“Too late. You already agreed to marry me, and I’m holding you to it,” Mack rumbled, his arm contracting around her shoulders. “I don’t think you understand how badly I want you and Paisley. Now, continue with what you were suggesting for tomorrow,” he directed firmly, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I think I like where you were going with things.”
“I just thought that I could call Pastpr Adams and he could perform our ceremony over our lunch break. We’d be married by Christmas as long as you don’t mind your anniversary being on Christmas Eve.”
Mack’s face brightened. “I definitely don’t mind that. In fact, I love the sound of your plan. Call your minister first thing in the morning, Mills. That’s an order.”
Millie rolled her eyes. “Aye, aye, captain,” she declared with a smart salute.
“Just think, we could surprise Paisley on Christmas morning. She’ll get every single thing she wants for Christmas in one fell swoop.”
Stiffening, Millie turned on her side and looked at Mack. “What are you talking about?”
Smiling, Mack shook his head. “Oh, just a little discussion Paisley and I had a couple days ago about her Christmas wish. It seems that our girl desperately wants a daddy for Christmas like Heaven and that kid, Izzy, have. She seemed to think that maybe she hadn’t been good enough since Santa didn’t bring her one last year.”
Millie closed her eyes. “Oh, man,” she whispered. “I didn’t realize not having a father bothered her so much,” she whispered, dropping her head against Mack’s chest. “I’m a terrible momma.”
“Bullshit,” Mack replied tersely, his hand going to the nape of her neck and tightening slightly. “You are the best mother I’ve ever seen. You’ve raised an exceptional young child completely on your own. She’s perfect, just as her mother is, and I’d appreciate it if you’d quit criticizing my future wife.”
Millie smiled faintly as she lifted her head. “I didn’t know how badly the absence of a daddy was hurting her.”
“Honey, I don’t think it’s something she spent a lot of time thinking about. All this business about Christmas wishes has just brought it to the front of her mind. And as of tomorrow, she’ll have a daddy. One that loves her above anything in the world. One that is never going to walk out on her. But most importantly, one that comes with a pretty purple tea set for four.”
“Huh?” Millie grunted, tilting her head as she stared at him with a bemused expression.
“Just wait and see, baby. Wait and see.”
Twelve: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Friday, December 25
Christmas Day
“Momma! Dr. Mack!” Paisley squealed from the doorway to the living room. “He came! Santa came!” she screamed excitedly as she jumped up and down. Still dressed in her Sofia the First cartoon pajamas, she looked over her shoulder as her rumpled mother and Dr. Mack hurried down the hall, both bleary eyed and yawning.
“Merry Christmas, baby girl,” Millie greeted her daughter, dropping a kiss on the top of her head as she peered into the living room. She loved seeing her daughter’s face first thing on Christmas morning. It never failed to warm her heart and knowing that she was now going to get to share that with her new husband only made it better, she thought to herself as she glanced down at the wedding ring now nestled beneath her engagement ring. Knowing there was a matching band on Mack’s finger put an even wider smile on her already happy face.
“Boy, you must have been a pretty awesome kid, Squirt,” Mack’s deep voice surmised from behind Millie and Paisley. “It looks like Santa’s sleigh threw up all over the living room.”
“Ewww, that’s gross, Dr. Mack,” Paisley groaned, scrunching her tiny nose as she looked up at him.
“I agree,” Millie chided with a reproving look over her shoulder. “Gross.”
Mack offered his wife a lazy smile. “I’m a doctor. Not much is gross to me.”
“Still,” Millie admonished as she followed Paisley into the living room, “Let’s leave the talk of throwing up at the door, okay?”
“Momma, look at all the presents,” Paisley yelled, gesturing toward the Christmas tree where gifts spilled out into the floor. “Can I open one? Please?” the five-year-old begged, pressing her hands together under her chin.
“I don’t know,” Millie drawled. “You know we’re supposed to have Christmas breakfast with the whole family first. Then, once everyone is full, we open gifts.”
“Just one, Momma,” Paisley begged hopefully, her big eyes round with excitement.
