Sofia wasn’t too happy when he told her that they weren’t going to be going with Iona to sing carols. But Mads had made up his mind. It would be easier for both of them if they just got used to not having her around.
When there was a knock on the door Sofia jumped off the couch and ran for the door. He suspected she was hoping it would be Iona, but he knew she wouldn’t just show up. That wasn’t her way.
Instead it was the doorman, Greg.
“Hello, Greg.”
“Hi, Sofia. These presents were left downstairs for you. I figured you’d want them, so I brought them up.”
Mads, who had followed Sofia to the door, reached around her to take the gaily wrapped packages. “Thank you.”
He saw the disappointment on Sofia’s face as she glanced around him down the hallway, no doubt looking for Iona.
Greg gave her a smile and then turned to leave and Mads closed the door behind him.
They went back into the living room and Mads looked at the packages, realizing he recognized Iona’s handwriting on them.
“Do you want to open your present now?” he asked.
“But it’s not Christmas. I thought we had to wait,” she said.
“I think we could both use some cheering up. And this is our year to do things differently,” he said. Reminding himself that he was supposed to be making this Christmas different, not still feeling so broken and alone.
“Yay. Yes, I want to open it,” she said.
She came over to the large armchair where he usually sat in the living room and climbed up on his lap. The presents were large and there was one for each of them. Sofia took hers. “I have something for Iona too.”
“I know you do. We will ask Greg to deliver it to her.”
“Okay. Or maybe I could go down there,” she said.
Mads didn’t want to isolate his daughter from Iona, so he nodded. “Maybe. Why don’t we see what she got for you?”
Sofia nodded and then tore at the paper the way she always did. She handed him the parts she ripped off and he balled them up, setting them on the side table next to his chair.
The box was plain white and she carefully opened it up. Inside was a paperback of A Visit from St. Nicholas. And when Sofia opened it up, Mads saw that Iona had doctored the book the way that Gill had done for Sofia’s knight book. Mads’ picture had been used for Santa and the sleeping children were Sofia and Holly and the reindeer were all Lucy, the little miniature dachshund. And then at the end of the story was the picture that they had posed for at the Nutcracker and underneath it Iona had written: Santa can deliver special presents, but only love can make a family. Merry Christmas.
“Oh, Papa, I love it,” Sofia said. Then underneath the book was a Christmas ornament of a knight wearing a dress just like in the book that Gill had made for Sofia.
Mads hugged his daughter close, knowing that he couldn’t let Iona go. She was the missing part of their family. Just like they were hers. And it didn’t matter if he tried to protect himself by never seeing her again, he was going to love her for the rest of his life.
Sofia hopped off his lap and walked over to the tree, putting the ornament next to the angel that he and Gill had given her last year for Christmas. “Look, Papa, it’s me and Mommy.”
“It is the both of you,” Mads said.
“What did Iona give you?” Sofia asked. “I love my present, Papa.”
“I know, sweetheart, it’s perfect.”
“It is. I just got her a scarf. I think I better do something else,” Sofia said.
Mads opened his present and saw that it was a photo book. Sofia climbed up on his lap. The front cover said Eriksson Traditions. And when he opened it he saw photos of him and Sofia from this Christmas season. In their ugly sweaters, eating gingerbread at the Common, ice skating with Remy’s family, decorating their tree, baking cookies. She’d written another note, this one slipped inside on a piece of paper.
I know that you and Sofia will continue to find the traditions that define your family and at the heart of them will be the love you share.
Sofia curled up in his arms and he held his daughter, knowing that he had made a mistake when he’d told Iona that he couldn’t love her. These gifts were unconditional and maybe he might end up being a very overprotective husband, but he knew he was going to ask Iona to share the rest of her life with him and Sofia.
But he had to figure out how to do it. He was going to need a big gesture to show her what was in his heart. And to convince her that he loved her, the way she deserved to be loved.
“Sofia, I need your help,” he said, when the idea came to him.
“With what?”
“Making some Christmas magic for Iona,” Mads said. “Show her how much she means to both of us.”
