Page 36 of Almost Christmas in Paradise

“For Drake too?” I ask, not fully trusting it.

“He’s your lunkhead of a husband, ain’t he? Yes, him too. I’m not holding on to old stuff. It’s Christmas, and I’m not going to bring hard feelings into the New Year. You two shouldn’t either.”

“So, you’ve forgiven him?” I ask, stunned. “And you’ll stop calling him lunkhead or my sorry ass husband?”

“Well, let’s not go crazy with these demands, but I forgave his sorry ass a long time ago. Let’s go eat.”

“This is my favorite part of the holidays,” Drake says as he wraps his arms around me from behind. He’s bare-chested andwearing nothing but a pair of pajama bottoms. “And you look great in that,” he says of the emerald, sheer babydoll nightie he gave me.

He spins me around and takes me in his arms as All I Want For Christmas starts to play. This is our tradition. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are about the family, but Christmas night is all about us.

Tonight, we came home with my family so we can all leave for the airport together in the morning. Instead of us putting the kids to bed together like we usually do, my parents and Ray told us they’d take care of it.

We thanked them and practically ran to our bedroom.

“I’m ready to put this song away until next year,” he says. We dance one last time to it, and even though it’s a fast song, we dance slowly until it ends. Our deal is that I can only play this between the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas. After that, I will retire it until the next year.

My husband cups my cheeks, smiles down at me, and kisses me. It’s a slow, tender kiss filled with promises of what’s to come tonight. It doesn’t matter that we have to be up early. We’re going to make love before we fall asleep in each other’s arms. The trick is to wake up before one of the kids barges into our room.

After the kiss ends, I go under the tree that we set up in our bedroom and hand him his gift. He does the same for me. This is our other tradition. We give each other a present from the heart. The rule is that it has to be something that we make or create ourselves.

“You first,” he says, and I rip mine open. My heart stops when I see the diamond locket ensconced in a bed of tissue.

“Drake,” I say, my voice trembling, “you did not make this. We’re supposedto—”

“I helped the jeweler design it, so it counts as something homemade,” he says cutting off my argument. He takes the locket and pulls out something from his pocket. It’s a long platinum chain. “This one, I bought, which is why it’s not wrapped.” He kisses my cheek before he puts the locket on the chain. Then, he puts it around my neck. “Open it.”

I do, and it’s a picture of the four of us in my parents’ backyard. “Where did you get this picture? I don’t remember taking this.”

“Your mom took it and sent it to me. I thought it would be perfect for this.” He spins me around, and I look up at him in awe.

“I love it,” I say. When a sudden wave of emotion hits and I start to cry, he takes me in his arms and holds me. “And I love you.” I inch away and look up at him. “I hate how you’ve been hurting these past few weeks, and I wish I could take it all away.”

“I promise, I’ll be fine. That is my promise to you.”

I nod and say, “Open your gift.” He does, and it’s a flash drive. I point to his laptop, and he inserts it.

It’s a video of me and the kids. He smiles at the three of us waving at the camera.

“Hi, Drake,” I say and giggle nervously.

“Hi, Daddy!” Carter says.

“Dada,” says Priya.

In the video, we each take turns telling him why we love him so much. Priya goes first, saying, “Dada, Dada, Dada.” She blows several raspberries at the camera before she slides off my lap and walks away.

Once she’s gone, Carter fills the screen and says, “I love my daddy because he’s the best. We have matching Spiderman clothes, and he’s teaching me how to cook. He’s the coolest dad, and he never gets mad. And he knows how to fix my toys whenI break them.” Carter goes on for several more minutes, and my husband smiles lovingly at the camera.

“My turn,” I say once Carter is done. “There’s not enough time for me to tell you all the reasons why I love you as much as I do, but I think the main reason is that I have no choice but to love you. I’ve thought about it, and I believe we were always meant to be together. I think it was written in the stars. Two people from two different worlds, born on the same day, brought together by fate. Do you know that I was offered and accepted another position before I got the call from Paradise Construction? I was set to reject the offer and take the other job. I had an email drafted, ready to send to Human Resources, but right as I was about to hit send, my WiFi went down, and I couldn’t do it. I thought of it some more, and I turned down the other offer instead. Months later, I met you, and my life has never been the same. Even when I was angry at you, I loved you. When I hated you, I still loved you. The love I feel for you is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt. I want you to remember that. Whenever you’re upset, or sad, or confused, just remember that the love I have for you is something that only gets stronger with every passing moment. Remember that whatever you’re going through, I will be here to love and support you through it. We’re not victims. We’re not a product of what was done to us. We’re two people who fought our way back when the only armor we had was our love. And we made it, baby. We’re here with each other and with our children. As amazing as this year was, the next will be even better.” I blow kisses at the screen. “I pinky promise.”

When the video ends, I hold my pinky up, and he wraps his around mine.

“That’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever received,” he says. He rests his forehead on mine.

“I love you,” I whisper.

“I love you, too. Let me show you how much,” I say, and I do.

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