Chapter Twelve
“What was that?” Noelle said as she jerked up in bed.
“The Christmas horn,” Davis said. “Merry Christmas, Noelle.”
“Merry Christmas, but seriously? It’s still dark outside!”
“That may be true, but listen,” Davis said. They could hear children squealing, feet pounding down the stairs followed by doors opening and closing and people calling, “Merry Christmas.”
“Come on, we don’t want to be the last ones,” Noelle said, sliding out of bed and tugging on his hand.
She had pulled on leggings and a sweater and was reaching for a pair of socks when Davis handed her a package.
“Last drawer, babygirl.”
“I can’t believe I forgot!” she said, quickly tearing the paper off. “Oh my gosh! These are adorable!” she said, slipping on the pair of fuzzy reindeer slippers, complete with stuffed antlers and a big red nose. The moment they were on her feet, she said, “Hurry, Daddy, I can’t wait to see if Santa left you coal and switches.”
He laughed and finished dressing before popping her bottom. “If he did, guess who’s bottom those switches are going to be used on?”
She laughed and practically pulled him down the stairs, stopping halfway down. “Oh my!”
“That’s one way to put it,” Davis said, knowing that seeing the huge mountain of gifts spilling out from beneath the tree was enough to make anyone pause.
“Merry Christmas,” Martin called. “I was just about to blow the horn again.”
“No need, Dad,” Davis said. “Merry Christmas, Mom.” They walked down the rest of the stairs and he gave his mother’s cheek a kiss.
“Oh, I promised to put the casseroles in,” Noelle said, tugging her hand from his.
“They are already in, honey. Now, you just sit down and enjoy. Davis, don’t just stand there, get this girl her stocking!”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, guiding Noelle to the loveseat. “Don’t move from this spot or someone will steal it,” he warned.
“Okay,” she said, copper tresses swirling as she kept turning her head as if afraid she was going to miss something. Davis bent to kiss the top of her head and then went to the mantle where stockings had been filled and were hanging heavily from their hooks.
Returning, he handed her hers and then took a seat beside her. “Looks like Santa decided I was a very good boy,” he said.
“You are a very good boy,” she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
He captured her chin as she began to sit back and kissed her properly. Pulling away, he grinned. “Of course, there could still be a bag of coal at the bottom of yours. Something is definitely lumpy.” He was holding the toe of her stocking and loved the fact that she rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be silly, Santa knows I’ve been a very, very good girl.” Removing his hand from her stocking, she began to pull items out. Davis shook his head as she took the time to carefully admire each one whether it be a tube of lip gloss or the new toothbrush that every member of the family received each year. When she pulled out a pair of socks, she squealed and immediately pulled her feet up, plopping them in his lap. “Put these on me, please,” she said, handing him the socks.
“Gladly,” Davis said, removing her slippers and rolling the socks up her legs and over her knees to discover Rudolph grinning out at him.
“They match my slippers!”
“Imagine that,” he said, bending forward to kiss her.
Noelle finally pulled out the last item from her stocking. “See, I told you no coal,” she said dangling the bag of chocolate foil coins in front of him.
He laughed and draped his arm around her, pulling her close as the packages began to be distributed.
“I feel bad,” she whispered. “I didn’t get much for anyone.”
“Don’t worry,” Davis assured her. “I’ve had things delivered and Mom wrapped them for us. We’re good to go.”
Noelle smiled and snuggled closer. While she hadn’t bought much, she had shopped at the festival. She’d asked Isabel for wrapping paper and was assured they’d be beneath the tree on Christmas morn. When Davis opened her gift, he smiled.
“I know just what I’m going to keep in this,” he said, opening the wooden box she’d bought from an older man who had handcrafted each piece, polishing the wood until it shone.
“Cufflinks?” she guessed.
“Nope, this is far too beautiful for cufflinks,” he said, giving her a grin. “And it’s the perfect size for this string of bells that I’ve discovered my girl just loves.”
Her face flushed but she didn’t deny his words.
By the time the last gift had been opened, the floor was covered with discarded paper and ribbons. Children were already playing with new toys and adults were just watching. Smiles lit every face.
“I told you it would be a bit crazy,” he said.
“No, not crazy,” she said. “It’s perfect. Despite the noise, the chaos, the mess, this is exactly how I imagined a real family to be. This is the best Christmas of my entire life. Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“My pleasure,” he said.
“All right, everyone, time to eat,” Martin said.
“Oh, good, I’m starving,” she said as Davis pulled her up.
Davis just smiled and instead of heading towards the kitchen, moved towards the tree, kicking aside paper and tissue.
“I thought we were going to eat.”
“We are, but first, we need to fix something.”
“What?”
“Doesn’t that angel look wrong?”
Noelle turned her face up. “No, I think she’s fine.”
“Nope, poor thing looks like it’s about to fall off. See, she’s tilting forward.”
Noelle took a step back and looked up again. “Honey, she looks okay to me.”
Davis looked around to see his brothers trying not to laugh, his sister and sisters-in-law rolling their eyes, and his father grinning and shrugging his shoulders. His mother was attempting to pantomime something, and when he just stared, she reached down and picked up Charity, lifting her high into the air. A light bulb went off in his head.
“Wait, let me lift you up and you can fix her. It wouldn’t be right to have our angel take a tumble.” Before she could protest, he lifted her to sit on his shoulder. “Okay, baby, you can reach her now.”
As Noelle reached for the angel, he tightened his arm around her legs, and when she gave a soft cry, his heart began to pound. And when she looked down at him, her beautiful emerald eyes shining, he smiled, reaching up to remove the ribbon around the angel’s head. Lifting her from his shoulder, he went down on one knee and took her hand in his.
“I love you, Noelle. God, you’ll never know how much. You are my heart, my soul, my very life. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, loving you, protecting you, just being with you every single day. Please, make me the happiest man on earth and do me the honor of becoming my wife. Please say you’ll marry me.”
“Yes,” she said, tears streaming down her face as he slid the ring on her finger. Once it was in place, he kissed it and then grunted when she jumped into his arms, knocking him flat on his ass. “I love you, Davis. I love you with every fiber of my being.”
He kissed her, neither aware of the cheers from the family until a small body wiggled up between them.
“Does this mean you’re my Aunt Noelle?” Justin asked.
“I guess it does,” Noelle said, giving the little boy a hug. “Do you think you’ll like that?”
“Yes, now can we eat?”
Davis laughed and stood, pulling his fiancée to her feet and putting Justin on his shoulders. He grinned down at Noelle. “Now, it’s the most perfect Christmas ever.”
THE END