Chapter 26

Gabe awoke wrapped up in a tangle of sheets. Santa grinned lasciviously from the pillowcase his face was shoved into. He rolled over to glare at the cause of these hideous, nightmare-inducing sheets.

She was still fast asleep, blond hair tangled around her face. She’d been exhausted already, then they’d been up late putting presents under the tree and deciding where on earth a llama was going to sleep in an already tiny cabin. They’d talked, too. She’d told him about her visit. He’d told her more about his conversation with Alex and Jack.

It was hard to believe, here in the morning light, it had all just worked out. There she was, in the bed next to him. That they loved each other and were going to make things work. Permanently.

He felt more than heard a presence and maneuvered up to his elbows. Colin was standing at the tree, the llama standing next to him, both staring at him with matching inscrutable gazes.

“Ah. Merry Christmas,” he whispered.

Colin’s eyes moved from Monica’s sleeping form, then back to Gabe himself.

He and Monica had started broaching the topic of how they were going to explain things to Colin in the morning, but he didn’t remember what they’d decided. It was possible they’d both fallen asleep before deciding anything.

They had not had sex, though Gabe probably shouldn’t explain that to a ten-year-old. Did ten-year-olds know adults had sex? He grimaced a little. He hadn’t expected this responsibility to fall to him, but it wasn’t one he was going to abandon.

Carefully, he slid out of the bed.

“Let’s take Macaroni out, yeah?”

Colin nodded, then moved for the pile of boots and coats by the door. Silently, they both pulled on their winter gear as Macaroni watched them.

Gabe pushed the door open, and Macaroni loped out, immediately taking a few steps into the frigid Christmas morning before doing his business.

Since Colin was watching the llama in the slowly encroaching daylight, Gabe didn’t expect him to speak. But he did.

“Are you going to live with us now?”

Gabe scratched a hand through his hair. The kid sure wasn’t going to ask him any easy questions. “Cabin’s a bit small for all that, but I’ll be here a lot, and you and your mom will be with me on the ranch a lot, until we figure out something more permanent.” Gabe blew out a breath and watched it puff into the cold air. He thought there’d be time to parse this all out, but kids weren’t exactly big on deep discussions and taking things slow, were they? “I love your mom.”

Colin pulled a face, but then he shrugged. “Yeah.”

“And, well…” Gabe tried to think about what he might have wanted back then, if his mother had chosen someone else. A good man. The kind of man Gabe wanted to be. He owed that to Colin.

So even though it made his hip twinge, he knelt on one knee in the snow so he could be eye level with Colin. “And I love you too. You’re a part of whatever changes we make. So you’ve got to promise me that you’ll be honest with us when something’s bothering you or not working. Because this is about all three of us, not just me and your mom.”

Colin stared at him, a considering kind of expression Gabe couldn’t quite read. His heart pounded a little too hard in his chest as he waited for Colin to respond in some way.

“Are you guys going to get married?”

Christ. He had to huff out a laugh as he moved back to his feet. Married. It had already crossed his mind, so that wasn’t the shock. It seemed more inevitability than possibility, but it was a complicated question for a kid to ask, for Gabe to answer. Still, he wanted to be straight with Colin. Always. “I have to ask her first. Then she’d have to say yes.”

“New Year’s Eve.”

Gabe blinked down at him, but the boy was still watching the llama. “What about New Year’s Eve?”

“You should ask her on New Year’s Eve. Because that’s the start of a new year. Plus, there’s this movie she always watches on New Year’s Eve with a guy and girl and gross kissing and crying, so she’d probably like it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s soon.” Like a week soon.

“Mom always says I should do my homework sooner rather than later. Don’t know why this would be any different.”

“Right. Homework and marriage. Very similar.” Gabe blinked, looking out at where the sun flirted with the horizon. A new day. Christmas Day. A new year. A promise. Inevitability over possibility.

Hell.

“You’d be okay with it?”

Colin finally slid a gaze his way, so much like his mother—practical and certain and just a…force. A force all his own.

“You and Mom getting married? Yeah, I’d be okay.” But his mouth twitched a little bit, and as he turned his head away from Gabe, Gabe caught a glimpse of a grin.

“Guess I’d be okay with it too.” He rested his arm around Colin’s shoulders, gratified when Colin leaned into it. “Maybe…tomorrow or the next day you can come to town with me and help me pick out a ring. If you think you can keep it a secret.”

He puffed out his chest. “Of course I can keep a secret.” He leaned a little harder, looking down so Gabe couldn’t see his face at all. “Would I call you Dad when you guys get married?”

Oof. Amazing how he wanted to sink to his knees and say yes almost as much as he’d been desperate to run away from this a few days ago. But, God, he wanted to be something of a dad to this kid. And he knew, deep in his bones, he’d do a damn fine job at that, whether he deserved the opportunity or not.

Deserved didn’t matter when he had people in his life who loved him, whom he loved.

Still, he wanted to be careful. Evan had never been careful, and Gabe wouldn’t follow any of those ugly footsteps. “That’s up to you, Colin. I’d be your stepdad, and you’d always be mine to me, but…well, it’s up to you. Maybe something to talk to your mom about. She also has to say yes first.”

“I never knew him, but I know you.”

Gabe was speechless at that.

“She’ll say yes. She told me she liked you. That she’d always be friends with you.”

“She did, huh?”

“So, she’ll say yes and then I’ll call you Dad.”

Oh, to have the faith and trust of a ten-year-old. “I’m going to have to trust you on that, buddy.”

And he would.

* * *

Becca’s squeal nearly broke Monica’s eardrum. She engulfed Monica in a hug. “You kept the llama!”

