Christmas Surprises (12 page)

His smile, that smirk so familiar.  "Twins... good luck with that, Micah.  I hope they pee all over his shirts just like he always did with mine. "

"You would have been such a wonderful grandfather," she'd said, laughing at the memory, moving to wipe her eyes, scarcely breathing, looking back to find that he wasn't there, of course.

Because he was gone.

Mia and Zoe's laughter brought her back to the present, to this different bed, this different place, the same smirk on their faces, the same smirk that would have been on his.

She smiled at them.

He would have been such a wonderful grandfather.  Not unlike Brian, who even now looked up at her as he laughed with the girls, winking at her, still reading.

Chris would have liked him.  She thought it again.

"Is it a good story, girls?," she asked, moving over to sit with them as well.

"It's a story about a couple of puppies who go on an adventure," Mia said. 

"It's our favorite," Zoe added.

"Maybe Sugar will find a friend and go on some adventures like the dog in this book," Mia added thoughtfully.

"Hey!," Zoe said, turning to Brian with a grin.  "Maybe your dog, Boomer, will go on an adventure with her!"

"I'm not sure Boomer would be able to handle Sugar," Brian said.  "She'd nip his ankles so much that he'd find a corner and hide out, I think."

"We should let them meet!," Zoe said.  "We should bring Sugar over to your house and let them meet!"

"I think that definitely needs to happen," Natalie said softly, her hand in Mia's curls, thinking of all the days ahead with Brian now, watching him become a grandfather to these girls.  "Maybe after the new year, huh?"

"Knock, knock..."

Natalie looked up to see Rachel standing at the doorway, smiling apologetically... with Micah standing behind her.

"Hey," Natalie said as Brian sat up next to her, handing the book back to Zoe.

"Sorry about the change of plans," Micah muttered, his eyes going between the two adults.  "Didn't even realize that the weather was going to change so suddenly."

"None of us did," Natalie responded.  "Only a twenty percent chance of rain... what were the odds?"

"I hope your dog will be okay without you overnight," Micah noted, briefly glancing over at Brian as he said it.

A peace offering.  Or as close as Micah was going to get to offering one.

Maybe Rachel had pulled him aside to talk to him.  Or he'd just felt rightly convicted for the way he'd been acting.

"Boomer's good," Brian said, smiling.  "He'll probably try to eat the sofa in my absence, but we're replacing it soon enough."

They were replacing it with Natalie's sofa.  They'd already talked through how they'd combine two households into one.

Micah noted the use of "we" and was drawing conclusions quickly, judging by the look on his face, but Mia thankfully cut him off.

"Daddy, can we go get another book for Brian to read?"

"Yeah!," Zoe added.  "Or maybe two more boo--"

"No, Gammy and Brian need their rest," Micah said, cutting into the requests and very nearly cutting off the protests that came almost instantly.  "And you two need to brush your teeth.  Have I not told you enough horror stories about what happens to children who eat and eat and eat then don't brush quickly enough?  Gingivitis, cavities, serious periodontal atrocities that --"

"Micah," Rachel said softly, her eyes apologetic as she glanced over at Brian, rightly sensing that her husband's foul mood, which was growing fouler by the moment as he droned on about dental problems, was not about his daughters' teeth.  "You take them.  I'll get your mom and Brian set up."

"Good night," Micah said begrudgingly to no one in particular before stalking off.

Rachel took a deep breath, then turned to the couple.

"I love your son," she said very simply to Natalie.  "But it's like I have three children some days, you know?"

Brian smiled at this and nodded, even as Natalie bit back a laugh.

"Oh, I shouldn't have said that.  Please, forget that I said that," Rachel sighed.  "Because, Brian, Micah is just about the most wonderful man in the whole world, honestly.  I'm so sorry that... I'm just sorry."

"Nothing to apologize for," Brian said.  "And I gathered that he was a great guy, given how he's opened your home up to everyone.  And not just for tonight but for a long time after that."

And as if on cue, they heard some serious squeals come from the west side of the house, where the Morales family was sequestered and answering barks from the east side of the house where Joy and Taylor were keeping the puppy in their bathroom.

"Yeah," Rachel sighed again.  "That doesn't seem like the smartest idea right now, though, does it?"

"It'll be fine," Natalie assured her.

"First things first, though," Rachel smiled.  "Let me get everything set up for you two --"

"Rachel," Natalie said, "I can take care of everything.  Jacob brought by some extra clothes for Brian, and I've got what Joy gave me, so all that's left are new linens on the beds, right?"

"Already done," Rachel smiled.  "Always keep these rooms ready, just in case.  I have some spare toothbrushes that I need to get out of the bathroom for you two, though, and towels, too."

"You're a good homemaker, Rachel," Natalie said appreciatively.  "I know you make this house a home.  Not just for Micah and the girls, but..."

