“I had to have been out of my mind to agree to this,” Aiden said as we fought our way through the crowd of last-minute shoppers.

“Yes, but imagine the look on everyone’s faces when they have a stocking on Christmas morning,” I said, tugging him toward the picked-over Christmas section.

“Are we filling them, too?” he asked.

“Aye, with a few bits,” I said, counting out six cream-colored stockings with fur trim for the girls, and then red and black plaid ones for the guys. “Do ye think these will look okay hanging together?”

Aiden surprised me when he shook his head and grabbed the deep red version of the stockings I’d chosen for the girls. “Kind of like Mr. and Mrs. Claus stockings.”

“Look, they even have a wee one that ye can put on the tree!” It was the last one. I snatched it up as though someone would reach past me and get to it first.

“How will we tell them apart, though?” he asked, brushing his finger along the fur at the top of the stocking.

“A special ornament, maybe?” We turned to the ornaments behind us. What was left was bulky and would most likely get broken when we packed everything away.

“Let’s leave that for now and figure out what you want to fill the stockings with,” he said.

“There’s a shop just down the way with items under five dollars. That should work, yeah?” I said, already putting together a mental list of what to put in each stocking.

“Sounds good to me,” he said, taking a firm grip on my hand. We started to brave our way to the front of the store to pay for the stockings.

“Yer being very amiable about this, Aiden,” I said, waiting for him to come back with some sort of smart quip.

“Maybe I’m just a really happy man today, Mrs. J.”

My heart melted. “Oh, aye. To be sure.”

“Is all of that going to fit in there?” Aiden asked, giving the pile on the bed a look that said he didn’t think it would.

“Ye of little faith. Watch and learn.”

“I’ll be damned,” he said when I handed him the first stocking.

“That’ll be Mark’s,” I said, handing him the bag of keychains.

He poked through it and found the one with Mark’s name. “This was a very smart idea.”

“Aye, ye have them from time to time.” The keychain idea had worked in our favor, too, because if they didn’t have the name on display, they’d make it right there. Finding my own name was a nightmare. Nova’s proved to be just as hard.

Aiden hung right with me—from picking stockings to wrapping the things we bought to go inside. He’d even picked out my stuff while I picked out his. It had been a perfect day.

“Are we sneaking down later to put these on the mantel?” he asked.

“Aye. De ye think they’ll hold if we try to hang them?” I asked, feeling the weight of the one in my hand and knowing the truth of it before he answered.

“Probably not, but we can stand them up on it and lean them against the wall so when everyone comes downstairs, they’ll see them right away,” he said, taking the stocking from my hand.

“Did you pick this up?” I asked, pulling a teddy bear no bigger than the palm of my hand from the bag, along with the stocking ornament I'd found that matched the larger stockings.

“No, I didn’t. You didn’t either, I take it?” he asked, flicking the festive red and green bow around its neck.

He held out his hands. I dropped the stocking and bear in them, and then picked up the trash we’d piled while wrapping.

“He fits,” Aiden said, hanging the stocking from his pinky. The bear was tucked halfway in, and it fit like it was meant to be there.

“I’m glad we decided to do finger foods tonight. The last thing I wanted was to be chained to the oven on Christmas Eve,” Murphy said as we moved our way from cutting vegetables to cutting fruit.

“Goes quickly, too, with all of us doing it,” Riley added.

“And after this, we’re going to be lazy and do nothing but eat, drink, and be merry,” Ace said, coming into the kitchen with an elf hat on his head.

“What is that?” Paige asked, snorting.

“Well, I can’t very well be Santa just yet. It’s not time,” he said, eyes moving to settle on Riley.

She blossomed under his weighted gaze.

“Airen, how do you say Merry Christmas in Scotland?” Jared asked.

“Happy Christmas is what we say,” I answered, tossing a grape at him.

He caught it with his mouth and winked. “Happy Christmas, Airen. So, a little bird told me something today,” he said.

Everyone around us kept chatting along since they were used to Jared and the crazy things that came out of him from time to time. He had my full attention, though.

