by Tina Cambria
“And think of my mom too. I’m sure she’ll want some time to pick out a pretty dress to wear at our wedding. I mean, I’m only getting married once.”
“You’re right again. About both of those things.” She smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Besides, from the way my mom was looking at your father when we were at his house this morning, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’ll be looking for something flattering to wear that will catch his attention.”
“I noticed that too,” she agreed. “I think they might be good for each other. Do you think it’s something about the Christmas season that brings out everyone’s romantic nature?”
“Whatever it is, I’m glad my romantic nature finally came out of hibernation.” He gave her a deep kiss.
“Umm, and everything is working fine post-hibernation.”
“I foolishly couldn’t accept it for a while, but I love you, Kendra. And I always will.” Shane teasingly rubbed the tip of her nose. “Let me work on reserving the spot for the ceremony, and you pick out the prettiest dress you can find.”
“Don’t move back to a rental apartment, Shane.” Everything felt so right, and she didn’t want the feeling to end. “You belong with Matt and me.”
He nodded. “That’s the only place I want to be.”
“I can’t believe this is happening.”
“So, we do have something besides the New Year to celebrate after all.” He pulled the champagne bottle from the fridge. “We can become a family right away. And in a few months, we’ll pledge our love forever in front of our family and friends.”
“I’m ready to celebrate,” Kendra said.
Tonight, and every night. For the rest of our lives.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Shortly before six in the evening on the third Saturday in April, Shane stood in front of the koi pond in the Japanese garden, awaiting his bride-to-be.
By the next morning, they’d be on their way to Hawaii for their honeymoon. It had taken them a long time to fulfill that dream, but it was finally coming true. He could hardly believe they would soon officially be husband and wife. A real family. And he and Kendra would be living their dream of traveling to a beautiful island in the South Pacific.
There’d been so many changes since he’d proposed to Kendra on New Year’s Eve. Her spare room had immediately been converted back to being strictly a home office, with him moving right into her bedroom as soon as they returned from the wine country.
He winked at Matt, who smiled as he escorted his recently-discovered grandmother to her seat in the front row. She had taken naturally to her grandmother duties, and Matt already called her Nana Nancy.
Matt’s new dog, Rex, named after the dinosaur, was already a big part of their family. They’d all moved into a new house only two weeks earlier. Shane’s mother had put her real estate skills to good use to help them find the perfect home. She’d nodded her head when they’d told her they were looking for a house with an updated kitchen. Didn’t bat an eye when they added their requests for a master bedroom located far enough away from the other bedrooms to allow them plenty of privacy, and a master bath with a shower big enough for two.
He knew his mother well enough to figure she was probably thinking anything that would help to produce more grandchildren was fine in her book. He glanced at her, sitting directly in front of him with Matt. And she’d found the perfect house for them too, not far from both Pop’s place and Alicia’s.
His mother’s home was only a little farther away from Shane and Kendra’s new house. But with all the time she was spending at Pop’s, what was the difference?
Growing impatient to catch a glimpse of Kendra in her wedding gown, he thought back to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day about a month earlier. They’d decided to commemorate their first meeting, now eight years ago. It was a good thing Alicia had kept Matt overnight that night. Shane was glad he and Kendra had been able to focus on nothing but each other when they’d gotten home after partying all evening, ready to join as one.
Finally, Alicia began to walk down the aisle as Kendra’s matron of honor. He smiled at the sight of Alicia’s long Grecian-style gown that couldn’t quite conceal her growing baby bump. Kendra had confided that she suspected Alicia’s new baby resulted from the New Year’s Eve getaway that Pop had engineered.
That was a memorable night all around in their family, even though he and Kendra hadn’t had the same result that evening. Although they hadn’t been trying to prevent it, and the first two months of their engagement had been full of opportunities, Kendra had informed him each month that she wasn’t pregnant.
And then it was the moment he’d been waiting for so long. Time to stop thinking about babies. The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, a genuine vision in sparkling white from right above her bosom down to her high-heeled sandals, made her way toward him with Pop at her side.
To Shane, Kendra’s beauty far exceeded that of any of the Hollywood-type females he’d seen in movies or television. He’d been around his share of classic good looks with nothing to go along with it on the inside. But she was the total package.
Pure beauty, inside and out.
The sheer veil draping down to cover her face and milky shoulders couldn’t conceal the joy shining through in her eyes. His heart was nearly ready to burst with unbridled happiness when they exchanged their vows and promised to love each other for the rest of their lives.
When they were officially husband and wife, they jubilantly hurried down the aisle accompanied by the applause of their friends and close family.
Waiting for their guests to approach them with congratulations and good wishes, Kendra turned to her new husband and whispered, “Thank you for making sure we did everything right this time.”
“My pleasure, my darling.” He leaned down to kiss her.
“And I do mean we did everything right, including the only part we got right the last time.”
He was confused. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the part about creating a beautiful child, like we did eight years ago.” She smiled at him and said softly, “We did it again. By this Christmas, Matt is going to have a baby brother or sister.”
“I-I don’t know what to say,” Shane said. “I didn’t expect this, but it’s an ideal surprise for our wedding day.”
“And don’t make plans for us for the early part of December,” Kendra said. “According to the doctor, we’ll probably be in the Labor and Delivery suite a week or two after Thanksgiving.”
“Perfect,” he murmured, putting a hand on each of her cheeks to draw her face close to his for a kiss. Not more than five months ago, he never could have imagined the fantastic turn his life would take.
A satisfied smile played at his lips as he did a quick mental calculation. This new baby was probably conceived the night of their St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
He hugged Kendra as his mother and her father moved toward them, with Matt in between. They all smiled as they approached, and Shane knew the smiles would only grow bigger when the trio learned of the expected new addition to the family.
“Absolutely perfect.”
* * *
Thank You!
Thank you for reading A SON FOR CHRISTMAS, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it! I’d appreciate it if you would recommend it to others and leave a review.
A SON FOR CHRISTMAS is the first in the West Coast Christmas Secrets series. I hope you’ll look forward to the next installment, in time for Christmas 2019.
Acknowledgments
This book is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend, Bonnie, who always supported my endeavors. I know she is cheering me on from heaven.
Thank you to my husband Chris, who tirelessly supports and encourages me in everything I do.
Thank you to Susan Scott Shelley, a wonderful author and friend. Since I had the good fortune to meet her in an airport shuttle after a writing conference, Susan has been incredibly helpful in my efforts to
launch my writing career. I sincerely appreciate all of the guidance and assistance she has provided.
A special thank you to Scott Spaulding, who designed a fantastic book cover for me.
About the Author
Tina Cambria lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her family. In addition to writing, she loves to travel, meet new people, dabble in photography, and volunteer for a local hunger relief organization. Her professional background includes nursing, teaching, and information technology.
After leaving the 9 to 5 world behind, Tina followed her dream of writing romance novels. She loves to write about interesting people trying to find love in challenging situations.
Learn more about Tina:
On her website: http://www.tinacambria.com
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinaCambria
Tina’s Books
West Coast Christmas Secrets series
A SON FOR CHRISTMAS
Southwest Secrets series
THE HUSBAND SHE CAN’T REMEMBER (coming in early 2019)
