The Homespun Holiday (8 page)

Saturday, December 14

“It’s gotta be that one!” the tiny
Yuletide tyrant yelled at her horrified-yet-humble Christmas disciple.  “You
said that we needed to sell Christmas, ‘member?  You said go big or go home,
didn’tya?  I’m tellin’ ya, Dr. Mack!  This is the tree that says Christmas.  We
needs it!  Tell ‘im, Momma!” she yelled, jabbing her finger toward the stately
fir tree.

Millie tried to choke back her
laughter as she stared at her daughter’s aggrieved face.  “Honey, I don’t think
that one would fit very well in Doc’s house.  His house is tiny compared to
that tree,” she managed to say through her giggles, biting her lip when Mack
turned to give her an equally affronted look.

“My house is plenty big.  It’s just
that tree is a giant,” he growled, pointing at the fir in question.  “It’s
gotta be over twelve feet tall.”

“It’s
the
tree, Dr. Mack!  I
know
it,” the five-year-old Christmas Nazi announced from her position
beside Mackenzie. 

Running a hand down his face, Mack
wondered how parents were supposed to handle these kind of holiday skirmishes. 
He had no experience with this, and Mills didn’t appear to be willing to help
him out with this particular grievance, he thought irritably, shooting the
deeply amused woman in question another glare over his shoulder.

Kneeling beside his favorite
maddened munchkin, he gently took her by the arms and turned her toward him. 
Dressed in black leggings and a bright red Christmas sweater, she stared at him
with unamused eyes.  “Okay, Princess.  Explain to me why it has to be
this
tree
out of
all
the trees on this tree farm,” he asked, sweeping his arm out
in a wide arc to encompass the fir forest where they all currently stood.

“’Cause, Santa can see
this
one from the sleigh!” Paisley stated as though it was the most logical thing in
the world.

“How in the world do you figure
that, Baby Girl?” Millie couldn’t resist asking.  “The tree will be inside the
house.  Santa is really talented, but I doubt he’s got X-ray vision, sweetie. 
He can’t see through a roof.”

“But he can magically see who’s
been naughty and who’s been nice, right?” Mack asked Millie sarcastically as he
looked up at her.  Turning back to Paisley, Mack shrugged his shoulders. “This
Santa guy sounds like one shady fella to me.  You sure you wanna impress him
that badly?”

Paisley rolled her eyes
dramatically.  “Of course I do.  He gots my pwesents, Dr. Mack.  I been good
all
year long.  I’m not gonna screw it up now!  ‘Sides, he doesn’t see the tree
through the roof, Momma.  He sees it through the window as he rides by the house. 
And ev’rybody who’s anybody knows that the best pwesents go to the kids wif the
bestest trees.”

Both Mack’s and Millie’s lips
twitched at Paisley’s impassioned plea for the tree, but as Mack would have
caved, Millie shook her head.  “It’s not happening, sweetheart.  Choose another
tree.  One that isn’t so tall this time.”

“Why?” Paisley whined, her large
eyes sad as she looked from her mom to Mack.

“Because I said so,” Millie
returned firmly.  “Now, do I need to choose the tree or are you going to keep
looking?”

“I’ll do it,” Paisley returned
grudgingly as she stomped off to assess a few more firs for suitability.

Mack’s jaw dropped as he watched
the little girl walk away.  “That’s it?” he yelped, turning sharply to look at
Millicent.  “That’s all there was to it?”

“All there was to what?” Millie
asked curiously, her brows furrowing as they followed a few footsteps behind
Paisley as the kid darted from tree to tree, viewing and dismissing each fir
she stopped beside within three or four seconds.

“She was angry, on the verge of a
tantrum and you say, ‘because I said so’ and she just accepts your answer and
the argument gets averted?” he questioned, mystified and not a small bit awed
by the power of the modern day mother.

“Mackenzie,” Millie chuckled, using
his Christian name, “It’s Christmastime.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s why we’re out
here in the middle of nowhere chopping down a tree,” he remarked, holding up
the axe for emphasis.  “But what’s that got to do with my question?”

