The Magic of Christmas (21 page)

A lazy smile touched his mouth as he reached across and handed her a large mug of coffee. ‘Take it. It's strong. If you feel anything like I do, you need it.'

‘I expect you're both tired because you were so excited about Father Christmas coming. Were you awake all night? I was.' Aggie was under the tree, yanking out presents. ‘What do we open first? Can I open this huge one?'

‘Only if it has your name on it,' Christian said mildly, shaking his head as he watched his daughter. ‘I think she's going to explode in a minute.'

‘Aggie, let's start with the stockings,' Chloe said, sticking her hand in and pulling out a strangely shaped parcel.

The next hour passed in a haze of laughter, wrapping paper and excited children.

When the entire sitting room was covered in paper and discarded packaging, they went outside and ‘discovered' Aggie's new bike.

‘Father Christmas was listening,' she said happily, as she careered down the snowy path on her bright red bike. ‘This is brilliant. Listen to the bell.'

Leaving them to enjoy themselves, Lara sneaked out to put the turkey in the oven.

From the garden she could hear the sounds of Aggie and Chloe laughing, interspersed with Christian's deeper tones.

She looked round his beautiful kitchen and felt a lump settle in her throat.

She'd never thought this would happen to her.

She'd honestly never thought she'd meet a man who would make her want to just abandon everything and settle down.

Blinking back tears, she slid the turkey into the oven and closed the door. Would she ever find another man who would make her feel this way?

‘Lara.' Aggie's voice came from the sitting room. ‘You have to come! We're waiting for you! It's your turn!'

Her turn for what?

Lara closed her eyes briefly. Somehow she had to get through the day.

The children were happy and excited and they didn't need her miserable face spoiling their fun.

Taking a deep breath, she pinned a smile on her face and walked back into the room.

‘Here I am. What's the problem?'

‘You haven't opened your stocking.'Aggie was hopping around and Chloe frowned at her and grabbed her hand.

‘Be quiet, Aggie! For once in your life,
stop talking!
Daddy has to do this bit.'

Aggie gave a hopeless whimper. ‘But we
all
helped choose the presents and I—'

‘Aggie!' Chloe's tone was sharp. ‘Enough!'

Aggie subsided and Lara glanced between the three of them, baffled. ‘What's going on?'

Chloe cleared her throat. ‘Daddy has something that he wants to give you.'

Lara pulled a face. ‘Well—this is embarrassing,' she muttered, casting an apologetic glance in his direction. ‘Sorry. I sort of assumed that you knew not to buy me anything.'

‘It's a stocking,' Aggie breathed, her eyes shining with excitement. ‘More than one thing.'

Lara's eyes slid to the fireplace and, sure enough, there was a small stocking with her name on it. She swallowed down the lump in her throat. ‘That's so sweet of you all,' she croaked, walking across to pick it up. ‘Gosh. I don't know what to say.'

Aggie darted towards her. ‘Do you want me to help you open the presents?'

‘Aggie!' Christian and Chloe spoke simultaneously, and Lara laughed.

She sat down on the sofa and pulled the little girl onto her lap. ‘Actually, I'd love some help,' she said, reaching into the stocking and pulling out the first present. Smiling at Aggie, she rattled it and sniffed it and then squeezed it. ‘Interesting shape.'

‘Open it.'

Lara dutifully opened it and found a set of keys. Intrigued and puzzled, she glanced at Christian. ‘Keys? Keys to what?'

‘Open the next present,' he ordered softly, and she blushed, wishing he wouldn't look at her with such blatant masculine appreciation.

The children were going to notice.

Wondering why on earth they'd given her a set of keys, she reached for the next present and opened it. It was a travel brochure.

Even more baffled, she glanced at them. ‘I don't understand…'

Chloe was smiling. ‘You have to open all of the presents before we tell you.'

Tell her what?

