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Parker whistled. “Sweetheart, you are a deep thinker. That’s it, exactly.”
Teddie grinned.
Katy laughed. “Albert.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t suit you. Parker does.”
“It does,” Teddie agreed. “But I’m still calling you Dad.”
She hugged him. He hugged her back.
Katy looked up at both of them and almost glowed with joy. “What a Christmas we’re going to have this year,” she exclaimed.
“The first of many,” Parker agreed. “I can’t wait to kiss you under the mistletoe!”
* * *
And it was a joyous one. The tree sat beside an open fireplace with logs blazing in it. The lights on the tree blinked in patterns and Teddie did most of the decorating, only letting Parker put the decorations and lights on the places she couldn’t reach.
The result was a nine-foot-tall wonder. They took photos of it to show the coming child, when he was old enough to understand the beautiful expression of the season.
Parker put an arm around both of his girls as they stared at the end result of Teddie’s and Katy’s labors.
“It’s the most beautiful tree we’ve ever had,” Katy said.
“Oh, yes,” Teddie agreed.
“We should bring Bartholomew in here and stand him up beside it. He could be a decoration,” Parker suggested dryly.
Bart had been returned by J.L. after Dealy was pursued, caught, arrested, and charged with animal cruelty. He faced years in prison for it. J.L.’s attorneys and their investigator had managed to dig up several prior charges that had been dismissed for lack of evidence. They found evidence to convict, so he was charged in more than ten cases. No local attorney would agree to try his case, so the judge appointed a counselor for him. The consensus of opinion was that Mr. Dealy would spend a long time contemplating his brutal acts.
Meanwhile, the Parkers sat around their beautiful tree and listened to Christmas carols and drank eggnog and ate fruitcake. Parker kissed Katy under the mistletoe and she called him her mistletoe cowboy. They even took a special horse treat out to the barn for Bart.
“This was nice of you, Dad,” Teddie remarked as they watched Bart nibble his treat.
Parker chuckled. “He had it coming. After all, he brought me a family of my very own,” he added softly, looking from a radiant Katy to a beaming Teddie. “And it is,” he added, “the nicest Christmas present I ever got!”
