New Beginnings (50 page)

“Yay!” The kids cheered in unison, jumping up and down.

As we walked into the house, Tiffany came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishrag. She looked pale and tired.

“Aunt Tiffany!” The twins shouted together, wrapping themselves around her legs.

“Hey you two! You guys are getting so big,” she said, kissing their cheeks.

“Uncle Gabe is going to take us hunting for a tree. Will you come with us?” Brant asked.

“Sure. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

The twins took off for the back door.

“Stay on the deck until Uncle Gabe is ready,” Xavier shouted after them. His hands were full of luggage as he made his way towards the stairs. “Tiffany,” Xavier said, kissing her on the cheek before making his way upstairs.

“Gabriel, help your brother,” she chastised. “Ella, you look terrific.” She gave me a hug.

“Thanks, Tiffany. How are you? You look a bit tired,” I said, sounding concerned.

“That’s because they’ve probably been going at it like rabbits all morning,” Xavier shouted down from the top of the stairs. I frowned up at him.

“I’m good, El. Just been a bit under the weather.”

Gabe and Xavier came down the stairs. Gabriel dressed for the outdoors. “Let’s go,” he said to Tiffany.

“Not far, Gabe, and I don’t want Brant getting his hands on that axe,” Xavier said, sounding severe.

“Relax, papa bear. I only cut trees down for a living. They’ll be fine,” Gabe said dismissively.

I chuckled and made my way upstairs to unpack. “See you guys later,” I hollered over my shoulder.

I headed to the room Xavier and I always stay in. He had our suitcases sitting open on the bed. I leaned over to start to unpack when two strong hands grabbed my hips and pulled my backside into his groin. He swiveled his hips around grinding his arousal into me before he leaned over and nuzzled the sensitive skin behind my ears. Goosebumps exploded across my sensitive flesh. Warm hands ran under my sweater, splaying across my abdomen, and pulling me upright.

“I don’t know how long we’ve got,” he whispered. Running his hands up my ribs, he urged me to lift my arms so he could remove my sweater. “But I don’t want to waste one second of that time unpacking.”

Turning in his arms, I smiled up at him, running my hands under his sweater. His skin flinched and his breath hitched when my cool fingers made light contact with the warm ridges of his abdomen. “I agree. Take it off. Take it all off,” I said urgently, pulling at the waistband of his trousers.

While he peeled off his clothes, I moved our suitcases to the floor. He was stripped in record time and was focused on yanking my remaining clothes off. Grabbing me roughly around the waist, he tossed me onto bed.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to indulge like this in the middle of the afternoon,” he said, kissing his way up my body.

“Yes,” I said, breathlessly. My body arched off the bed under his careful ministrations. “But we need to be quick.”

“I’ll be quick with you now, but I’m going to take my time with you later,” he promised, as he slipped inside me and began to move.

We had just finished unpacking when we heard the kids come barreling through the door. Heading downstairs, Xavier and I snuggled together on the couch in front of the fireplace. They were so excited about their choice of tree, talking animatedly about their trip while Gabriel strung lights up. It was a tall, full tree that filled the huge room with a lovely balsam scent.

While the kids started putting on some ornaments, the doorbell rang. Xavier kissed me before making his way to the door. “That must be Stewart and Marissa.” Tom and Renatta had also arrived just as Xavier opened the door.

We all said our hellos. Marissa laid out a blanket on the floor and placed their eight-month-old daughter, Isabella, down with some toys. She completely ignored the toys, staring up at the tree with complete fascination instead. Sophia soon lost interest in decorating and got down on the floor to play with Isabella, whose little face just lit up at Sophia’s attention.

“Mommy, when can I have a baby sister?” Sophia asked.

Xavier paled and stiffened next to me. “You know there is no guarantee that you will get a sister. You could end up with another brother,” I said, not answering her question directly. Those conversations never went well with Xavier every time I tried to bring it up. Sophia wrinkled her little nose and shook her head while focusing back on Isabella.

I was also keeping an eye on Tiffany, who was literally turning green every now and then and dashing to the bathroom one too many times.

The men ended up migrating into the kitchen. The sound of beer bottles popping open and the clinking together of glass told us girls that they were starting in on the beer. Talk soon turned to football.