“Yeah, Momma,” Mack murmured against her ear, slipping an arm around Millie’s waist and pulling her against his chest. “Just one,” he said softly, nuzzling behind her ear.
“Okay,” Millie conceded, sharing a private smile with her husband as he pulled a pretty wrapped gift from behind his back. She stepped to the side so Mack could kneel in front of Paisley.
“I’d like you to open this one first, Princess,” Mack requested, holding out the slim box to the little girl.
“You gots me a gift, Dr. Mack?” Paisley asked, her little face beaming as she took the present from his hand eagerly.
“I got you a few,” he replied blandly, watching her small expressive face as she peeled the paper off her gift. Grinning when she reached the thin black box, he watched her take the lid off.
“Ooooohhhhh,” she drawled, her eyes wide on the sparkling jewelry in the box. “It’s a bracelet! Dr. Mack got me a bracelet, Momma!”
Millie blinked back tears as she watched her daughter reverently lift the jewelry from the box. “I see,” she said with a smile.
”This,” Mack began, taking the silver bracelet from Paisley and showing it to her, “is what is called a charm bracelet. Every year, at Christmas and on other special occasions, we’ll get a charm to add to each of these little links. See,” he said, showing her the only charm on the bracelet. “Here’s the one for this Christmas,” he explained.
“It’s a teapot,” she whispered, biting her lip as she looked up at Mack’s face. “Santa brought a teapot for my bracelet.”
“He did,” Mack agreed with a gentle smile. “He also left you something in the dining room that I think you should see,” he remarked, blinking back his own tears as he gently turned Paisley toward the arched doorway where the small dining room table was located.
Running toward the darkened dining room, Mack and Millie exchanged a soft look as Mack took her hand in his and followed the sound of Paisley’s thrilled screams.
Entering the room a second later, the first teardrop escaped Millie’s eye as she watched her daughter’s face as she lifted a trembling hand to lightly touch the lavender porcelain teapot on the table.
“Is this for me, Momma?” she asked, her voice small, but hopeful.
Millie tried to swallow the lump in her throat as she nodded at her daughter’s question. “Yes, baby. It’s yours. You’ve got to be careful though. It’s a real tea set and it’ll break if we’re not careful. But, that’s not everything Santa brought you,” she said, motioning her daughter toward her as she felt Mack’s presence behind her.
“It’s not?” Paisley asked in a tiny voice, her little eyes clouding with tears.
“What did you ask Santa to bring you with your tea set, baby?” Millie asked thickly, trying to hold back her own tears as she watched two fat teardrops roll down her daughter’s full cheek.
“A daddy,” the little girl whispered to her momma. “I asked Santa to bring me a daddy,” she repeated as her eyes went from her momma to the man standing behind her.
“Santa got your message, Princess. Yesterday, while you were with your grandparents, your momma and I saw a minister who married us,” Mack explained patiently, showing her his wedding ring before hooking her bracelet around her narrow wrist. “I made a promise to both God and Santa that I’d love your mother for the rest of our lives. And you know what else?” Mack’s heart constricted as Paisley shook her head exuberantly, her brown hair fly
ing about her shoulders. “Well, I made God and Santa that same promise about you,” he said, gently poking her belly with his index finger. “I swore that I’d love and take care of you for the rest of your life.”
“That’s what a daddy does,” Paisley whispered loudly, her eyes dilating as she took a small step toward Mack, reaching for his hand.
“Yeah, it is. See, I interviewed for that daddy job with Santa and he agreed that I was the best guy for the position,” Mack informed the child… his child as he took her smaller hand in his. “You okay with me being that daddy you wanted, Princess?”
Nodding eagerly, Paisley threw her arms around Mack’s neck and clung to him for dear life. “Yes, please!” she said against his ear as her little head kept nodding against his shoulder.
Millie watched as Mack gathered Paisley tightly against his chest and lifted her into his strong arms as he stood, unashamedly shedding more than a few tears of his own. Biting her lip to keep from sobbing, she moved to his side, rubbing her hand up and down Paisley’s heaving back. Her little girl was overwhelmed and holding onto Mack’s neck like he was the last lifeline in a churning ocean. “It’s okay, sweetie. He’s not going anywhere.”
