Chapter One
Bianca
“What was all that about?” Marshall waves his arm toward the door. Charleigh and Jake just left, and I wish I could be a fly on the wall.
“I don’t know,” I shrug my shoulders. “I’m sure they’ll tell us if it’s something they want us to know.” I can’t stop the tiny smirk that crosses my lips.
He tosses one of my notepads at me, and I barely catch it. “I know that look.” He takes a couple of steps until he’s in my space. “You know something.”
Turning my back to him, I continue tidying up my workspace. Maintaining a poker face has just shot its way up to the top of my resolution list. This is also why I’ll be doing all of my Christmas shopping today. Secrets have never been my strong suit. It’s a wonder I was able to keep my relationship with Marshall on the down low for so long when we first started dating. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“You realize you can’t bullshit me, right?” When I turn around, he’s tapping his finger against his chin. “Whatever it is, it’s important.”
“How do you know that?” My voice is high pitched by the end of the question. So much for trying to keep my composure.
“Jake told me Charleigh has been acting weird. And he’s been a mess about it.”
“There are times I wish you weren’t so intuitive.”
Marshall sits down in the chair I use for clients and stares at the ceiling. “I bet she’s pregnant.”
If I were drinking anything, liquid would be flying out of my mouth. Instead, I choke on air. “What makes you think that?”
“You know I’m good at reading people, and Charleigh doesn’t let much shake her. It’s the only obvious conclusion.” He turns his head toward me and stares me down. “Unless you have a different explanation.”
I could lie. I should, but that would go against all relationship rules, and I’m trying hard to keep this one from failing. “Ugh,” I groan. “Yes. Are you happy, now?” I won’t say anything else, though. It’s not my story to tell. If he’s smart, he’ll leave it at that and not ask anything else.
“To hear that I’m right? Always.” He grabs my arm and pulls me into his lap. “For them? Definitely.”
I lean into his warmth, cherishing this moment of quiet. Between both of our families, we don’t get any alone time. It’d be easier if we had our own place. Or if one of us lived alone. I’ll take comfort in these stolen minutes as much as I can. It won’t always be like this. “Can you imagine having a preschooler and baby at the same time?”
“It’ll be interesting, that’s for sure.” His breath tickles my ear and the goosebumps on my arm have nothing to do with the cold weather. “Let’s get out of here before we have to lock your door.”
“You know damn well these doors don’t lock.” I look around my clean workroom. Not very many people get tattoos the day before Christmas, and my schedule is clear the rest of the day. “But yeah, we should probably get started on that shopping. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to get it done before midnight.”
“This is why I got all my gifts a couple of weeks ago. Do you have any idea how horrible the stores are going to be?”
I get off his lap and turn to pull him out of the chair. “Including mine?”
“I think I’m going to go warm up the truck.” Completely ignoring my question, he walks out of the room without a care in the world. This is going to bug me for the rest of the day. I wonder if I can pry it out of him.
***
“I think next year I’m going to put you in charge of getting gifts.” Marshall wasn’t wrong. The stores are jam packed and lines go all the way to the back. I’m used to this madness. It’s how I’ve holiday shopped for years. Marshall on the other hand, keeps shooting glances at all the others who have also saved their shopping to the last minute.
“I think that’s a good idea,” he mutters under his breath. “I don’t know if I can do this again.”
“It’s not that bad.” I pick up a couple of board games my baby brother mentioned. I know he might be “too old” to be excited about something as small as this, but we’ve learned to be grateful for anything we have. Dad’s work wasn’t steady until recently. Even when I was an apprentice with Corey, I worked another job to help my family put food on the table. Plus, it’s something we can play as a family. Now I need to figure out something for the pain in the ass teen. Why are they so hard to shop for?
“This,” Marshall’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. His pointing toward the long lines, and people scrambling to grab whatever they can off the shelves. “This is insane. Do you really do this every year?”
“Yep,” I nod my head. “It’s the only time I could. Only part of it is because I can’t keep secrets. There aren’t many places I can hide gifts at home without someone finding them.”
He grabs some sheets off a nearby shelf and holds them up. “That makes sense. Which of these do you like?”
“What?” That seems like such a weird, and random, question.
