered if he'd made a mistake.
"Well, come on, you two," Janine cried. "Mama's hungry."
Tentatively, they both pulled the wrapping paper from their respective boxes. Nick watched Ally watch him, and realized she was just as nervous as he was. "On three, okay?"
She bit her lip apprehensively. "One, two, three."
Nick pulled the box lid off but he was too busy watching Ally open her box, and trying to gauge her response to his gift, to look inside. And she was watching him. They sat suspended in limbo, each waiting to see how the other reacted. Anticipation shimmered in the air.
Finally, he made himself look into the box. It was strips of paper. Shredded strips of their divorce agreement. A huge grin split his face and he felt like the top of his head was going to blow off as he finally released the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.
Ally was around the coffee table in his arms before he could blink.
He'd given her the exact same thing.
Ally's arms were so tight around his neck he could barely breathe, and her tears wet the shoulder of his Christmas flannel. Nick swallowed back his own tears as he squeezed her against him.
Nick lifted her chin and brushed her lips with his. The sheer love shining from her blue eyes bubbled through him. And he took her mouth in a kiss so reverent, so tender, so sweet that neither seemed inclined to stop.
"I don't get it," Nick heard Andrew say from far off. "It's just paper."
But he didn't have to get it. Nick and Ally did. That was all that mattered.
Chapter Seven
Christmas Day, North Star Hospital
They walked through the hallway of the North Star Hospital maternity wing holding hands. Nick's palm was warm and solid in hers. Ally couldn't imagine being any happier.
"I hope Britney is doing okay." A glimmer of worry overshadowed Ally's own happiness, even though she didn't even know Britney. The girl had gone through a lot over the last year.
Nick curled his bicep around her shoulders and yanked her against his chest. He pressed a sweet kiss against her cheek and said, "I love that you care."
When they got to Britney's room, they paused for second before knocking. "I hope she doesn't mind that we've come to visit." Ally held tightly to the collection of bath salts and perfumed lotions, perfect for the mother of newborns.
"It will be okay, Al."
His confidence transmitted to her and Ally smiled brightly. "Yes, it will."
David Wiseman opened the door before Nick could say anything else. "Oh hey, you two."
"We thought we'd pay a visit to Britney and the babies," Ally said nervously.
"Jeffrey and Susan," David corrected. "Come on in."
Ally beamed at Britney. Mentally she assessed the girl. She looked tired and she seemed stressed and very melancholy. Her nose was red and her eyes shiny.
"How are you doing?" Ally asked softly.
Britney shrugged.
David Wiseman and his brother, Sam, each awkwardly held a sleepin
g infant. The babies looked small and defenseless in their giant arms. Ally itched to hold one of the babies, but she hesitated.
"You want to hold one?" David asked with a smile.
"Sure." Inside, she was jumping up and down and screaming, hand the baby over!
First, Ally handed Britney the present. "This is for you. I figured mom's need pampering too." Britney looked at the gift and her eyes watered.
Ally gave her a minute to compose herself. David placed the little girl, swathed in a pink blanket, her blond hair covered with a white beanie with thin pink and blue stripes, in Ally's arms. The baby was so light. "She's so tiny."
Sam handed the little boy to Nick. Ally's heart swelled when she looked at him. She didn't know if she was overstepping, but she could tell that something was bothering Britney. Ally wondered if she was having second thoughts. "You're doing the right thing."
Britney's eyes overflowed and Ally plunged on wanting to get out what she needed to say. "You are giving a lucky couple, unable to have children, their dream." Ally nuzzled Susan's head and looked at Nick holding Jeffrey. The baby looked so perfect in his arms.
And that's when it truly sank in. They could adopt; the babies didn't have to be from their DNA to be loved. Ally's gaze met Nick's and she smiled. They were going to be okay. "We know what that's like, and it's precious."
Britney hiccupped.
"You'll be able to follow your dreams as well." Ally tried to reassure her, but whatever she said seemed to make it worse, as Britney cried harder.
"Everyone has been bringing me presents." She proceeded to detail them: a sweater from Clara, cookies from Rosie that looked like they'd been decorated by the girls, an antique silver frame with lots of filigree, slightly tarnished with a black and white picture of Britney and her dead boyfriend, with an open place for a picture of the twins, from Eileen at Second Chances. Everything seemed nice. Nothing to cry about.
Ally just figured Britney was hormonal.