“Oh? Ye’ll have to be a bit more specific about the bird and what he said,” I told him, snapping the lid on the bowl of grapes before moving to the refrigerator to put them away for later.

When I turned around, Jared was right in front of me. I ran smack into him. When I put my hand up to grab his arm, he hissed between his teeth. “So, it’s true then?”

I didn’t try to pull my hand away. “Well, I suppose you’d have to tell me what was said before I can tell ye if it’s true or not.”

“Aiden said the two of you went full on Highlands and handfasted,” Jared said, pulling my hand up higher to get a closer look at my ring.

“Oh, aye, it’s true,” I said, feeling myself blush.

Jared dropped my hand and spun around. “Did y’all know they did that?”

Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him.

“What are you being dramatic about?” Murphy asked.

“Dramatic,” he said, huffing. “The two who swore off marriage are married, or well… Are you married?”

I laughed. “We’re handfasted. Same, but different.”

“Hmmm,” he said, tapping his finger against his lips. He wandered out of the kitchen without another word as everyone talked over top of each other as they offered congratulations.

I hadn’t thought Aiden would say anything, but then again, we hadn’t really said we wouldn’t either. I wasn’t upset he had, but I’d wished he’d been around to take a little of the focus off me.

“What brought on your change of heart?” Murphy asked, attacking the countertop with a sudsy rag.

“It… we didn’t plan it. I think it was more like it just happened,” I said, worried Murphy might be beating herself up a bit.

“So he hadn’t thought about it? He just gave you the ring, and you decided to make a vow to each other?” she asked.

“Not everything has to be planned, Murphy,” Paige said, holding her hand out for the rag.

Her eyebrows pulled together, and she bit her bottom lip when she handed it to Paige. “Yeah, but that’s big. It’s a lifelong commitment. Shouldn’t the two people entering that really think about it? Shouldn’t they know what they expect from one another ahead of time?”

“It’s not a business deal, woman. It’s life. It’ll get ugly. It’ll get messy. I’m sorry to say that at some points, you’ll want to kill one another in the middle of the night by holding your pillow over their head. But it’s also beautiful, crazy, and wonderful.”

Murphy sighed. “I could already smother Jared just about every other night.”

“Ye take the good with the bad, and ye make it your life together,” I said, giving her a slight shrug. “And ye make it a good life.”

“But how do you know it’ll work? How do you know that you won’t wake up a few years from now and no longer love the person you swore you’d love until your dying breath?” she asked, crossing her arms.

Everything she projected told me she was scared to make a leap of faith, because that was surely what marriage was.

“And how do you know that, years from now, you won’t look over at your sleeping husband and think you can’t possibly love him any more than you do at that moment?” I asked.

“Look, the fact is, everyone is different. What works for me might not work for you, or anyone else. You have to know what it is you want, and then you have to shove all the bullshit aside and go for it. Until you can figure out what it is that makes you happy, you won’t stop second-guessing yourself,” Paige added.

“And you can’t let your happiness be overshadowed by your fear,” Nova piped in, blushing furiously when everyone looked at her.

“Yer right about that, Nova.”

“Do you have that sort of problem? Happiness and fear?” Murphy asked her.

Nova shook her head. “No, but I watched two people I dearly loved spend years apart when they should have been together. Noni spent her life alone after my grandfather died. And when she could have been happy, she didn’t take that leap of faith.”

“And who was the lucky guy?” Paige asked.

“Stanley. They had a solid foundation. A good friendship… they could laugh and joke. They could bicker and get over it. They had everything but the time they deserved together. And now it’s gone,” Nova said, clasping her hands in front of her. “See, it doesn’t matter what the future brings, because no one ever knows what it will be. You can either take what you want out of life, or you can walk on the sidelines. Ultimately, the choice is yours and no one else’s.”

“We should definitely watch a Hallmark Christmas movie with all the sap happening up in this kitchen,” Riley said, sniffling as she wiped her eyes.

“Hey, Airen, can you help me with something?” Jared asked when I passed by his open door.

“What happened in here? It looks like ye had an explosion,” I said, watching where I put my feet so as to not step on anything.