He tilts his head toward his hands. “Which do you like better?”
This dude is off his rocker. Why the hell would I need sheets? I keep a decent stock of sheets for my bed. “I thought you said you already had my gift.” Please don’t be asking for that reason. I mean, I’d still love him, but this is not the gift I was envisioning.
He rolls his eyes at me; except he can’t hide the smirk that crosses his lips. “Humor me, please.”
“Fine.” I point to the black ones in his right hand. “Now let’s find something for my parents so we can get out of here.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” He sets the sheets back on the shelf. I have no clue what that was about, but I’ll be happy when we’re out of this madness. The only thing that would make the night better is if we had our own place to go home to.
Chapter Two
Marshall
We’re barely two feet in the door when Bianca’s dad pulls me to the side. “Have you told her yet?”
Bianca stops in her tracks, and turns to face us. “Told me what?”
“Um, nothing.” I try laughing it off, but that glare she’s shooting in my direction is a clear sign that she’s not having that. I search around the house looking for a subject change since her dad is offering exactly zero help. His mouth is wide open, and I think he’s at just as much of a loss as I am.
Thank God her mom swoops in to save the day. “Hi, Marshall.” She throws her arms around me in a hug, and whispers in my ear, “Don’t worry, I’ll distract her.”
“Thank you.” I did not count on her dad blowing the whole surprise.
“Let me grab these bags,” her mom says louder. “We can get everything sorted while we leave the men to talk.” Without pause she pulls the shopping bags out of my hands. I try to keep one back because it’s her gift, but she grips it harder and pulls it out of my hand. I reluctantly let it go. Bianca can fight that battle. And it means I don’t have to wrap anything. “Come on, Mija. Let’s get this taken care of.”
Bianca is still staring at me, but she follows her mom down the hall. Her dad claps his hand on my shoulder and leads me to the living room. “You haven’t told her yet.”
The living room is small. Well, smaller than the one at my house with my parents. But if feels comfortable and lived in. There are trinkets on various shelves and pictures of Bianca and her brother growing up. A Christmas tree sits in the corner of the room lit up with colored lights that look like they’ve been around for years. We sit down on the couch and I take a moment to let the moment sink in. Never in a million years did I think I would be on such a friendly basis with Bianca’s dad. Especially after she was too terrified, they wouldn’t like me. It probably helps that he works on my dad’s crew and I see him on a daily basis. “Where are the boys?”
He nods his head toward the hallway. “They are taking a nap.”
“This late?” It seems like an odd time to take naps, but who am I to judge.
“We have midnight mass, and their mom gets upset if they fall asleep during it.” He pauses for a moment before adding, “You can come with us. You wouldn’t be able to take communion, but I’m sure Bianca wouldn’t mind you coming.”
I didn’t even know they went to mass on Christmas Eve. Not once since we’ve been together has she asked me to come. I’m not sure if I should be offended that she didn’t. Especially since I plan on this being forever. “I might just do that.”
“We usually take separate cars so one of us can set out the gifts from Santa. We’ve always told them that he comes while we’re at mass. They’re too old to believe anymore, but they try to keep that small bit of magic alive.”
“Well, Bianca and I could set the gifts out before we head to the church.”
“That would be helpful, thank you.” He leans further back into the couch. “Now, when are you going to tell her about the house?”
“I may have to tell her sooner than later, but I have a gift wrapped up to give her in the morning.” It’s in my truck, but he doesn’t need to know that or he may have me give it to her now. I mean it wouldn’t be a horrible idea. I just want it to be a big surprise. Both of our families are getting together for a joint Christmas, and the opportunity is perfect.
“Good,” he nods in agreement. “Sorry if I ruined it.”
“You didn’t ruin anything, but I won’t be able to put her off for long.” That glare she shot me meant business, and she isn’t one to let things go. Especially if she thinks I have a secret. That’s the thing about Bianca. She sucks at keeping secrets, and she doesn’t like others to have them either. She wants everything out in the open. Well, she does now. Back when we were first dating, she hid me from her family. I won’t say it didn’t hurt, because it did. But I’m past that now. We’re together, and if she doesn’t freak out about my gift, we’ll be spending a lot of time together. “I do have an extra gift set aside. I’ll use that to throw her off the surprise.”
