Chapter Fifteen
Wyatt and Mia spent Christmas Eve with the family. Since it was easier for Maya and the baby, everyone went to Jack and Maya’s house. Wyatt knew it would be an early night. Regardless of the fact that it was only four o’clock, his brother and sister-in-law looked like they could pass out on any available surface. Dylan was at the ranch, and hadn’t made it over yet. His job was to bring home pizza for dinner. Glory would put on a Christmas dinner on Christmas Day, but dinner on Christmas Eve was always takeout. Usually pizza.
Carmen and Gina had offered to take care of the baby while Jack and Maya took a nap. Somehow he and Mia wound up watching baby Will. Or baby Andy. They’d finally named the kid William Andrew after both of their fathers, but now they couldn’t decide which of those names he’d go by.
Christmas music played softly in the background. Looking out the window, Wyatt saw a light snow falling in the near dusk. The baby was, for the moment, asleep in the cradle that had been through many Gallaghers, including Gina. He and Mia sat on the couch, watching Miracle on 34th Street, muted. He had his arm around her and was thinking that this was just about perfect. After tomorrow, it would be perfect.
“This is nice,” Mia said. “It’s so peaceful.” She glanced over her shoulder. “What do you suppose the girls are doing?”
“Congratulating themselves on suckering us into watching the baby and playing video games, I imagine. I think they should call him Andy.”
“There’s not much to do. He’s been asleep for an hour.” She glanced at the sleeping baby. “He looks more like a Will to me.”
Wyatt opened his mouth to argue the point, but Will/Andy started making noises. The noises progressed to whimpering and then rapidly to full-fledged crying.
Mia went to get him. When she picked him up she wrinkled her nose. “I think he needs a diaper change. I’ll take him to the nursery.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Have you ever changed a diaper?” Mia asked him. She put Andy down on the changing table and unzipped his sleeper. It had a Santa on the front of it and a reindeer on his butt.
“Sure.” He hoped she wouldn’t make him prove it. “Once or twice,” he said when she lifted her eyebrow at him. “When Gina was a baby. A long time ago now.”
It didn’t take Mia long to change him. “There, now, Will. All clean.” She kissed one of his tiny hands and picked him up to hold him in her arms and smile at him.
“You’ve obviously done this before.”
“I used to babysit a lot. And I’ve had friends with babies.”
She looked so natural with the baby in her arms and a tender expression he’d never before seen on her face. Her eyes were soft and dreamy, a smile curved her mouth. She kissed the baby’s forehead and Wyatt could have sworn he smiled, even though he knew perfectly well babies didn’t smile at only a few weeks old.
“You’re a natural with him. Have you ever thought about kids? About having your own?”
He sensed he’d said something wrong. Mia had turned away and he thought she’d stiffened.
After a long pause she said, “Most women my age have.”
Which wasn’t an answer, but he let it pass. Andy started fussing as they walked back into the living room.
“Why don’t you let me try?” he asked after a moment.
Mia passed him the baby and sat on the couch, watching him.
Wyatt put him up on his shoulder and patted his back. He tolerated that for a minute or two and then started fussing again.
Wyatt cradled him in his arms. “Hey, there little guy. I think you’re hungry. Is that what’s wrong?”
“Maya said she fed him just before she put him down and that she’d feed him again when she woke up.”
“Did you hear that?” Andy had stopped fussing and was looking at him. “Women. Don’t they know when a guy’s hungry he needs to eat?”
“Unless you’ve grown breasts with milk in them, he’s going to have to wait for his mother.”
“Wait?” Andy started crying again. Wailing was more like it. “He’s not down with that at all.”
Jack walked in looking like he just rolled out of bed. Which he had. But he looked better than he had a few hours ago.
He ran a hand over his head and yawned. “Here, I’ll take him to Maya. Thanks for watching him. I see the girls abdicated.”
“We didn’t mind,” Mia said. “He’s a sweet baby. Have you settled on what you’re calling him yet?”
“Yes, just now. This is Will.” He left the room, adding, “I’ll be back in a minute. I hope Dylan’s on his way.”
“Stop smirking,” Wyatt told Mia.
“Who, me?”
“Yes, you.” He sat beside her, leaned over and kissed her. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
There it was again. The sad note in her voice, which he heard every time she said she loved him. Which didn’t make sense. Maybe he was imagining what he heard in her voice. And maybe there was something going on that he didn’t know about.
If there was, what in the hell could it be?
“I need to ask you something.”
Mia glanced at Wyatt in the mirror. “That sounds serious.”
He shrugged. “Why is it when you say you love me, you sound so sad?”
So much for her ability to hide her feelings. Nevertheless, she couldn’t come clean. Yet. “I don’t.”
“Come on, Mia, you had to think about it before you answered. What’s going on?”
She turned around to face him. He sat on her bed, shirtless, bare feet, wearing nothing but his jeans. From the expression on his face, he wouldn’t be put off much longer. But once Christmas had passed he’d know everything.
“It’s nothing. I’m a little worried about something, that’s all.”
“Something that has to do with you and me?”
She was in serious need of a distraction. She used the only one she could think of.
“No.” She wore her PJs, which were as far from sexy as you could get, but she had to work with what she had.
He frowned. “You’re not going to talk about it, are you?”
Mia walked over to stand in front of him. “I can think of more fun things to talk about.” She sat on his lap and twined her arms around his neck. “And do,” she added, and kissed him.
It wasn’t a gentle kiss, a slow lovemaking kind of kiss. It was hot and fast and intended to shoot him into overdrive. A let’s-get-naked-and-get-after-it kind of kiss.
