“How are the Wests?” Eric asked, going over to them to shake Derek’s hand.
“Cold,” Derek answered.
“Your lights are gorgeous,” Jaycee said. “Did you get Dani up on that roof to put them up there?”
“Ha.” Eric threw his head back as if that was hilarious. “Dani? On a two-story ladder? There’s a frightening thought.”
“I heard my name,” Dani said, coming up behind him and poking him in the ribs. She shook her head at them. “Whatever he said, don’t believe him.”
Jaycee laughed and gave her a hug. “Oh, before I forget, we worked it out so I can be here for that thing in January. I’m telling you, this schedule just gets crazier and crazier the longer I go.”
“Are y’all still out in California?” Eric asked, having gotten the 411 from Caleb on Derek’s current job.
“We are. Should be finished with this one by the middle of January, and then, we’ll be back on this coast. Thank goodness.”
“We’ve got three jobs lined up out here,” Jaycee said. “We’re trying to get them less spread out so we can centralize things a little more. We’ll see how well that works.”
“Well, come on in,” Eric finally said. “We have apple cider and coffee. Greg and Em are already here, and Sage and Luke are starting fires in the kitchen.”
Jaycee laughed. “Maybe I’d better go chaperone.”
Steve and Jane were the next to arrive, and after welcoming them into Attabury with directions to the pertinent locations of drinks and kids, Dani ducked into the office and texted Rachel.
You guys coming?
On our way!
Great. See you in a few.
Sure enough, Caleb, Rachel and the two kids tumbled in the door around 7:15.
“Sorry we’re late,” Rachel said, setting a large box down by the door and bending to remove coats from the two little bodies. “I don’t know where all that time went. It was five o’clock, and I blinked, and it was seven.”
“That’s okay. No problem,” Dani said, taking the coats and putting them in the armoire they had searched every antique store in the state to find after they used the coat closet for cleaning supplies. Poor Eric. He’d about given up on ever getting his life back from that search. “So how’s it going? Did Rhett get his new bicycle?”
“He did, and we may never get him off the thing. Caleb is thinking about pouring a concrete walk out back that kind of winds around. That way he won’t be out on the street trying to ride.”
“That’s a great idea. I know our fence has been a lifesaver.”
“Is that for tonight?” Dani asked of the large box Rachel picked up after taking her own coat off and handing it to Dani.
Rachel nodded. “I brought cookies for tonight.” She dug a tray out of the box. “There are snickerdoodles, peppermint snowballs, butter pecans, and of course, sugar cookies.”
“Wow!” Dani laughed as she took the loaded-down tray. “Good thing Christmas cookies don’t have calories.”
Caleb who had just finished readjusting Rhett’s outfit and sending him off to play laughed. “I sure hope that’s true because we’ve got more cookies at home than we can conceivably eat in this lifetime.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Rachel said. “I have a plan for every one of them.”
Rubbing his stomach, Caleb popped his eyebrow up and kissed her. “So do I.”
“Ha. Ha. Funny man.” She swatted at him as he turned to join the others in the living room.
“Oh, my… Look at this,” Dani said, catching Rachel’s wrist.
“He got me another charm.” Rachel let Dani hold her wrist to see it. “I wasn’t going to wear it tonight, but…”
Dani puzzled for a long moment over the fourth charm on the bracelet. Two tiny little feet. Suddenly her eyes went wide, and when she looked at her friend, she knew. “Are you serious?”
With a smile, Rachel nodded and ducked her head. “We just found out about a week ago.”
“Does anyone else know?”
“Just his parents and my mom.” Rachel glanced at those at the party. “No one here.”
“Is it…? Are you going to tell them?”
“I wasn’t sure,” Rachel said, “but Caleb is so excited, I decided if it comes up, it comes up. It’s not like it’s going to be a secret for very long anyway.”
Dani squealed as quietly as she could and hugged Rachel. “I am so happy for you. Both of you. All of you!”