For Joy and Taylor.  For their whole family.  For her.  And now for the man she was going to marry.

"For all the crazy people we keep inviting in, yes," she laughed.  "And on that note, Brian, you're totally welcome here.  Despite all of..."  And here, she motioned in Micah's general direction.

God bless Rachel.  God had been doing them all a big favor when He brought her into their family.

"I appreciate it," Brian answered, smiling at her, even as she gave a small wave and left them alone.

Alone.  Finally.

"Thank you," Natalie said, as Brian wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to kiss her.  "Thank you for putting up with... him."

"Please," Brian murmured, "he doesn't scare me.  I'm old enough to be his stepfather, after all."

She smiled at the word, fighting back the laugh that threatened to come out loudly, loud enough that Micah would hear from a few doors down, would imagine the worst, and would come to the room, angry eyes on and all.

"You really think this weekend is the right time to tell them about the engagement?," she asked, thinking about the ring that was tucked away in her purse, its absence around her finger felt after just one day of it being off. 

"I do," Brian said, smiling at her.  "But they're your children, and the decision needs to be yours.  Of course, it'll be easier for them to find out now instead of next month when we have the wedding."

"We weren't even going to have a wedding," she sighed, thinking of how they'd discussed marriage together, how they'd reached this decision, how they were just going to have a simple covenant ceremony during the Sunday service of church, and how it wasn't going to be an ordeal.

Until she met his daughters.  Oh, his daughters.  Katherine, Ruth, and Elizabeth, such strong names for such strong women, all three of whom had embraced her instantly without reservation.  They loved their father, and they loved seeing him happy.  They'd paraded their children right over to Natalie, telling them this was their Gammy, insisting that Natalie join them when they all met up after Christmas, telling her to bring her children for them to meet, and asking for details about the wedding.

It had escalated from there, from a simple covenant ceremony to a family event.  But now...

"You sure you want to get in on all of this?," she asked him warily, knowing the answer but wanting to hear it anyway.

"I'm sure about you," he said.  "And about Joy. And Taylor. Rachel, Mia, Zoe..."  He grinned, not offering another word.

"You've forgotten someone," she grinned.

"Oh, yeah," he said.  "Sugar."

"Who could forget Sugar?," she laughed.  "But... oh, Micah.  He's just..."

"Just being a good son," Brian said.  "Babe, it's just going to take him a little longer.  And that's okay."

He called her Babe.  All the time.  That was a new thing.  Every time she felt like this was going to be familiar, like this new marriage was going to be just like the marriage she had known most of her life, she'd feel a new thrill that she hadn't felt before.

Different.  Life with Brian was going to be different.

And she'd thought marriage was perfect just the way it was.

She smiled at this thought.

"I take it from your smile that you're choosing to believe me," he said, still holding her close.

"I am," she said.  "It's all going to be okay."

"It's all going to be great," he corrected, kissing her again.  "I love you."

"Me, too," she murmured against his lips.  "Sleep tight, okay?"

"Will do," he said, backing away, letting go of her hand at the last possible moment.  As he stepped into his room for the night, she turned away to go back to her room.

"Hey, Natalie?"

"Yeah?," she asked, turning back. 

"Counting down the days until we don't have to say good night and go to separate rooms, you know," he said, raising his eyebrows.

And of all that she'd agreed with so far that night, she most agreed with this.

Yeah, sometimes love felt like they were seventeen all over again.

Madison

She'd snuck into the kitchen and eaten half the pan of tiramisu.

Binge eating.  She'd done plenty of that in her past.  Having her husband tell everyone around them that he didn't want to take a trip to paradise with her had been emotionally taxing enough that she'd felt no shame in returning to the dirty little habit of stuffing her face as full and she could get it, finding solace in food.

In tiramisu, ironically enough.  Her mind drifted back to all the late nights spent at the bar at his restaurant, long after everyone else had been cleared out, eating bite after bite, in between talking about their lives, about their dreams, about faith, all as they'd grown to be better friends.  Then, after the wedding, it was more of the same, but it always ended with Grant leaving the dishes on the bar, pulling her along gently by the hand, up the stairs to the small room that was hers now, too, the taste of tiramisu still on his lips as he'd gotten her inside, pulled her close, and murmured, "only a few hours until I've got to open for breakfast, but we'll make every minute count."

Yep.  Every remembrance that night had been reason for another bite of tiramisu, shoved in her mouth and nearly swallowed whole so that she wouldn't have to taste it and remember Grant's lips, the words he'd said, the promises he'd made.

She loved and hated tiramisu all at the same time.

The dish that had symbolized her relationship with Grant, now stuffing to be swallowed whole in an attempt to drown out the rejection he'd dealt her.