His arms tightened around her as his tongue met her in a sexy thrust and parry. But then he stopped and pulled back to look at her. “Mia—”
She put her fingers on his lips to stop him. “Don’t talk.” She stripped off her shirt, took one of his hands and placed it on her breast. “Let’s make love.”
His hand closed around her breast, then caressed it. He groaned. “You’re distracting me.”
“I hope so.” She stood and stripped off her pants and panties. “I’m trying like hell to.” Pushing him back on the bed, she unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. Helped him pull them off along with his boxers.
They rolled over the bed, first one on top, then the other. It was fierce, it was fast, stopping just this side of rough. But when he finally drove inside her and she looked into his eyes, she saw such love in them it made her heart ache.
“I love you,” she told him. “So much.”
Much later, she slipped her arms around him and laid her head against his chest. “It’s important to you to have kids, isn’t it?”
“I never thought much about it before. Then suddenly, wham, bam, I was a father. Or so I believed. Losing that baby, never having that baby, shook me up in a way I hadn’t expected.” He tugged her head back and kissed her mouth. “I went from sorrow to anger and back again, and every emotion in between. And to be honest, some of it was relief that I wouldn’t be marrying a woman I hardly knew.” He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “I’ve had time to think about it and come to terms with it. It’s not like that was my last chance to have kids.”
Her heart plummeted to her toes, regardless of the fact that nothing he said came as a surprise. She willed herself not to stiffen. Put her head down so he wouldn’t see the despair in her eyes.
“Mia? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Something is.” Fingers under her chin, he turned her face up to search her eyes. His eyes were so beautiful. Blue sky at dusk, dark with concern. “Tell me.”
She shook her head. “It’s nothing,” she repeated.
“You know you can tell me anything, don’t you? There’s nothing you could say that will change the way I feel about you.”
Oh, God, if only that were true. But she knew it wasn’t.
There went her last hope. That he could somehow forgive her and they could find their way back to each other. But he wouldn’t, knowing there would never be a baby, not from her.
He wouldn’t blame her, wouldn’t be angry because she got pregnant or lost the baby. But he trusted her. Trusted her to be straight with him. And she’d been anything but straight.
If she’d just told him from the first, when she realized she was pregnant... The night she’d taken the home pregnancy test had only confirmed what she knew. Just two days later, she asked him to come over, intending to tell him. And he told her he was moving back to Marietta, in a matter of days. Wouldn’t that have been timely? Oh, by the way, Wyatt, before you move I’ve got a little bombshell to drop. I’m pregnant. And unlike Loretta, it really is your baby. God, the very thought made her shudder.
Would he understand why she’d kept it from him then? And what about now? Now that they’d become lovers, something they both knew was more than a fling, and she still hadn’t told him. Partly because of the wedding and the baby and Christmas. But even more because she knew when she told him their relationship would be over. She’d not only lose her lover, she’d lose her best friend.
What a mess she’d made of her life.
Christmas with the Gallaghers was unlike anything Mia had ever experienced. The holiday morning started late, to give everyone a chance to finish their morning chores. Wyatt had been up early helping out Dylan, since the ranch hands had the day off.
Once Jack and family, and Glory and her husband, Billy, arrived at the ranch, everyone opened their presents at once. This resulted in mass chaos that seemed to fit with the family she’d grown to know and care for so much. Mia had painted pictures for everyone, leaving Sean and Honey’s for them when they returned from their honeymoon. She’d put a lot of thought into what everyone would like and judging from their reactions, she’d been successful.
Touched, she found that everyone had a present for her as well. A beautiful sweater from Jack, Maya and family. A whimsical carving of a horse from Dylan. Glory had written out a number of recipes for some of the dishes Mia had raved about. Since she knew Glory didn’t share her recipes indiscriminately, she felt very honored. Honey and Sean had left presents for everyone. For Mia, Honey had picked out a set of sparkle pens that she’d noticed and exclaimed over on one of their shopping trips.
Carmen and Gina had already opened most of their presents at home, but they opened their presents from their uncles and Glory and her husband. Wyatt’s gift certificates were a big hit. The girls immediately began planning when to use them.
Everyone pitched in to clean up the mess from the presents. Will woke up and Maya left the room to feed him. She said he didn’t nurse well when it was noisy, and the volume in the room was high.
When she returned with the baby, she must have seen Mia watching them. “Would you like to hold him?” Maya asked her.
“I’d love to, but that wasn’t why I was staring at you.” Maya put the baby in her arms and she continued. “You and Will make such a touching and beautiful picture. I would love to paint you.”
“I’d love for you to. But I’ll warn you right now you’ll have to decide on which picture to use. Jack has taken so many I couldn’t possibly choose.”
“I’d like to take one of my own. That way I can be sure and have the light and shadows how I want them.”
“Okay, just say the word. After you finish holding him,” she added with a grin.
Will snuggled into her arms as if he belonged there. He was so sweet. So soft. So perfect. Mia’s heart swelled with emotion. If only... She glanced up to find Wyatt watching her. Across the room, he met her eyes and smiled, sweet, intimate. Heartbreaking. After tomorrow, she’d never see that expression again.
Late that afternoon, they sat down to a traditional Christmas dinner of turkey and dressing, baked glazed ham, side dishes of every variety and two home-made apple pies for dessert. Mia had no clue how Glory had pulled it off only two days after the wedding.
It was a Christmas to remember and to cherish through the lonely days ahead.