“Any kid that’s been raised by any
kind of parent at all will concede the battle when it’s being waged just a few
weeks away from Christmas.   They don’t want to compromise their holiday haul. 
Their present number might suffer if they were anything less than nice. 
Naughty kids don’t get good gifts, you know,” she explained patiently.

Mack froze in place and blinked
back at her.  “That’s
genius
,” he finally whispered.  “Seriously, that’s
scary smart.”

“Once you have a kid, you get all
the secrets of the universe answered.  Didn’t you know?” she mocked, laughing
when his arm flew around her waist and he ticked her ribs.

 Up ahead, Paisley stopped walking
to turn around and face the laughing pair behind her.  “Will you two stop it? 
We gots serious work to do, Dr. Mack!  There’s no time for tickle games!  The
countdown ‘til Santa’s sleigh arrives is on, y’all,” she admonished the adults
sternly, shaking her finger at them.

Holding up both her hands, Millie
nodded supportively at her daughter.  “You’re right, sweetie.  We need to get
with the program.”

“My bad, Princess,” Mack quickly
followed Millie’s lead and apologized, too.  “I’ll behave.”

Paisley nodded sharply, adjusting
the striped cap on her head when it slipped over her eyes.  “Good!  C’mon
then!” she called.  “I think I finded the most perfectest tree!”

Millie happily took the hand Mack
held out to her and allowed him to pull her along toward her daughter.  A week
ago, she’d never in her wildest dreams have imagined being this happy, yet here
she was.   Her heart was full and her mind was clear.  She knew getting
involved with Mack… with anybody, really, was a risk.  And Mack was arguably a
bigger risk than most men since he was also her boss and employer.  When you
added that to the fact that she still didn’t know what he wanted them to be to
each other, she should have been anxious as hell.

But, she wasn’t.

She couldn’t explain why, but she
knew
she was safe with Dr. Mackenzie Daniels.  Physically
and
emotionally
secure.  More importantly, she knew her child was safe, too.  Mack would
protect her baby with his life if it ever came down to it.  She knew that the
same way she knew that the sun would set in the west and rise in the east.  Despite
his often surly demeanor, he was a man who was good at taking care of people,
his concern for his patients, employees, and family evident in the way he
tended to them.

Oh, he wasn’t without his faults. 
Mack was certainly a little rough around the edges in a not-quite-house-trained
kind of way.  He could be a grouchy, brusque pain in the butt when something
didn’t suit him, and he complained almost constantly about the small, close
knit town she loved so much.  And, if he had his way, he’d never celebrate
another holiday.  Ever.  But, overall, it was nothing she couldn’t overlook.

“Momma!  Dr. Mack, hurry up,”
Paisley begged, jumping up and down enthusiastically.

Mack and Millie trudged down the
path, the dry, dead grass crunching beneath their feet.  When they reached the
rosy cheeked little girl, both turned their head toward the tree at which she
proudly pointed and grinned.

“Now, that’s a nice tree, Miss P,” Millie
praised her daughter, her eyes on the tree as she wrapped her arms around her
girl’s shoulders and squeezed gently.  “You did great, Baby Girl.”  Glancing
over her shoulder at where Mack stood, Millie tilted her head to the side and
asked, “Doc?  How do you feel about this one?”

 ~~**~~

Standing just behind Millie, Mack
watched the easy interaction between mother and daughter.  Millicent made
parenting look effortless, but he wasn’t foolish enough to believe that it
wasn’t the hardest job she’d ever had.  It was just that Millie enjoyed her
child, and she wasn’t shy about letting it show.  And because of Millie’s hard
work, Paisley was an incredibly easy kid to love.

“Well, you both know that I’m not
exactly a huge fan of all this Christmas crap…” he began, his lips twitching
when both his girls rolled their eyes at exactly the same moment.

“We know,” they both declared in
unison, even the length of their long-suffering sigh the exact same.

Choking back a chuckle at their
dramatics, Mack continued.  “Okay, you two Christmas know-it-alls, what I was
going to say was that even though I’m not a Christmas fan, that tree will look
perfect in front of the picture window in my living room.  Santa will be able
to get a perfect view.”

