Operation Family (19 page)

“No one is guaranteed tomorrow, but if you’re concerned about me raising kids and having to go back to work, don’t be. Shawn was very successful when it came to his business endeavors. Before we got engaged, Mac offered that if I wanted to leave with the girls and return to Texas that he’d have it transferred to me. Money won’t be a concern.” She ran her hand over the back of her dress and sat down on the small sofa in the nursery. “Losing him would be heartbreaking for me, or I should say us. The girls have been through too much, but sometimes you must love no matter the risks.”

Sam came to her and took her hands in his. “I told you before I support you and I couldn’t have hoped you’d have found a better man, I only wanted you to understand the risks. I’m happy for you, everything you’ve ever wanted you’ve gone after, and now you have it.”

“Some risks are worth taking.
You
can be happy if you want.” She squeezed his hand. “No pressure, I’m just saying.”

“I told you I’d give it some thought, and I have been…but I’m not ready to make a decision yet.”

She nodded because there was nothing else she could do. She’d already told him what she thought he should do. Now it was time to leave it in his hands and see what he decided. It was his life and he had to live it himself. She had her hands full dealing with her own life and the changes that would still be coming.

“Nicole, Sam, your mother is on the phone and is demanding to speak with one of you
now
,” Mac said from the doorway, holding the phone out to them.

“I’ll deal with them, after all I have something to tell them. Can you help Sam get the girls ready?”

“I feel like I’ve just received grunt duty.” He leaned down and picked up Sophia. “Come on,
bella,
we must get you ready for Nana’s.”

With the girls in safe hands, she stepped into the hallway and brought the phone to her ear. “Merry Christmas, Mom.”

“It’s not a Merry Christmas with my children across the country. You should be here with us.”

“Why? We’ve never celebrated the holidays. You and Dad have always gone to a friend’s party on Christmas.” Nicole let out a sigh and made her way farther down the hall to their bedroom, out of hearing range. Now that her mother was on the phone, she decided to get her news out in the open instead of waiting until after the holidays. “Mom, I don’t want to fight. It’s Christmas, I’ve got good news I want to share, and I promise we’ll come for a visit after the New Year.”

“What is your news?” Her mother asked with little interest. She heard something clink in the background.

Nicole could picture her mother at her dressing table getting ready for the big Christmas party. She took a deep breath and decided the best way to tell her mother was to just get it out. “Mac and I are getting married.”

“Married!” Something cluttered before her mother gathered herself. “He didn’t even have the nerve to meet your parents or ask for your father’s hand in marriage before he asked you? What kind of man are you marrying?”

“Mom, we’ve never been that kind of family. He’s a good man, and Sam likes him, but more to the point I love him.”

“You love him? You just met him. I’m assuming this is the same man who showed up to claim the girls. The SEAL who’s old enough to be your father.”

She took a deep breath and pushed her anger aside. “He’s not. Mac is thirty-nine, and yes, that’s the man I’m marrying. You can decide to be supportive, or fight this at every crossroad.  Whatever your choice, know it will affect you being a part of my life and grandparents to your granddaughters. I love you and Dad but it’s time I think of my family. If you’re going to be negative about Mac, it will affect my girls, and I won’t have it.”

“Sam would never speak to me that way.”

“You might be right, Mom, but you’ve raised me to be independent and think for myself. You wanted me to fight for what I believe in. That’s what I’m doing now. If you give Mac a chance, I know you’d like him.” She leaned against the closed bedroom door. “You wanted me to get married, to have a family of my own. I’m doing that.”

“I didn’t mean marry the first man you saw.”

“I’m not. I’m marrying the man I fell in love with. Mom, please be happy for me.”

Her mother was silent for a long time before finally asking, “When’s the wedding?”

“We haven’t set a date. He just asked me this morning, but sometime after the New Year. We know this is what we want so we’re not going to wait long. I hope you’ll come here for the wedding.” She wasn’t sure when she decided it, but the wedding would be in Virginia, not Texas. It made more sense and she was fond of the idea of a beach wedding or at least something with a view, maybe at sunset.

She half listened to her mother ramble on about weddings, children, and marriage in general, but her mind was on other things. The least of them was her mother’s halfhearted approval, only to keep another fight at bay. While her mother talked, she considered ideas for the wedding and the house. The garage…

Suddenly everything was clear. It was the one piece she was missing to convince Sam to move to Virginia, and now she had it. “Mom, I’ve got to go. Sophia is getting into stuff and she’s dressed for Christmas dinner. Tell Dad I love him, and Merry Christmas. I’ll call you again soon.” She didn’t wait for her mother’s response before hanging up and jogging back down the hall to the nursery.

“Mom have you running for the hills?” Sam stood with Gabriella in his arms, looking as adorable as ever in her Christmas dress.

She shook her head. “The garage.”

