by Lori Maguire
Gabriel parked the Range Rover and we made our way to the shops along Front Street. Xavier wrapped his arm around me and held me close as we walked down the street. It was cold and breezy. Small bits of snow started to swirl around making the Bavarian town look like a scene from a Christmas card. The spectacular Cascade Mountains in the background just added to the breathtaking scene. It was both beautiful and magical.
Since it was a Saturday afternoon, the town was buzzing with people and activities. There was a live band playing at the gazebo, and despite the fact that it was cold and snowing there were several people dancing. The little children were once again enjoying tubing down the hill next to the gazebo. Their exuberant laughter was mixing with the sounds of the carolers that were walking around. The smell of roasting chestnuts hung in the cold, snowy air.
We hit several of the shops, which included a bookstore, clothing stores, a hat store, nuts and specialties shop, a music box store, and finally we roamed through an art gallery. When I couldn’t keep the yawning at bay any longer, Xavier insisted we head back to the house. I was too tired to argue with him.
Later that afternoon, Xavier had the sleigh return and the four of us rode back into the Bavarian town for the lighting ceremony. The street and sidewalk were packed with people. The ceremony started with a parade of people carrying three-inch stars as Christmas carols were sung. Then with the entire crowd counting down, the lights for all the buildings were turned on.
I glanced up at Xavier and he had an ear-to-ear grin on that I couldn’t help but mirror. He moved me to stand in front of him as he wrapped his arms around my waist. “I can’t wait to come back here as a family,” he whispered in my ear. His cold nose pressed into my face as he kissed me on the cheek.
We all opted to head to the local food market to get something to cook for dinner instead of eating out. Given that it was a Saturday night, the town was overflowing with people and most of the restaurants were already crowded.
As soon as we got back to the house, I got started in the kitchen making garlic panko chicken. Xavier helped by chopping up the garlic. I sautéed the garlic in butter before dipping the chicken cutlets in it and then running them through panko bread crumbs with Italian seasoning and some parmesan cheese. Gabriel sliced up a loaf of Italian bread to make garlic bread in the double oven while I worked on sautéing some green beans with the remaining chopped garlic.
“Ella, that smells fantastic,” Gabriel said, as he cracked open the oven door. “Damn X, you are one lucky man.” I flushed beat red at his compliment.
While Gabriel opened a bottle of wine, Xavier went to plug his iPod into the stereo system. He seemed to have chosen a playlist that was nothing but love songs. I gave him a pointed look when he came back into the kitchen. Shrugging his shoulders, he gave me a sheepish grin. “It’s my Ella playlist,” he proudly stated. I blew him a kiss and gave him a wink.
“What?” Gabriel shouted. “You have a playlist for your girlfriend?” He shook his head. “Dude, you’ve got it real bad.”
“No, Gabe. I’ve got it real good, and it’s a playlist for my fiancé,” Xavier said. He walked up behind me while I was at the stove and snaked his arms around me.
Xavier’s playlist for me was filled with an eclectic mix. You’re My Best Friend by Queen made me chuckle. In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel was up next followed by The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra. But when Ambrosia’s Biggest Part of Me started playing, Xavier came into the kitchen, removed the pan with the green beans from the heat, pulled me close to him, and started to dance around the kitchen while he hummed the song into my ear.
By the time the song was over, happy tears were streaming down my cheeks. These pregnancy hormones were turning me into a total sap. He placed his hands on the sides of my face and wiped my tears away before he dipped me while kissing me. Gabriel started hooting and telling us to get a room.
When we sat down for dinner, Xavier placed a wine glass in front of me. I frowned at him. What the hell was he doing?
He turned the bottle around to show me. It was Welch’s sparkling red grape juice. “I didn’t want you to feel left out, sweetness. I’ll be drinking it with you.” He winked at me.
Gabriel started teasing Xavier when Tiffany slapped him in the back of his head. The move made me laugh, which thankfully kept me from crying more happy tears.
