Page 115 of Sexted By Santa
I was watching Jaxson, no doubt with a sappy smile on my face, when the doorbell rang. I hopped up to answer it since Henry was nowhere to be seen—probably in the kitchen fussing over dinner, knowing her. She catered most of it, but she liked to make at least one or two dishes for a personal touch.
When I opened the door, Hugh stood on the porch, his new boyfriend, Tate, beside him. Tate was slender, with salt-and-pepper hair, and Jaxson liked to tease me that Hugh had found a Christian clone. I didn’t see the resemblance. He didn’t even have a beard. And anyway, I was just glad that Hugh had seen the light and ended his relationship with Fynn—and moved on from his infatuation with me.
“Merry Christmas,” I said with a genuine smile. It had taken a few years of awkward interactions, but Hugh had sincerely apologized for his behavior, and we’d gradually begun to rebuild our friendship.
“Hey, Christian. You remember Tate?”
I nodded and stepped back. “I do. Come on in.”
Jaxson rejoined me, wrapping a possessive arm around my waist. He was still a bit frosty toward Hugh, given the way they’d met, but we were beginning to co-exist more peacefully as time went by. I was glad, because despite everything that had happened, Hugh was a part of my family and I didn’t take that lightly.
“Hi, Jaxson,” Hugh said a little timidly. “How are you?”
“I’m great.” Jaxson’s arm tightened reflexively around me. “Just looking forward to a few days off to spend a nice Christmas with my family.”
Jaxson still worked hard—though in a significantly better job. With another parent in the home, he’d finished nursing school and taken a position with a small doctor’s office for a few years before moving back to Friendly Hands in his former supervisor’s position.
It also came with better benefits, allowing Tori to be fitted with a higher-tech continuous glucose monitoring system that communicated with her insulin pump and made adjustments automatically. It still required oversight, but the risks were much lower for Tori.
Jaxson had cried the day they’d upgraded her system, and Tori had comforted him, while I stood by marveling at the strength of love in the family that had become so precious to me.
Jaxson kissed my cheek. “Speaking of family. Are you ready to make our announcement?”
I swallowed nervously, butterflies flapping in my gut in a way they hadn’t since my early days of falling for Jaxson. “Before dinner?”
He smiled knowingly. “I wouldn’t want you to be too nervous to eat.”
I chuckled. “You know me so well.”
Jaxson cleared his throat and raised his voice as he turned to face the rest of the room. “Hey, everyone, could we have your attention. And, Tori, could you come over here?”
Aunt Henry drifted into the room, fully aware of our plans. We’d considered doing this at home, privately, but the people here were our family too. Tori had grown close to them all, even Hugh, who’d been just as charmed by her as I was. Tori had a way of getting past your guard and making you love her.
It meant she got alotof attention as the only kid in our midst and a landslide of presents each year. Jaxson no longer had to worry about giving her a Christmas she deserved. She was a little spoiled now, and it was great to see.
“Now I’m curious about this announcement,” Hugh said, smiling tentatively at Jaxson. “I hope it’s good news.”
“Oh, it is.” Jaxson turned to me. “I think you should do the honors.”
“Tori, you know that I consider you my daughter.”
“Yeah, and you’re my Santa Daddy,” she said playfully.
There were a few snorts of laughter, and Tori—who remained a ham—grinned proudly.
She liked to pull that old endearment out at the holidays to tease me. Thankfully, she’d moved on to calling me Dad most of the time. When Jaxson and I were both in the room, he got defaulted to Daddy.
“Uh, yes,” I said. “Well, this is something we’ve all talked about before. But Jaxson and I think you’re old enough to make your own choice now. And whatever choice you make is okay.”
Tori looked puzzled. “Okay…”
Jaxson gave me a reassuring smile. “Don’t keep everyone in suspense.”
In a nervous rush, I explained. “I’ve gathered the paperwork, and if you want—today—you can sign on to be my daughter. Legally, I mean. I want to adopt you.”
“Would I change my name?”
“Not unless you want to,” Jaxson answered. “Nothing really changes, except Christian would have legal guardianship rights. If I was ever unavailable, there’d be no question he was your father too.”