“What?” Sam looked at her as if she’d gone mad, even Mac had turned to her in question as he finished placing a barrette in Sophia’s hair.

“You’ve always wanted to buy Johnson’s garage. That was your dream until you went to work on that rig. Why not do it. Now’s your chance.”

“There’s a lot of start-up money involved in a garage, and without customers it will fail. It’s too big of a risk.” He shook his head. “Plus, Johnson sold his garage years ago, there’s a young guy running the place now and from what I hear it’s not doing too well. He’s ripping people off.”

“That’s just it, Sam. People need good mechanics that won’t rip them off.”

“You’re missing the point. Most of what I earned for the first few years went to paying Dad’s bills. I have money saved, but not enough for that.”

“I understand what you’re getting at.” Mac nodded. “Tell him about the garage and I’ll take the girls downstairs.”

“Stay, you’re as much a part of this as I am. Family, remember.” She turned to Sam and tipped her head to the window. “The garage, it’s completely set up, even has a lift, everything you need.”

“Oh no, Nicole.” Sam shook his head and looked to Mac for support. “This is your home, you don’t want people tramping through here day in and day out. Think of the girls and the noise.”

“Noise wouldn’t be an issue, I insulated and soundproofed it. Being a SEAL, I never know when I’ll be called up, so I sleep when I can between missions and trainings. One thing I never wanted was some damn bird chirping and waking me up.”

“Mac showed me the garage when he gave me the grand tour, and mentioned that he thought about renting it out. It’s just sitting there waiting for someone—you—to use it.”

“I don’t know.” Sam looked down at the little girl in his arms. “You’d like to have your Uncle Sam close, wouldn’t you?”

“She can’t answer, so can I answer for them?” Nicole stepped closer to Sam. “I know I’m pushing and I said I wouldn’t, but I want to see you happy. I feel it starts with you putting your notice in on the rig, and beginning a new life. You’d make a wonderful mechanic.”

“There’s an apartment above the garage, two bedrooms, two baths. Pretty nice, but needs a little work,” Mac added. “When I’m away, you’d be close to watch over Nicole and the girls, to keep them safe.”

“Okay.” Sam’s voice was edged with resolve. “I’ll put my notice in when I return. They request I do thirty days but I have some vacation time left, so I should be able to do less time on the rig. I’ll need to go pack up and tell our parents. Then I’ll drive here, so if there’s anything else you need from Texas let me know and I can bring it, but I should be back by the end of January. I hope you won’t regret this, Nicole.”

“Never.” She drew Sam into a hug. “I love you, big brother.”

“As I love you, little sister.” He lifted Gabriella higher into his arms. “You hear that, little one? Your Uncle Sam is going to be living just across the driveway. So any little boys who come around had better watch it.”

“Yeah, when Daddy’s away, Uncle Sam will scare them off because they’re not allowed to date
ever
.” Mac came to stand next to Nicole and put his arm around her waist. “Actually, Wynn dropped off these little onesies that says just that. On the back it says,
don’t test my daddy, he’s a Navy SEAL
. They are wrapped and in the car so they can be opened at Mom’s. Can’t wait to see her face.”

“You’re evil. Do you know that, Mac
García?”

“You know there’s still a big chance the garage will fail,” Sam pointed out. “I don’t know anyone here to—”

“Don’t think like that. It’s going to work out, I have faith in you.” She laid her hand on Sam’s arm. “If you’d like I could create a website for you, do your accounting, place your orders, whatever you need.”

“My office girl, hmm…who’d have thought,” Sam teased.

“We have a board on base with different business cards. If you get some made up I’ll put them there.” Sophia’s giggled and reached for Nicole, but Mac only shook his head at her and kept the little girl tucked against his body. “I know someone who works at the Family Readiness System, it’s basically the one place you go for any support and services, and it’s there to promote readiness for deployments. One of their biggest jobs is relocation. When a service member gets a new permanent duty station, they’re the ones to answer all the questions. Sometimes new people move into the area and they are looking for services, like mechanics. I’ll leave some of your cards there.”

“Thank you.” Sam nodded.

“See, before long you’ll be bursting with work. Now, come on, we better get these girls to Nana’s before they need a nap.” She reached out to Gabriella. “Want me to take her?”

“She’s fine.” Sam kissed the top of Gabriella’s head. “I need all the uncle time I can get before I leave tomorrow.”

“You won’t be gone long,” she reminded him.

Mac stepped toward the door as if reminding them they needed to be going. “I can either move one of the car seats to the third row so you won’t be stuck between them, or Sam can take my truck and follow us. It’s pretty much a straight shot, so if you take my truck you could come back here early if you wish. Angelo already left. He wanted to change before going to Mom’s, so he’ll meet us there.”

