by Zoe Matthews
Noah, Mason, Ashley and Elysha were already in the hallway, and giggled when they saw her come into the hallway. Misty was standing near them holding her puppy, Tucker, in her arms.
Ashley put a finger to her pursed lips. “Shhh.”
Brooklyn nodded her little head and took the hand Ashley held out to her. As cousins, they had become much closer over the last few months. “Did Santa come?” It was just barely 4:30 a.m., but the young children were wide awake and anxious to see if the mysterious man in the red suit, and long white beard had indeed brought them presents while they slept.
“Shhh,” Noah reminded her. “We don’t want to scare him away if he’s still downstairs.”
The five children crept down the stairs, quickly making their way down hallway until they reached the Great Room. The stood in the doorway, their mouths open in awe at the mountain of presents that awaited them. The Christmas tree was still lit, a fire in the hearth, and the angel on top of the tree seemed to be beckoning them forward.
“What are you kids doing up already?” Kathy whispered from behind them, causing them to jump and startle.
“Shhh,” Noah told her. “Don’t wake daddy up.”
“Too late son,” Logan told him from the end of the hallway. Sierra, Sadie and Hunter were just coming down the staircase behind him.
Sadie joined Kathy and softly told her, “It’s amazing to me how sensitive my hearing became once I had Brooklyn. I could hear a pin drop during the night if it involved her.”
“All parents get ears like an elephant when their little ones arrive. It’s second nature to want to protect them.”
Brooklyn chose that moment to make her feelings on being caught known to one and all. She stomped her feet and then stuck out her bottom lip. “I don’t want to go back to bed!”
Hunter picked her up and kissed her on the nose. “You don’t have to go back to bed. It’s Christmas morning. How about you kids go wake up everyone else?”
They needed no further encouragement, racing back up the stairs, yelling at the top of their voices for everyone else to wake up and come see what Santa had brought. Within twenty minutes, the sounds of excited kids and their parents filled the Ranch House.
Everyone had spent the night in the main house in consideration of the young children. After spending a pleasant evening, singing Christmas carols around the Christmas tree, and listening to Sheridan read the Christmas story from the Bible, everyone had headed for their temporary sleeping areas. Since the upstairs contained six bedroom suites, plus the suite once used by their late father, finding a bed for everyone hadn’t been hard. Kathy and Jed had stayed in the downstairs guest bedroom, while Annie and Misty had bunked together upstairs.
“Hurry up!” Mason encouraged Bridger and Stephanie; the last two family members to arrive.
“Son. Patience,” Logan warned his son.
Mason sighed and muttered, “Sorry, Uncle Bridger.”
“That’s okay, Mason. Are you all ready to open some presents?” Logan asked him.
“Yay!” a chorus of children’s voices filled the room. Even William had decided there was cause for celebration, giggling and laughing as Sheridan tickled him and played with him.
Jed volunteered to hand out the presents, making sure each present was opened before the next one was handed out. He started to reach for a long skinny box, but then he spied Brooklyn sitting so patiently on Hunter’s lap. Her behavior was so contained; he decided to reward it by allowing her to open the first present. The large box had been set off to the side so that there would plenty of room for several children to gather around it later in the day.
“Brooklyn, would you like to open the first present?” Jed asked her. She nodded her head, scrambled off her daddy’s lap and ran to where Jed stood. He made a show of looking around for a present with her name on it and then pointed to the large box. “Maybe you should ask you daddy to come help you.”
Brooklyn ran back across the room, dodging arms and legs until she could latch onto Hunter’s hand, “Come help, daddy! Hurry!”
“Okay, sweetie.” Hunter let her lead him towards the large box and then helped her pull the paper off the large box. Once that was done, he encouraged her to lift the box up, helping her pull the box up and off the custom made doll house.
“Mommy! A doll house!” she screamed when she saw the two story building that resembled the Ranch House as closely as possible. When Hunter turned the house around, having installed a turntable on the bottom of it for ease of use, Brooklyn started jumping up and down, clapping her hands and screaming as she saw the tiny furniture inside.
She immediately sat down and started moving the people around to the various rooms, talking to them in the process. Hunter looked up to see Sadie watching them both with tears in her eyes. He walked to her side and kissed her cheek, whispering, “Why the tears?”
“I love seeing you with her. A year ago, I would have never thought this day was a possibility. But now…” She smiled at him.
Hunter wrapped her in his arms, both of them watching their daughter play, tears glistening in both of their eyes. “She’s wonderful. And next year, we’ll have another child to celebrate Christmas with.”
Sadie looked up into his face and kissed him tenderly on the lips. “I love you, Hunter.”
“I love you as well. Merry Christmas, Sadie.”
“Merry Christmas.”
Jed cleared his throat, bringing the room’s attention back to himself. “Who wants the next present?” Jed asked, getting Christmas morning back on track.
Noah and Mason both raised their hands, jumping up and down in their seats.
Jed smiled in their direction and called them over to where two large boxes sat propped up against the fireplace. “Boys, I believe those two boxes have your names on them.”
They rushed towards the boxes, but then stopped and looked back at Logan and Sierra. “Can we open them?”
“Go for it,” Sierra told them with a big smile. She’d helped Logan pick out the various pieces and parts of the model train contained within the boxes. He and Bridger had built a large board for the track to be installed in, complete with papier-machete mountains, rivers, and a mountain tunnel.
