Holiday Trilogy Special Edition

by Jamie Hill

  He couldn't get enough of her. His employer had allowed him two weeks off, even though he hadn't earned any vacation time yet. It wasn't the firm's busiest season and they liked Alex already, so the time off was not a problem.

  He spent his vacation mooning over his new daughter with her mother. They were both incredibly happy, and crazy about their little Gillian. She rarely cried, and other than a penchant for spitting up milk, she was a wonderful baby.

  Alex and Natalie spent a lot of time lying in bed with her between them. They avoided talk about unpleasant subjects, but one time Natalie looked at him and said "Didn't I tell you?"

  He looked into her eyes as he responded "Yeah, you told me."

  "Do you think your parents will ever want to see her?" Natalie wondered, touching her lips to five tiny fingertips.

  "Maybe." He shrugged. "I'd be happy if they wanted to, if they agree to abide by our conditions. If they can't do that, then it's their loss. Gigi will be better off without them. Lord knows, your mother will take up any slack in the grandparent department. She's head over heels already."

  Natalie smiled at him. "Yeah, she is, isn't she? And Dean is, too. So where did the 'Gigi' business come from?"

  "I don't know." Alex shrugged again, his finger in the baby's free hand. "It just sounded cute."

  "I like it," Natalie decided. "I think we should call her Gigi."

  "I can hear Dean now. 'It sounds like a French poodle's name.'"

  Natalie laughed. "Nah. It sounds like our beautiful baby's name." She nuzzled the baby's tummy and rested her head on Alex's chest. "I love you, Daddy."

  He rubbed one hand through her hair and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, too, Mommy."

  When the baby was a week old, Alex finally mustered enough courage to call his parents. "We have a daughter," he told his father on the phone.

  "I read the birth notice in the paper. You must be pretty proud of yourselves." The sarcasm was hard to hide.

  Alex tried to ignore it. "We are very proud, Dad. She's a beautiful baby."

  "Who does she look like?"

  Alex thought about that. "She looks like herself, mostly. She has Natalie's dark hair. My friend Brian said she has my nose, which isn't true, thank goodness. I wouldn't wish this crooked schnozz on anyone, especially my beautiful little girl. But it was nice to hear."

  "Your friends have seen her?"

  "Our friends love her. They think she's gorgeous, which of course, she is."

  His father hesitated, then said, "I just don't see how you can claim her—"

  "Dad," Alex broke in, "I understand how you feel, believe me, I do. I felt that way at first—"

  "You are your father's son," Ted interrupted right back.

  "At first," Alex repeated. "Until Natalie explained to me how much she wanted this child. Once I got used to the idea, I've never looked back. Gillian is my baby, and Natalie and I love her very much."

  "I just don't know if I can see things that way."

  "Okay, but I want to remind you of something. Natalie and I want more children. If you cut yourselves off from us because of Gillian, there'll be no going back. If you don't want to know her, you won't know any of your grandchildren."

  "That's a damned harsh thing to say!" his father blurted.

  "Maybe, but that's the way it is. Gillian is my daughter, and she's going to be raised the same as any brothers or sisters she might have down the line. We won't tolerate any differences."

  "I can't believe you're speaking to me this way." Ted sounded almost defeated.

  "I don't particularly enjoy it, Dad. I love you and Mom, and I've missed you. But Natalie and Gigi are my priorities right now. I have to put them first."

  "Gigi?"

  "That's what we're calling her." Alex paused, then said "She's really beautiful, Dad. I hope you'll give some thought to visiting her."

  "We'll talk it over."

  "Good. But be sure, before you come over. I won't have Natalie upset."

  "Natalie," Ted murmured. "So is Natalie's mother okay with this?"

  Alex chuckled softly. "She wears this 'Grandmas rock!' t-shirt, and has already bought Gigi more clothes than we have."

  "But then, the child is Natalie's."

  "The child is mine, too, Dad. You're welcome to come meet her whenever you can wrap your mind around that." He hung up the phone and took a deep breath. His father was stubborn. He might never wrap his mind around it.

