Chasing Circumstance (23 page)

“Oh!  Someone’s gonna get it!”  I turned around, picked up a handful of snow and lobbed it at Chace’s chest.

“Hey, it wasn’t me!  It was Connor!”  Chace formed a snowball and tossed it at Connor as he ran playfully screaming behind me.

“Save me, Miss Amia, save me!”  I picked him up and twirled him around until we collapsed in the snow together.  Chace crawled over to us and began to cover us with snow.

“Hey, let’s make snow angels!”  I rolled onto my back and moved my arms and legs to create the angel.  “See?  Like this, Connor.”  He mimicked my actions and made his own little snow angel with Chace following suit as well.  When we stood up, there were three snow angels carved into the damp white snow that covered our yard.

“My mama is a angel.”  Connor stood there staring at the impression in the snow.

I picked him up and hugged him to me.  “Yes, she is Connor, and you can make a snow angel every year as a present for her at Christmas.  I’m sure she’s watching over you right now and is smiling because you’re such a good boy.”  I kissed his cheek.  Chace walked up and put his arm around both of us.

“Yep, dat’s what Gwamma says too.”  He wiped snow from the top of my hat and smiled at me.  “We have ot chocate now?” 

“Yes, Sweetheart, we can have hot chocolate now.”  I hugged him even tighter to me, and the three of us went in the house.

We had just finished making the cocoa when Jo and Sam arrived.  They walked in carrying armfuls of gifts and yelling, “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas to you two as well!”  I walked into the living room from the kitchen and helped them put the gifts under the tree before hugging each of them.  “Wow, someone is getting spoiled this holiday!”

“Auntie Jo!”  Connor came running out of the kitchen, and Jo scooped him up and hugged him.  He touched his nose to hers.  “You nose is code.  You need ot chocate.  C’mon.”  He stood next to her after she sat him down and took her by the hand.

“Come on, Sam, you heard the little man, we need to have some hot chocolate.”  She giggled as she followed Connor into the kitchen.

“Well, hello there.”  Chace was at the stove making more cocoa when we entered the kitchen.  “Here ya go, help yourselves.”  He sat two cups on the kitchen island for Jo and Sam.  “It’s nice to see the two of you.”

Chace and I made hot ham and cheese sandwiches for everyone for lunch.  The four of us adults sat with Connor at the kitchen table and talked about our holiday traditions.  We shared stories of our childhood with him and laughed when he said we were all old.  Standing at the kitchen island, I watched everyone interacting and my eyes began to tear up. 

Chace walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.  Leaning down to my ear, he whispered, “It’s perfect, isn’t it?”

“Yes…”  Exhaling my answer, I stood there basking in the love that filled the room.

“Anyone home?  I picked up two strangers on my way in.”  Isabella walked in the front door with Max and Tony in tow.

“We’re in here, come on in.”  Chace yelled from the kitchen to invite his two bartenders and Isabella in.

After putting the gifts they brought under the tree, the three of them joined us in the kitchen for lunch.  We sat there talking over each other and enjoying the afternoon in one another’s company.  Later, the eight of us went into the living room to watch a Christmas movie.  I started to feel a bit sick to my stomach and asked to see Jo in the kitchen.

“Jo, I don’t feel well. It’s been like this off and on for about a month now.”  I rubbed my stomach and looked at her.

“Amia, are you pregnant?”  She put her hand on mine.

“I didn’t even think about that.  I’m over two months late.  Do you think?”  I looked at her stunned.

“I’ll go get you a test and be right back.  I noticed on the drive here that the drugstore up the street is open.”  She giggled, grabbed her purse from the table and went into the living room.  “Hey, I’ll be right back.  I just noticed that you don’t have candy canes on your tree and every tree needs candy canes.”  She kissed Sam and left.

A few minutes later, she returned and brought the test to me in the kitchen.  “Here, I’ll keep everyone busy while you run upstairs.”  She kissed my cheek.  “Good luck!”  Walking back into the living room she asked Connor to help her hang the candy canes on the tree. 

