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“Same,” Amos tells me. “I was looking forward to doing this with Goldie.”

Since he’s referring to her in past tense, he must be pretty lucid. You never know with his head injury what memories he’ll have.

“She’s here in spirit, sir.” I give him a soft smile as I hand him a reindeer ornament with a toddler handprint. “Such a small little hand.”

Amos inspects the ornament that has a picture of Sandy as a little girl pasted on the other side. His eyes water and his lip trembles. It feels a bit awkward being in the middle of their family moments, but I’m beginning to understand if I weren’t here to get this going, it may never get done. Sandy is struggling for sure.

“I missed so much,” he utters, voice choked.

“Me too,” I admit with a pain in my chest. “It sucks, sir. Totally unfair. But we’re here now. All we can do is cherish the time we have with our girls now.”

He clutches on to my wrist. “You’re a good man. Can you put it up higher so my lovebird will see it whenever she passes?”

I hang the ornament in the spot he’s pointing to. He nods when he approves of the placement.

Sandy return with two coffee mugs. She hands one to her father and then the other one to me.

“Not as great as Hattie’s,” she says with a cute grin, “but it’ll do the job.”

I take the coffee from her and sip on it, staring at her profile as she inspects the tree. She approaches her father and takes one of the ornaments from the box in his lap. He watches fondly as she hangs it near the one I just hung.

“This used to be my favorite part with Mom,” Sandy murmurs, emotion clogging her throat. “She’d tell me about all the ornaments, when they were made, her favorites. We’d watch Christmas movies and eat pie until we were sick.”

I take hold of her hand and give it a comforting squeeze. “It can still be your favorite part. Old memories are great, but new ones can be fun too.”

I hope all the memories we make going forward will be ones she cherishes as deeply as the ones she spoke about.

The steak was perfect. Potatoes were delicious. Asparagus was award-winning. And thank goodness too considering I was trying to show off for the woman I’m wooing.

I’m just pulling cookies out of the oven when someone comes in through the back door. Nora. Snow dusts her hair and coat, her cheeks are rosy from the cold, and she’s wearing a happy grin.

My heart flops around inside my chest.

This is my life now. I have a relationship with my daughter and I’m dating her mother. I’ve achieved a lot in my lifetime, but this has been the most exciting, fulfilling time thus far.

“Dad,” she says in greeting and hugs me. “Are you making cookies?”

I chuckle. “Did you smell them all the way over there?”

“I’m pregnant. My nose can sense all the things,” she sasses as she pulls away to flash me a mischievous smile. “Just in time, too, I see.”

“Let them cool for a second,” I say and gesture to the living room. “Your mom and grandpa are decorating.”

We find that they’ve moved on from decorating the tree. Sandy is setting up cute Christmas houses on the mantel and Amos is untangling fake tree garland with a dog in his lap and a bird on his head. They’re listening to Dolly Pardon holiday hits now.

“Need some help?” Nora says to her mother.

“Nah, sweetie. Grab some cookies with your daddy.”

Nora’s eyebrows lift as she looks my way. I shrug and chuckle. Once back in the kitchen, I make Nora some hot cocoa while she steals a cookie off the pan.

“Oooh, these are delicious. We should have them for the reception.”

I make a mental note to make some for the event, though I want to make sure I won’t overstep Sandy’s plans. She’s fragile lately and I don’t want to hurt her, even inadvertently.

“Are you looking forward to the reception?” I ask as I plate up some cookies for the working crew in the living room.

“Nervous to be honest. There’ll be a lot of people. I’m mostly excited about the food.”