Chapter Three
Bianca
Marshall has been more talkative than usual. The only time he’s kept quiet is during Mass. And here we are now, in the car and he’s not even giving me a chance to utter a single word. I know he’s trying to stall my questioning over whatever he and my dad were discussing, but he’s crazy if he thinks that is going to stop me.
Finally, he takes a breath and is silent for a whole two seconds. “What did you think of Mass?” It’s not the question I’m yearning to ask, but I can’t lead with that. And…I’m curious. I never thought to ask him to join us before. Not that I go regularly since I’m always at the shop. I do make an effort when I can, though.
He doesn’t say anything for a few moments, and I’m worried that he hated it. “It was different in some areas, but the same in others. And it was longer that I thought it would be.” He turns in his seat until he’s facing me. “Are all services that long?”
A laugh bubbles from my lips. I can’t help it. “That’s what you took away? That it was long?” White flurries begin falling on the windshield and my grasp on the steering wheel tightens. I thought the storm would hit closer to morning. Obviously, I was wrong. Or, the weather dude was. Either way, I’m not amused.
“No,” he chuckles. “It’s just that the church services I’ve been to tend to last an hour max.” He must notice how tense I’ve become because he asks, “Do you want me to drive?”
Shaking my head slightly, I keep my eyes focused on the road ahead of me. I don’t trust any of the other people driving around us. We aren’t exactly used to wintry weather. It might happen once a year. “I’m good. But no, the services aren’t usually that long.” Although, that’s not entirely true. “I mean, they aren’t exactly short, but there’s a little more that goes into the ones around the holidays.”
“That makes sense.” I can see his silhouette out of the corner of my eyes, and he’s nodding his head as if all the things are clicking into place. “Do you think your brothers will be excited about what Santa left them?”
I flip on the blinker to exit. My parents are doing the same behind me. Not much longer until we are home and I can bug him about my gift. “They don’t believe anymore, and haven’t for years. They just don’t’ have the heart to say anything to Mom and Dad.”
“So, they are keeping the magic alive. That’s pretty awesome. I’m pretty sure Randall is the one who told the rest of us the truth when he stopped getting gifts after his mom bailed.”
My heart breaks for his friend. He definitely hasn’t had an easy life. Even when my parents had little to no money, they always made sure to let us know we were taken care of. I’m only happy that things have gotten better for Randall, and his dad. “I don’t remember how old I was. But I kept up the facade for my brothers when they were little. It was my job as their big sister.”
He thinks that over for a minute while I turn onto my street. The snow flurries are coming down harder, and I’m glad we got home before it sticks to the ground. Icy patches on a blacktop road are not fun. Especially at night. “You know, sometimes I envy those with siblings.” I open my mouth to say it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, but he continues. “Then I see how your brothers are when they are in a mood, and I don’t think it would’ve been all that great.”
“It’s not always bad. We’re pretty close knit, even when we fight.” I pull up next to the curb, waiting for my parents to enter the driveway first. I could park behind them, but I’m already here. The distance to the door is about the same whether I’m in the driveway or in front of the house.
Glancing over at Marshall, I take in his profile. How did I get so lucky to have a guy by my side that doesn’t mind doing things with my family? Especially after all the crap I put him through. He looks my way, and my cheeks warm at the attention. He’s definitely the first guy to make that happen. “Are we going to sit in the cold, or go inside?”
“I didn’t realize you were going to stay.” I figured he’d go home as soon as we got here since it’s late. This may also be the perfect time to bring up whatever it is he got me that he’s trying to be so secretive about.
“That’s dumb.” He reaches for my hand and pulls me closer to him. It’s awkward with the console digging into my ribs. But I’ll take any alone time with him I can get. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
He leans in for a kiss, and I let his lips brush against mine for the briefest of moments before pulling away. “So, what is this top-secret gift my dad mentioned?”
Muttering under his breath, he unclasps his seatbelt and reaches for the door handle. “I was hoping you forgot about that.”
I grin at him, even though it’s too dark to see, and fiddle with the latch on my own seatbelt to take it off. “It’s like you don’t even know me.”
“Did you have to bring it up when I was kissing you?”