  Alex was surprised a few days later when his mother phoned and said they'd like to come see the baby.

  "Are you sure?" Alex asked hesitantly. "I told Dad—"

  "I know what you told him. I can't believe you threatened to keep our other grandchildren away from us."

  "I'm sorry, but Gigi is the only one there is right now, and it's important to Natalie and me that she's accepted one hundred percent. We won't have her mistreated in any way."

  "We would never mistreat her."

  "Not purposely, I'm sure. But somewhere down the line, if there are other children, they all have to be treated the same. No favoritism of any kind."

  "Of course not."

  "Then we'd love to have you come and visit."

  His parents were hesitant when they arrived at the house, Alex noted with amusement, and couldn't help being reminded of the 'It's Alive' movie again. They approached the baby as if they expected her to sport fangs and claws. Alex held Gigi protectively in his arms and showed his parents, and he could see the moment his mother came around. It was evident in her eyes. When she reached for the baby, he knew, she was hooked.

  His father was slower to give in, but by the time his wife finally handed Gigi over to him, he was smiling and talking to the child like any grandfather would. Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was going to be fine. He'd hated the estrangement from his parents, and knew Natalie had, too.

  With the baby in his arms, Alex's father looked up and said, "I have to ask this one question, and then I won't bring it up anymore if that's your choice." He hesitated then asked, "What happens if they catch the guy who…hurt Natalie? How are the two of you going to feel when he has a name and a face that will probably be splashed all over the news for weeks or months, even?"

  Natalie looked at Alex and they shared a small smile. He turned to his father. "It's been nine months, Dad. We doubt they're going to catch him at this point. The last time I talked to the police, they didn't have any leads."

  Ted nodded. "That's what they told me as well. I just wondered how you'd feel if he surfaces a year from now…five years from now, even, and they tie him to your case."

  Alex set his jaw. "I'm not sure how I'd feel. Right now, I almost hope they don't catch the guy, except I don't want him doing this to anyone else."

  "So it could be a problem somewhere down the line," Ted suggested.

  Natalie looked at him. "We're not worrying about that right now. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If we come to it."

  Ted looked at the baby and back up at Natalie, then Alex. "She is a beauty."

  "She's your granddaughter," Alex told his father, and smiled down at his sleeping child.

  * * * *

  "I'm not going back there," Natalie insisted, and crossed her arms.

  Alex shifted Gigi on his hip and looked at his wife. "I know how you feel, and I understand it. But I'm just saying that if we're going to continue to live in Manhattan, you're eventually going to have to go back to Aggieville. We should go as a family, you know, make some new memories to erase the bad ones you have."

  "Nothing can erase those memories," she snapped.

  "Natalie, it's almost Christmas. I know you didn't want to celebrate last year, and I went along with you on that. But this will be Gigi's first Christmas, and we have to celebrate. We need a tree, and I'll put lights up outside…the works. It'll be great." He looked at her skeptical expression and moved in closer to her. Leaning in to kiss her cheek then her ear, he whispered, "Remember what we enjoyed about our Chr
istmas tree that first year?" He nibbled her earlobe, and Natalie shoved him away gently.

  "Yes, I remember. What I don't remember is what it's like to get a full night's sleep. I'm exhausted, Alex, and I'm not even working. Look at you, going to work all day and helping me with Gigi half the night. How can you even think about sex?"

  "Thinking about it is all I get to do these days," he muttered, and walked away from her. He strapped Gigi into her swing and cranked the handle noisily. The machine's gentle motion had the baby's eyes drooping in no time. "Oh sure, now you want to sleep. You didn't want to sleep last night."

  "It's the swing," Natalie told him. "It always knocks her right out."

  "So why don't we let her sleep in the swing, then?"

  She gave him an incredulous look and reminded, "It only swings for a few minutes. And you know as well as I do, when you crank that dang handle it wakes her up again."

  He looked at the contraption and nodded sadly. "You'd think someone would build a better mousetrap."

  "You'd think. The pediatrician says we should let her cry, but I can't stand that."