Mack’s arm contracted around his new daughter. In that moment, he knew there would be nothing, ever, that he wouldn’t do for this child. She might not have been his baby by blood, but she was certainly his child in his heart. And she had been for far longer than she would ever realize. “Your momma’s right, Princess. I’m here to stay. I’m not leaving you. Not ever, kid.”
It took several minutes for their small, new family to calm, but finally, Paisley lifted her head to stare down into Mack’s eyes. “I’m glad Santa picked you,” Paisley announced with a satisfied nod. “Now you aren’t Dr. Mack. You’re Dr. Daddy.”
“How about we just shorten that down to ‘Daddy’, Squirt,” Mack suggested with a wink, kissing her warm forehead.
“Okay, Daddy,” Paisley affirmed in a whisper. “I can’t believ-ed my Christmas wish comed true.”
Mack just grinned because he intended to make all her wishes come true ... for both her and her mother. “Well, I think we all need to get dressed before your two grandmas and your grandpa get here. Not to mention both your crazy aunties.”
“Do they know you married us yet, Daddy?” Paisley asked with a toothy grin.
“Not yet. You wanna help me make the announcement?” he asked, setting her back on her feet.
“Uh huh,” Paisley replied enthusiastically.
“Okay, then. Go get dressed before they get here,” Millie ordered, stroking her daughter’s tangled hair. “I put your outfit on your dresser. Remember to brush your teeth and your hair, Little Miss.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Paisley agreed before running full tilt toward her room.
Rising, Mack faced Millie with a satisfied grin, wiping at his own damp cheeks before doing the same to hers. “We did it, Mrs. Daniels. You’re mine, and she’s mine. My very own brand new wife and daughter. Merry Christmas to me.”
“No, Mack,” Millie corrected softly with a blinding smile of her own. “Merry Christmas to us.”
Thirteen: Away in a Manger
Epilogue
One Year Later: Christmas Eve
What a difference a year could make, Dr. Mack Daniels thought to himself as he watched his daughter watch her mother in her acting debut as the Virgin Mary. Heavily pregnant with their child, Millicent was due to give birth to his son any time now. Colin Anderson Daniels would join his sister, Paisley, to make them a family of four.
Shaking his head as he watched his wife waddle toward the baby Jesus’ manger, he couldn’t believe that this was now his life. Nativity scenes in the Paradise town square ... he could hardly imagine it himself.
“You look inordinately happy there, Big Brother,” he heard Bree tease from beside him.
Glancing down at his sister, he grinned as the cold winter air blew around them. “Just thinking how much my life has changed.”
“You’re telling me,” she scoffed, nodding her head. “From a grumpy bachelor to a married man with a six-year-old daughter and a son on the way. All in a scant year’s time. If I hadn’t been here to witness it firsthand, I’d have sworn it wasn’t possible.”
Nodding his agreement, he suddenly frowned as he watched Millie bend slightly and press a hand to her swollen stomach. He relaxed slightly a second later when he saw her turn to speak to their daughter. “Where’s our mother?” he asked his baby sister.
“Who knows? Last I saw her, she and Miss Orla were taking hits off the flask Miss Orla had in her purse. For all I know, we’ll have to bail them both out of jail before the nights over unless Zeke takes some mercy on us,” she said with a friendly wave toward the nearby Sheriff.
“I still can’t believe Mom took me up on my offer to build a mother-in-law suite over the garage, but I can’t deny it’s been a godsend. She’s been a huge help with Paisley since Millie got pregnant,” Mack admitted, shifting slightly as the crowd grew around them. “I’m not sure what I would have done without her the last month or so.”
“Yep.” Bree nodded, pulling her scarf tighter around her neck. “We’re definitely one big happy family. Frowning as she watched the live Nativity scene ahead of them with the rest of the town, she tried to remain calm as she asked her brother, “Mack, is there any particular reason that Millie is hanging off that cow’s back?”
At the same time Bree was asking her question, Mack spotted his excited daughter weaving through the crowd. “Daddy,” she called, running toward him, her red scarf flying behind her. “Momma said she needs you. Now!”
