“So, do you do any other art besides painting gorgeous ornaments?” Mom asked Casey with a mouth full of a food.
“Not too much,” Casey said. “Actually, that’s the first ornament I’ve ever painted. I like to draw from time to time, and make some crafts I see online, but that’s about it.”
Mom nodded and swallowed her bite of food. “Well, next time you guys visit, Emily and I will have to take you to a local paint studio we love.” My mother said “next time”. That was a good indication she not only liked Casey, but liked the two of us together and wanted to spend extra time with her.
“I’d love that,” Casey said.
Per usual, Mom offered everyone extra helpings of every dish half a dozen times before concluding that dinner was over. “I guess that means it’s present time,” she exclaimed.
My siblings ran into the living room the same way they had for the past twenty years. I guess some things never change. It suddenly occurred to me that, other than a gift I had for Casey back at the hotel, she had no Christmas gifts waiting for her. “Mom,” I said, motioning for her to come over. Instead, she ignored me and walked over to Casey.
“I know this probably seems bizarre,” Mom said to Casey as they walked over to the living room. I followed closely behind. “It’s one of our favorite Christmas traditions, opening up our presents on Christmas Eve.”
“And a silly one at that,” Dad chimed in. “Your family do anything silly like this?” He immediately realized his mistake, and I wanted so badly to rewind time to save Casey from hearing the question. “Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie. I spoke without thinking.”
“It’s fine, really,” Casey said. I knew her well enough to know the smile she had on was fake, but I was grateful that she was trying to make my dad feel better. I was sure he felt terrible about the slip of the tongue. He had a tough exterior, but, deep down inside, he was a big softie.
Mom motioned to everyone to be quiet. “Alright, everyone. Find the pile with your name on the gift labels and take a seat.”
I looked over at Casey, whose eyes were glued to her shoes. I didn’t blame her for feeling uncomfortable. Sure, we’d done the whole present thing for years, but I figured surely my mom would adjust our traditions so Casey wouldn’t feel left out.
“Alexander, over here,” Patrick called from the other side of the living room.
“One sec.” I walked over to my mother and lowered my voice to a whisper. “Mom, do you really think this is the best idea? I mean, Casey—”
“Casey, sweetheart,” my mother started. “Your pile is next to Alexander’s.” She shot me a knowing look. I probably shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was, given that my mother was pretty much always right about everything, but the sigh of relief I breathed was loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Really?” Casey asked. My mom nodded. I could see tears forming in the corners of Casey’s eyes, and I realized this was probably the first Christmas she’d celebrated with family since her mom had passed away. I sat next to her and wrapped her in a hug.
“Who wants to go first?” Dad asked.
“How about you go, my dear?” Mom said. “Us parents always go last.” My dad opened up his first present to reveal a new wallet, and I hoped that, no matter how old I got, my presents were never quite that lame. Christmas was the one time of year when I truly felt like a kid again, and I never wanted that feeling to go away. The first round of presents brought me a tie, Emily a new stethoscope, Connor a new history book he’d been hinting at, and Patrick a watch. I was nervous to see what my family had picked out for Casey.
Casey carefully removed the tissue paper from the Christmas tree-covered gift bag. Her eyes lit up as she pulled out a pair of earrings. “They’re stunning, and they match the bracelet I always wear,” she said, putting her wrist out into the circle. She turned toward my parents. “Thank you so much.”
“Of course,” Mom said. “Emily and I had bought you a different pair before we met you yesterday, but we decided those weren’t your style. When we saw these at a boutique, they had your name all over them!”
“They’re perfect.” For what felt like the hundredth time of the night, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was as though Casey was meant to be part of this family.
My mom was next. She unwrapped her first gift, a blender she had purchased—and wrapped—herself. Since we were running late for the light show, we opted to make the next two rounds of gifts a free for all. “1…2…3…” we all yelled. We tore into our presents like wild animals.
I was less-than-impressed with the button-down shirt my mother had picked as my second present, but I decided I’d save it to wear for next Christmas. My final present was in an envelope. Though I expected it to be a gift card to a restaurant or department store, I was pleasantly surprised to see the MLB logo peeking out from the card. It was tickets to see the Yankees take on the Atlanta Braves.
“Thank you,” I said to Mom. “I love it!” Sure, I could afford a pair of tickets to a baseball game on my own. But there was just something special about receiving gifts from your parents. I turned over to Casey, who was showing off her gifts to Connor. “What’d you get?”
“A necklace to match the earrings and a gorgeous scarf,” Casey said with a grin. “I can’t believe your parents got me all this! They just met me!”
I smirked. “Guess that means they like you.” We collected the mess of wrapping paper, gift bags, and tissue paper and threw them in a trash bag on our way outside. My brothers and sister rode with my parents, while Casey and I enjoyed a few minutes of quiet before the chaos of the light show.
Following my mom’s forest green minivan down Chester Lane, I glanced over at Casey. I’d driven this road hundreds of times before, but never with someone I cared so much about. When I asked Casey if she was enjoying herself, her only answer was a toothy smile. As we pulled onto the field, I frowned, knowing none of the lights there would be anywhere near as bright as that smile of hers.
