Young Revelations (Young Series) (41 page)

“I think you’ll pass,” I reply, giving her a wink and grinning at her. “I would recommend grabbing your coat on the way out, though; it’s supposed to get pretty cold tonight.” Of course, I’ve already thought this through and have made the necessary arrangements, and if all else fails, I’m sure I can find some other way to keep her warm… It’s a tough job, but I think I’m up to the challenge.

Her eyes are narrowed at me suspiciously, but I know her curiosity will soon get the best of her. Probably the best thing about coming up with surprises for Samantha is predicting how she’ll react. I always loved the moments leading up to the big revelation of a surprise, particularly when she knows one is coming. She sort of bounces slightly in place and her eyes sparkle as she tries to work out the possibilities of what I planned. And when she finally figures it out, she’s always genuinely surprised, like she never could have come up with it on her own. I’ve seen her eyes fill with happy tears; I’ve heard her squeal in delight; I’ve felt her throw herself at me in gratitude. None of it ever gets old and I can’t wait to see how she reacts tonight.

Without exchanging a word, we head into the kitchen to say goodnight to everyone and so Samantha can tell Tyler to behave. The moment we enter, all eyes turn to us.

“Damn, Samantha,” Claire says, looking up from where she’s cutting Gabe’s food for him. “You look good.”

“Yeah, she does,” Danny mutters under his breath. Claire and I both glare at him and he flushes before turning his back to us. 

Samantha is giggling at the reaction; Claire rolls her eyes. Once we’ve both hugged and kissed Tyler, we leave the kitchen, snickering at Claire’s muttered threats about killing her husband. “You two have fun,” she calls after us. “Oh, and Matt, I expect her home by midnight. No exceptions.”

I snort a laugh, rolling my eyes as I turn back to Samantha. “She acts like you’re going to turn into a pumpkin or something,” I say quietly, ushering her back into the front hallway.

“I think I’m already turning into a pumpkin,” Samantha replies, glancing down at her belly.

“I disagree,” I say simply, holding out my black leather jacket for her to wear. She raises an eyebrow at me, but allows me to slip it over her arms and onto her shoulders. I walk around to check the fit on her, nodding in satisfaction. Though she seems to think she’s put on so much weight, my jacket seems to fit her just as well as it always did—which is to say not well at all, since it’s about four sizes too big for her tiny frame. I do love it when she wears my clothes…

“Aren’t you going to get cold?” Samantha asks as I open the door.

I shrug. “I’ve got another coat in the car,” I say dismissively.

––––-o––––-

Twenty minutes later, I’m starting to get an idea of what’s going on. Or at least where we might be headed. So far we’ve been chatting about the most inconsequential things—I pointed out a scratch on the hood of his black sports car and that got him talking about a hail storm last summer that forced him to stop his commute from work to home and duck into a little diner in the middle of nowhere until it cleared up enough that he could actually see the road. That turned into a discussion about the snow storm we just had and how I heard it’s being predicted to be a very long winter. Not that either of us minds the snow; I grew up expecting blizzards at least twice every season and he just loves the sight of falling snow. We discussed taking Tyler out sledding and maybe teaching him to ski—or rather Matthew would teach him; I’m useless on skis at best and at worst, I’m a liability to hurt myself and everyone around me. When Matthew starts chuckling about something, I know he’s thinking about the year he took me to Aspen and tried to teach me to ski. That ended with him breaking his ankle, because I’d somehow managed to lose control of the skis and when he tried to keep me from hitting a tree, he lost control of his own skis and went down hard. The rest of that vacation was spent in the cabin he’d rented us for the week sitting in front of the fire with hot chocolate. It was actually a great time.

“Why does it seem like we’re heading to your house?” I ask, raising an accusatory eyebrow and trying to hold back my grin.

He glances over at me and smirks, seeing right through any façade I might be trying to display. “Well,” he says, drawing out the word, “tonight is the annual Santa Clara lighting of the Christmas tree in the town square. I thought you might like to go with me.”