All through dinner, Gabriel kept praising my cooking. I actually enjoyed being able to cook for everyone tonight. It’s not something I get to do very often with Bev around.
Following dinner, Tiffany told me to sit and relax while she and Gabriel cleaned up dinner. Xavier led me into the living room where he proceeded to start a fire. He changed the music to a Christmas playlist. We sat snuggled up together on the couch waiting for Gabriel and Tiffany to join us.
Once they did, the boys started telling Christmas stories from when they were little.
“Hey Gabe, remember how Mom used to always make us wait upstairs on Christmas morning while she went downstairs to make sure Santa didn’t fall asleep in the chair?”
Gabe smirked. “Yeah, we later found out she did that because she wanted to make sure she didn’t leave anything behind like a roll of wrapping paper while she was playing Santa the night before.” They both laughed. “Yeah, you killed the whole Santa thing for me, X.”
“How did he do that?” I asked Gabriel.
“He was snooping around one year and found Mom’s stash for us,” Gabriel said.
“Yup. I went to confront Mom and she confessed. My Santa bubble was burst. Mom begged me not to tell Gabe, but I just couldn’t resist. So, I popped his little Santa bubble too,” Xavier said, sounding proud.
“Xavier, that was mean.” I playfully slapped him on the shoulder.
“When did you find out there was no Santa, Ella?” Tiffany asked.
“Well, I didn’t have a sibling to burst my Santa bubble. It was classmates. They would argue with me that there was no Santa when I would insist that there was. When I came home in tears from school for the third day in a row, my mother sat me down and told me. I was crushed. What about you, Tiffany?”
“Like Gabe, my older sister burst my Santa bubble. I was crushed, too.”
We all sat quietly for a minute staring into the fire.
“So, what are two hoping for? A boy or a girl?” Tiffany asked.
I glanced up at Xavier and smirked. “Well, we seem to have a difference of opinion. I think it would be nice to have a little boy,” I said.
“And I think it would be nice to have a little girl,” Xavier argued.
“What about you, Gabriel? Are you hoping for a niece or a nephew?” I asked.
He frowned as he gave it some thought. “I suppose it doesn’t really matter, because I’m going to spoil the hell out of them anyway. I want to be that cool uncle that takes them to their first party and their first concert. Teach them all the things that are going to drive their parents crazy,” he said, giving us a wicked grin.
“So, Ella and I will be relocating to the East coast before the baby is born,” Xavier teased and we all laughed.
Letting out a huge yawn, I leaned into Xavier a little heavier. It didn’t go unnoticed.
“We’re keeping you up, Ella. Why don’t you guys head off to bed? Tiffany and I were going to jump in the hot tub for a bit before calling it a night,” Gabriel said.
We said our goodnights and made our way upstairs. I immediately removed my make-up and brushed my teeth while Xavier built a small fire in the corner fireplace. When he went into the bathroom to get himself ready for bed, I stood at the huge window and stared out.
The moon was out and it was almost full. The light from it reflecting off the fresh, glistening snowmaking it look like twilight out instead of almost midnight. The snow-covered pine trees were casting long, dark shadows on the ground. It was beautiful.
Strong arms wrapped around behind me. Xavier rested his chin on my shoulder. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? How th
e moonlight lights up the snow like that?”
“It is, but it’s not nearly as beautiful as you.” I turned my head and planted a kiss on his cheek.
He glanced over at me. “You stole my line.”
“It’s the truth. You are quite beautiful,” I said.
He turned me to face him. I placed my hands on his waist. Winding his hands in my hair, he lifted it off my neck and ran a trail of soft kisses down my neck. Goosebumps exploded across my skin as I softly moaned.
“Are you very tired?” he whispered in my ear. He sucked my earlobe in his mouth and then ran his tongue along my outer ear causing me to shiver.
“No,” I whispered back.
I could feel his smile against my skin. “Good,” he breathed, as he picked me up and gently set me down on the bed. “Neither am I,” he said, as he climbed up my body and sealed his mouth over mine.