Chapter 23
Casey
“Your family’s great,” I said to Alexander, as we walked up the stairs to our second-floor suite.
“I’m glad you liked them,” Alexander replied. “I could tell they absolutely adored you.” I felt it too, but it was nice to get reassurance from the person I needed it from the most.
Something was tugging at the back of my mind, and I had spent most of the night swatting it away. I figured now was as good a time as any to come clean. “I have to confess,” I started. “There’s something that’s been bugging me all night.”
“What’s that?”
I slid my key into the door and walked inside, sitting down on the king-size bed both for dramatic effect and because my ankles were swollen. “I know we haven’t directly lied to your parents, but I feel bad about hiding the pregnancy. They’re really nice people, and I don’t want to deceive them.”
“Well, do you want to tell them?” Alexander asked. “And we’re not deceiving them. We’re just…umm… withholding information.”
“I don’t know,” I said, pulling my thrift store wedges from my feet. “It’s your family, so it’s ultimately your call.”
“How about we sleep on it and see how we’re feeling in the morning? I’m not afraid to tell my family about our baby. I just wanted to wait for the right time.”
Part of me was swooning—as he called the baby “ours”—and the other part wondered if the right time would ever come. Alexander sat down beside me and pulled my left leg onto his lap. He began to massage my feet, making small, circular motions with his tender fingers. “Yeah, let’s sleep on it,” I whispered.
The warmth of the cotton sheets enveloped me as I turned over to see the handsome man beside me. Yup… this was still my reality. I had gone to bed wondering if I would wake up in the morning and learn that the day before had all been a dream, and I counted my lucky stars that this was all real. Alexander’s family was even more amazing than I had expected. I hit it off right awa
y with Emily, who I spent a good part of Christmas Eve dinner chatting away with, and Alexander’s mom really seemed to take an interest in me. I had never felt so special. More than that, I’d never, even when my mother was alive, had a family get-together of that magnitude.
“Morning, sunshine,” Alexander said. “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. The fact that it was finally Christmas hadn’t quite hit me yet. After all, growing up in foster care hadn’t exactly made Christmas a yearly highlight. I noticed that Alexander was already fully showered and dressed, with a form-fitting black V-neck and pair of khakis covering his toned body. “Did I oversleep? Do we have plans?”
Alexander smiled. “No plans! I guess my body just has an internal alarm clock that doesn’t let me sleep in, even on Christmas.” He paused. “But there is somewhere I want to take you before brunch, if you’re interested.”
“What’d you have in mind?”
“It’s a surprise! Get ready and you’ll find out!”
What Alexander didn’t know was that I absolutely loved surprises. After all, growing up in foster care, you don’t get too many of those… at least not good ones. I took what was probably one of the fastest showers of my life and put my hair into a neat French braid.
It was cold for Florida—sixty degrees—so I opted for a maroon jumpsuit I’d bought a few weeks earlier. I had no clue where we were going, but I figured this was the most versatile outfit I’d packed. With my baby bump getting bigger each day, it was a bit more form-fitting than I’d remembered, but I still loved it. It hugged my baby, just like I would get to in a few short months. I admired the reflection of my growing tummy in the mirror and remembered that I needed to bring a jacket along to cover the bump at the Prestons’ house.
“That was fast,” Alexander said, as I emerged from the bathroom.
I beamed. “What can I say? I like surprises.” I looked down at my watch. “We only have an hour until brunch. Are we going straight to your parents’ house?”
Alexander nodded. “I figured that makes sense, since where we’re going is along the way.” I grabbed my jacket from the fabric chair in the corner of the room and followed Alexander out the door.
Since Alexander’s parents’ house had been less than fifteen minutes from the hotel, I knew this was going to be quick drive. I was right. Exactly four minutes later, we were in a large, mostly empty parking lot. A neon-colored sign in front of us read “The Igloo” and had a cartoon picture of a pair of ice skates.
“You mean on top of being rich and handsome and charming, you’re a pro ice skater, too?” I asked, grinning.
Alexander shrugged. “I may have taken a lesson or two… hundred.”
“You skate?!”
“Yeah, let’s not ever talk about it after today,” Alexander said sarcastically. “In all seriousness, this was one of my favorite places in the world when I was a kid. I used to come here for lessons twice a week from the time I was eight, until I was twelve. After that, I got to the age where it was considered uncool for boys to take skating lessons, so I mostly came here after school with buddies from time to time.”
Out of all the things I had been expecting for Alexander’s surprise, I could honestly say that ice skating wasn’t one of them. “Wow,” I said.
“You showed me your own little corner of the world in Tallahassee,” Alexander said. He reached forward and placed his hand on my belly just in time to feel the baby kick. “So, I thought I’d show both of you mine.”
My heart felt as though it were turning to mush as we walked inside to the rink. Alexander just had a way with words. I was so in love with this man, with the way he spoke and the way he moved and the way he was, that I wasn’t even worried about the fact that I had no clue how to ice skate.
“We’re going to have to rent skates,” Alexander said. “My skates from fifteen years ago are just a tad too small.”