“Guys are messy. Didn’t you know that?” he said. He turned away to root through the bag on the floor beside him.

“What is all this?” I asked as I bent down and pushed away rolls of wrapping paper in order to sit.

He found whatever it was he’d been searching for, then kicked a path to the bedroom door and closed it. “Aiden said you’re creative, and I need a little bit of your creativity.”

Of all the things I might have expected from Jared, him asking me for creative help wasn’t it. “Ah, what exactly is it ye need help with?”

“I don’t know. That’s the problem,” he answered, moving back to his cleared spot on the floor and sitting.

I couldn’t keep the confusion I felt from spreading to my face. “How can I help ye then, numpty?”

He chuckled. “Let me rephrase that. I have a Christmas gift for Murphy, but I need ideas on how to give it to her.”

“Uh, ye wrap it,” I said, giving him a hard time.

He rolled his eyes. “That’s the least of my issues.”

“By the looks of it, I wouldn’t think so,” I bantered as I pointed to the mishmash of piles around me. Ribbons, numerous rolls of paper, and bows were haphazardly piled on the floor.

He put his finger up in the air. “I have this covered. See?”

I waited as he reached under the bed, pulling a beautifully wrapped package out and holding it up for my inspection.

“Ye wrapped that?” I asked, feeling really inadequate with my own wrapping skills.

He put the box back under the bed, and then gave me his full attention. “Like I said, I need your creativity. Wrapping is covered.”

I nodded. “Aye, well, ye best explain it to me. I have to know what it is ye need me to be creative about.”

He rubbed his hands. “Okay, so I bought a few things for Murphy for Christmas. The problem is that they’re all little things. What I’d planned on giving her was… Well, it doesn’t matter now.”

“Wait. Before ye go brushing that off, explain what it is ye planned on giving her that doesn’t matter now,” I said, picking up a roll of unwound ribbon and focusing on wrapping the trailing pieces back in place.

He sighed as he picked up an empty tape dispenser and fiddled with it. “It’s no big secret I want to marry Murphy, but she doesn’t want to marry me. I’d planned to give her the ring I’d bought for her, hoping that maybe, since it’s Christmas, she’d say yes.”

“Ye mean that ye hoped if you put her on the spot with all of us, she’d say yes,” I said, feeling a little aggravated he’d only thought about what it was he wanted. Not giving thought to how Murphy would have felt being put on the spot like that.

“Don’t hold back, Airen,” he said, chuckling. “But you’re right. It wouldn’t have been fair to do that. So I decided not to. And as much as I want her to be my wife, I can’t force her decision.”

“Smart lad,” I said, feeling a bit better about the situation. “So ye decided not to give her the ring. Where is my part in all of this?”

He shoved his fingers through his hair and grumbled. “I don’t know how to say it right, or if I can even put my thoughts into words, so give me a little slack for a minute while I try to explain.”

“I’ll not say a word,” I told him, pinching my lips.

He laughed. “I sold the ring.”

My hand fell and my mouth opened.

“Lips!” Jared warned.

I pinched my lips, unable to keep from smirking.

“I sold it because of this,” he said, picking up a small box from the floor and handing it to me.

I opened the box, and was struck speechless. There were three rings inside. A complete wedding set.

“I designed them and had them made.”

“You had these made from a drawing you did and you’re asking me for creative ideas?” I was flummoxed.

“Believe it or not, that part was easy,” he said.

“They tell a story, aye?” I asked, handing the box back.

“They do,” he said.

Before he could explain, I put my hand up. “It’s not my story to hear. Murphy should be the first. How do I come into all of this?”

“After hearing about you and Aiden, I got to thinking. How can I give her one of these rings to show her how I feel without making her think I’m pushing her for something she’s not ready for? You and Aiden hadn’t planned on getting married. You two were adamant about being happy with the way things were. And somehow, despite all of that, you still made a commitment to each other.”

“Ye’ll need more than creativity, Jared. But, aye, I’ll think on it a bit,” I said, getting up from the floor. “So when can I bring ye all my stuff to wrap?”

“Nice try,” Jared answered as he closed the box and set it on the bed.

