All I Want for Christmas

by Gina Wilkins

  Ryan began to smile, eager to face the challenges that lay ahead.

  THE WEEK BEFORE Christmas was frantic. School let out for Christmas vacation, and the children split their time between the store, Ryan’s neighbor and Max, who had them for several hours nearly every day.

  Feeling rather guilty that she’d dumped so much responsibility on her employees during the past few weeks, Ryan spent long hours at her business, promising the children that things would slow down after Christmas—though not too much, she hoped, keeping her profits in mind. Business was encouragingly brisk, the sales exceeding Ryan’s hopes.

  She noticed in passing that there was a new Santa in the big rocker downstairs in the mall. She rather missed seeing the nice man with whom she’d shared an elevator. Someone told her he’d quit, having told everyone that he had a lot to do to get ready for Christmas. The mall employees thought it was quite a funny excuse.

  The children had been told about their aunt Opal’s death. They’d taken the news solemnly, thoughtfully.

  Though both had expressed their regret, Ryan knew they would recover quickly. Opal hadn’t encouraged them to love her and had given them no reason to become attached to her.

  They were overjoyed that they were going to live with Ryan. Both Kelsey and Pip assured her that they couldn’t have found a better mother if they’d picked her out personally. Ryan didn’t quite understand why they both giggled when they said that.

  They’d also made it clear that they wouldn’t mind having Max become a permanent part of their new family. Ryan quickly changed the subject whenever their hints became a bit too pointed. Max didn’t seem to notice. Ryan half expected him to take to his heels now that the children were settled in with her, but he kept coming back.

  Essie joined them for dinner one evening. Still a quiet, somber woman, she actually relaxed enough to smile a few times during the meal.

  She said she liked her new job at a men’s clothing store in the mall, as well as the apartment she’d leased in Mrs. Culpepper’s building. She hoped to afford a better one eventually, but this was sufficient for now, she assured them. It was better than any other place she’d lived in a while.

  Ryan hoped to convince Essie to remain a part of the children’s lives. She firmly believed they needed that connection to their biological roots. She had always understood the importance of family.

  Max had no plans for Christmas with his family, explaining that his mother was spending it in Hawaii with his sister’s family. He said he would call them and that he had already sent gifts. He’d probably see them in the spring, he’d added with a shrug.

  Ryan invited him to spend the holidays with her family. She and her brother always spent Christmas Eve with her father, she explained. They exchanged gifts and attended a candlelight church service together. This year she would be taking the children with her.

  She would love it if Max would join them, she added a bit shyly. To her great surprise, he accepted.

  It was a lovely evening. Ryan’s father seemed delighted with Pip and Kelsey, and they were equally pleased with him. Ryan suspected that he would make a doting grandfather, just as Nick had already proved to be a devoted uncle.

  Max’s role in the family wasn’t quite as clear. Ryan was aware of the questions in her family’s eyes, but she made no effort to explain. How could she, when she didn’t know herself exactly what Max had in mind for them?

  RYAN WAS AWAKENED early Christmas morning by an eager shake of her shoulder. “Ryan, wake up,” Kelsey whispered. “It’s Christmas! Santa’s been here. You should see all the packages he left under the tree! Oh, and Max is here,” she added almost as an afterthought. “Are you getting up now?”

  Ryan rubbed her eyes and peered at the clock. It was barely seven in the morning. Max was back already?

  “I’ll be right there,” she said with a yawn. She and Max had stayed up very late the night before, making sure the packages were waiting to delight the children this morning. They’d both had a lot of fun playing Santa’s helper for the first time.

  Belting her white terry robe, she took the time to brush her hair and teeth and touch her dry lips with a bit of gloss, conscious of how she would look to Max. She would have liked to have showered, dressed and done her makeup before he saw her, but she knew the children’s patience would never hold out that long.

  She remembered Christmas mornings from her own childhood. She and Nick had hardly given their parents time to put on their slippers before dragging them into the living room to find out what Santa had brought.

  Max was sitting cross-legged on the floor beside the Christmas tree he, Ryan and the children had decorated the week before. Kelsey sat in his lap, and there were piles of brightly colored packages surrounding them. He must have brought some of them with him this morning, Ryan realized. There were several she didn’t recognize.

  Pip greeted Ryan with a hug. “Merry Christmas.”

  She returned the embrace warmly, pleased that he’d felt comfortable making the first overture. “Merry Christmas to you, too, Pip.”

  Max looked up at her with a smile that sent a shiver down her spine. “Good morning.”