Paisley jumped up and down, her
excitement obvious.   “Wooooooohoooooo!  Santa’s gonna see us!  Santa’s gonna
see us!” she cheered, dancing around the tree.

Mack shook his head at the kid’s
antics and took another look at the tree she’d chosen.  It really was a
good-looking fir.  The branches were full and thick, the height was just over
seven feet and he wouldn’t have to do much trimming….all in all, it really was
the ideal tree for his house.  Thankfully, they’d already gone shopping for all
the paraphernalia needed to decorate. 

Paisley and Millie had quickly
decided early this morning that for his first venture into holiday decorating he
should use a red, white, and blue patriotic Christmas theme inside and out at
his home, and when they’d arrived at the Paradise Home and Garden specialty
store, they’d promptly loaded him up on red, white and blue bulbs, ribbon and
lights.  They’d also found holiday wreaths for the front
and
back door
(which he found ridiculous since nobody but the dog ever
used
the back
door), an inflatable Sergeant Santa that was decked out in full military gear
for the front yard, and enough holiday lights to string every tree in his
yard.  Based on the amount of lights his girls had bought, he was pretty sure
the astronauts at the space station would be able to see his lawn.

Jeez, there he went again, Mack
thought with a mental sigh.  Thinking of Millie and Paisley in the possessive
sense had become second nature since he’d realized that he wasn’t going to be
able to keep his feelings confined to the friend zone where Millicent was
concerned. 

Nope, he wanted her.  And not in
the safe platonic way.  No, it was safe to say he wanted Millie in the
strip-her-clothes-off-and-get-her-naked-in-his-bed-ASAP-way.   

And Paisley….well, that kid had
wormed her way into his heart before he’d even realized
what
he was
feeling for her mother.  Given the fact that her fucktard of a biological dad
had abandoned her, he was relatively sure that he’d be a much better father
figure than Millie’s ex-husband.  Unlike John, he wanted the job.  He wanted it
badly.

“Dr. Mack?” Paisley whined
impatiently, tugging his hand.  “You really like it?” she asked anxiously.

Quickly passing his axe off to
Millicent, Mack crouched down so that he could look in his little holiday
helper’s hazel eyes and grinned reassuringly.  “I really do, squirt.  It’s the
best looking tree on the lot, and
you
found it for me.  I knew I chose
the right girls for the job of helping me already, but you’re knockin’ it out
of the ballpark!  I’m gonna owe you big for this, kiddo.”

Paisley’s little face glowed with
happiness.  Looking over her shoulder at her momma, she loudly whispered,
“Should I asks him, Momma?”

Giving Millie a confused look, he
gently tapped Paisley’s nose.  “Hey, you don’t have to ask permission.  You can
ask me anything, Pretty Girl.  Whatcha want?” he asked, more than willing to go
fetch her whatever her adorable little heart desired.  Yeah, he was whooped,
and he knew it.

“Weeee-llllll,” Paisley began, drawing
the word out as she shuffled from one foot to the other.   “My class at Sunday
school is doing a pway on Sunday night.  It’s called the Navity.”

“You mean, the Nativity?” Mack
asked, keeping a straight face even as Millie buried her face in her hand to
muffle her laugh.

“Uh huh.  That’s it.  Anyway, Imma
sheep!” she announced proudly.

“You are?” Mack asked, feigning
shock.

“Uh huh,” Paisley returned, nodding
avidly.  “I gots a line, too.  It’s ‘Baaaaaa Baaaaaa!’.  Whatdaya think?”

“For a second there I really
thought we had a sheep out here with us,” he said, looking around as though he
were still trying to spot one. 

Paisley giggled.  “You’re silly,
Dr. Mack!  He’s silly, huh, Momma?” she asked, looking toward her mother for validation.

“Maybe a
little
,” Millie
conceded, holding her thumb and index finger closely together.

Still smiling, Paisley turned her
bright eyes back to Mack.  “
Anyways
, my pway is Sunday night and I was
wonderin’ if you might wanna come see me?  Momma telled me that you might not
be able to come ‘cause your momma and sissy are comin’ for Christmas, but I
really want you to be there and see me.”