“You’re lucky I didn’t bug you about it sooner.”
He opens the car door and a gush of cold wind sends shivers down my entire body, despite the coat I’m still wearing. “You should probably get inside. I’ll grab it out of my truck and meet you in there.”
“I can wait and come in with you.” I’m mentally smacking myself for ruining the moment. Marshall has way more patience than me. I would have already dumped my ass if I was him.
“There’s no use in both of us being cold.” He steps out of the car, waiting until I’m out before closing his door. “I’ll be right behind you,” he calls over his shoulder and almost slips on the slick curb. “And don’t think there won’t be payback for breaking the kiss.”
He’s so full of shit. I watch him as he opens his truck door, but when the snow, or ice, I don’t really know anymore, sting my face, I do what he suggested. “It’s way too cold to be stubborn.”
***
Mom looks behind me as I walk into the living room. “Where’s Marshall?”
Shrugging out of my coat, I sit on the chair closest to the entrance. “He’s getting something out of the truck. He’ll be in soon.”
She glances at Dad, and I know they are both in on whatever gift Marshall has for me. My brothers are sitting in piles of discarded gift wrap. “I see they couldn’t wait on me to start.”
Dad shrugs. “You know how they are, Mija.”
A box comes flying at my face as I hear the door open. “Here you go, Sister,” Anthony, my youngest brother yells. I manage to scoot back enough that it hits the back of the chair instead of me. This is definitely one of those times when siblings are annoying as hell.
“Thanks,” I mutter as Marshall takes a seat on the arm of the chair, next to me. He has a small square jewelry box in his hand, and my heart beats faster. We haven’t officially talked about marriage, even though we’ve been looking at houses.
“This is for you,” he thrusts the box toward me. “Open it.” I can’t tell if he’s annoyed at first, but the slight rise in his eyebrows and the way the corner of his lip turns up is a pretty good indication that he’s not.
A small part of me is scared of what it contains, and I pick up the box my brother threw at me. “I’ll open this first.” Nobody makes a fuss about me opening Marshall’s gift, and I may be completely wrong about what’s inside. I tear into the wrapping paper and lift the lid of the box. “Santa got me a new set of sketching pencils. I needed more of these.”
“That’s good,” Mom nods. “You seem to go through them so quickly.” It’s ridiculous that she keeps up the game. She has to know that we’re all too old to believe in the man with the red suit. I don’t correct her, though. This is our bubble of happiness and innocence. There’s not enough magic in the world, and I would be an asshole to take it away from them.
“It’s part of the job.” I set the pencils down before picking up the box Marshall gave me. My hand is shaky as I open the lid. That part of me that was scared is also a tad disappointed when I notice it doesn’t contain a ring. “It’s beautiful.”
“Do you really like it?” Marshall sounds nervous. I’d love anything he gave me. I may have a hard exterior, but he above anyone else should know that I’m not as mean as I pretend to be.
“Yes.” Inside, nestled in the black velvet, is a black heart pendant on a silver chain. It has tiny white crystals, maybe diamonds, surrounding it. “Will you put it on me?”
He takes the box from my hands and I turn, lifting my hair so he can clasp the necklace. It’s the nicest piece of jewelry anyone has ever given me. “I think I got it.” He moves my hand to let my hair fall down.
“Thank you,” I lift my hand to slide the heart along the chain. “I love it.”
“Good,” he nods. His eyes widen as he looks past me toward the clock. “I should probably head out. I didn’t realize how late it is.”
“No,” Mom stands from where she was sitting next to my dad. “You’ll stay here tonight. I’ll grab some blankets and you can sleep on the couch.”
“I couldn’t,” Marshall begins before snapping his mouth shut. Mom is giving him the look I’ve learned over the course of my life. It says she knows better, and we should listen.
“You don’t’ need to be driving on those roads in the dark.” She pauses, waiting to see if he’s going to argue. When he doesn’t, she adds, “We can all drive to your house in the morning together.”
“Looks like it’s a night of Christmas movies on the couch for us.” I scoot closer to him. Just because I turn on the TV doesn’t mean we’ll be watching it. My family will go to bed soon enough, and I’ll get that much needed alone time with my man.