When Tiffany dashed to the bathroom for the third time, I made my way into the kitchen. “Hey, Gabe? You got something you want to tell us?”

He froze with the bottle against his lips. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said, tipping the bottle back and taking a long pull on his beer.

Xavier frowned at me in question. “About Tiffany?” I asked.

“Is she all right?” he asked, sounding concerned. Suddenly the secret smile he gave me when we arrived made sense. I raised a brow at him. “She just dashed to the bathroom. Again”

We all made our way back out to the living room. Tiffany came back into the room looking surprised when she found everyone’s attention focused on her. Gabriel walked over to her and whispered something in her ear. She nodded.

“We’ve got some news.” Gabriel paused for a moment. “Tiffany’s pregnant. She’s due in August,” he announced, staring down at her with a huge smile on his face.

We all clapped and cheered and offered them our congratulations.

“It’s about time you gave your niece and nephew a cousin. You two have only been married for four years,” Xavier teased.

“Listen, X, not all of us move lightning fast like you,” Gabriel teased back.

“Who said anything about him being lightning fast,” I said, winking at Xavier.

“Besides,” Xavier began, giving me an adoring look. “I just didn’t want to wait.

When you find the one you want to spend the rest of your life with, you get eager to start it as soon as possible.”

Gabriel groaned. “Geez, X, you are such a sap. And you,” he said pointing at me. “TMI.” We all laughed.

“I think I’ll get dinner started. If I remember it’s my turn to cook,” Renatta said. Tom followed her in to help. Tiffany went to go lie down. Marissa went into the kitchen with Isabella. The twins noticed it started snowing again and begged their uncle to take them back outside. Stewart went along with them, leaving Xavier and I on the couch alone.

“Do you want to go watch the snow fall while the kids are outside? I know how much you enjoy that,” he said softly, brushing some hair behind my ear.

I shook my head at him. “In a minute. I wanted to talk to you first.”

“What about, sweetness?”

“About the possibility of having more children,” I said quickly. Every time I tried to discuss it with him, he would immediately shut down. This time was no different. He sighed and turned his face away from me. “Xavier, I’m not getting any younger. I spent years thinking I couldn’t have any children. I just don’t want to miss the opportunity to have any more with you.”

He turned to face me so quickly, with such a fierce look on his beautiful face that my eyes widened. Gently cradling my face between his hands, he leaned his forehead against mine. “Ella,” he breathed before pulling back to look me in the eyes. “You nearly bled to death when you had the twins. The risk of losing you so we can have more beautiful babies is just too great a risk for me. Don’t you see how happy you’ve made me? You’ve given me two beautiful children. There isn’t anything else I could possibly want in this life, but you. I want to grow old with you. I want to watch our children grow up with you. I want to become a grandparent with you. So please no more talk about children, sweetness.” His tone said end of discussion. He pulled me up off the couch. “Now let’s go help the kids pummel my brother and Stewart with snowballs,” he said, giving me a devilish smile.

“I’ll meet you outside. I’m just going to check in with Renatta and see if she needs any help,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment as I made my way to the kitchen.

“Don’t be too long or I’ll carry you out of here and toss you into a snow bank,” he teased.

I stood for a moment just outside the kitchen listening to Renatta, Marissa, and Tiffany talk about her pregnancy. The sadness on Renatta’s face had me recalling a conversation I had with her not too long ago about children and how much she wanted them. She said it was unfortunate that she found Tom so late in life. Now she was no longer capable of having children and she was finally with the person she’d want to have them with. It seemed cruel. Her fate could’ve been mine. Instead Xavier and I were blessed with two beautiful children. He was right. There was nothing else I needed from life, but to grow old with him. I made my way into the kitchen and immediately hugged Renatta.

“What was that for?” she asked, giving me a puzzled look. The smell of roasted chicken clung to her hair.

“Nothing. Do I need a reason to give my BFF a hug?”

“Well, no, but-”

“But nothing. Do you need any help?”

“No, we’ve got everything under control,” she said.

“Okay then. I’m going to join Xavier and the kids outside.”

“Have fun,” she hollered as I made my way to the door.

