Everything I Give: A Holiday Romance Page 2

  Hearing the unsteady tone of her voice, knowing that Wes would move mountains for her, I wasn’t surprised when he urged, “Well, you better make sure you get all the details in that drawing then. And Santa might need to see that you understand just how much work owning a pet is.”

  Almost instantly, Savanna perked up. “I can do that.”

  That was when Wes added, “I’m not saying either of you will get everything you’re asking for, but I think it’s fair to say that Mom and I are both open to a lot of things. We have rules about some things, though. No matter what, you’ve both been very good kids this year, so you don’t have to worry that Santa won’t show up at all. I’m certain he’ll come and make this a great Christmas whether you get what you’re asking for or not. Okay?”

  Both kids trusted their father implicitly, so they took him at his word and relaxed.

  I moved away from the table and toward the chicken that was still on the baking sheet on the counter. After I put it in the oven, I stood and felt Wes at my back.

  He whispered, “Are we against stilts and a kitten?”

  Loving how much he adored our kids and wanted to give them their hearts’ desire, I threw my arms around his neck, smiled, pressed up on my toes, and kissed him.

  “I love you, Wes Blackman,” I replied quietly when I pulled back.

  Grinning, he declared, “I get the feeling you’ll love me even more when you see what I got for dessert.”

  Having completely forgotten about dessert, I asked, “What is it?”

  “Strawberries and chocolate hazelnut spread.”

  Warmth flooded me. The man knew the way to my heart. He’d gotten my favorite dessert… or, at least, what became my favorite dessert when after he and I had shared them for the first time together years ago, he proposed.

  I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him again before bringing my mouth to his ear and whispering, “You’re going to get my mouth in special places tonight, honey.”

  A moment later, Wes burst out laughing. When he settled down and buried his face in my neck, I added, “I’m looking forward to a lot of fun with you and the kids this weekend.”

  “Me too, gorgeous,” he said when he lifted his head and brought his gaze to mine. “Me too.”

  We’d decided this weekend was going to be our official start to the Christmas holiday. So, while the kids were writing and drawing their deepest desires on letters for Santa today, we’d be spending the rest of the weekend making our home look like we were ready for the big guy’s arrival.

  As I poured the hot chocolate into the thermos, the only thought running through my mind was that we were crazy.

  Officially.

  Nobody in their right mind would ever think the journey we were about to embark on was a smart one. But it didn’t matter what anyone else thought.

  Stone and I were doing it.

  My husband.

  The love of my life.

  That right there was my problem. The way I felt about him always had me agreeing and willing to do whatever I could to make him happy. Truthfully, it had been that way for me with him from the day we first got together. In fact, some might say it was before we got together considering I moved over a thousand miles just to be closer to him so we could have a shot at something real.

  It worked.

  And now we were here.

  I was in the kitchen packing up the things we’d need for today’s adventure while my husband was somewhere in the house doing his part to prepare for what was ahead of us.

  As though he knew I’d been thinking about him, Stone walked in. Unable to help myself, I beamed at him and said, “Hey, handsome. Where have you been?”

  Before giving me an answer, Stone walked toward me, slipped his hand across the front of my abdomen, and leaned in to kiss me. Only after he’d accomplished that did he respond.

  “I just packed up a bunch of the gear we’ll need,” he started. “That was only after I got all the bottom layers on everyone. Well, everyone except you, that is.”

  I twisted my neck and cocked an eyebrow as I looked at him. “You’re insatiable,” I pointed out.

  “Can you blame me?” he retorted. “Maybe it’s been years since we first got together, angel, but you’re just as sexy as ever. In fact, I find you even sexier now than I did back then. And that’s saying something because I thought you were incredibly sexy back then.”

  I couldn’t help myself. Hot chocolate forgotten, I leaned into Stone. After all these years, he still had no trouble letting me know just what he felt for me. It was like once he finally allowed himself to do it all those years ago, he hadn’t been able to stop himself.

  Arching my back and pressing my ass into his lap because I knew it would drive him wild, I teased, “Well, you better hope what you got last night will hold you over until this evening. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”

  Stone groaned as his arm tightened around my waist.

  A moment later, he had no choice but to pull himself together because we heard the thundering footsteps of our children coming down the stairs. As Stone moved from behind me toward the refrigerator, four little humans marched into the kitchen.

  Yes.

  Four.

  Archer. Harper. Phoenix. Tessa.

  Ages seven, six, just turned five, and soon-to-be four.

  Those numbers were precisely the reason I thought Stone and I were crazy for doing this. I thought the same thing last year and every year since Archer was born.

  “Is it time to go?” Archer demanded impatiently.

  “Can I wear this hat today?” Phoenix asked, pointing to the Santa hat he’d put on the moment I pulled it out of storage yesterday afternoon.

  “My socks feel funny,” Harper declared as she shifted back and forth on her feet.

  “Merry Christmas!” Tessa shouted, something she’d been doing ever since we hit the beginning of December.

  My eyes left my children and went to my husband’s. He was looking at me with a grin on his face.