‘Open the next present.' Christian was smiling, too, and Lara pushed her hand into the stocking and retrieved the final item. It was a small box, beautifully wrapped in glittery paper and tied with ribbon.

‘It's pretty,' Lara murmured, glancing towards the keys and the travel brochure, wondering what to make of them. She hadn't had enough sleep for riddles.

‘Open it, open it.'Aggie bounced on her lap and grabbed at the small box. ‘I'll help you.'

‘No!'
Chloe dashed forward and gave the box back to Lara. ‘She has to open it herself.'

‘But she's
so
slow.' Aggie whimpered with impatience. ‘Can you open it quickly?'

Lara obligingly slid her finger under the tape, freed the box from its packaging and flipped it open.

And gasped with shock, because there, nestling in a bed of blue velvet, was a ring.

But not just any ring.

It was the biggest, most beautiful diamond solitaire she'd ever seen, and it flashed and winked at her as if determined to catch her attention.

Dumb with astonishment, Lara lifted her head and met Christian's eyes.

They stayed like that for a moment, just gazing at each other, and then Aggie flung her arms around her neck.

‘Daddy wants you to marry him. Are you going to say yes? We're not sure if you're going to say yes. Please, say yes. If I promise not to talk too much, will you say yes?'

‘Aggie!' Appalled, Chloe glared at her sister. ‘You've just ruined everything! Daddy is supposed to do the asking, not you!'

‘But he was taking so long!'Aggie's lip started to wobble and Lara cuddled her closer, her eyes still on Christian, who was smiling.

He looked happy and relaxed, as if an enormous load had been lifted from his shoulders.

‘Well?' His voice was soft as his gaze held hers. ‘Aggie asked you a question. Are you going to give her an answer?'

Lara tried to breathe. ‘You—I…' She stared down at the ring. ‘This is for me?'

‘If you don't like it, we can change it.'

Chloe pulled a face at her father. ‘That's not
very romantic! You're supposed to go on one knee, Dad. Put the ring on her finger.' She shook her head in disbelief. ‘You're a grown-up! You're supposed to know all this stuff!'

‘Am I?' Christian was still watching Lara. ‘Do you want me on my knees? Because if that's what it takes, I'll do it.'

Chloe groaned. ‘Don't ask, Daddy. Just do it!'

Lara glanced at Chloe and saw the yearning in the girl's face.

‘We can't—It's too much for—You've had so much disruption and insecurity—You don't need more change.' She was nearly incoherent and Aggie peered at her.

‘You sound a bit like Nanny Bottle when she was thirsty. Her words came out in the wrong order, too.'

Lara gave a strangled laugh and hugged Aggie. ‘I'm not thirsty, I'm just…shocked. I wasn't expecting…this. I just don't think you need any more change in your lives.'

‘If you leave, things will change,' Chloe said quietly, sliding onto the sofa next to her. ‘And that's not a change that any of us want. Will you
stay? Marry Daddy? I know he still hasn't got round to telling you, but he loves you. That's what the presents are. The key is to our front door, it's yours for ever.'

‘And the magazine is so that you can pick a holiday to go on when we're all married,' Aggie intervened, and Chloe sighed.

‘It's called a honeymoon. And she isn't marrying all of us. She's marrying Daddy.'

‘She
is
marrying all of us!'

Lara looked at Christian, unable to believe what was happening. ‘A honeymoon?'

‘I know you need to go to Australia to see your brother, but will you come straight back, instead of travelling? And then we'll have a honeymoon.'

There was a long silence and Lara swallowed. ‘I—I didn't think this could possibly happen. I thought it would be too much for the children.' It was so enormous—so perfect—that she didn't dare believe it. ‘We agreed that it would be best if I just left.'

‘I was wrong about that. The girls love you, too, Lara. As much as I do.'

His words made her heart skip several beats. ‘You love me, Christian?'