A smile slowly grows across my face. This was a tradition for us, at least for the three years we had to build any sort of traditions. The lighting of the tree was always a big spectacle in town and everybody made an appearance. There was food and drinks and music and shopping and just general happiness. At first I had been reluctant to join in on the festivities—for one, I was still relatively new to town and didn’t really know anybody; and for another, Christmas hadn’t been one of my favorite holidays. Matthew had known this and had promised the moment I got overwhelmed for whatever reason, he’d take me home and we wouldn’t have to go back. I’d loved it, though; everybody was so excited to see a tree and nobody excluded me from the festivities. I might have been new to town, but I was immediately part of their family.

“I think that’s perfect,” I tell Matthew, reaching over for his hand.

He gives me a smile reserved only for me—the one that makes him look like the computer geek he is at heart who still can’t believe a girl would look twice at him, let alone agree to a date with him. I love that smile. “Glad to hear it,” he says softly, bringing my hand up to his lips.

When we arrive in town, most of the population is already out doing last minute preparations or just mingling. Matthew walks around the car to open my door and we walk hand-in-hand towards the festivities. Every so often we stop and talk to somebody, but no matter who approaches us to say hello, he doesn’t release me from his grasp. Some part of him is always touching me—his fingers, his shoulder, his arm around my midsection, the occasional press of his lips to my temple. It all feels so normal and so right that I momentarily forget our current situation. I don’t know if he’s figured out my decision about the state of our relationship, but he’s certainly acting like we’re together again. In some ways, I suppose we are. We’ve spent the last three days together in some capacity and I’m starting to feel normal.

“Would you like to do some shopping?” he asks as we walk through the main street of the town. His arm is slung over my shoulder while mine is around his waist and I don’t think I’ll ever tire of walking like this with him. It’s such natural behavior for both of us, something we both know we can’t find with anybody else.

“Did you have something in mind?” I ask in response, looking up at him.

He shrugs. “I was thinking that since Tyler is getting a puppy it might be a good idea to get some of the accessories now.”

I smile at him. “That’s a long way from rejecting the puppy on principle,” I tell him. “Does this mean you’re warming up to Mark?”

He scoffs. “Not a chance,” he responds, grinning. “Dr. Dipshit would still be smart to keep his distance, but if a puppy makes my son happy, who am I to object?”

Shooting him a look at his nickname for Mark—which only makes him chuckle—I allow him to lead me into the town pet store where, several years ago, he and I chose fish for his new aquarium. Matthew immediately begins choosing puppy accessories—everything from food and water dishes to collars and leashes. I’d forgotten how happy he is when he has reason to spoil somebody. I can try and tell him until I’m blue in the face that a puppy doesn’t need a new collar for every day of the week, or as many toys as our son, but I know he’s not going to listen. By the time we leave, he’s spent a couple hundred dollars and looks mighty proud of himself.

Next we head into a toy store to look for ideas for Tyler’s other Christmas presents. Naturally Matthew is attracted to a section towards the back with all the building toys—Legos, erector sets, and the like. I have to wonder if he’s shopping for our son or himself. When he finds a toy robot on display and his brow furrows as he picks it up, I know his mind is going a mile a minute on how to modify and upgrade it. I watch with amusement as he opens the back and examines the wiring. Within seconds he’s moving things around and rewiring and pressing the buttons of what looks to be a tiny keypad. He finishes and kneels to the ground, placing the robot on its feet, then hits a button to switch it on. I watch it take a few steps forward and it lifts its head slightly to look at me.

“Hello, Sam,” it says in a robotic voice. “You are very pretty.”

I laugh out loud, raising an eyebrow at the smug man kneeling on the ground. “How the hell did you get it to do that?” I ask through my snickering.

He stands up with the robot in hand and places it back on the shelf. “Tricks of the trade, my dear,” he says airily. “Well, that and my company had a hand in developing that particular toy. It’s programmable and teachable, and anyone Tyler’s age could work it out with practice.”