  As crazy as I believed we were—and as much as he knew I wasn’t wrong about it—Stone loved this. He loved our family. Rapid-fire questions and declarations from our entire brood didn’t bother him. He welcomed it. Relished in it.

  And because I’d made it my mission to heal his heart years ago from the pain of losing the family he had, I couldn’t help but feel just as joyful about the one we made all on our own.

  Without waiting another moment, Stone closed the refrigerator door and moved toward the kids.

  As he picked Harper up and set her on the countertop to fix her socks, he said, “The hat is cool with me if Mom says it’s okay, Phoenix.”

  “I’m good with it, but it stays on,” I ordered. “It’s too cold outside, so make sure you plan to keep it on the entire time.”

  “Cool!” he yelled before he took off out of the room.

  “Archer, bud, we’re just about ready to go,” Stone assured our eldest son. “Mom is going to go upstairs and get her gear on while I finish packing snacks. Then, we’re out of here. Why don’t you go get your brother and wait by the door?”

  I let out a laugh. To this very day, Stone had no problems taking over in the kitchen. If someone needed to be fed, he’d do it. When we planned to be out of the house for a couple hours with all the kids, he’d make sure snacks were packed.

  Satisfied with his father’s answer, Archer turned on his heel and went in search of his brother.

  Just then, Stone had adjusted Harper’s socks. He put his palms on the counter on either side of her body and asked, “Better?”

  Harper looked down at her feet, wiggled her toes, and smiled at her dad. “All better,” she confirmed.

  Stone kissed the top of her head, lifted her off the counter, and urged, “Go wait with your brothers.”

  Harper took off, scurrying past the baby of the family. Tessa had been standing there waiting patiently to be acknowledged. And even though she was young, she managed to wait because
she knew she wouldn’t be ignored. Especially not by her dad.

  Sure enough, he took two steps toward her and picked her up in his arms. After kissing her round cheeks and her neck while tickling her sides and listening to her giggle, Stone stated, “It’s not Christmas yet, munchkin. We still have a few weeks left.”

  “But Mommy said we’re getting the tree and doing Christmas dancing today,” she told him.

  “I don’t know anything about Christmas dancing, but you are right,” he started. “We are going to get our Christmas tree today.”

  Moving toward them, I came to a stop beside them and added, “And when we get home, Daddy will put it up and we’ll spend the rest of the day decorating it.”

  “Just like at Miss Jen’s,” Tessa replied.

  Nodding at her reference to her preschool, I confirmed, “Yes, just like at Miss Jen’s. But we’ll have different decorations, right?”

  Tessa’s face lit up.

  “Okay, Tess,” Stone cut in. “You want to go wait with your brothers and your sister so we can finish getting everything ready?”

  She gave him a nod.

  “Kisses first,” he declared.

  Tessa gave her dad a kiss before he put her back on her feet. She bolted out of the kitchen as Stone turned and pulled me into his arms.

  Burying his face in my neck, he ordered, “You need to go get yourself ready before we have a mutiny on our hands.”

  With my arms around his shoulders, I insisted, “I would do that, but my husband won’t let me.”

  Stone dropped one of his hands to my ass, gave me a squeeze, and pulled his face from my neck to give me a peck on the lips. “Okay, baby, I’ll let you go get ready now.”

  It was obvious he struggled to allow that to happen. And because I wanted to make sure he was never disappointed, I brought my mouth to his ear and promised, “I’ll make it up to you later.”

  “It’s always been worth the wait for you, Monroe. Always.”

  At that, he gave me one more kiss before he let me go to get ready.

  Closing in on three hours later, we were still trudging through the field of Christmas trees. There was no other way to describe it considering there was roughly six inches of snow on the ground.

  Stone had been carrying Tessa since about fifteen minutes after we arrived considering she was struggling to keep up with her little legs while he held Harper’s hand with his free one.

  Seeing my husband with our girls always melted my heart. He loves his girls like nothing else. Of course, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a great relationship with his sons. Stone is an excellent father to all of our babies, but there is something about his relationship with his daughters that is super special.

  And in the same way that he had that relationship with our girls, I had a similar one with my boys. For that reason, while Stone walked a few feet ahead of me with Harper and Tessa, Archer and Phoenix stayed by my side.

  But I was slowly losing my patience.

  It was bitterly cold, even though everyone was bundled up in snowboarding gear. The kids were already tired and hungry. And the perfect tree hadn’t been found yet.

  This was precisely the reason I thought we were crazy for doing this with four young children. It felt liked we’d been searching forever. If we found one that was tall enough, it was too skinny. Most of the wide ones were entirely too short. And if we found one that had the right combination of height and girth, we’d walk around to the opposite side and find that it was completely bare.

  Finally, Archer pointed to the side and called out, “What about that one, Mom?”

  I looked in the direction he’d indicated and saw a tree that seemed to check all our boxes. It was tall, easily at least twelve feet. We needed something that tall if we didn’t want it to get lost in the house given the high ceilings we had. And from the short distance away from it, the tree seemed to be pretty full. I couldn’t see any bare patches from where we were standing.

  “I think that might work, Archer,” I said, hoping this was going to be the one. “Hey Stone, Archer found a good one over here.”