Chapter Four
Marshall
It feels odd staying the night at Bianca’s house. She usually stays at mine if she’s off work. Not that my living situation is any better, but at least there we get a modicum of privacy. Her family went to bed an hour ago, but every time we get into a make-out session, one of her brothers comes in because they “forgot” something. Hopefully we won’t have any more interruptions. Sex isn’t on the table. Not when we can’t be behind a locked door. It would just be nice if we could do what normal couples do while watching TV.
Bianca’s lips are on mine, and her hand is slowly making its way down my chest toward my pants. She’s unbuttoning them when someone clears their throat. I pull away as she groans.
I fully expect to see Anthony standing in the entryway, but it’s Christian. His arms are crossed over his chest, and he doesn’t look thrilled about what he just witnessed. “I thought you were watching a movie.”
Bianca sits up straight and adjusts her shirt. “Are you supposed to be in bed?” She’s mumbling something else under her breath, but I can’t quite make it out. The only words I can actually hear are “pain in the ass” and “brother”.
He rolls his eyes before making his way to the chair his sister sat in earlier. “You know they don’t give me a bedtime over Christmas break. It’s not like I’m as young as Anthony. I’ll be graduating in a few years.”
With a heavy sigh, Bianca pulls the blanket closer to her. “What do you want Christian?”
He squirms in his chair, and I’m almost certain he knows about my actual gift to Bianca. He glances at me briefly before focusing on his sister. “I couldn’t sleep. I thought maybe I could watch a movie with you.” A part of me feels bad for taking his big sister away from him, but he’ll be able to stay with us anytime he wants. “I’ll try to go back to bed.” His voice is small, and sounds every bit the little boy he claims not to be.
Bianca softens, and I know she hears the sadness despite not knowing the cause. “No.” She moves the blanket off of her, and stands. “We’ll watch a movie. I’ll go make some popcorn. You and Marshall figure out what you want to watch.”
The room is silent as she goes to the kitchen. I can hear her in the pantry, and as soon as she starts opening the plastic covering the popcorn bag, Christian pins me with a lethal stare. “You better take care of her.”
I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Never in my wildest dreams did I think a teenager could put on the defense. I’m sure Jake would be talking all kinds of shit to me right now if he witnessed this. “I will. I promise.”
“How do I know that for sure?” He raises an eyebrow. This kid has upped his intimidation game since I started dating Bianca. I wish I knew why he dislikes me so much. I’ve never done anything to him…that I know of.
“You won’t. But I rearranged all my plans so I could be with your sister.” I pause, waiting to see if he has anything to say. Luckily, he doesn’t. “Her happiness is all that matters to me.”
He looks me up and down, taking my measure. “Okay. Just remember, I may be younger than you, but I have no issue kicking your ass if you ever do anything to hurt her.”
“Understood.” I believe him, too. He may annoy the hell out of Bianca at times, but they’re closer than any other siblings I’ve seen.
“So, did you decide what we should watch?” Bianca comes into the room with two bowls of popcorn. She hands one to Christian before taking a seat next to me.
Christian looks to me and I shrug. “Let’s watch The Grinch.”
“Sounds good to me,” Bianca answers. “Since I made the popcorn, and I’m comfy now, you’ll need to put it on.”
He groans, but doesn’t complain more than that as he goes to their shelf of DVD’s and pulls it out. I didn’t realize people still actually watch them. I’m so used to streaming everything I want to watch. “Mom is going to be mad if we don’t get up in the morning.”
“Dude, if you knew how little sleep I get on a daily basis, you’d know that’s not a problem for me. I would set my alarm if I were you.” Bianca leans into me, and pulls the blanket around us. The bowl of popcorn rests in her lap.
Even though I didn’t plan on staying the night, I’m glad I did. Christian watching movies with us may have been unexpected, but I’m happy I get to witness their relationship. They have that camaraderie I’ve only seen on TV. I may not have had that with blood siblings, but I’m happy I found it with my friends. I just hope she likes her actual gift, and not the one I bought her for her birthday. Damn, impatient woman.
***
The drive to my house was interesting. Christian rode with us, and peppered us with all kinds of questions about what it would be like to have your own place. Bianca answered everything in stride. Honestly, I’m a little shocked he didn’t come right out and ruin the surprise. I swear, he was doing everything in his power to do just that. This is why I’m happy I don’t have siblings.
