Chapter Twelve

Maci

“Mama! Mama! He did it! He really did it!”

Alyssa’s shrieking ripped me from sleep and threw my body into a state of panic and confusion. I bolted upright in bed and it took another chorus of screeches to realize they were happy exclamations. I threw my legs over the edge of the bed, groped in the dark for my robe, and bundled into the threadbare cotton before finding my slippers.

The door of my bedroom flew open and Alyssa charged in, holding something over her head.

I sighed. “Lyss, what did I tell you about getting into the stockings?” The admonishment was half-hearted. Her excitement was infectious and even though part of me was sad about missing her wonder-filled face, I wasn’t going to discipline her for it.

“It’s the Livia Tablet! In hot pink!”

“What?” I herded her out to the living room, where she’d turned on the overhead lights. The Christmas tree was glowing and twinkling with the soft white lights Alyssa and I had picked up the year before at a second-hand store.

“Look!” Alyssa held up a tablet like a softball trophy. “He did it!”

My eyes focused on the image and my heart kicked into a triple-time beat. With shaking fingers I reached out and took the shiny tablet. “Where did you get this?”

Alyssa cocked her head at me, clearly not impressed with my somewhat-stupid question. “Santa, mommy!”

I stared at the Christmas tree and realized there were a lot of presents that hadn’t been there the night before. My stocking hung from a hook beside Alyssa’s and I noticed it was a lot fuller than I remembered. To keep the magic alive, I usually slipped some socks or candies into my own stocking when filling up Alyssa’s so that she would think Santa had visited me too. I crossed to the mantle and took down my own stocking. I reached inside and tugged out a cardboard box.

“What the hell?”

“Mama! You said a bad word!” Alyssa whispered, clearly horrified.

“Sorry, sorry, angel face.” I nodded, distractedly. “You’re right.”

I popped open the box and found a set of shiny car keys. The Cadillac logo etched into a sleek keychain. “What the—” I stopped myself. Whipping around, I scanned the windows. Were we on some kind of TV show? A prank show? A TV crew was going to come busting through any minute. But who would have arranged it?

“Mama, can you help me turn this thing on?” Alyssa whined, hoisting up her tablet.

“Lyss, where did you find that thing?” I asked her. I took the tablet and inspected it. I’d never managed to see one in person but it was convincing. The logo was etched in the front. I held down the power button and the screen lit up. Livia for Kids flashed over the screen. “Where did you get this?” I repeated.

Alyssa looked at me incredulously. “My stocking. Duh, Mommy, it’s from Santa!”

“Did you see anyone here?”

Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Santa went back up the chimney!”

I ground my teeth. Right.

“What are those?” she asked, suddenly interested in what was in my hand. “Keys?”

A light bulb flashed. I pressed the button on the keys and a loud honk radiated through the apartment. “That’s coming from—” I raced to the door, flung it open, and was blasted by a gust of icy air.

“Oh my God…”

A fresh snowfall had sprinkled the neighborhood overnight but a set of tire tracks led through the parking lot and stopped in the spot where my old junker was usually parked. Now, it was occupied by a gleaming, white Escalade donning a giant red bow, like something from a Christmas-time commercial on TV.

My hand flew to cover my mouth as the driver’s door opened and Alex stepped out, his boots crunching the new snow underfoot. He wore an ear-to-ear grin as he gestured at the luxury vehicle. “I’m not sure how Santa does it,” he said with a deep, rumbling chuckle. “But man, he certainly knows how to order a luxury package. This baby is loaded.”

I sputtered, words unable to pass my lips.

Alyssa pushed past me and raced into the snow. “Alex! What is that?”

Alex smiled at her. “Looks like Santa brought your mom a new car. What do you think?”

“It’s nice! Look what Santa brought me!” She started down the stairs and only then did I tear my eyes off Alex and the car long enough to realize she was still wearing her long t-shirt and had nothing on her feet.

I lunged for her. “Lyssa! Get back up here! You can’t go out in the snow in that.”

Alex laughed and shut the door of the gleaming SUV. “I’ll come up,” he told her before she could pout. He jogged up the stairs. “Let me see what you got from Santa,” he said, smiling excitedly as she chattered away. By the time she’d given him the list of features and scampered back inside to play some more, my mouth was functioning again.

“What did you do?” I asked, shaking my head. “This is—this is—well, it’s too much, Alex. How can you—how did you?”

Alex laughed and wrapped me in his arms. He pressed a kiss to my cheek. “It’s far less than you deserve, baby,” he said softly into my ear. “Come on, let’s get inside before we both freeze.”

My eyes still fixed on the gleaming SUV, I paused at the door before shutting it slowly.

Inside, Alyssa was ignoring her pile of presents, glued to the screen of her shiny tablet. Her toes bounced excitedly as she sat on the couch, playing a noisy game.

“I’ll put on some coffee,” I said, still dazed.

Alex sat beside her on the couch, one arm draped over the back, listening intently. He glanced up at me as I crossed through the room and reached out to brush his fingertips over my hip. “Merry Christmas, Maci.”

I blinked hard, still convinced I was mid-dream and that any moment I was going to wake up to a cold house, a disappointed daughter, and a lot of questions about why Santa couldn’t have brought her what she asked for since she’d been such a good girl.

“Alyssa, why don’t you go get dressed and I’ll get breakfast going. Then you can open the rest of your presents.”

Begrudgingly, she peeled herself off the couch and went to her bedroom. Alex joined me in the kitchen as I started filling the coffee pot with water. “Alex, I barely know what to say. I don’t even know where to begin.”

He stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

“Now, I have to confess,” he started, grinning at me. “I may have gotten into some very un-Santalike behavior last night.”

“Such as?”

“Breaking and entering.”

“Breaking and entering, huh?” I laughed and spun around to face him. He kept his arms around me as I grinned up at him. “Isn’t that kinda Santa’s whole shtick?”

“I guess you’re right.” He cocked his head and chuckled. “I swiped your house keys last night after I dropped you off. I figured you wouldn’t miss them and I came back, around two, and dropped off the presents. I drove the car over this morning. I figured it wouldn’t take you long to find the keys in the stocking.”

“I don’t even know how to explain what I’m thinking. What I’m feeling.”

He dropped his lips to mine and kissed me deeply. “That’s a start,” he said with a gleam in his eyes when we pulled apart.

I reeled around, still trying to take it all in. My eyes snagged on Alyssa, giddily playing with her new tablet on the couch. I lowered my voice. “How did you do that though? How did you get the tablet? I swear, I thought you were joking when you said you could get one. And in pink?”

His grin turned sheepish. “Well, I probably should have told you this last night, but the company that I own in California actually makes them. The original prototype of the first Livia Tablet was based off a project I had to do in college. My friend, and now partner, does actually the techy stuff and I run the marketing campaign.”

My mouth dropped open. “You fucking own Livia Tech?”

“Technically co-own. But yes.” Alex chuckled. “After that day at the mall, I put in a special order with my engineer team and they hustled up to build that tablet specially for Lyss. It’s a one of a kind.”

I shook my head, completely dumb-struck.

“I know I should have told you that part too, but I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“I’d say mission accomplished.” Tears filled my eyes as I looped my arms over his shoulders. “This was the perfect, most unbelievable Christmas morning I’ve ever had.”

Alex kissed me again and then brushed my hair gently away from my face. Smiling, he said, “then I guess I know what to shoot for next year.”