"Rosie even started a college fund for me," she wailed.
Ally couldn't figure out why that was bad, but Britney was so upset that she was compelled to try to fix whatever had spurred this crying jag.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Ally tried to reassure her. Maybe with the college fund, Britney didn't have to give up her babies. "If you want to keep the babies, that's good too. What children need is stability and love."
Britney cried even harder. "What am I going to do?"
Shit, she was doing this all wrong. "I'm sorry, I'm messing this up."
"What's wrong?" Nick asked.
"The couple who were supposed to adopt the twins were killed in that car accident last night," David said quietly.
"That's awful." Ally brushed a finger over Susan's soft cheek. "But some lucky couple will want these sweet babies."
Britney had stopped crying. Her gaze went from Susan to Jeffrey. Then she watched Nick as he held her baby boy in one arm and while his other wrapped tight around Ally's shoulders. As if Ally's words from earlier suddenly penetrated, she asked, "You can't have children?"
"No," Ally replied softly. "But hopefully one day we'll be able to adopt a child of our own." She tilted her head at Nick and smiled.
"Your mother is Janine," Britney blurted out.
"Yes." Ally wondered what that had to do with anything. "You know her?"
"She comes in to the diner for lunch on the day before her treatments. She's a great lady."
"She is." Ally's smile dimmed.
"She's always talking about grandbabies."
Before she died. Ally knew that. "Not in our immediate future," Ally responded sadly.
"What if...." Britney looked at them with an assessing eye. "What if you could have your dream now?"
Ally's heart beat in her chest so hard she thought she would pass out. Hope began to fill her, buzzing through her body at warp speed, but she was afraid she totally misunderstood Britney's meaning. "What?"
"My babies need a good home," Britney said, meeting Ally's expectant gaze evenly. "Even when you weren't getting along last night, you looked out for each other."
Nick's expression was enigmatic.
"You could tell...." Ally trailed off.
"I'm a psychology major." Britney said, "I observe."
"We had some things to work through, but we did it." Ally smiled radiantly. She wanted to grab these babies and run, but she did the responsible thing, because in the end she had Nick. And Britney had just delivered twins and had her life turned upside down. "You should think about it before you make a decision."
But God, she wanted these babies. Now that Britney had planted the idea, it took root. They would have a ready-made family. A girl for Nick and a boy for Ally.
"I don't need to think about it," Britney said softly. "When you know something is right, you know it is right. It's how I felt about Jose from the moment I met him."
"The babies' father?"
"He was my soul mate," Britney whispered. "And even though we didn't have much time together, what we did have was perfect."
Ally swallowed at the sheer love and sorrow on Britney's face.
"Maybe...maybe we were meant to make these babies just for you," Britney said with new purpose. "I believe in fate."
"Dreams," Ally whispered.
Nick pressed a kiss to Ally's forehead and smiled at her and the two babies nestled in their arms. "Miracles."
***
About Lisa
Lisa Hughey has been writing romance since the fourth grade, which was also about the time she began her love affair with spies. Harriet and Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys later gave way to James Bond and Lara Croft and Jason Bourne. Exploring the complex nature of a profession that requires subterfuge and lies fascinates her. She loves combining her two passions into fiction.
Archangel Rafe was her first foray into the paranormal but after spending time in the Angelic Realm, it won't be her last. At their heart, the Seven novels are about the dynamics of family relationships. But the really hot Archangels don't hurt.
Having the chance to be part of such a dynamic group of writers when we created the fictional town of Snow Creek was a blast. This was also the first time she delved into a sweet contemporary world but she is sure to visit again.
Lisa loves to hear from readers.
Visit Lisa on the Web
Her Group Blog, the Pens Fatales
Email Lisa
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Like Me at Lisa Hughey: My Books
Happy reading!!
Black Cipher Files Romantic Suspense
The Encounter, A Prequel to Blowback
Blowback
Betrayals
Zeke & Sunshine's book, coming Winter 2013
The Seven
Archangel Rafe
Archangel Zach, coming Spring 2014
Snow Creek Christmas Anthology
One Silent Night
Family Stone Romantic Suspense
Coming November 2013
Stone Cold Zero, (Jess, Family Stone #1)
Stone in Love (Connor, Family Stone #2)
Heart of Stone (Riley, Family Stone #3)
Still the One (Jack, Family Stone #4)
Love on Main Street: A Snow Creek Christmas Page 40