  “Good morning. Did you let yourself in?” She’d given him a key a few days earlier, telling him he might need it sometime for one of his outings with the children.

  “Yes. Obviously, I just missed Santa. He’d already been here and gone.”

  “No one sees Santa when he’s d’livering his presents, Max,” Kelsey told him, as though he should already know that. “That’s his magic.”

  “I thought it was worth a try,” Max said with a shrug. “Doesn’t he have to give me a pot of gold or something if I catch him?”

  Kelsey dissolved into giggles. “That’s not Santa. That’s a leppercon. You are so silly, Max.”

  He grinned. “A lepper-con, huh? My mistake.”

  “Anyone want breakfast?” Ryan asked, already suspecting the answer.

  “Before we open presents?” Kelsey protested.

  “I’m not really very hungry yet,” Pip said, trying to sound offhand about it.

  “Me, either,” Max said. “Guess we could work up an appetite by tearing into some of these packages.”

  Ryan reached for the camera she’d left in a handy spot the night before. “Okay,” she said with a smile. “Let’s open presents.”

  The children didn’t need to be urged twice.

  Half an hour later the room looked as though a colorful tornado had blown through. Scraps of paper were everywhere, cheery bows peeking out of the wreckage. Toys were piled around the children, whose faces glowed with excitement. Ryan suspected they’d never had a Christmas quite like this one.

  It was going to be difficult not to spoil them, she realized ruefully. They were so easy to please, having had so few privileges thus far in their short lives. She would have to take care not to overdo it.

  Setting her own gifts aside, Ryan sat back contentedly and watched the others. Max and Pip were bent over a race-car set that Max seemed almost as excited about as the boy. Kelsey sat nearby, talking to the new doll she’d promptly dubbed Amelia.

  Giving up the search for another Annie, Ryan had decided not to even try to choose one that resembled the dark-haired doll Kelsey had originally fallen in love with. She’d settled instead for a sweet-faced toddler doll with big blue eyes, long, curly red hair and a wardrobe of frilly little outfits. Kelsey had seemed delighted.

  Ryan couldn’t remember ever being happier.

  “Now who’s ready for breakfast?” she asked after a moment.

  “I’m getting sort of hungry,” Pip admitted.

  “Me, too,” Kelsey agreed.

  “I could eat,” Max drawled.

  “Blueberry pancakes?” Ryan suggested. All three agreed with hunger in their eyes.

  Smiling, she went into the kitchen to begin breakfast.

  A moment later, she realized that someone had followed her. She looked over her shoulder to find M
ax standing close by, watching her.

  He wasn’t smiling.

  “Did you come to help?” she asked, wondering at his somber expression.

  He shook his head. “I came to give you your Christmas present.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “But you already gave me a present. That lovely crystal box. It’s a beautiful gift.”

  “I have something else. If you’ll accept it.” Taking a deep breath, Max held out a small, square package wrapped in gold paper.

  Staring at it, Ryan swallowed. It was just about the size of a ring box, she thought, a flock of butterflies coming to life in her stomach. Had he…?

  Her hand was shaking when she took it from him. She eyed him nervously before she opened it. He nodded.

  It was, indeed, a ring box. The ring inside was stunningly exquisite, a large round diamond in a gold setting, accented with glittering baguettes.

  Ryan felt as though the breath had just been knocked out of her. She could honestly say that this was the very last thing she had expected from Max. After all his warnings about not expecting commitments from him, he hadn’t even hinted that he’d changed his mind. So when had he? And why?

  “Maybe this isn’t the right time—but it feels right,” Max said, taking a step closer. “Will you marry me, Ryan?”

  She clutched the ring box so tightly her knuckles ached. “Why?” she whispered, thinking of all the reasons she didn’t want him to give.

  If he was asking only for the sake of the children, because he felt obligated or thought they needed him, it would truly break her heart.

  He gave her the only answer she would have accepted. “Because I love you,” he said, his voice deep. Sincere.

  She melted. It was all she could do to lift her chin and try one more time to be cautious. “You said you didn’t want to be married,” she reminded him. “You said marriage was a trap. That you wanted to be free.”

  “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately,” he admitted. “I realized that I’ve been free for a long time. And I’ve been miserable. Maybe marriage is a trap, if you’re married to the wrong person. But I’m beginning to see that with the right person, it’s just the opposite.”

  “Are you so sure I’m the right person?” she asked in a whisper.

  “Do you love me?” he asked in return.

  “Yes.” She answered without hesitation. She’d known she loved him ever since they’d made love together, though she’d been afraid to admit it, even to herself.

  He smiled then, his eyes glowing. “Will you give me the freedom to be myself, even after we’re married?”