“Thanks. It’s going to be a whole new adventure.”
“Yes it will certainly be that.”
Greetings went all around as they made their way into the party with Rachel handing out bags of cookies to all those present.
“Rachel,” Emily said, “you didn’t have to do this.”
Rachel leaned toward her. “Don’t tell anyone, but I put a couple of lemon bars in yours just for you.”
Tears shimmered in Emily’s eyes as she hugged her. “You think of everything.”
“I try.”
The meal was a magnificent success with everyone just happy to be together again after the craziness of the holiday season began to wind down.
“Dani, I just love your trees,” Sage said. “The one in the dining room in front of that window? It looks like coming home from outside.”
“Getting it there was a real trick,” Dani said with a laugh. “I think Eric was ready to ditch the whole thing and skip Christmas.”
“I wouldn’t have skipped Christmas, but if your wife gets an eight-foot tree for a four-foot space, even an engineer can’t make that work.”
“So you didn’t put it up?” Luke asked.
“That one went in the living room.” Eric shrugged. “Then I took our old tree and made some… uh, modifications.”
Greg laughed. “You’re getting pretty good at those modifications these days.”
Eric joined the laugh. “Tell me about it, and wait ‘til you see the new place Caleb has lined up for us to help with next. It’s a barn.”
“A barn?”
“Down in Rocky Point. Let’s just say it’s going to give Attabury a run for its money.”
“And they’re doing what with it?” Greg asked.
“Making it into a house,” Caleb said. “That seems to be a thing these days with a lot of the old barns.”
“Sounds like quite a project.”
“Oh, it will be,” Derek said, “but you know, Caleb, he specializes in the impossible.”
“Ha. Ha,” Caleb said. “It’s only because I’ve got a great team around me.”
After the meal, Dani was halfway paying attention to the conversation across the room and halfway into her own with Sage, Emily and Jaycee when she looked up to see Rachel, Rhett and Natalie come through the doorway from the hall where the stairs were. Natalie was dressed in a simple dress that sparkled when she walked, and Rhett was decked out in a blue button-down and black pants. Behind them trailed the other children, Jaden leading the way carrying Michaela Dawn.
Pride mixed generously with gratefulness slipped into her heart. Her daughter had certainly blossomed into an amazing young lady since her time in Ridgemount. Dani was excited to imagine where she might go from here.
“Hm-mm,” Rachel cleared her throat, and one-by-one, the party-goers turned to look at the little entourage. “I know this is kind of a family thing, but I wanted you all to be here for this.”
Confusion coursed through Dani as she watched her friend, and only then did she noticed the small box Rhett held at his side.
“Come on,” Rachel said, taking her children by the hand and leading them over to where Caleb sat. Once there, she let go of Rhett’s hand and nodded at her son. “Okay. You can give it to him.”
“This is for you, Dad,” Rhett said, giving him the box and crawling up into Caleb’s lap. Confusion traced across Caleb’s face when he looked up at his wife as he settled the little boy on his lap.
“What’s this? I thought we already opened everything.”<
br />
“Just one more,” Rachel said, angling so the others in the room could see him open the gift as well.
“Hmm.” He scrunched his face and looked at Rhett even as he tore into the sparkly green paper. “What is this going to be?”
Rhett put his little hands to his face, giggling and giddy. “It’s a surprise. Right Mommy?”
“Right,” she said, and the tears in her voice were impossible to hide.
“It’s… a box,” Caleb said, coming to the smallish white box.
“Open it. Open it!” Rhett rocked back and forth on Caleb’s leg, so excited, he almost toppled off.
“Okay. Okay. Hang on. I’m opening it.” Caleb worked with the top of the box and finally got the thing open. “And tissue paper.” He pulled two pieces out and dropped them to the floor before looking into the bottom of the box. “The State of North Carolina…” Stunned, he looked up at Rachel. “Are you serious?”
