Page 16 of Turtle Dove

She squeals. “Oh my gosh! Look!” She jumps up and down. “Can I open it?”

“Of course, you can. I think it has a lid that you can just lift up. Check and see,” Grayson adds.

She sinks to her knees in front of the box and places her hands on both sides and then she lifts up, taking the lid completely off, to reveal a perfect, tiny, golden retriever puppy with a red bow on his collar.

“A PUPPY! A PUPPY! He brought me one!” She scoops the little bundle into her arms and snuggles him close. “Oh, I love him already. I love him.”

I feel Grayson wrap his arms around me from behind and whisper in my ear, “Thank you, baby. You saved Christmas for her with what you did.”

“I just love her, Gray...and you.”

And I do. I love them more than I ever knew I was capable of.

Grayson

This day couldn’t have gone any better.

I know everyone says that every Christmas is their best Christmas ever, but every one from this day forward will have large shoes to fill.

Cadence is in the living room playing with her new puppy that she has yet to name because it’s just too big of a decision and she needs to really think about it.

Amelia is in the kitchen, warming up the leftovers from last night so we can have dinner with Nora and Case when they get here.

And I’m standing in the hallway so I’m able to have an eye on each of them.

These two women are my entire world. I’d do anything for them.

This is where my life was supposed to end up. We just had to weave through the bullshit first.

“You’re staring,” Mills says from the kitchen.

I fully face her and shove my hands into my pockets. “I don’t have an ounce of shame either.”

“Good. I like it when you stare at me.” She uses a spoon to taste some kind of sauce she is stirring in a pot then adds a bit more salt.

“I’ll be doing it until the day I die, so it’s probably the best thing for us both that you like it.”

***

Case and Nora show up later than we expect, both apologizing profusely, but smiling the entire time. It’s obvious what the holdup was.

Christmas sex is the best sex after all.

That’s actually a lie. With Mills, any sex is the best sex.

“You’re late,” Amelia says, when they enter the kitchen.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry,” Nora says. “But we needed to exchange gifts and then we just got… a little sidetracked.”

“Oh yeah?” I look over at Case and he’s wearing that shit eating grin he never wipes off when he does something he’s proud of.

“Oh yeah,” Case confirms.

“Tell us!” Amelia demands with a smile and a wave of her hands.

“Well…” She grabs a cracker from the meat and cheese platter on the counter. “It’s actually two things. He got me this necklace.” She motions to her neck, and only then do I really take a look at it.

“Holy shit,” Mills says when she leans in to look.

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