“Uncle Evan, we don’t even have a Christmas tree,” Alex said, sighing as she looked around the condo and I cringed at the reminder.

I had promised to pick her up one twice in the past week, but work had been demanding so much of my time, I had forgotten.

“I will go tomorrow after work,” I told her, and she turned her head away.

“Okay,” she muttered but I could hear little conviction in her voice. “Christmas is next week.”

I looked down at her big brown eyes and suddenly I was seized with a deep loathing for myself.

What had I done bringing her back to Washington? What was I thinking uprooting her from her home?

I couldn’t even get Christmas right, the first one she would spend without her parents.

I was ashamed of myself and I wanted to scream.

The house in Minnesott Beach remained on the market despite me having lowered the price twice but I had not gone back to North Carolina.

I couldn’t shake the deep depression which had gripped me since leaving Vyolet.

You should call her and explain everything, I told myself daily, but I knew that would only cause friction between Vyolet and her family.

Enough families have been ruined this year. She had probably moved on anyway. She hasn’t tried to contact me either.

Alex had finally stopped asking about Vyolet regularly but occasionally, I would see her get a faraway nostalgic look on her pixie-like face and my heart would break all over again.

She was learning to hide her emotions and that filled me with more guilt.

“Alex?” I called to her abruptly. “Go change out of your pajamas.”

She stared at me in surprise.

“Do you have to go back to work?” she asked, disappointment coloring her voice. “Can’t you call a babysitter here instead of taking me somewhere?”

I smiled through my anguish and shook my head.

“No,” I informed her. “I’m not going back to work. We’re going back home.”

Her brow furrowed in surprise.

“Home?” she echoed. “We are home.”

I shook my head.

“No,” I said quietly. “This is not home. North Carolina is home.”

Her eyes lit up with happiness and she squealed.

“Really?” she gasped. “Or are you just joking?”

I reached over to embrace her tightly.

“No,” I told her. “We’re going home. Tonight.”

Never had I seen the child move so fast as she bolted toward her bedroom at the back of the condo and I reached for my phone to find tickets out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport that night.

I was interrupted by my phone buzzing.

“Evan Collier,” I snapped without checking the display.

“Mr. Collier, this is the concierge. You have a visitor.”

I frowned. I hadn’t been expecting anyone and I wondered if it was Children’s Services doing a welfare check on Alex.

“Who is it?”

“Vyolet Viera.”

I stared at the phone in disbelief.

“Is this a joke?” I snapped but I recognized the number at the front desk.

“Uh…no sir,” Marv replied uncertainly. “Should I send her away?”

“No!” I choked. “No! Send her up.”

I dropped the phone, staring uncomprehendingly at the door with my heart pounding.

What was I going to say to her? What could I say that would make her hate me less?

As I tried to get my bearings, I heard the elevator ding and seconds later there was a tentative knock on the door.

I bounced from my spot on the sofa and threw open the door, my breath catching in my throat.

She looked more beautiful than I remembered, her soft blonde mane swirling around her face.

Her skin seemed to glow against the light rain which had fallen on her face.

“Hi,” she said. “Can I come in?”

I swallowed nervously and stepped back.

Slowly, she began to remove her gloves, droplets of water scattering against the marble entranceway.

“Nice place,” she commented, and I nodded, still not trusting my voice.

I could hardly believe she was standing before me on the very night I had decided to go to her.

We were connected beyond anything we could see, that much was clear, and her presence just confirmed that for me.

“You don’t look happy to see me,” she sighed, standing uncomfortably in the foyer but I shook my head.

“Just the opposite,” I croaked. “Your timing is…unbelievable.”

She cocked her head to the side and peered at me with bright blue eyes.

“Is Alex here?”

I nodded.

“She’s in her room getting ready…” Again I was confounded with the surrealism of what was happening.

“My mother ran you off,” she announced. “And she told me you were getting married.”

The words hit me like a brick and I realized just how much Amelia wanted to keep us apart.

“Your mother was wrong,” I whispered, reaching for her. I half expected her to resist but she seemed to melt against me and I felt her quiver slightly as if fighting off her sobs.

“If I had known,” she breathed. “I would have tried to contact you sooner.”

I embraced her tightly, stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head.

“It’s all right,” I told her gruffly. “Your mom is worried about your reputation.”

“My mom is stuck in the eighties,” she replied curtly. “My reputation is not going to suffer because I am in love with you.”

I wondered if she genuinely believed that or if she was trying to convince herself, but I knew it didn’t matter anymore.

I was not going to let her go again, no matter what Amelia and Oscar felt about us.

The past months had been horrific, each day worse than the last and Alex had suffered the most.

Whatever challenges we faced, we would overcome them together.

She drew back and looked at me.

“I’m pregnant,” Vyolet informed me and a feeling of elation flooded me.

“What?” I gasped, my jaw dropping in shock.

“I know you never wanted to get married or have kids – ”

“Woah!” I stopped her. “Who told you that?”

She gazed at me in mild surprise.

“Well you never did either, so I assumed…”

“Did it ever occur to you that I never found anyone who I wanted to do those things with?” I asked her. “Until now.”

Her eyes grew bright with tears and she pursed her lips together.

“Do you mean that?” she whispered. “Sincerely?”

“I have never meant anything more in my life.”

I kissed her lips and suddenly all the heaviness which had squeezed my heart seemed to evaporate.

“Vyolet!”

We parted as Alex hurled herself into our arms.

“Did you come to see us home?” my niece asked, hugging Vyolet with ferociousness she reserved exclusively for her beloved teacher.

“See you home?” Vyolet repeated. “Are you coming home?”

She looked at me as she asked the question and I nodded, my eyes shining with warmth.

“Yes,” Alex screeched. “Uncle Evan just told me.”

“For the holidays then?” Vyolet asked quietly but I shook my head.

“No,” I replied. “We’re coming home for good.”

The look on my girls’ faces was something I would hold onto for the rest of my life and for the first time since Jocelyn died, I knew I was doing the right thing for everyone.

We were going back to Minnesott Beach to take the house off the market and be a family like we should have done from the start.

I had never been so certain of anything as I pulled my two loves into another warm hold, kissing them both on top of their heads.

Not two loves, I reminded myself, my heart full of affection. Three. I am going to be a father. My life is finally complete.

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