Smiling, laughing and holding her nose to keep herself from crying, she nodded.
“Are you…?” He looked around at the others. “Are you…?” Tears attacked him, and he hugged Rhett to him as the tears jumped the banks of his eyelids and coursed down both cheeks. “Oh, man.” He was fighting to breathe, but breath wasn’t coming for either of them.
“What is it?” someone asked.
Dani was wiping and swiping at her own tears as Caleb laid the box to the side, stood with Rhett in his arms and folded Rachel and Natalie into their little family hug. A long moment and he came out, still swiping at the tears. “The adoption finally went through.”
Gasps and cheers erupted around the room.
He looked at Rachel. “How long did you know?”
“Since the first of December.”
“You.” He wagged his finger at her before taking her into his arms and kissing her soundly. With a sniff, he backed up. “This is so not fair. You get all the best news first.”
She laughed at him putting her hand on his back now that he held both kids, hugging each of them intermittently and shaking his head.
“Wow,” he said again. “What a Christmas!” He kissed her and leveled his gaze at her. A second and with a smile, she nodded. Turning so they stood as one family unit, Caleb sniffed and faced the others. “Well, not that we can top that news, but…”
It was easy to see the fight he was having with the snowball of good news that had overtaken him.
“Rhett,” he said, bouncing his son, “what’s our other big surprise?”
“Mommy has a baby in her tummy!” Rhett squealed, throwing his hands up over his head, and the room erupted in excitement and joy. The little family was engulfed in it, surrounded by it, embraced by it with a couple of gasps and lots of tears.
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Hold that thought!” Eric said, and he raced from the room. Dani wondered for only a second or two before he came back in, camera and tripod in hand. “Okay, everybody get in the picture. I don’t want to miss this.” He worked to get the camera set as everyone turned to it. “Leave room for me right on the side there by my lovely wife. Yep. Right there. Okay. Great. Great. Okay, everybody hold that pose and say, ‘Merry Christmas.’” He carefully came around the camera and over to his designated spot where he twined his fingers in hers. Dani’s heart jumped with joy.
“Merry Christmas!”
Later that night after Jaden was fast asleep in her bed with visions of sugar plums dancing through her head, Dani finished cleaning the kitchen as Eric found his way there from cleaning the living room.
“Hot chocolate?” he asked.
“Mmm. I’d love some.” A few more details and the kitchen was once again back in order.
“That was something else,” Eric said as he put the cups in the microwave and pinged the buttons.
“Hmm. Tell me about it. They’re so awesome.”
“That’s the absolute truth right there.” When the microwave dinged again, he got out the cups and made the drinks. “Ja was so cute tonight with Michaela Dawn. I don’t think she put her down the whole night.”
“Yeah,” Dani said softly. “She’s going to make an amazing big sister.”
Eric stirred twice, clinking the spoon on the cup sides before he stopped and held very, very still. “What?”
Nothing moved between or around them until he turned to her. His eyes held disbelief laced with knowing he couldn’t have heard that correctly. Dani was trying to play it cool, but with him looking at her like that, cool collapsed into a grin.
“So, you think you’re ready to be Dad again?” Dani asked as she sidled over to him.
His mouth dropped open, and he stood there, staring at her completely speechless as he held the two mugs of hot chocolate. “You’re serious.”
“Never been more.”
He let out a breath as the understanding began to twine down through the shock. “You’re really…? We’re really…?”
Dani scrunched her face. “So on names, I was thinking like Thaddeus Eric. We could call him Thad. But then if it’s a girl…”
Before she could finish the sentence, he set the cups down with a clank, swept her up, and spun her around before kissing her like he might never stop. Even when he finally did, he did not let go of her.