“I’m in,” she said, with her gap-toothed grin. Together they worked hard on their plan and he had to recruit some outside help with her friends and they were much nicer this time when he texted them than they had been the last time.
Now all he had to do was hope that he hadn’t killed the love she had for him. That she would be willing to take a chance on him.
***
Mads was sweating inside the suit he wore. He wasn’t sure that Hayley and Cici would be able to convince Iona to join them for dinner in the Common’s private dining room. But they both were certain it would happen. His brother was keeping watch at the door that led from the food and beverage hallway into the room. Sofia looked adorable in her Santa’s helper outfit. She had on a pair of striped red and white tights and a red velvet dress trimmed in white faux fur, with a Santa hat on her head that jingled when she moved. And she kept moving around. She’d wanted to wear shoes with bells on them too but they hadn’t been able to find any on such short notice.
“She’s here,” Piers said. “And it looks like they invited about twenty people to dinner.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Nope. I guess they wanted some witnesses to this,” Piers said.
“Great,” Mads said.
“It is great, Papa,” Sofia said.
Well, it would be great if things went well. If they didn’t then … well then, he’d just deal with it. He wasn’t going to change his mind if there were five people in the other room or one hundred. He loved Iona and he’d hurt her; he wanted to make her happy and needed to convince her that he was sincere.
Sofia squeezed between him and Piers, poking her head through the opening to see into the room. They were all sitting down at the long table that had been set up for them.
“Are you ready?” Piers asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” Mads said.
“Sof?”
“I am,” she said, smiling up at them both.
The music switched from “Greensleeves” to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. And Sofia skipped into the room, bells jingling as she danced to the head of the table where Iona was seated.
Mads stood in the doorway watching Iona’s face as his daughter stopped right next to her.
“Hello. I’m Santa’s helper and he’s here to bring presents to all the good boys and girls.”
“Hello there. I thought you didn’t believe in Santa,” Iona said, unable to hide her surprise.
“A good friend told me that Santa takes care of special gifts. I think that you deserve one.”
“Is Santa bringing it to me?” she asked.
“He is,” Sofia confirmed.
Mads walked into the room in his red Santa suit, wearing a Santa hat, and stopped when he was a few feet from Iona. She had her chair turned to the side so they were facing each other.
“Santa?”
“Yup. That’s him,” Sofia said.
Suddenly all the words he’d rehearsed and the clever lines he’d practiced just disappeared and all he could think about was Iona. He closed the gap between them. “I wanted to tell you how you brought the magic of Christmas back into my life. How you showed me that love was strong enough to overcome fear, but the truth is I’m still scared. The only difference is that now I’m afraid of what my life will be like if I can’t convince you to take a chance on me …”
“Us,” Sofia added. “Both of us.”
Mads looked at his daughter and then reached out for her, she took his hand and they turned to Iona. “I was wrong when I said I couldn’t be the man for you. That maybe I was trying to heal you for someone else. That’s impossible because no one could love you more than I do. I thought you’d be safer and happier without me by your side, but that’s not true.”
“No it’s not,” Iona said, getting to her feet and coming over to him.
He leaned in until their foreheads touched and then he whispered, “I love you.”
“Are you sure?” she whispered back.
“Yes, I am,” he said, their eyes met and he hoped she could see how much he loved and needed her.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he lifted her off her feet as he kissed her.
Their friends and family all cheered and he set her on her feet, reaching for the red velvet bag that Sofia held. “I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I want you to know that one day I intend to make you my wife. Until then I hope you will wear this ring.”
He took the box from the bag and handed it to her. Inside was a simple band made up of hearts that Sofia had helped him pick out. Iona nodded and put the ring on her finger. “I can’t wait for that day.”
Mads, Piers, and Sofia joined the group for Christmas Eve dinner and when they went home that night and Mads took Iona in his arms and made love to her, he knew he’d found a Christmas gift he hadn’t expected. He’d been lucky to have found love once in his life but twice made him believe in miracles and all sorts of things that he never had before.