“Worth a shot,” I said, shrugging. “If I think of anything, I’ll let ye know.”

“Thanks, Airen. I really appreciate it,” he answered. “You mind closing the door behind you so I can finish wrapping?”

Jared wanted my creativity, but I had no idea where to even begin. It wasn’t like I could tap into some sort of idea bank inside my mind. Any creative ideas I ever came up with were things that just popped into my head at random moments.

“Why are you sitting up here all by yourself?” Aiden asked.

I turned from the window and smiled. “I’ve been thinking.”

He moved over to the bed and sat. “Thinking about what?”

“Do ye ever wonder what brings two people together?”

He looked a little worried, even though he was trying not to show it, so I moved from the window and sat down next to him. He squinted. “I never really thought about it. Why?”

I gave a half shrug. “That’s what I was thinking about.”

“What made you think about that?” he asked.

“I was talking to Jared—”

“Oh, boy, this should be good,” he said with a quick laugh.

I glared. “Do ye want me to tell ye or no?”

He settled on the bed, turning so I had his full attention. “You were talking to Jared.”

“Aye. I guess he thought I might be able to come up with an idea to help him,” I said, pausing briefly as I gathered my thoughts to best explain what I thought Jared was looking for. “When he found out we’d handfasted, after us having said we’d no plans to be married…”

Aiden nodded. “No need to explain further. He’s looking for a way around marriage by finding some other form of ceremony that Murphy won’t shy away from.”

I smiled, taking his hand in mine. “Exactly. It worries me, though.”

His thumb swept against the back of my hand. “How so?”

“Who am I to come up with something that will work for them? That’s what brought me to the question of wondering what it was that brought two people together,” I answered.

“Well, all we have to base any sort of hypothesis on that is from—”

“Ace and Riley. Mark and Paige. Josh and Ella,” I said, ticking off the married couples.

“And us,” he added.

“Oh, and hypothesis? Hearing ye talk like a scientist is kinda hot, aye?” I squeaked when he yanked me into his lap and slapped me on the backside.

“Hypothesis one… Ace and Riley grew up together. Same as Mark and Paige. Both grew a relationship based on friendship before anything else,” he said.

“But that leaves out—”

“Hypothesis two… Josh and Ella, you and me. Josh and Ella went out on a mission together, which means they spent time together. Not once, but twice. Add in the danger element and the fact they were forced to play a role, along with being attracted to one another, and it was bound to turn into something. Now, for us? I lied to you. Put you in danger. Saved you from a madman, and basically turned your whole life upside down. Yet, you still fought to make me see you.”

Thinking back to that time in my life was hard. My uncle had stormed into our lives, shot and killed my mother, and kidnapped me. Aiden had been the only safe haven I’d known, but it was so much more than that. “We had chemistry.”

“Now who’s talking like a scientist?” he asked, clamping his hand on my hip.

“Don’t distract me now. Christ, I’ll never get this worked out and be of any help to Jared,” I said.

It was the wrong thing to say to Aiden. Before I knew it, he had me undressed and my thoughts scattered as if I’d dumped them from my head and tossed them out the window.

I sighed as I curled against his side and draped my leg over his.

“I think what it comes down to…” Aiden said, tucking one arm under his head and curling the other one around me. He brushed the tips of his fingers up and down my arm. “Is love, trust, and a willingness to make one another happy. To be selfish in your wants when it comes to loving someone who doesn’t want the same things as you do is a tricky balancing act. Us deciding to change it up and invoke an old Scottish tradition was our thing. The only way they’ll work it out is if they talk about it. Maybe she’s scared. Did he ever think about that?”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think he did.”

“Do you want me to talk to him about it, instead of you trying to come up with something that just might do more harm than good?” he asked, kissing the top of my head.

I snuggled closer. “It might be best if ye do. Ye know, for a tough guy, yer pretty in tune with people’s feelings.”

He chuckled. “Must have got that from my wife.”

I lifted my head and settled my chin on his chest. “It’s good, aye. What we have.”

“It’s more than good. It’s amazing,” he said, moving his arm out from behind his head. He put it around me, hugging me tight to him.