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‘All yours.’ Rio scooped her into his arms and carried her to the pony. ‘His name is Snowflake and he’s the latest member of our ever-growing family. It’s a good job we have a large house.’
Elyssa had her arms around the pony, almost sobbing with excitement. ‘He’s so beautiful. Oh—oh—Mummy, have you seen him?’
Mummy.
Rio inhaled sharply and so did Evie because she’d waited for this moment for so long. For almost a year she’d been encouraging the withdrawn, confused little girl to call her Mummy and finally now, on Christmas Eve, she’d said it. To hear her use the word so naturally felt like a miracle.
The best Christmas gift of all.
Warmth spread through her body and Evie walked across to Rio and took Elyssa from him, hugging her tightly, tears on her face.
‘I see him, sweetheart, and I think he’s completely perfect.’
Her grandfather appeared in the doorway, smiling his approval as he looked at Evie with her family.
Rio looked ridiculously pleased with himself. ‘It’s cold out here and neither of you are properly dressed. We’ll go back inside and get wrapped up and then we can go round to the stables and see Snowflake and his friends.’
Evie glanced up at him. ‘Friends?’
A smile transformed his face from handsome to breathtaking. ‘I bought a few spares. I have a feeling we’re going to be needing them before too long.’
Evie’s heart stumbled. He wanted more children. A big family.
Her dream come true.
As she smiled up at him she felt something cold brush against her face and Elyssa gave a squeal of excitement that made the pony throw up his head in alarm.
‘It’s snowing! Mummy, Daddy, we’re going to have snow for Christmas. Can we build a snowman? Do you know how?’
Rio brushed the snow from Evie’s cheek. ‘Yes, I know how. We need a carrot and some pebbles and a few twigs. And we need your mother because she’s brilliant at building snowmen.’
‘We also need enough snow,’ Evie pointed out practically. ‘We need to find something to do while we’re waiting for it to settle.’
‘I think I can solve that problem.’ Rio pulled her back into his arms and held her tightly. ‘How would you feel about decorating a Christmas tree?’