“This is crazy,” he said. “Isn’t this crazy? This is like… What? Oh, you know Jaden is going to be over-the-moon. She is going to drive us crazy for the next… what is it? Seven, eight, nine months.” The longer he went the more excited he got. “Jaden, what am I talking about. I’m not going to be able to wait.” He put his hand on her stomach and held it there. “Hi, baby. I’m your daddy. This is your mama, and we love you very, very much.”
Dani laughed at his antics and collected him back into her arms when he straightened. She kissed him as excited for his joy as for her own. “You know,” she said when he had calmed down a smidge. “That hot chocolate is getting cold. What do you say we go out and watch it snow for a minute? It’s coming down again.”
“You sure about that?” he asked in concern. “Is that a good idea in your condition?”
She laughed again. “This is going to be a long nine months.”
Eric made sure to get a blanket for her and open the door. He would’ve carried the mugs out as well, but between the joy pinging through him and his hands already being full, he thought he might end up dousing them both if he tried. On the back porch, he was going to pull up one of the chairs they had spent hours picking out. One thing about Dani, she did not settle for just any old thing. It had to be right, and there had to be a reason for it. He liked that about her. However, she angled her steps the other direction and leaned on the post there.
Coming over, he put the blanket around her shoulders. She handed him his drink and clasped the covering with her other hand.
The snow beyond floated down in meandering paths, seemingly being sprinkled from Heaven. Eric wrapped his arm around Dani as she took a small sip of the cocoa. A moment and she leaned back against him, her head resting on his chest. “Who ever thought we’d wind up here?” she asked, her gaze never leaving the scene beyond.
“Not me, that’s for sure.”
She took another sip, leaned back, and closed her eyes. “You know, I used to think when we were gone from this world that our story was over. Even the idea of Heaven meant we’d gone somewhere different, and we’d be forgotten here.” Snuggling back into him, she shook her head, not to negate the thought but surprised by it. “The other day Jane said the thing that lasts in this world is the love we’ve given away, and that’s the only thing we get to take with us too. I like that. I like the idea that I’m not just a snowflake that will be here today and melted tomorrow. I like being able to build a legacy that’s going to last when someone else is living in Attabury. Just like Hazel and Olivia. Bet they never thought something like tonight would happen here, so much love, so much joy in that place.”
He loved hearing her talk like this, and he pulled her back to him and kissed the top of her hea
d. “Lot of miracles came true tonight.”
Arching her gaze back to him, she lifted her lips for him to kiss her which he did. “I feel like I’m living one now,” she said, still gazing at him.
Eric smiled down at her. “I think maybe we always were, we were just too blind to see it.”
“Right now isn’t forever.” Her eyes caressed his. “But it’s here right now, and I never want to miss these blessings for trying to get to the next ones.”
“Grace for the moment,” he said. “I think I could get used to this.” Softly he kissed her again, loving everything about her and this newfound peace.
“You know, I think this is the best Christmas at Attabury ever.”
“True, but you never know. Next year, Rachel and Caleb will have another one, and we’ll have another one. Who knows how many more blessings we’ll have running around this place by next year?”
“Miracles and miracles and more miracles.”
“Grace and peace, hope and love.” He tightened his grip on her. “Thank God He had a plan because I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
She nodded. “Thank God for Attabury.”
He smiled as he leaned down to kiss her. “Amen to that.”
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A Note from the Author
Dear Readers,
I wanted to take just a small moment to give you a window on elements in The Grace Series. When I started this series, I only had the idea for the first one. As I wrote, more and more of the story came, and I have to say as I write and read the final words, I am amazed by the depth of the journey God has led me on with these books.
People often ask if my characters are somehow me, and many times, they are not. But a few of the characters in this series, while having different physical environments and lives, struggle with many of the same things I have in my lifetime. Things like trying to find a balance between family and work, trying to understand and come to peace with perfection and control issues, and yes, even the challenges of being married when life hasn’t turned out like you thought it would.
Raising Attabury: A Contemporary Christian Epic-Novel (The Grace Series Book 5) Page 54