Monica laughed, hugging Becca back. “I did. Since I hear you were partially behind getting him, he’s now a part of your Christmas celebration.”

Becca leaned down and gave Macaroni a pat. “Welcome to the menagerie, Mac.” Then she stood back up, eyes suspiciously shiny. “I assume if you took the llama, you took the man too?”

She glanced back at the truck, where Gabe and Colin were hefting the presents out from the back. “You assume right.”

Becca gave her another squeeze, then hurried forward to help the men. They brought everything inside and settled into the afternoon being, well, a family. It was a beautiful Christmas cacophony as the boys swiped appetizers and Monica helped Becca and Sandra with dinner prep.

“Where are Jack and Rose?” Becca fretted.

“Maybe Rose wasn’t feeling well. Want me to call?”

Becca shook her head. “Not—” Before she could get the words out of her mouth, the door opened and footsteps echoed through the house.

“There they are.” Becca wiped her hands on a towel and headed straight for the door.

Monica followed. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get over the wave of warmth that swamped her every time she saw Gabe’s and Colin’s heads bent together, as they were now, sprawled out on the rug next to the fireplace. They were whispering about something, and Monica made a mental note to ask Gabe about it later.

She’d managed to have a short conversation with Colin this morning while Gabe had been getting ready, and Colin had been acting shifty and sly. Happy, though. Giddy even, to have Gabe in the cabin. Monica knew it wouldn’t always be this easy or simple, but for Christmas, she’d enjoy it.

Becca was scolding Jack and Rose for being late as Jack shrugged out of his coat.

“Sorry, got a bit held up,” Jack said, grinning. He helped Rose untangle from all her winter gear, and Rose grinned up at him.

“My, you two are suspiciously, overtly happy,” Monica observed.

“Oh, are we?” Rose said, faux innocently as she slowly pulled the glove off her left hand.

“Ring!” Becca and Monica shrieked in unison.

Rose held out her hand proudly. “And a doozy at that.”

They oohed and aahed over the ring, offering congratulations and some friendly ribbing from Alex and Gabe.

Becca’s mom reappeared with a bottle of champagne and glasses. She poured, finding some sparkling cider for Rose, Jack, and Colin. When they all had glasses, Alex took the lead.

He held up his glass. “To Rose and Jack.”

Everyone echoed the sentiment, clinking glasses, taking happy sips.

“Wait, I have a toast, too,” Rose said, holding up her glass again. “To a Christmas miracle.” Rose’s gaze moved to Gabe.

Gabe raised his eyebrows. “What miracle? You finally saying yes to Jack? That’s just you coming to your senses.”

“That isn’t the miracle,” Rose returned, pointing at Monica, then Gabe. “You two are the miracle.”

He exchanged a confused glance with Monica. “Huh?” they asked in unison.

“A few months ago, when you were grumpily working on our house, Rose mentioned you needed to find someone,” Jack explained. “She thought you were lonely.”

Gabe scowled, but Monica leaned her head against his shoulder. Whether he liked that it had been noticed or not, he had been lonely. Now he wouldn’t be, because he was hers. She glanced at Colin, who was leaning against Gabe’s other side. Theirs.

“Jack said it would take a miracle to find someone for you,” Rose continued.

Jack lifted his glass. “So we should toast to Christmas miracles.”

Monica wanted to be offended, but it was hard to find any kind of outrage in the midst of all this love and joy and Christmas cheer. She lifted her glass, clinked it with Gabe’s, and grinned. “To Christmas miracles,” she murmured.

“That you are,” he returned, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders and pressing a kiss to her temple.

“Aww,” Becca said with a sniff. “Now this is the perfect Christmas. And the only thing that can make it more perfect? Let’s eat.”

The room dissolved into laughter and chatter, everyone filing into the kitchen to load up their plates before coming back to the living room, where the tables were set up.

Gabe held her back from following the crowd, so she tilted her head up. “What were you and Colin whispering about?” she demanded.

“Ah, we’re planning a bit of a shopping trip.”

“And that’s a secret?”

“It is.” He grinned down at her, overly pleased with himself for a man with secrets. “You’re not invited.”

“Hey,” she protested.

“Man time,” Gabe said with a smile before something in his expression went very, very sly. “You wouldn’t happen to know your ring size, would you?”

“My ri—” Her head jerked up so hard it nearly hurt. “What?”

“Colin’s quite sure New Year’s Eve is the moment, and he wants it to be a surprise. I’m a little more…careful. I want to make sure you don’t need more time, so he won’t be awfully disappointed. But if I put it off, I think he’ll be fine. So…”

“So,” she repeated stupidly. She could only gape at him for a few more moments. Rings and asking and… “Gabe.” The funny thing was, she thought she should be wary. She should think it was too fast and too soon.

But she didn’t feel any of those things. “Do you need more time?” she asked, her voice little more than a whisper.

His smile widened, and there wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in him. “No. Might have been Colin’s idea, but I wouldn’t have been too far behind.”

She swallowed at the lump in her throat. “Then I don’t need more time. I might need to measure my finger, but I don’t need more time.”

“Good,” he murmured, then pressed his mouth to hers.

“Gross,” Colin groaned as he reentered the room, plate heaped with food.

“I think you’re going to have to get used to it, baby,” Monica said. “And me saying this: I love you both. More than anything.”

Colin rolled his eyes, immediately plowing into dinner. “I love you both, too,” he muttered, looking anywhere but at them.

“And I love you both, too,” Gabe added, even as people filed in with plates.

As Christmas miracles went, it was the best one she’d ever get.