“Marshall,” Mom’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. “Can you pass out the gifts?”
We’re all sitting in the living room. Bianca and I are in front of the tree, the boys are sitting in the middle of the floor, and our parents are on the sofas. Christmas music is playing in the background and there’s a loop of a yuletide log playing on the TV.
“Sure. Let me get turned around.” I scoot back a bit from Bianca, and pick up the first present. “This one is for Mom.” I slide it across the floor and begin the piles in front of each person. We have this weird thing where we can’t open gifts until everyone has theirs. It was always weird to Jake growing up, but his parents don’t really go all out with gifts. They would hand him things and he’d tear in. They never got anything for each other, and that always made me a little sad. Not so much for them, but for Jake. How horrible would it be to grow up in a house when you can’t tell how your parents feel about each other? I’ve walked in on my parents making out, and as disturbing as it is, at least I know they still love each other after all these years later.
That is what I want to build with Bianca. I want to gross out any future children when they see me kiss her as passionately as I do now. She’s it for me. She’s my forever.
We’re down to the last few gifts, and Bianca is handing them to me. I have my hand out for the one in her hands, but she doesn’t give it to me. “I thought you gave me a gift last night.”
“Yes,” I draw out. It’s then that I know which one she holds in her hands. I planned on giving it to her, but she had to help, and I didn’t get a chance to pull it out.
“Then what is this?” She shakes the small wrapped box. As if I can’t see it. I even went the extra mile and wrapped it myself instead of having Mom do it.
“Another gift.” I’m matter of fact in my response. I’m also happy I padded the box so it wouldn’t bounce around the box.
“Why don’t you open it, Mija?” Her dad’s deep voice is like an explosion in the now quiet room.
The music isn’t even playing anymore, and I see my mom’s phone in her hand. Bianca looks to her for permission, and she nods her head. “Are you sure?” The question is directed at me.
“Yes.”
Fear and hope flash in her eyes, and I’m not sure what to make of it. The sudden attention from both of our families probably isn’t helping. Maybe I should have done this in private to keep her nerves calm. It will be a huge moment for us, though, and I wanted them to be a part of it. We’re both so close to our parents. It felt wrong not to include them.
Slowly, she pulls the wrapping paper off. One taped section at a time. Now it’s my nerves that are bundled up tight. At this rate it’ll take an hour for her to open it, but I won’t rush her. That may scare her more than anything.
Finally, all the paper is off the box, and she’s lifting the lid. She carefully inspects the contents within after yanking out the tissue padding. A loud gasp is the only thing I hear before she launches herself at me.
Chapter Five
Bianca
I can’t believe he hid this. The necklace was beautiful, but this…this is the best gift I’ve ever received. My arms fly around him, almost knocking him over. He wraps his arms around me. I can’t help staring at his gift to me over his shoulder. It’s a key attached to a silver metal keychain. The keychain has “tu corazón es mi casa” engraved into it. “You got us a house,” I whisper into his ear.
I can hear our families laughing at my reaction in the background, but right now, none of that matters. For a split second, I thought it might be an engagement ring. I’d be ecstatic about that as well, but this is something that is ours. A place we can build our future together. “Well, it’s mostly a done deal. They are just waiting on your signature.”
Leaning back, I look him in the eyes. “So, it’s not ours?” Marshall usually has everything planned out. At least enough that nobody has to worry about anything. It’s why he’s become such an integral part of his dad’s company. Honestly, I’m surprised he’s not best friends with Darcy. That girl has every detail of her life planned out in pretty colors.
He brings me closer to him. “It’s ours. But I didn’t want to go forward without your name included. As soon as you sign the dotted line, we can go forward.”
We looked at a dozen houses, and all of them were only for rent. There were a few that were lease to own. One especially that had a huge backyard, and is perfect for family get-togethers. Friends, too, but mostly our families. I really hope it’s that one. The house is a decent size with a couple of bedrooms that we can use as office spaces until we grow our family. “Which one is it?”