It was a lazy Sunday morning. We all seemed to be moving in slow motion not eager to leave this beautiful, snow-covered home nestled near the river. While Xavier was loading the car, I made my way out onto the back deck for one last glance. It was snowing again. The flakes were small and fine. Once again, I found the sound of the river flowing over the rocks to be soothing. I heard the door open behind me.
“Ella? Xavier is looking for you,” Tiffany said.
“Thank you,” I replied. I knew he would find me out here so I was in no rush to go back inside.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked me, making her way over to my side.
“Very. There is something about the snow falling that is just so peaceful and relaxing.”
“Gabe is very excited about being an uncle. It was all he could talk about yesterday. I have to thank you for that,” she said after a few quiet moments.
“Why is that?” I turned to her and frowned.
“The announcement of your pregnancy seems to have sparked a need in him for a family of his own. I’ve been waiting for a long time for him to start thinking about settling down. Oh, I know he loves me, but I think he’s been afraid to get too close given what happened with their parents. He fears loss of any kind now. Last night he actually started talking about the possibility of getting married and having children,” she said happily.
I smiled at her. “I’m glad to hear it, Tiffany. I hope he comes to his senses and asks you soon.”
“Yes, I think he will.” She paused for a moment. “Gabe was telling me last night about your situation with your ex-husband. How he lied to you about your infertility and the miscarriage and all. He’s worried about you.” She shrugged. “Like I said he fears loss of any kind now. I hope you don’t mind that he shared that story with me,” she said apologetically.
“Not at all, Tiffany.” I reached out and squeezed her forearm giving her a small smile.
“I imagine Xavier is going to be quite protective of you now.” She gave me a knowing smile making me wonder if Gabriel was as overprotective of her as Xavier was with me. Before I could respond, the back door opened again. This time it was Xavier.
“I should’ve known my girl would be out here admiring the falling snow,” he said, coming up behind me and snaking his arms around my waist. He rested his chin on my shoulder. “It really is quite beautiful.”
The back door opened once again. “What the hell is everybody staring at?” Gabriel asked with a puzzled look on his face. “We need to get on the road.” Tiffany just shook her head as the three of us giggled. “What’s so funny?” Gabe demanded.
Xavier sighed heavily. “Gabe, for somebody who loves the outdoors so much, sometimes you are completely clueless when it comes to its beauty.” He turned his focus to me. “And as much as I hate to admit it, Gabe is right. We need to head out.”
We all said our goodbyes. Gabriel made me promise that I would take extra care of myself. Xavier assured him that he would see to it personally. Tiffany and I rolled our eyes at each other.
“Gabe, I’ll be in touch with you this week concerning the wedding,” Xavier told him.
“I can’t wait.” He paused for a moment. “I couldn’t be happier for you, X. You know that, right?” Gabriel asked his voice thick with emotion.
“Yes, I do,” Xavier replied with the same thickness to his voice.
The ride home was a quiet one. I was feeling a little queasy so I got comfortable hoping sleep would find me. Thankfully, the stretch on I-90 is a long one and I was quickly lulled to sleep.
“We’re home, sweetness,” Xavier said, brushing the hair out of my face.
I sat up in the seat to find that we were already parked in the parking garage of Millennium Tower. Stewart was getting the bags out of the back of the SUV. Xavier got out of the car, walked around to my side, and opened the door for me. He offered his hand as I stepped out. He kept his fingers wrapped tightly around mine until we got to the elevator.
“If you aren’t very tired, I’d like to talk to you about the wedding,” Xavier said.
“Sure. That’s fine,” I said quietly, feeling the panic suddenly rise within me, which I knew was stupid. A marriage to Xavier would be different from a marriage to Stephen, but there was still that ugly fear of getting hurt. Truly, I didn’t think Xavier would ever hurt me or have an affair, but there was once a day when I thought the same about Stephen. I started to break out into a sweat. Xavier still had a hold of my hand so I knew he felt it when my palm got sweaty. He gave me a sideways glance as we stepped off the elevator and made our way to the bedroom. Stewart trailed quietly behind with our bags.
