Page 3 of Zin and Celeste: A Fortis Family Christmas

Chapter 2

Zin silently cursedthe snow as they finally reached their destination, knowing one slip and Celeste and the baby could be really hurt. Yet, seeing the smile and wonder on her face as she watched the dogs try and catch snowflakes as they fell from the sky, he knew he could never deny her.

It had taken him a long time to be sure she wouldn’t change her mind and leave him, deciding his darkness and the things he’d done were too much for her sweetness but as time had moved on, and she’d carried on loving him and sharing her body and love with him, he’d come to understand that it was real. What they had was special, and he was the luckiest son of a bitch in the world to be on the receiving end of her love.

He moved up behind her and slid his hands around her belly, pulling her back against him as Samson and Delilah jumped and played with his nieces Katarina and Natalia and the other kids—Riley, Noah, Mateo, Aaron, and Leah. The younger kids were held firmly in their fathers’ arms, decked out in full snowsuits to keep the cold at bay.

“Look how much Delilah is enjoying this.”

Celeste beamed up at him, and he dropped a kiss on her lips. Zin kept it light when what he really wanted to do was devour her sexy mouth, but it was cold, and he didn’t want her to catch a cold. He knew how beautiful the snow was but recognised the dangers too.

“We should go inside.”

“Uncle Zin, can you build a snowman with us?”

Zin looked beside him to see Natalia clasping her hands together in a prayer position and batting her eyelids at him. He had never seen himself as good with kids, but these two girls had wormed their way into his heart just as they had his sister’s.

“I need to get Celeste inside where it’s warm.”

He saw her face fall, and resignation moved over her expression. He felt like a bastard for putting that look there. He looked at Kanan who was being dragged to the ground by Katarina to make snow angels and knew he’d get no help there. That was the thing, there wasn’t a single uncle to throw under the bus now everyone was shacked up or was married with kids.

Mara and Drew had disappeared to their room within minutes and probably wouldn’t be seen for hours and then with smug, satisfied smiles on their faces. He looked at Celeste, torn between wanting to protect her and their child and making his niece smile again.

“You okay out here or would you like to go inside?” She felt warm against him, but it was fucking cold up here.

“I’m fine. They have an outdoor fire over there with some blankets if I get cold. I didn’t come here to stay inside. I came to enjoy myself with the people I love. Go build a snowman with your niece.”

“Let me walk you over.”

He took her arm and slid it through his so he could support her. The ground was flat on this part and the snow mostly clear, but it was a Ski Resort, and that meant hills and snow and ice. Celeste might not have a huge bump, but their son was definitely making himself known now, and she could easily lose her balance. He helped her into a chair beside Lucy, who had Harlow wrapped up so only her eyes were visible. Jace was with them and Zin lifted his head, silently asking the man to keep an eye out, and he nodded.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”

“Go and let me have some peace.”

Zin didn’t take offence at her words; he knew he was overprotective and wouldn’t apologise for it. The world was a shitty place with very few truly beautiful people in so when you found one like he had, you protected them.

“Fine, but I won’t be gone long.” He kissed her long and hard, loving the taste that was uniquely his Pixie. “Love you, Pixie.”

“Love you more.”

“Never.”

He jogged towards Natalia, who was rolling a snowball, trying to get the snow to stick.

“Let’s do this.” He clapped his hands together, and Natalia grinned as they began to roll the snow and compact it until they had a body, and then he set about forming the head as his niece shaped the body.

He glanced up and to his left and saw Zack and Riley doing the same, then Smithy and Mateo, and before long all the dads were building snowmen and the competition was on. It had taken a long time for him to feel like he fit in, always slightly on the outside looking in, but with Fortis, he’d found a family he hadn’t known he’d needed.

Not once had he been judged for who he was and what he’d done. They had accepted him for the man he was trying to be, and what’s more, they trusted him with the most precious things in their lives, their families.

He saw Roz sitting beside Celeste and smiled when his fiancée waved and blew him a kiss. He hadn’t been aware he could love like this; with a fierceness that was almost feral until he’d met her. He’d known from the second she’d opened her door she was it for him. It was nearly losing her that had finally made him pull his head from his ass and tell her how he felt, and by some miracle, she’d loved him back.

Roz finding a family with Celeste’s brother was somehow poetic, bringing him and his sister into the fold and giving them something they’d never had. He loved that the two women who had saved his life, Roz when he was a child and Celeste when she saw the tiniest bit of good in him and returned his love, were so close. Like sisters and now their children would grow up together.

He stood back as he and Natalia surveyed the snowman with a critical eye. “What do you think, kid, is he the best?”

Natalia crossed her arms and frowned, cocking her head. “He needs a hat and scarf.”