“I know moving the car seats are troublesome. I’ll take your truck if you don’t mind, no use causing the girls more heartache by separating them in the car when they don’t care for it much anyway.” He glanced down at Gabriella. “I never did understand why you and your sister didn’t like car rides. That puts most babies to sleep, but not you two. My difficult nieces.”

“I just hope they grow out of it.” She placed her hand on the doorframe and turned back to Sam. “I think we can spare five minutes so you can look at the garage before we go.”

“I already told you I’d move, what more do you want?” Sam teased.

“She’s very demanding isn’t she?” Mac called over his shoulder as he made his way down the steps.

“Just because you’ve got the training to back you, doesn’t mean I won’t hurt you, Mac.” She shook her head at her fiancée. “Did you remember the diaper bag?”

“It’s in here,” Mac called from the living room as she came down the steps. “Will you come grab it?”

She strolled through the space, her heels clicking off the floor, but what she noticed most was the way Mac stood there rocking Sophia, his eyes twinkling with anticipation. “What’s going on?” He didn’t answer, only nodded to the diaper bag, where a white box with a red ribbon sat on top of it.

“I had planned to give it to you this morning but with all the excitement I waited for a quiet moment. I considered doing it at my parents’ house, but with Sam getting the garage and moving here I feel it’s best that you open it now.”

“You’ve already given me so much.” She looked down at the box.

“Then consider it from Shawn and the twins. I’m only playing a small part in it.” He nodded to the box. “Open it.”

Timidly she picked up the smooth box and let her fingers run across the lid before she pulled the thick red ribbon that held it closed. Inside she found two keys. “What’s this for?”

“The cottage.”

Her legs nearly gave out from under her before she was able to take a step to the right and sit down on the chair. “The cottage…” Her voice came out in a whisper, her gaze on the keys.

Mac crossed the space and handed Sophia to Sam before squatting in front of her. “Shawn bought it and was on his way home when he was killed. Mr. Batty put it in your name and when he sent the custody papers he sent those keys. The cottage is yours.”

“But I’m staying here.”

“I hope so.” He took her hands in his. “The cottage belongs to you. It’s what your grandmother would have wanted. There will come a day when I retire from the military and we can travel between here and Texas, or anywhere you want, and we can stay at the cottage as much as you’d like. It’s also there for when you wish to visit your parents. It’s closer than Shawn’s house. But no matter what, it belongs to you and should stay in your family. We can rent it out as a vacation cottage if you’d like. From what Mr. Batty was telling me it’s beautiful with a creek running close and a lake not far away. People pay good money to get away from it all in places like that.”

“The cottage is mine.” She’d heard Mac say it but until she said the words herself she didn’t believe it. “Grandma’s place. Oh, Mac.” Tears poured from her eyes and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“
Amore
, I didn’t think this would upset you.”

“I’m not upset, I’m just emotional. I love it.” She clung to him until the tears stopped falling.

“Grams would want you to have it.” Sam’s words had her turning to look at him standing there holding both Gabriella and Sophia. “You’ve always loved that place.”

“But I can’t enjoy it if I’m here.”

“You can enjoy it occasionally and when you’re not there someone else can, just as Mac said…a vacation home. You know no one will cherish that place as much as you do,” Sam reasoned.

“Or if you want we can sell it, or sell Shawn’s house and buy a cottage closer. Somewhere we can slip away to anytime we want. Whatever makes you happy,
amore
.”

“We don’t need both places.” It pained her to say it, even if it was logical. She didn’t want to get rid of either place, they were both home. “Maybe we should sell them both. Texas was my home but it isn’t any longer. My home is here, with you and the girls.”

“What about when you visit your parents?” Mac ran his thumb over her knuckles.

“Let’s face it, visits to my parents are going to be few and far between. Mom just doesn’t understand what I’m doing with my life and she isn’t supportive.” She tossed the key in her hand, up and down. “This made sense when I was in Texas, since it was less than an hour drive from Shawn’s, but now that I’m here…not so much. With a house full of kids like we’ve talked about, there’s just not enough room in the cottage. If we’re keeping it as somewhere to stay when we visit it doesn’t make sense. It would be better to keep Shawn’s house. There’s more room for a large family there.”

“No decisions need to be made right now. You can think on it, but right now we need to get to my parents. They’ll be expecting us for dinner soon.” She let Mac pull her to her feet. “I love you, and if you want all the houses then you shall have them. If you want to sell them, even this one, we’ll do it. I want you, Gabriella, and Sophia happy.”

“I’m happy with you, and I’m not letting you sell this house. I love it and I want you to finish it.” She pressed her body against his and put her arms around his neck. “This is our home.” With that she kissed him. It wasn’t a timid kiss but one to let him know how much she loved him and cherished that he had given her the cottage. When the kiss ended she needed a moment to collect herself. “Let’s get a move on.”