AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I had gotten the same for Ryan who laughed when I initially gave him the outfit. He didn’t argue after he saw me get into a matching red dress to our little girls’.
“You are so beautiful inside and out, Ames.” He held my head after I finished my makeup. His eyes held so much adoration for me that I felt my knees quiver.
“I love you.”
“If you weren’t wearing this kiss repellent, red lipstick, I would be kissing the hell out of you, baby.” Laughter bubbled up from my chest. Kiss repellent. “You are such a tease.” He laughed with me and kissed the top of my head.
“We are going to be late, Mr. Wilson.”
“It’s not my fault that Mrs. Wilson is so beautiful that she just steals all of my attention.” At thirty-seven years old, this man could still make me swoon like I was twenty.
“Come on. You know how much Celine hates when we are late.” He chuckled and shook his head.
“My damn sister can just wait. It’s Christmas day, and I want to show my wife some love and attention.”
“Daddy, stop kissing Momma so we can go already!” Nicky surprised us from the doorway of the bathroom looking oh, so freaking adorable in his khaki shorts and red sweater, his hair styled neatly to the side.
“Don’t you look absolutely dashing, baby.” I pulled from Ryan’s embrace to look over my son.
“Mason helped me with my hair. He said we had to look our best for the pictures.” My chest swelled with pride for my oldest son.
“What a wonderful big brother you have. Go get everyone ready at the front door. Daddy and I will be right there.” He nodded and ran off, calling for his siblings. Ryan twirled me back into his arms.
“I wasn’t done with you, Mrs. Wilson.” I laughed, my nose brushing his.
“I guess you don’t have a choice. Our rather impatient children are waiting for us, and you know they don’t wait long.”
He let go and followed me out of our room to find the kids all waiting at the front door, gifts in hand for the Danvers family and their grandparents.
“Let’s go, Momma!” Kennedy swung back and forth on the balls of her bare feet, the red dress swishing with the movement. She looked absolutely adorable, just as I had imagined when I bought the matching dresses for us.
“What about some shoes, little girl?” She shrugged, a cheeky smile pulling at her pink lips.
* * *
At Celine’s house, the kids were running around, all full of laughter and innocence, comparing gifts, and playing with their new toys, while the adults sipped on cocktails and shared stories from years past.
“Do you remember our first Christmas as married couples?” Celine smiled over the rim of her spiced eggnog, a teasing glint in her blue eyes. She playfully nudged Ace. “We had quite an eventful day, as I recall.”
Ace rolled his eyes while taking a long swig from his beer. “Oh, it was eventful alright. Didn’t your dad almost set the house on fire making that lamb roast your mother insisted on?”
Ryan burst out into deep laughter. “He did set that barbecue on fire. I had almost forgotten all about that. Man, it feels like a lifetime ago.”
Someone squealed loudly in the distance, followed by thundering footsteps. “You’re it!”
“I wonder when Mom and Dad are going to get here. I’m starving, and I know the kids are excited to see them.” Celine looked at Ryan and then glanced at her phone on the table beside her.
“They are probably packing. Don’t they close in two days?”
Celine and Ryan were still upset about their parents selling the home they had grown up in to move to Orlando without consulting anyone.
I knew it was because they were mostly upset with their father giving up on the company, but he was of retirement age now. It was normal for him to feel this way. My dad hadn’t worked a day in the last year. He and Mom spent their days traveling, and they’d never been happier.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Celine swallowed a healthy sip of the spiced eggnog and smiled through her teary eyes. “I can’t believe it’s really over with the company. I grew up in that building.”
Ace settled a hand on her leg. I saw her automatically relax beneath his touch, and I linked my fingers with Ryan’s.
“We have to let it go.” Ryan squeezed my hand.