  "I know." He knew all too well, in fact, because he had to listen to Gigi cry in her crib every night, too. The neighbors probably thought they were beating the poor kid, but she just wouldn't sleep in her bed. She slept fine when someone was holding her, but the minute she was put down, her eyes popped open.

  They'd tried all kinds of things, white noise, the radio playing softly, the TV, but nothing soothed the baby until she was picked up again. She slept in her car seat, and some nights they gave in and let her stay there. But she needed to be in her bed, and so the nightly struggle ensued.

  "Anyway, I think we should go Christmas shopping," Alex told her.

  Natalie looked at him nervously, then at Gigi.

  "I'll be with you. We'll do it together."

  "I guess we could try it," she finally agreed.

  They didn't shop in Aggieville to begin with, but downtown, where a horse and carriage circulated and, for a canned food donation, gave rides. They piled into the carriage and Natalie held Gigi possessively, while Alex slipped his arm around her. "Isn't this nice?"

  "Yeah," Natalie agreed, and looked out as the horse made his way down the street. "It's really nice."

  Alex kissed the side of her head, and held her as they rode. When the carriage stopped, they went in a few shops and picked out gifts for his parents and Natalie's mother. "It's a good start," he told her as they stopped in a restaurant for dinner.

  "Yes, it is."

  Natalie still seemed uncertain, but Alex thought he could bring her around with time.

  They didn't have much shopping to do. Since Gigi was less than four months old, they didn't intend to buy her many gifts. They knew the grandparents and aunt would spoil her with presents and that would be plenty. Alex and Natalie were saving money toward the purchase of a new house, so they didn't plan to buy much for each other, either. It would be a small but hopefully memorable first Christmas, celebrating their new life with Gigi.

  Dean came over to help put up the Christmas tree. She was living in an apartment with two other girls who had left for the holiday, and didn't feel like decorating her place alone.

  "How were your grades this semester?" Natalie asked her sister.

  "Not bad. 'B's' mostly. A 'C' in speech."

  Alex laughed. "You put off speech until your last year? Most people take it as a freshman."

  "I hated speech." Dean made a face and Natalie laughed, too.

  "I never took it," she admitted.

  Alex looked at her. "You'll have to take it when you go back."

  Natalie rolled her eyes at Dean. "He thinks I'm going back," she whispered loudly.

  "Good grief, why?" Dean agreed, looking around the small house. "You've got all this, a husband and baby. Who could ask for anything more?"

  Alex made a face at his sister-in-law. "Natalie wants to be an interior designer. She only needs one more year to finish. One of these days she'll go back."

  "One of these days," Natalie repeated, and rolled her eyes at Dean again. "Right now my goal in life is sleep." She cast a glance at her daughter, happily kicking in her bouncy seat. "Someone in this house is against it."

  "She's still not sleeping?" Dean asked. "When is that supposed to end?"

  "Two months ago," Alex muttered. "Or two years from now, depending on who you ask."

  Natalie stuck her tongue out at him and told Dean, "She sleeps if someone's holding her. Sometimes I can get her to sleep on my chest in the bed. That's better than sitting up with her."

  "Cozy," Dean said sarcastically.

  "Oh yeah," Alex agreed. "I hate having her in our bed for a couple of reasons, the main one being I'm afraid I'll roll on her. I'm a pretty sound sleeper."

  "He is." Natalie nodded. "I'm not. I hear every little whimper."

  Dean tossed a handful of tinsel on the tree and said "What a hassle."

  "All part of it, I guess." Natalie glanced at Gigi who was now fussing. "Are you ready to eat, sugar?"

  "I'll feed her." Dean reached for the baby.

  "Good luck with that." Alex smiled at Dean, and they looked at Natalie who was baring her breast for nursing.

  "Natalie! She isn't on the bottle yet?"

  "Why should she be? I'm always with her." She took the baby and sat down to feed her.

  "You could pump and let someone else feed her occasionally, like her aunt."

  "Or her father," Alex added.