Once we entered the bedroom, Xavier didn’t let go of my hand until Stewart had set our bags down by the bed and left the room. Xavier instructed him to close the door behind him.
“Ella, I need to ask you something and I expect an honest answer from you,” he said sternly. The grip on my hand increased slightly. There was a vulnerability in the depths of his beautiful, blue eyes while he stared into mine intensely. I had an overwhelming urge to comfort him. “Do you want to marry me?” he asked hesitantly.
“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “I’m certain of it.”
There was no response or smile from him at my words. He just kept staring at me intensely for a couple of minutes. Finally, he closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “Then why am I sensing fear from you?”
“There isn’t …”
He cut me off. “Ella, please. The mere mention of the word wedding and your palms get sweaty.” He finally let go of my hand and walked over to the window.
“Xavier, please. I’m not scared of marrying you. I know being married to you will not even compare to what I had with Stephen. In the short time we have been together, what we have is so much more.” I walked over to him and stood behind him. “But there will always be a fear in me of getting hurt.” Turning around to open his mouth in protest, I quickly placed a finger to his lips to silence him. “But I trust you. I love you. Nothing would make me happier than to be your wife,” I said sincerely.
He grabbed my face and kissed me long and hard. He broke away and just beamed a glorious smile at me. “Come,” he said as he grabbed my hand again. “We have a wedding to plan and not a lot of time to do it in.”
He dragged me to his office where he perched me on his lap in front of his desktop. While he waited for it to boot up, he kissed me passionately and thoroughly. My head was spinning by the time he broke away from me. I would have agreed to anything after that kissing session.
“How do you feel about a New Year’s Eve wedding?”
“Really? New Year’s Eve? I suppose so.”
“I’ve already been in touch with your parents, and they are available to come out here then,” he said sheepishly.
“You talked to my parents? When did you do that?” I frowned at him in surprise.
“On the way back from Leavenworth. Are you very mad at me?” he asked carefully.
Was I mad at him? He was so excited and eager for this. How could I be? “No,” I said quietly as I shook my head at him.
“I’ve also been in touch with Patrick. I asked him to check on the availability of the Garden Room at the Fairmont Olympic. Are you comfortable with me putting Patrick in charge of the menu and all? I can promise you he’s fantastic at putting a party together. He’s handled quite a few professional functions for me,” Xavier said.
“Of course. That’s fine. I trust your judgment,” I said.
“There’s a bridal shop downtown that came highly recommended called Laveta’s Bridal Boutique. The owner is Laveta Chaney. It’s Patrick’s aunt. He’s already spoken with her and she would like to see you tomorrow. Is that okay?”
I just nodded my head stunned at the pace the planning seemed to be going at.
“Patrick explained that you were pregnant. I’m sorry, sweetness. I had to tell him. She said they can get you fitted and will schedule another fitting two days before the wedding to make sure the dress still fits comfortably. Now I don’t want you to feel obligated in getting a traditional wedding dress. They offer a variety of dresses for all formal occasions. Okay?” he asked.
“Okay. It’s all right, Xavier. I’d like to do the traditional dress, but if you don’t mind I would like it in a color other than white. I feel silly wearing white given that it’s my second wedding and I’m pregnant.” I shrugged at him.
“That’s fine. Just have Laveta let Patrick know what color you’ve chosen. I want to coordinate my tux with your dress.”
“Okay.” I smiled widely at him. “Obviously, I’m going to ask Renatta to be my maid of honor, but I don’t think bridesmaids are necessary. Do you?”
“Probably not. Obviously, I’m going to have Gabe be my best man. That’s all we should need especially at such short notice,” he said in agreement.
I thought I should say something about a prenup since he still hasn’t mentioned it. Bev chose this moment to pop in and let us know that dinner was ready. She had prepared a salad and lasagna, which smelled delicious.