The boys ripped into the boxes, screaming when they saw what they contained. “A train! We always wanted a train!”
“Dad, did you see?” Mason yelled, lowering his voice with a sheepish look when he saw Annie wince and cover her ears. Mason was the tender-hearted twin, and he immediately walked over and hugged his aunt. “Sorry, Aunt Annie. Do you want to come look at our train?”
Annie uncovered her ears and hugged him back, a smile once more on her face. “I like trains! Choo, Choo!”
Jed smiled and then waved to William. “I have a present with your name on it.”
William was still adjusting to having so many people around, and rather than going to Jed, he hid his face against Megan’s neck. Jed waved Sheridan back to his seat and allowed the various family members to hand the present over until Sheridan and Megan were able to help William open the wrapped box.
Lying inside was a red plastic barn, complete with all of the barn animals. As the animals were placed inside the barn, their unique animal noise erupted from the barn structure. He watched carefully as Megan and Sheridan showed him how the toy worked, and then he grabbed the cow and the horse and practice placing them into the barn, giggling when the noises erupted from the red plastic.
“Do you like it?” Megan asked. She looked up at Sheridan and told him, “I think he does. Good pick daddy.”
Sheridan blushed, this being his first Christmas with a son he’d only learned about a few weeks earlier. He loved being a father, and he loved the woman sitting by his side more than he’d ever thought possible. Merry Christmas to all of us!
Jed continued to hand out presents, a pair of walking dolls for Ashley and Elysha, a drawing set for Misty. The young girl had been fascinated the last few weeks with Sierra’s painting
s and Sierra had graciously offered to show her what she knew about painting watercolors.
For Annie, she received a doll that looked just like her. Several matching outfits were also included in the box so that she and her new doll could dress alike whenever she chose to do so.
As the last of the presents were opened, Sheridan and Spencer found themselves standing at the far side of the room, taking in the merriment around them.
“This is what Christmas is supposed to feel like,” Sheridan murmured, too many emotions moving through his heart and soul to put into words.
Spencer glanced around the room, watching one by one as his sisters joined them. They wrapped arms around each other, sharing the moment in a way only siblings could possibly understand.
Stephanie was the last one to join their little circle, and once Sheridan had his arm wrapped around her waist, her arm wrapped around Sadie’s waist on the other side, Spencer looked at Sheridan.
“This isn’t just what Christmas is supposed to feel like. This is what family is supposed to feel like. Thank you,” he solemnly told his brother.
Sheridan raised a brow. “For what?”
“For having a vision for this place,” Spencer told him.
“For giving us all a place to call home again,” Sadie said.
“For truly making the Majestic Mountain Ranch a place where dreams come true and the meaning of family is lived out each and every day,” Stella added.
When Stella finished her last statement, Sheridan could only look at the man and women he called his siblings and grin. He looked beyond them to see the rest of the room silently watching them and he raised a voice to include everyone. “Merry Christmas! And I can’t wait to see what the New Year brings us.”
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Also by Zoe Matthews
Have you read these books?
The Orphan Train Romance Series
In the late 1800s, many orphans were send to different states in the western United States in order to provide stable and loving homes. This series features fictitious orphans who traveled to Texas, the families they found homes with, and finding love when they were adults.
An Unexpected Family
The Promise of a Family
Anna
Serena
Katrina
Orphan Train Romances Series: Five Books in One!
Mail-Order Brides of America Series
After the death of their infant daughter, Mary, Elizabeth and Thomas decide to open their large plantation home to orphan girls who need a second chance. They name their new home “Mary’s Home for Girls.” Each book features one of these girls, how they came to Mary’s Home, and the decision they make as adults to become a mail-order bride. Each book is set in a different state.
Southern Belle, Prequel
Iowa Destiny
Texas Hearts
Montana Legacy
Nebraska Promise
Mail-Order Brides/Time Travel Romance Series
Written by Zoe Matthews and Jade Jensen, a mother/daughter team
This series is based in modern times, as well as in the late 1800s. Nicki and her friends find themselves swept up in the past when Nicki reads an ad in her local newspaper, advertising for a mail-order bride. Curious, she answers the ad and is soon sent back in time to meet Patrick, a man who owns a large ranch deep in the Rocky Mountains, and his siblings. Nicki’s friends soon become involved and what happens next changes their lives forever.
Touched By Time
Secrets of Time
River of Time
Winds of Time
Mail-Order Brides/Time Travel Romances, Books 1 through 4
ABOUT THE AUTHOR/CONTACT INFORMATION
Zoe started writing as a young teenager and has kept that passion alive throughout her life. At any one time she can be found relaxing and devouring a good western romance novel or gathering information for one of her own future books.
She loves living in the high mountain deserts of the western United States. Her hobbies include photographing desert landscapes and her adorable grandchildren as well as dabbling in watercolors.
Her perfect summer days would be spent up at the family cabin writing, painting, hiking and associating with family.
Zoe Matthews is the author of the “Orphan Train”, Majestic Mountain Ranch,” Mail-Order Brides of America,” and Mail-Order Brides/Time Travel” series.
She makes her online home at www.zoematthewsromances.com and on facebook. You can also send her an email at [email protected] if you wish.