While everyone’s attention was on Connor, I snuck upstairs.  I took the test from its box and read the instructions.  Doing exactly what it said, I waited the longest three minutes of my life.  Holding my breath, I watched as the little pink plus sign appeared.  All thoughts emptied from my brain, and the feeling of pure euphoria took over as I looked at the test strip.  I picked it up and compared it to the picture on the back of the box and then looked at it a second time just to make sure.  Yep, I was pregnant.

I took the test into my room and put it in a small gift box.  Tying a ribbon around it, I stuck it in the front pocket of my sweatshirt and went back downstairs.

“There you are, I was wondering where you went.  Are you alright?”  Chace met me at the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m fine.  Just too much cocoa.”  I grimaced and rubbed my stomach.

Chace leaned down and kissed my cheek.  “Jo’s in the kitchen.  She said she needed to talk to you.”

I smiled at Jo as I walked in.  She knew by the look on my face that I was indeed pregnant.  “Oh my god, Amia.  I knew it.”  She whispered as she stood up and touched my stomach.  “I just fucking knew it.”

“Ssh!  I don’t want to tell Chace until we’re alone.  Now, come on, I don’t want people to get suspicious.”  I took her by the hand and we went back into the living room.

“Is everything alright, Ladies?”  Sam held Jo’s hand as she sat down next to him.

“Of course, we were just talking about presents.  Speaking of gifts, I think it’s time to open them!  Come on, Connor; help Auntie Jo hand out the presents!”  She picked up a Santa hat and put it on him.

I sat on the sofa next to Chace and watched as Connor and Jo passed out the gifts.  The sounds of paper tearing and gasps of joy filled our home as everyone opened their presents.  This was truly a Christmas to remember.

There was a knock at the front door while everyone was cleaning up the mess from unwrapping the gifts.  “I’ll get it. It must be the caterers.”  Chace jumped up to answer the door and show the them to the kitchen.

“The caterers?  Aren’t we being all fancy?”  Jo laughed as she sat down next to me on the couch.

“Since it is our first Christmas together with all of you in our new home, we wanted to spend time with you and not be attached to the oven.”  I smiled, stood up and took Connor by the hand.  “Come on everyone, it’s time to eat.”  We all filed into the dining room to sit at the table and wait for our meal to be served.  I sat Connor in his booster seat at the head our table and waited for Chace to join us.

When our food had been served and our glasses filled, Chace stood up and got everyone’s attention.  “Excuse me, dear friends; I would like to make a toast.”  He waited for everyone to pick up their glasses.  “I would like to start by thanking Max and Tony for their dedication to not only my business, but to our friendship as well.  I wouldn’t be where I am today if not for your help.”  He raised his glass to them and nodded.  “To Sam and Isabella, thank you for the new friendship, and I hope that it continues to grow throughout our lifetimes.”  Again, he raised his glass, nodded and smiled.  “Jo?  What can I say that would possibly be enough to thank you for everything you’ve done for me and my family?  You helped bring my bar into the twenty-first century and still maintained the integrity that my aunt and uncle started it with.  I love you like a sister.”  He held his glass over his heart and smiled fondly at her.  “And finally, Amia and Connor.  I cannot imagine my life without you in it.  The two of you have brought so much love into my world that it overflows, and I feel like the luckiest man on earth.  I love you both more than I could ever promise, and I will do everything in my power to nurture and protect that love for the rest of my life.”  The expression on his face when he looked at me was pure and honest, and I could see he meant every word he said.  “I love you all!  Merry Christmas!” 

“Merry Cwismas!”  Connor lifted his glass of milk and joined his dad in the toast right along with the rest of us.

The gentle noise of people enjoying their meal and chatting carried through our home and filled it with the love that was being shared.  As I looked around the room, I touched my stomach and thought about how at this time next year there would be another addition to this group of amazing people.  Smiling, I continued to eat with the rest of my chosen family.

When dinner was finished, the caterers cleaned up and put everything away before taking their leave.  The rest of us went into the living room and chatted while everyone gathered their belongings and got ready to go.  Isabella was the first to leave as she had to meet her family for their traditional Christmas Eve celebration.  Connor, Chace and I walked her to the door, said goodnight and watched as she shuffled out to her car and left.