  The boys and I started walking toward the tree as Stone turned with the girls and followed behind us.

  A few minutes after we circled the tree a couple times, I asked, “What do you think?”

  “I love it!” Harper declared.

  “Me too!” Tessa agreed.

  Stone dropped his gaze to Phoenix. “What do you think, bud?” he asked, wanting approval from all of our children.

  Nodding his head, he confirmed, “I think it’s good, Dad.”

  Bringing his attention to me, Stone stated, “The jury has spoken.”

  I couldn’t do anything but beam back at him and reply, “Then you better get out your saw, handsome.”

  At my request, Stone let go of Harper’s hand and put Tessa down. Then he got out his saw and started cutting down our tree.

  The music was blaring throughout the house. Even though we were all in the family room, I had no doubt the music could have easily been heard from any other room in the house.

  The tree was in the stand, Christmas carols were blasting, and my wife and kids were having a blast.

  Decorating wasn’t just as easy as taking out the decorations and hanging them up.

  No. No. No.

  Monroe did it all with the kids. She got them excited about it. There was no theme or color scheme to the tree. It had everything: projects the kids made at school, store-bought ornaments, and even the homemade green and red construction paper garland they’d made while I was getting the tree set in the stand.

  The tree.

  Our home.

  It was all about our family.

  Monroe made sure of that. And I couldn’t have been more grateful for her.

  Pictures were covering nearly every surface of the house. Some had been just the two of us, or even just me from snowboarding. But from the moment Archer was born, it all changed. He was in pictures alone or with one or the both of us. Then Harper came along and we added more. Phoenix came not long after, and I thought we’d have to take some down to make sure we could get him up everywhere. Somehow, Monroe managed to keep everything we had and add him in. And finally, the missing piece to our puzzle, Tessa arrived.

  I couldn’t help but smile and allow the warmth to seep through me as I sat watching my family. They were everything to me.

  Everything.

  And I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to thank Monroe enough for giving me this. She sacrificed so much for me—starting with moving out to Rising Sun away from her family—and I didn’t think I’d ever manage to communicate or even find a way to give back everything she’d given me.

  It was clear to me after we had Harper that Monroe was more than content with our family as it was. She didn’t have a pressing desire for more children; she was more than happy with Archer and Harper. I was, too. But it wasn’t enough. I wanted more. And much to my surprise, when I told her I wanted more, she didn’t hesitate to give me more babies.

  No matter that she spent the better part of five or six years being pregnant, she never complained. She took it all in stride, loved being pregnant, and still did everything she did when she wasn’t carrying a child. Her dancing and her studio was still just as important to her as they were before I was even a blip on her radar. And somehow, she managed to make that a priority in her life, too.

  I didn’t mind, though.

  I stopped snowboarding professionally a couple years ago. After I competed in the Olympics again four years ago—and managed to get a gold medal in the men’s halfpipe—I sat down with my wife and told her I was done. My focus now was solely going to be on her and our children.

  Of course, I haven’t completely given up snowboarding. But my days now are filled with teaching my children how to ride, cleaning up spilled milk, and fixing their toys when they break.

  “Dad, can you help me untangle these lights?” Archer asked as he and Phoenix walked over to
where I was sitting.

  I nodded and took the tangle of lights from him. My boys sat down beside me, Phoenix still wearing his Santa hat, and waited patiently for me to get the lights sorted. As I worked on them, Archer asked, “Do all girls like to dance?”

  I turned to look at him and said, “Why are you asking?”

  Shaking his head, he explained, “I don’t like dancing. I know Mom, Harper, and Tessa do, but I don’t like it.”

  “Me either,” Phoenix agreed.

  Grinning, I shared, “You get that from me.”

  Confusion washed over them.

  I clarified, “I don’t like dancing either. I never did.”

  “But… but Mom showed us the movie from your wedding,” Archer began. “You were dancing there.”

  Shrugging, I offered, “Well, that was a very special occasion. And I knew how much it would mean to your mom if I danced with her. So, I danced for her.”

  “I’m never dancing!” Phoenix declared.

  Unable to stop myself, I let out a laugh. “I get the feeling you’ll change your mind one day,” I noted.

  “No way,” he argued.

  “Yeah, I’m not either.”

  “Daaddee!” Tessa cried out.

  I looked at my baby girl and saw her dancing around with her sister and Monroe having the time of her life. I gave her a big smile.

  That’s all she needed before she went back to spinning herself around the room.

  “Look at her! She’s crazy!” Phoenix asserted.

  I finished untangling the last knot in the lights and looked both my boys in the eyes. “Listen up you two,” I ordered.

  Serious looks came over their faces.

  Before I had a chance to speak, Monroe interrupted and asked, “Will you come and dance with me? This is my favorite Christmas song.”

  Santa Baby.

  Here was hoping I’d make it through the song without her being too much of a tease. She’d have the perfect opportunity, too. Tessa and Harper had gone back to hanging ornaments.

  “Just give me one second,” I responded.

  Turning my attention back to the boys, they cried out in unison, “You aren’t going to dance, too, are you Dad?”