Looking up from where he’d been checking his phone for messages, Mack’s jaw dropped as his eyes automatically went to Millicent. Sure enough, his wife was hung over Bessie the milk cow’s back, hanging on for dear life. “Damn it! I told her that she was too close to her due date to do this!” he growled as he began to weave through the crowd, waving his hand in the air to get Zeke’s attention. The way it looked from where he stood a few feet away from his wife, they were definitely going to need an escort to Paradise General Hospital. Turning, he quickly addressed his daughter. “Paisley, go back and stay with Aunt Bree. I’ll come get you after I take care of your mother.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Paisley nodded, scampering back toward her aunt obediently.
Quickly resuming his path to his wife, he reached Millie’s side at the same time this year’s Joseph did.
“Is she okay?” a worried Abel Turner asked, jerking down his faux beard to stare at Millie. “Oh, man! I know that look,” he said, panic in his voice as he pointed wildly at the panting woman as a contraction gripped her.
“Millie, how long have you been having labor pains?” Mack asked sharply as he wrapped an arm around her thick waist to steady her on her feet.
“I don’t wanna answer that,” Millie managed to communicate through her clenched teeth, squeezing her eyes shut and concentrating on not screaming in agony.
“Why not?” Mack and Abel asked at the same time.
“Because the answer isn’t going to make either of you very happy,” Millie hissed, breathing the way she’d learned in Lamaze class. “Hee hee hee, hoo hoo hoo,” she panted, gripping Mack’s hand as another labor pain gripped her abdomen.
“Are you having another contraction?” he asked just as the Sheriff finally reached them.
“What’s going on?” Zeke asked, taking in the scene in a sweeping glance. “Never mind, I think I see what’s going on. Do you wanna carry her in your car or do you want me to get an ambulance, Mack?”
“No time,” Millie managed to wheeze through her bared teeth, her knees starting to buckle as she felt her body dropping slightly. “This is happening now.”
“What are you talking about?” Mack growled, glaring at his sweating wife. “Your water hasn’t even broke yet!”
“Yes, it did. I ruined the Virgin Mary’s shift,” Millie retorted sharply, shaking her
head manically. “That’s why I was leaning on this nice cow here,” she said, patting Bessie’s side tiredly.
“Oh, crap,” Abel muttered, taking a step back and bumping into one of the three Wise Men. “She’s having their baby,” he shared with Wise Man #1 which happened to be his brother, Cain. “You’re a doctor, numnuts! Help her,” he ordered, shoving his brother toward Millie and Mack as he joined Wise Men #2 and #3. Looking between his brother-in-law, Jake, and Zeke’s brother, Ice Monroe, respectively, he shook his head. “There’s no way I’m going near that situation.”
Exchanging a look with Mack, Cain asked, shifting quickly into professional mode, “How far apart are the contractions?”
“Based on what I’m timing, they’re less than two minutes apart,” Mack informed the Emergency Room doctor. “You up for helping me deliver my son?” he asked, helping Millie to the ground just as the so-called wise men around him quickly covered the cold grass with their costumes.
Peeling off the top layer of his costume, Cain nodded. “I delivered my own kid with Faith not too long ago. It’s like falling off a bike, right?” he asked in a rush as he knelt beside Mack.
“It should be a text book delivery. Millie hasn’t had any problems during her entire pregnancy,” Mack informed the other man as his wife began to moan again. Looking over his shoulder at Abel, Jake, and Ice, he growled, “We’re gonna need some clean towels and warm blankets here. See what they’ve got inside the church, guys. And somebody get the freaking livestock away from here!” Spotting a worried looking Harmony and Patience, he smiled tightly. “Ladies, could you find me some hot water, string, rubbing alcohol, and scissors?” Seeing their ready nods, he watched as they scurried to do his bidding.
“Oh, God. I’m having my baby in front of half the town, Mack. I’m not exactly being displayed in my best light, am I?” Millie wailed as she felt her husband move between her splayed thighs. Gripping his arm as another pain tore through her midsection and made her entire body stiffen, she turned her head toward Cain. “Maybe you could stay up by my head? I think both me and Faith would appreciate that,” she stated breathlessly.
The Homespun Holiday Page 15