I could hear the kids screaming while I slipped my coat and boots on. Grabbing my scarf and gloves, I headed out the door.

The twins were running around hurdling snowballs at Gabriel and Stewart, who were dodging around the trees trying to shield themselves. Their little noses and cheeks were bright red. Xavier was behind a tree making snowballs as fast as he could, giving the twins an endless supply to throw. I made my way over to Xavier.

“You look like you could use some help.”

Without stopping what he was doing, he looked up at me. “Absolutely. Get busy.”

No matter how fast I tried though, I couldn’t keep up with Xavier. He kept teasing me. Finally, I made a small one and smashed him in the upper back with it. He turned around slowly and narrowed his eyes at me playfully.

I started backing up slowly. As he started to rise, I shook my head at him. “Don’t you dare,” I warned, pointing a gloved finger at him.

A playful smile spread across his face just as he launched himself toward me. Screaming, I turned trying to run from him, but all attempts were futile. He wrapped his arms around me, cradling my head, as he slammed me down into the snow.

With his weight trapping me under him, he stared down at me, smiling and laughing. His impossibly blue eyes sparkled with happiness. His cheeks were flushed from the cold. He looked stunning. That fire that his good looks always sparked within me started building in my core. As if he could sense it, the happiness in his eyes turned heated. Fire and ice. His lips crashed down onto mine.

Through my lust-filled haze, I heard Gabriel ask why the twins ran out of snowballs.

“Daddy’s kissing Mommy again,” Brant grumbled, causing Xavier to break our kiss. We smiled at each other.

“Do they do that often?” Gabriel asked, suppressing a laugh.

“Yes,” Brant groaned.

“Really guys?” Stewart asked.

Xavier and I started laughing as he helped me up out of the snow. “Please, you guys aren’t any better with your wives,” Xavier teased.

The twin’s noses were freezing cold along with their little cheeks. “Come on you two. You both look like Rudolph. Let’s get you two warmed up before we go back out after dinner,” I said, ushering them into the house.

Once I had their snowsuits, boots, hats, gloves, and scarves off, they settled down on the couch in front of the fire. Xavier sat down to read to them while I headed into the kitchen. Stewart and Gabriel disappeared upstairs where the pool table was. Shortly after their disappearance, the sound of pool balls being knocked around floated downstairs.

Renatta was just putting the finishing touches on dinner as Tom was carving the roasted chicken. I helped Marissa set the table, ordering Tiffany to sit every time she tried to get up to help. “If you really want to do something, go tell everyone dinner is ready,” I said, directing her out of the kitchen.

As we sat around the table, enjoying the delicious meal that Tom and Renatta had prepared, I looked around at all the faces of the people who made up my family. Tom was praising Renatta on her cooking skills. Gabriel and Tiffany’s heads were bent close together murmuring softly to each other. Marissa was trying to eat while keeping little Isabella entertained. Xavier was talking to Stewart about cars while the twins were busy building forts with their mashed potatoes surrounded by broccoli as trees. I couldn’t help but smile as I went back to my meal.

Following dinner, Xavier surprised the twins with a sleigh ride into the center of town. They were both unaware of the festivities that were about to take place since we wanted to keep that a surprise as well.

Tom and Renatta joined us, eager to see the children’s reactions. Stewart and Marissa stayed behind with Isabella, and Gabriel stayed with Tiffany who still wasn’t feeling well.

Brant and Sophia’s little faces lit up with excitement when they saw the horse-drawn sleigh waiting for us. Xavier lifted them up into the sleigh before holding his hand out to help me. Brant sat between us while Sophia curled up on Xavier’s lap. She was such a daddy’s little girl.

The main street was crowded with people getting ready for the parade. Brant sat on top of Tom’s shoulders while Sophia was on top of Xavier’s so they could easily see. Christmas carols were being sung while the people paraded down the street. Smiles never left their little faces.

When the crowd began to countdown for the lighting ceremony, Brant and Sophia looked around not knowing what to expect. Xavier directed their attention to the buildings as the countdown got close to one. As soon as the lights flashed on, their eyes grew big and they shouted with delight. You couldn’t help but share in their exuberant cheers.