Max and Tony quickly followed her lead and thanked us before heading to their separate homes.  Again, we walked them to the door and waved as they got into their cars and drove away.

Sam and Jo came out of the kitchen carrying take-out boxes full of leftovers.  “This was amazing you guys.  Thank you for the wonderful Christmas dinner and gifts.”  Jo reached to hug Chace.  “We need to get going.  We’re meeting friends for drinks.”  She handed her things to Sam and bent down to talk to Connor.  “You, my precious little man, you have the merriest of Christmases, and don’t forget to go to bed early so Santa will come see you.”  She kissed him on the forehead and then wiped the lipstick mark from it.  “I love you, Connor.”

“I wuv you too, Auntie Jo.”  He hugged her leg.

“Amia, I couldn’t be happier for you if I were on a double dose of my meds.”  She laughed as she hugged me.  “It’s about time…”  She winked at me as she accepted her things back from Sam.  “Come on, we have places to go and people to see.”

“Goodnight everyone and thank you for having us over.”  Sam smiled and then opened the door for Jo.

The three of us stood in the doorway and watched as Jo and Sam made their way out to their car and left.  We waved one more time and then closed the door.

“Well, I think it’s time we open our family gifts and then sit out milk and cookies for Santa before a certain lil’ someone has to go to bed.”  Chace picked up Connor and the three of us went into the living room.

We sat on the floor near the Christmas tree and watched as Connor opened his presents.  He screamed in delight with every gift he opened and hugged us in between each one.

As he sat there playing with his new toys, I reached into my pocket and handed Chace his gift.  “Here, I have a little something for you.”

“But you already gave me the sign as a gift.” He accepted the box from me and smiled.

“Well, this is something I just got for you today.”  I held my breath as he untied the box and looked inside.

“Is this… Does this mean… You’re pregnant?”  He dropped the box and pulling me into his arms, he crushed me to him.  “Amia!  I can’t believe it!  You’ve made me so happy!”  He pulled back and put his hand on my stomach.  “Hello in there, and welcome to the family.”  I placed my hand over his and we laughed together.

“Whatcha mean, Daddy Chace?”  Connor walked over and sat in front of us.

“Well, Connor, pretty soon, you’re going to have a little brother or sister.  Amia is going to have a baby.”    He took Connor’s hand and held it against my stomach.

“Weally?  Weally, weally twue?”  His eyes grew huge as he looked at the two of us.  “Dat’s gweat!”  He stood up and started dancing around singing, “I’m gonna av a wittle brutter or sissa!  I’m gonna av a wittle brutter or sissa!”  Chace and I looked at each other with soft expressions of love on our faces.

“I have something for you too.”  He stood up and pulled a small box from inside the branches of the Christmas tree before sitting down next to me again.  “Do you remember our first date when we had the picnic at the zoo and I told you the story about the penguins?”  He handed me the box.  “Well, I picked this up for you that day and kept it this whole time.  Open it.”

I opened the box and gasped.  Inside sat a ring with a perfectly round pebble mounted in it.  “Chace… I don’t know what to say.”

He took the ring from me, placed it on my left hand and said, “Say yes.”

“Yes, yes!  Of course, yes!”  I flung my arms around his neck and kissed him all over his face.  “YES!”  Tears sprung from my eyes.

Connor came over to us and wrapping his arms around our necks he kissed us each on the cheek.  “It’s otay, Mommy and Daddy, cuz I wuvving you!”  Our family sat in a loving embrace as the tears rolled down our cheeks and we offered a silent thank you to the heavens for bringing us together.

After setting out cookies and milk for Santa, we tucked Connor into bed, kissed him goodnight and watched as he drifted off to the land of dancing gingerbread cookies and talking snowmen. 

Taking each other by the hand, Chace and I went to bed and he fell asleep with his hand over my stomach and a smile on his face.  I carefully picked up my laptop from the bedside table and signed into my blog.

“Dear You,