I laughed. “Can I rent some skating abilities while we’re at it?”
We put on our skates, and I watched in amazement as Alexander glided around the ice with such grace. While skating may not have been considered a masculine sport by some, he made it surprisingly sexy. After a few warmup laps, Alexander grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the ice. I knew there was no use in arguing against it. Everything I had been afraid of, Alexander had helped me conquer and had ended up being wonderful, so I expected this wouldn’t be any different.
I wasn’t heading to the winter Olympics anytime soon, but I made it around the rink three or four times without falling. Stumbling was another story. This was just a small part of Alexander’s childhood that he was letting me into, and it felt amazing to have this insight. Now I knew how Alexander felt the other day when I showed him my entire childhood in a matter of hours. It was amazing.
“We should head out,” Alexander said after completing a flawless spin. “We don’t want to be late.”
I let him lead the way to a set of benches near the skate rental window. As I tried to maneuver my belly out of the way so I could remove my skates, Alexander got down onto his knees. What a gentleman, I thought. He even helps me take off my ice skates! What I wasn’t expecting, however, was for him to reach into his coat pocket instead of toward my skate.
Before I knew what was happening, Alexander was opening a blue velvet jewelry box to reveal the most beautiful ring I’d ever laid my eyes on. This had to be a dream. It just had to be. Tears clouded my vision as Alexander said something I didn’t quite catch. “Oh my gosh,” I whispered.
“Casey,” Alexander started. “I know our relationship didn’t start out like most normal ones do, but it brought us here, and I wouldn’t change that for anything.”
I was lucky I was sitting on the bench or I probably would have collapsed. Was this really happening? I was fairly certain Alexander was looking for some sort of affirmation, but all I could muster was another, “Oh my gosh.”
Alexander took my left hand in his. “I’ve loved you from our very first date, and I want to love you for the rest of our lives. Would you do me the honor of being my wife?”
“Yes!” I exclaimed between tears, loud enough to catch the attention of the few people around us. “Are you serious?”
Alexander nodded and said, “Of course. I love you more than anything, and I want us to be a family.”
If only he knew that I had never wanted anything more. He laid a delicate kiss on my lips, and I watched in awe as he slipped the stunning ring onto my finger. It had a single diamond in the middle with small clusters of white pearls on each side. The band had smaller diamonds going halfway up each side. It was everything I’d ever dreamed of—exactly how I wanted it. How did he know? Pearls weren’t the norm for engagement rings, but my mother had worn pearls a lot when I was young, so they meant a lot to me.
As we embraced, I wondered how Alexander knew about my dream ring. “Did you talk to Liana?” I asked lightly. “She’s the only one who knows how much pearls mean to me.”
Alexander blushed. “She may have helped a bit,” he said. “Is it what you wanted?”
“It’s perfect,” I said. The shock hadn’t quite begun to wear off yet. “Just like the man who gave it to me.”
I was on cloud nine the entire way to Christmas brunch. Not only was I celebrating Christmas with a real family, but they were going to be my family soon, too. Alexander suggested that we announce our engagement and the pregnancy to his family, as he wasn’t sure when we’d see them again. Of course, I had no objections. Secrets were no friend of mine.
As we pulled into the driveway, I tossed my jacket into the back seat. “Guess I won’t be needing that,” I said to Alexander.
“I don’t ever want to hide our baby again,” Alexander said. The look on his face told me he meant it.
“Never.”
We walked hand in hand up to the front door, and Alexander turned the knob. “We’re here,” Alexander called into the foyer.
“Come on i
n,” Alexander’s mom yelled back. “We’re all in the dining room!”
I drew in a deep breath and walked inside, standing behind Alexander until he was ready for our moment. “No matter what happens, I love you,” I whispered.
I peeked over Alexander’s shoulder into the dining room, where his father, brothers, and sister were seated around the table. “Mom, can you come in for a sec?” Alexander said.
“How’s it going?” Connor asked us. “Showing Casey your old stomping grounds?”
Alexander let out a nervous laugh as Mrs. Preston walked in from the kitchen, oven mitts still on her hands and a flour-covered apron over his clothing. “What is it, Alex? I don’t want to burn the casserole.”
“We have something to share with you,” Alexander said. “Two things, actually.” He squeezed my hand so hard I thought it was going to fall off. Once everyone was looking up at us, Alexander directed me to step out in front of him. I glanced back and forth between my fabric-covered bump and Alexander’s family.
Jaws were dropped all over the room, but Emily was the first to respond. “Oh! My! Gosh!” she squealed. “You’re having a baby?!”
“We’re having a baby,” I said, smiling. She darted over from her seat and gave us both a hug.
I can’t believe I’m going to be an aunt!” Emily said. She turned to me. “And that Alexander finally found his soulmate.”
Emily’s positive reaction meant a lot to me, and I could tell it did to Alexander, as well, but we were both nervously waiting for his parents to say something.
“Mom? Dad?” Alexander nudged.
Alexander’s mom kept a stoic look on her face as she took a seat at the end of the table. “Oh my,” she said. “What a surprise! It’s marvelous, of course. I’m just, well, trying to soak it in.”
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