  “I wouldn’t want you to be anyone other than who you are,” she assured him huskily. “I would never try to change you or restrain you.”

  He took a step closer. “Will you let me be a part of your family? Will you help me raise our children—Pip and Kelsey and any we might have in the future—with love and laughter and a sense of adventure?”

  “I can’t think of a better way to raise children.”

  He touched her face. “Will you promise to love, honor and cherish, keeping only to each other—until death do us part?”

  “I will.” Her voice broke. She threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, Max, I will. I love you.”

  He crushed her to him and covered her mouth with his.

  “Hey!” Pip said from the doorway several minutes later. “I thought we were having pancakes.”

  “Breakfast,” Max said without releasing Ryan, “is going to be a few minutes late.”

  “That’s okay. Take your time,” Pip replied, a warm note of approval in his voice. “We’ll have some of the candy from our stockings to hold us over.”

  He discreetly disappeared.

  Max smiled and kissed Ryan again. She returned the embrace with fervent enthusiasm.

  A moment later, she gasped and pulled herself out of his arms. “Candy?” she said. “Before breakfast? Pip!”

  Max laughed joyously as she rushed to the doorway.

  KELSEY DISAPPEARED later that afternoon.

  Ryan and Max had been sipping hot chocolate in the kitchen, happily making plans for their future, having already called Nick to tell him their news and to let him know that they would both be listed on the adoption papers. The children, last they’d seen, had been playing with their new toys in the living room.

  “Ryan? Have you seen Kelsey?” Pip asked from the doorway, looking a bit worried. “I can’t find her anywhere.”

  The scare with Pip was still fresh in her mind, and Ryan shot to her feet. “Where have you looked?”

  “All over the apartment. I can’t find her.”

  Ryan and Max hurried into the living room. Kelsey’s things were there, the new doll lying half-dressed on the floor, as though she had dropped it hurriedly.

  Max dashed to the children’s room while Pip checked the bathroom. Both came back shaking their heads and looking worried.

  “Kelsey?” Ryan called, wringing her hands. The new ring bit into her palm; she didn’t even notice.

  The patio door opened. Kelsey stepped inside, her face beaming. She looked surprised that everyone was standing there, watching her. “Ryan, look what I’ve got!” she cried.

  Ryan hadn’t even thought to look outside. She went limp with relief, chiding herself for overreacting. She noticed that Max, too, looked a bit sheepish.

  “What…” She had to stop to clear her throat. “What were you doing outside, Kelsey?”

  “Talking to Santa Claus. Look what he brought me!” The child was almost bouncing with excitement.

  Puzzled, Ryan glanced down. Then froze. In Kelsey’s hands was the dark-haired, dark-eyed doll from the shop.

  “Kelsey,” she said blankly. “Where did you get that?”

  “It’s Annie,” Kelsey said, looking a bit impatient. “Santa brought her to me. She can be Amelia’s big sister.”

  “He gave her to you just now?” Pip asked, looking in bewilderment from Kelsey to the French doors.

  Kelsey nodded avidly. “He said he was sorry he was late, but he’s been real busy. He gave me everything I asked for. Annie—and my new parents,” she added with a sweet smile that included both Ryan and Max. “I told him it was my bestest Christmas ever. ”

  Ryan looked at Max, then both of them ran for the French doors. There was no one in the courtyard.

  Peering over the privacy fence, Ryan thought she caught a glimpse of a man in red waving his arm to her. She blinked, but when she looked again, there was no one there. Mystified, she stared up at Max, who simply shrugged.

  Pip and Kelsey were standing in the doorway, watching them. “He’s gone,” Kelsey said. “He said he was very tired and he needed to go rest now.”

  “I…” Ryan didn’t quite know what to say. She looked again at the doll in Kelsey’s arms.

  Kelsey was still smiling, coyly now. “I already told him what I want next year,” she said.

  “What was that?” Max asked, a bit warily.

  “A baby sister,” she answered promptly. “He said he would see what he could do.”

  Ryan collapsed against Max’s side as he choked and then laughed helplessly.

  “You could have asked me first,” Pip informed Kelsey heatedly. “I might have wanted a brother.”

  “Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us,” Max murmured, taking Ryan into his arms. “But something tells me we can handle it.”

  He kissed her then. Deciding to accept what she couldn’t explain, Ryan kissed him back.

  Neither of them noticed the sprig of mistletoe someone had hung on the doorway above their heads.

  ISBN: 978-1-4603-6243-3

  ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

  Copyright © 1995 by Gina Wilkins.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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