“I’m not going to tell you, quite yet,” he winks at me. Is he nuts? He can’t let me open this gift first and then not let me know which house it is. He’s cruel. This might be payback for breaking the kiss last night to inquire about my present. As bad as it sucks, it may be deserved.
“I’m pretty sure that falls under cruel and unusual punishment.”
“Told you I was going to have my revenge.” He laughs and shifts me off his lap. “How about we open these so we can eat? I’m starving.” His stomach growls and that sends my brothers into more howls of laughter. I’m not sure why it’s funny, but hey, whatever floats their boat.
Everyone tears into their gifts, not bothering to preserve the paper. Admittingly, I would too, but I’ll definitely be saving a section of the paper from the house key. It’s a small reminder of this step we are taking together.
***
My parents and brothers left around lunch. I didn’t understand why Christian kept quizzing me on house stuff, or why he was so upset last night, but now I do. It’s going to be weird for him not having me home every night. I mean, it’s not going to happen right away. We still have to get everything signed and begin moving our stuff in.
We’re in Marshall’s truck, heading toward Dallas. “So, are we going to see the house now?”
He shrugs and keeps his eyes on the road. A lot of the ice has melted, but there are still a few sketchy spots. “I figured I’d take you home.” I don’t miss the way his lips quirk after he says it.
“If you don’t take me to see this house, I’m going to tattoo something dumb on you.” I’m losing my patience. His “punishment” has gone on long enough.
“You’ve been threatening that for a while.” He continues driving as if he’s not going to answer my question, but he takes an exit about halfway between his parent’s house and mine. My mouth curves into a wide smile because he’s heading toward THE house. “My parents really liked the family sketch you did. Before we left, they were looking for the perfect place to hang it in the living room.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t get them a frame. I wasn’t sure what style they would like. Some people can be picky about that sort of thing.”
“It’s all good. I’m sure it’ll provide hours of amusing disagreements. And, you’ll be sorry you did that because they’ll recommend you to all their friends and it’ll take up so much time that you won’t be able to tattoo as much.” He pauses for a second as he turns on the street I knew he would. “Are you ready to see our forever?”
“I knew which house it was as soon as you took the exit.” My voice is loud in the small space, but I can’t help it. I can’t wait to move in, and turn this place into our own. “And that will never happen. We’ll just have to turn one of the extra bedrooms into my drawing room. I can work on those when I’m not at the shop.” That may be hard, though. I imagine Charleigh is going to need more time off, especially when the little one comes. I’ll figure it out.
“You say that now, but you have no idea how many people in town they know.” Finally, he slows down and turns into the driveway. I’m already opening the truck door before he puts it into park and can’t hear anything else he’s saying.
The front porch spans across half the house, and I can see myself sitting out here drinking wine with my friends. The house is a bit of a fixer upper. Nothing major, but it definitely needs a little work, and our tastes to really make it feel like a home. “Can we go inside?”
I feel his arms wrap around my waist from behind, and his breath is hot against my ear. “We have the key.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that was the actual one since we haven’t finished signing the paperwork.” I feel like an idiot, but I’ve never been a homeowner. Hell, I’ve never lived anywhere besides with my parents.
“I already made the down payment, so we’re good.” He pulls one arm away from me, and reaches into his pocket for his set of keys.
“No, let me use mine.” I pull it from my coat and admire the keychain for a second before pushing it into the lock, twisting it, and open the door. The room is cold since the electricity isn’t on yet, but I don’t care. Everything is perfect.
We walk in and I already have visions of what we can do to transform the entire house. I pull out my phone and open the notes app. “What are you doing?” He looks down at my hands where I’ve already typed house ideas as the heading.
“Oh, just getting started on my to-do list.”
“Damn,” he groans. “Already putting me to work and we haven’t even moved in.” He slides the phone from my hand and tucks into his pocket. “What do you say we christen the house?” He pulls me close and kisses my neck, working his way up to my ear.
As far as distraction methods, it’s a pretty good one. “But it’s cold.”
His hands work their way under my coat, then my shirt. They are frigid on my warm skin. “I’m pretty sure, I’ll be able to keep you warm.”
“Well, when you put it that way…” I kick the door closed behind me. The sky is darkening and there’s just enough light for us to see each other. This is the first of many memories we’ll make in this house.