Page 113 of All for Love

Mercedes hugged her back tightly, tears shimmering in her eyes. “Thanks, Mom. I appreciate that, but do you think you’ll ever be able to do more than just get past it? Do you think you’ll ever be able to accept it?”

“I’ll get there, darling,” she murmured, sounding sincere. She pulled away from her daughter to look at her as she caught her face between her hands. “Just give me some time. I’m not going to fight or argue with you about your relationship anymore, but for now, the best I can promise is to look past it. With time, I hope to get to acceptance and even happiness for the two of you.”

She gave me a stern look over Mercedes’s shoulder. “But if you hurt her, I swear I will end you.”

I smiled and nodded my agreement. “If I hurt her, I’ll let you.”

Margaux looked into my eyes for another beat, then gave me a satisfied nod and went back to my father. A quiet moment passed between them as he held her, but then she took a deep breath and straightened up again, smiling.

“Well, this all looks and smells wonderful.” She glanced at Brooke. “Do you want to wait for your mother to join us before we eat?”

Brooke shook her head. “Thanks for the offer, but she’ll grab something on her way. She texted me earlier to say please not to wait for her. She hit some traffic on her way out of the city, but she should be here soon.”

Margaux inclined her head and walked to the pile of plates they’d gotten ready. As she picked one up, she motioned to us to join her. “Well? Are you going to come eat, or are you just going to sit there?”

“We’re eating.” I took Mercedes’s hand, keeping it in mine as we crossed the kitchen and went to collect our plates.

Brooke and Kaden went next, and finally, Dad took his plate from her and we gathered around the counter to dish up. Once we had our food, we ate right there at the breakfast nook, which was a nice break from all the formal sit-downs we’d been having in the dining areas.

Things were strained for just a beat, but then Kaden groaned and broke the ice. “I thought we were done with this part. Let’s talk gifts. What did everyone get me?”

Brooke chuckled but played along, and the ploy worked. Within minutes, Margaux and Dad had relaxed and the atmosphere was lighter and cheerier again. Brooke’s mom arrived just after we’d finished eating, and we got her a coffee too before we all went to the living room to open stockings.

I laughed as I opened mine from Mercedes, a Christmas ornament that said bah humbug. “Is this your way of telling me that my place needs more personal touches?”

She shrugged, the corners of her eyes crinkling even if she was trying to hide her smile. “Nah, but it is for next Christmas when you put your tree up for the first time.”

I cradled the ornament to my chest. She was already making my house warmer. Making it a home. Strangely, I really liked the thought of that.

She’d gotten Kaden a keychain for his office keys that said Oh! This calls for a spreadsheet. He laughed and then arched an eyebrow at her. “Are you sure this was meant for me? I think it should be yours.”

She waggled her eyebrows at him. “You’re the only boss I’ve ever worked for who returns my emails with my spreadsheets neater than they were before and reorganizes the color coding.”

He paused, but then he shrugged. “My colors worked better than yours.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do you really want to start this argument at Christmas?”

“Nah.” He smiled as he slid his keys out of his pocket and attached the keychain to them. “Thanks. This is awesome.”

She frowned. “Why do you have your office keys with you here?”

“They’re on my car keys.”

Her eyes went wide. “Are you insane?”

“That’s what I keep asking him,” Brooke said. “He insists it’s logical because he needs his car to get to the office.”

“I’d lose them otherwise. Or forget them.”

I laughed. “Dude, even I’m more organized than that. Next, you’re going to tell me your house key is on there too.”

As he glanced at me, he frowned and swiped his tongue across his lips. “Well, it’s the same argument. I need my car to get home from the office. Ergo…”

I groaned. “Chances are that one day, you’re going to be the lottery ticket for either a criminal or a locksmith, but good luck with that.”

After we finished opening our stockings, we moved on to the gifts, and surprisingly, the morning felt pretty normal. Everyone was easygoing and cheerful, there were lots of laughs, and even Margaux didn’t flinch when I took Mercedes’s hand or wrapped my arm around her.

When Mercedes opened her gift from me, a new designer suitcase for her to carry all her organizational tools in, she looked at me with such genuine excitement and gratitude that I didn’t even think before I leaned in to kiss her.

Nobody cringed. Nobody called us gross.

As I realized it, I pulled her into my side and felt real happiness and contentment spread through me. If this was what being in the right relationship felt like, then sign me right up for the lifetime subscription because now that I had it, I was never letting it go.