  "Don't have a pump." Natalie shrugged.

  Dean looked at Alex and raised her eyebrows twice. He grinned at her. He suspected he knew what Dean would be getting Nat for Christmas.

  He never suspected what Dean would get him for Christmas. They were opening gifts in their little house, in front of his parents and Natalie's mother, when he unwrapped the sexiest little red teddy he had ever seen.

  "Ah gee, Dean." Natalie looked over the lingerie. "I'm not sure it'll fit him."

  Alex tried to shove it back in the box, but Dean yanked it out of his hands. She held it up to Natalie. "It's for you, lamebrain, and it's going to look dynamite with those big baby boobs you're sporting. His gift is underneath." She reached in the box and pulled out a slip of paper. Handing it to Alex, she told him what it was at the same time. "Twenty-four hours in a hotel for you and my sister, while Auntie Dean watches the sleepless one. Use it before January 15, when I have to go back to school."

  "Wow." Alex shoved the teddy back into the box, but reached out to hug Dean. "Thank you so much! That's the best gift I could have asked for."

  "Use it wisely," she teased him, while the grandparents focused on Gigi and pretended they had no idea what was going on.

  Alex and Natalie used their gift from Dean on December 30, so they wouldn't interfere with her plans for New Year's Eve. He ordered room service and champagne, and Natalie looked around the room in wonder. "This is beautiful. I can't remember the last time we were at a hotel."

  "Our honeymoon," he reminded her as he unpacked their bags. "Over a year and one child ago."

  "It feels strange to be here without her," Natalie admitted. "I've never left her before."

  He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. "She'll be fine. I think your mother will probably end up spending the night with Dean. If we had another bed, my mom would be there, too. Gigi won't be given the opportunity to cry."

  "I know." She snuggled up next to him. "It still feels weird, though."

  "It feels nice, almost free, in a way. We have the whole night to ourselves." He ran a hand down her back and pressed her into him.

  "That does sound nice. It's been too long." Natalie raised her face to his for a kiss, and they were interrupted by a knock on their door.

  "Room service," they both said at the same time, and smiled. He went to the door and opened it to let the waiter wheel the table in, set it up, and pop open the champagne. Alex tipped the man as he showed him out, and hung up the 'do not
disturb' door hanger. "There."

  She poured two glasses of champagne. "I guess one glass won't hurt me. I haven't had any alcohol since I found out I was pregnant."

  He took his glass and raised it to her. "Maybe it'll help Gigi sleep."

  Natalie laughed, and they toasted and sipped. They sat and ate. Before long, they were feeding each other and rolling into bed. "Dessert can wait." She eyed the chocolate cake, but looked more hungrily at him.

  "You're my dessert." He reached for her, nibbling his way down her neck.

  "You're mine, too, of course, but I do want that cake…" she teased.

  "Later." He kissed her, and groaned as the old feelings washed sweetly over him.

  "Much later," she agreed.

  Later, as they lay wrapped around each other, Natalie mused, "I didn't have time to put on my new teddy."

  "I might have ripped it off of you, anyway."

  "I felt the same way," she murmured, running her hands over his bare chest. "You know, I was thinking. This might be a good time to consider having another baby."

  Alex froze, feeling the blood drain out of his face and various other body parts. "You're joking, right?"

  She glanced around. "What better place to conceive our second baby? It's beautiful here, and very romantic."

  "Well, it was." He scooted away from her. "How can you even think about having another baby when we aren't sleeping at night because of the first one? You said you were exhausted. That's why we're here, remember?"

  "Of course I remember." She rolled up next to him and ran a finger down his chest. "But we want our kids to be close in age, and in the nine months the next one's going to take we'll surely get a handle on Gigi's sleeping issues."

  He ran a hand over his face. "Natalie, what about college? When are you going to go back and finish if you have two children under the age of two?"

  She nuzzled his chest. "I don't care about college anymore. I love being a mother, and that's what I want to focus on." She circled one of his flat nipples with her finger. "I loved being pregnant, too. Remember how much we loved me being pregnant?"