“Impressive,” I tell him. “Perhaps we should bring my new admirer out on the rest of our date.”

Narrowing his eyes at me, he wastes no time turning me away from the robot. “If that’s the case, I might have to smash the little bastard into a million pieces,” he mutters so only I can hear him.

“Very mature,” I say, rolling my eyes exaggeratedly and grinning at him as we leave the toy store.

We head down the street and spot Bonnie standing outside the bookstore talking to a couple people. Spotting us, she smiles widely and waves us over.

“It’s nice to see the two of you together again,” Bonnie says to us after giving each of us a hug.

I glance at Matthew beside me, who looks back with an odd expression. “Better than nice,” he comments softly, causing me to blush slightly. “I don’t know about you two ladies, but I’m starving. I think we’ve got enough time before the lighting to grab something. Want to join us, Bonnie?”

She shakes her head and waves us away. “You two enjoy yourselves,” she instructs. “We’ll catch up later.”

Before we walk away, I catch Matthew shooting Bonnie some sort of meaningful look that has me suspicious, but I’ll keep it to myself for now. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s enlisted Bonnie to help out for some surprise for me and past experience says if they’ve teamed up, this is bound to be a very interesting night.

Neither of us is in the mood for anything fancy, so we head down the street to one of our favorite little diners where we each order a cheeseburger and fries. While we eat, I notice Matthew is grinning at me like a complete dope. When I ask him what is so interesting he just shakes his head and mutters something about how happy he is that I have no problem eating in front of him like most girls would. I have no interest in finding out which girls he might be talking about, so I take it as the compliment I’m sure he meant it to be and finish off my dinner. Afterwards, he leads me back into the cold night, his arm wrapped protectively around me as we arrive in town square where we can just see a huge Christmas tree decorated from tip to trunk standing tall and proud as it waits to be lit up.

I’m not sure what it is about this event that I always enjoyed so much—maybe the excitement from the town’s citizens or the way all the children seem to vibrate in anticipation—and I’m actually a little surprised to realize I missed this while I was away. Matthew stands behind me when we make our way towards the front, wrapping his arms around my waist to shield me from people jostling for a better look. He rests his chin on my shoulder and sighs contentedly in my ear, and I melt back into him, completely relaxed. As we wait, I feel Matthew’s fingers gently rubbing my belly right over where our baby is growing. I could easily fall asleep like this and I think he knows it.

As the town mayor, Don Green, enters the square, I automatically move my hands to rest over his, our fingers interlocking, and he pulls me closer to him. I can barely focus on what’s happening a few yards from us when I feel his breath against my ear.

“Stay with me tonight,” he breathes. I freeze, my body tensing in shock at his words. I want to turn to look at him, but he holds me in place, swallowing hard. “Just for tonight. Tomorrow morning I will take you back to Claire’s if that’s what you want, but for tonight I just want to pretend like everything is great.”

“Matt…” I nearly whimper, uncertain how I’m going to respond.

“We don’t have to do anything, Samantha,” he assures me, still speaking directly into my ear. “But just for tonight I want to fall asleep with you in my arms and tomorrow I want to wake up that same way. I can’t tell you the last time I got a good night’s sleep, but I do know it was with you. Please, Sam. Give me this.”

I move around in his arms enough to look up at him and I can see the desperation in his eyes. “Are you asking me or are you telling me?” I ask.

“Begging, actually,” he answers, pulling me out of the way of the rest of the crowd so we have some semblance of privacy. “Can you really tell me you’ve fallen asleep without trouble in the time we’ve been apart? I know you better than you think, Sam, and I know you need this too.”

He’s
right and a very small part of me hates him for that. But I certainly can’t deny how incredibly tempting the thought of falling asleep with him seems right now. And since he’s being so candid with me, it’s only fair that I share one of my thoughts as well, one I’ve had since the first time he ever kissed me. “I never thought I would be the type of person to need someone else,” I admit in a whisper. “And it amazes me how much I seem to need you sometimes.”