‘Of course he does.'Aggie beamed at her. ‘And we love you, too. You make great mince pies and you taught us to skate backwards. And you make more mess in the house than we do.Your only bad thing is that you cook me broccoli.'

Half laughing, half crying, Lara looked at Christian.
‘You love me?'

‘Do you doubt it? All right, enough of marriage proposals by consensus. Move over, Aggie, it's my turn.' Lifting his youngest daughter off Lara's lap, he put her gently on the floor. Then he pulled Lara to her feet. ‘Girls, go and make your beds.'

Aggie frowned. ‘I already made my bed.'

Christian's eyes were on Lara's face. ‘Then go and unmake it.'

‘But I want to watch—'

‘Aggie, come on!' Chloe dragged her protesting sister from the room and Lara dragged her gaze away from Christian's and glanced after them.

‘I don't want to throw them out of the sitting room on Christmas Day.'

‘It's only for a minute.' He cupped her face in
his hands and lowered his mouth to hers. ‘This has to have been the most unconventional proposal of marriage ever. But I suppose it's a reflection of what I'm offering you. You'd be marrying more than just me, Lara. It's a lot to take on. If you're going to say yes then you have to know what you're saying yes to.'

‘I love you, Christian, and I love your girls.' She flung her arms around his neck and tears spilled down her cheeks. ‘
Our
girls. I know what I'm saying yes to.'

His grip tightened. ‘You're saying yes?'

Her voice was clogged with tears of happiness. ‘Did you really think I wouldn't?'

‘You were excited about your trip to Australia.'

‘That was until I fell in love with you. Then I couldn't bear the thought of leaving you. I've been so miserable.'

‘Stop crying.' His expression amused and concerned at the same time, he brushed the tears away from her face. ‘This is supposed to be a happy moment.'

‘It
is
a happy moment. But it's also an unexpected moment. I couldn't see any sort of future
for us.' She sniffed. ‘I thought you didn't want to unsettle the children.'

‘It turned out that they were more unsettled by the thought of you going than staying.' He slid his fingers through her hair. ‘Clearly we weren't as good at hiding our feelings as we thought we were. Chloe sat me down and forced me to admit how I felt about you.'

‘She did? When?'

‘Yesterday, when you were upstairs. They informed me that they wanted me to marry you.'

‘Ah…' She smiled up at him. ‘So none of this was your idea?'

‘I admit I had some help.' He gave a slow, sexy smile and slid the ring onto her finger. ‘So you like it? The girls thought it was “cool”.'

Lara swallowed as she looked at the size of it. ‘I hope you haven't sold the house to pay for it.'

‘He didn't have to. Daddy has lots of money.' Aggie danced into the room with Chloe close behind. ‘He's very rich.'

‘Is he?' Lara started to laugh. ‘My mother is never going to believe this!'

‘Will you have a baby now?'Aggie's voice was
innocent. ‘Chloe and I would love a baby sister. Or a brother. We're not fussy.'

Christian closed his eyes briefly and then sent her a look of apology. ‘Sorry,' he murmured. ‘Do you think you're up to this or is it going to be too much for you?'

Lara couldn't stop smiling. ‘Oh, I'm definitely up to it. And on the subject of children, there's something that I think I'd better tell you while there's still time for you to change your mind.'

His expression curious, he stroked a hand over her cheek. ‘Go on. But I ought to warn you that nothing is going to make me change my mind.'

‘Did I ever mention a patient who was a psychic?'

‘No.' He lowered his head and kissed her gently. ‘Do we have to talk about work?'

‘Well, this isn't exactly work. She came into the department a month ago and she predicted that Fran would be pregnant by Christmas and that Jack would have a boy, not a girl, and that I—' She broke off and Christian looked at her expectantly.

‘And you?' He lifted an eyebrow in question. ‘What did she predict for you?'

‘I was just coming to that part.' Lara's eyes twinkled with wicked humour. ‘I think you might want to sit down, Dr Blake…'

* * * * *

 

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