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‘Because I’ve found my Christmas miracle,’ Seb said simply. ‘You came home, and that was all I ever needed.’
Maria stretched up on tiptoe to kiss him, love burning bright in her heart.
‘You’re all I need, too. You, Frankie and me. Together.’
‘Always,’ Seb promised, and kissed her again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ON CHRISTMAS DAY, just as Salvo and Nicole Cattaneo had hoped, all three of their children sat down around the huge dining table at Mont Coeur together, with their families and loved ones, to share a festive feast.
Before they tucked in, Sebastian got to his feet, wine glass in hand, and waited for the others to fall silent.
‘I just wanted to say a few words before we eat, if that’s okay?’ he said, acutely aware that, really, as the oldest sibling, it was Leo’s place to do so. But Leo was so wrapped up in his girlfriend—no, fiancée as of last night, it seemed—that it fell to Seb to say what mattered most.
As the others settled in to listen, Seb searched for the right words.
‘This year has been a difficult one for all of us,’ he acknowledged, watching as heads nodded around the table. ‘We’ve lost our parents—in Leo’s case, before he’d even got to know them. We’ve faced crises of confidence, business disasters and relationship issues. And there were so many times when any one of us could have given up on our families, on love, on our own happiness and just walked away.’
Leo wrapped an arm around Anissa’s shoulders at that, pulling her close against him, a sign that he’d never let her go again.
‘But we didn’t. We fought on for everything that matters most to us. And it paid off for all of us. We each got more than we dreamed was possible as a result, and we’re all here today to share our stories, and our Christmas dinner—just as Mamma and Papà hoped we would be.’
At that, Noemi leaned her head against Max’s shoulder but reached a hand out to take Leo’s. The brother they’d never known they had—and Seb already couldn’t imagine ever being without him again.
‘So today I’d like to thank you all for being part of my family. For knowing what I needed when I didn’t. For supporting me when I needed it most. And for going above and beyond the call of family to help me fix the biggest mistake I ever made in my life—letting Maria walk away from me.’
Seb looked down and met his wife’s gaze and held it, silently promising once more that he’d never let that happen again. He’d made his new vows, and he would keep them. However hard that was, and whatever happened next.
He knew what mattered most now. At last.
‘But most of all, I’d like to raise a toast to absent friends.’ Seb glanced up at the wooden ceiling, and imagined that if he looked hard enough, he could see his parents looking down on them all together. ‘Mamma, Papà, we miss you. And I wish you were here today to see how far we’ve all come. I think you’d be very proud.’
Around the table, everyone raised their glasses. ‘To absent friends.’
Seb sat down with a thump, the emotion of the day overwhelming him.
‘Nice toast,’ Maria said, pressing against his side. ‘Your parents would be so proud of you, you know.’
‘I hope so.’ It had been so easy to say but harder to feel the truth of.
‘I know so,’ Maria said.
‘Oh? And how is that?’
‘Because I am.’ Maria leaned across and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. ‘I’m so proud to call you my husband, Sebastian Cattaneo,’ she whispered.
‘Not half as proud as I am to have you as my wife,’ he replied.
On the other side of the table, Noemi leaned forward, reaching around Leo to take Anissa’s left hand and study the ring there.
‘It suits you perfectly,’ she said, beaming. ‘Mamma would be so happy to see you and Leo engaged, you know. And Seb’s right—she’d have loved to have us all here at Mont Coeur, together, for Christmas.’
‘Not to mention preparing for a royal wedding next year,’ Maria added, as Max placed a hand over his fiancée’s baby bump, a reminder of the exciting future they had ahead of them.
Seb smiled at the thought of both his siblings happy and settled, though he just knew that they could never be as happy as he was to have Maria back in his life.
‘Oh!’ Maria jumped up suddenly. ‘We forgot the cranberry sauce! Hang on.’
She dashed off to fetch it, and Seb watched her go. Then he spotted something hanging in the doorway between the dining hall and the kitchen.
‘Dare I ask which one of you was responsible for that?’ he asked, motioning to the mistletoe hanging there, waiting for unsuspecting couples to pass underneath.
Noemi shrugged her elegant shoulders. ‘Well, at one point yesterday we really weren’t sure if you’d need the extra help.’
‘If I were you, I’d take advantage of it anyway,’ Max said with a grin.
Seb considered, but only for a moment. And then he jumped up to wait for his wife under the mistletoe.
‘We’ve got ordinary cranberry sauce or cranberry sauce with apple—Oh!’ Maria gasped, as Seb caught her around the waist and kissed her thoroughly in the doorway, as Noemi whooped and even Leo gave a small cheer.
‘Mamma! Papà!’ Excited by all the noise, Frankie jumped down from his chair to join them. ‘Frankie hug, too!’ He w
rapped his little arms around their legs, and Seb broke away, laughing, to embrace his son as well as his wife.
This Christmas was nothing like he’d dreamed it would be. But now it was here, he couldn’t imagine it any other way.
All his Christmas wishes had come true. And Sebastian knew he’d appreciate the Christmas miracle that had brought his family together—all of them, even the brother he’d never known he had—all year long.
‘Just think, next Christmas we’ll have twins to add to the chaos,’ Noemi joked, making everyone laugh.
But Seb just smiled, and placed a kiss on Maria’s cheek as he ruffled Frankie’s hair. ‘Well, I for one can’t wait. After all, Christmas is a time for family. Isn’t it?’
* * *
Welcome to The Cattaneos’ Christmas Miracles trilogy
Cinderella’s New York Christmas
by Scarlet Wilson
Heiress’s Royal Baby Bombshell
by Jennifer Faye
CEO’s Marriage Miracle
by Sophie Pembroke
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Snowbound with the Single Dad by Cara Colter.
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