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“No, we didn't.” It probably wasn't very responsible of them, but the idea of a little person, half him and half Hayley, running around was too appealing for him to care.
Yanking up his pants, he pushed Hayley’s back up, then scooped her into his arms and carried her to the sofa, grabbing a blanket and covering them both as he sat with her on his lap. Something had happened to change Hayley’s mood, and he knew it wasn't the fantastic sex they'd just had.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, rubbing small circles on her back with his hand.
“I’m not sure I should have said yes when you asked me to move in with you,” she said in a small voice.
Panic sliced through him. “What? Why?”
“Because …” she paused, shifting slightly, trying to pull away from him.
He wasn't going to let her do that.
Whatever was bothering her they were going to deal with together because they were a couple now. Whatever affected her affected him.
Tightening his hold on her, he asked, “Because what, sweetheart?”
“There’s no other family to take Kinsley. I don’t want her to go to a foster home. If it wasn't for my parents, I don’t know what would have happened to me if I’d entered the system, and I don’t want that life for Kinsley. She’s already been through so much. I want her to have a family, parents who love her, and more siblings one day. Brian, I want to look into fostering her and then adopting her. I want to give her what my parents gave me and Arianna. But I can't ask you to do that.”
He relaxed, resuming rubbing circles on her back. “Why couldn’t you ask me to do that?”
“Because we’re talking about raising a child. A traumatized child. That’s a lot to take on.”
“You’re sure?”
“About raising Kinsley? Yes.”
“Then I'm in too. We’re a couple now, nothing is going to make me leave you, certainly not that great, big heart of yours.”
“Really?” She looked up at him with those gorgeous big blue eyes, and he knew there wasn't anything he wouldn’t do just to make her smile.
“Really.”
“Just like that? You'd take on raising Kinsley with me?”
“Of course. She’s a sweet little girl, and we can give her the home she needs to grow up to be just like you.”
“I didn't think it was possible, but I think I love you more.” Hayley tilted her face up and kissed him.
“I have something for you. A Christmas gift, but I don’t want to wait until later today to give it to you.” Sliding Hayley off his lap, he switched on the Christmas tree lights, then reached underneath to pull out a small candy cane striped box.
“Thank you.” Hayley beamed as she took the box.
She undid the bright red, curly ribbon, then removed the lid. Inside was a smaller box; it was blue, the same shade as Hayley’s eyes. She lifted the lid off the second box, and her eyes grew watery as she began to take out the things resting inside.
“These are all from my past,” she looked up at him, unshed tears shimmering in the light of the Christmas tree.
“I spoke with your mom a couple of months ago and asked her to help me find as many old clothes and things from your childhood as we could. Then I cut them all up into squares. There’s the dress you were wearing the day we all met you, dresses from special occasions in your past, first Christmas, first birthday you spent with your parents, high school graduation, college graduation. There are squares from the sleeping bag you used to use when we went camping, the blanket you used to sit under when you had family movie nights, picnic blankets, and your old dog Bubble’s blanket. I thought that since you love to sew you could make them into a quilt for your bed, like a memory quilt, something that you could keep adding to over the years with other special things. I didn't know that things would turn out like this, but since your old quilt got burned when Jay Turner attacked your house now you can make a new one.”
“Brian,” she sobbed out his name as she threw herself into his arms. “This is the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever been given. I love it. I want to start sewing it right now. I just wish that the clothes I'd been wearing the other night when you told me you loved me for the first time hadn't been ruined with blood from the car accident, and Jay beating me. I would have loved to have them as part of my new special quilt.”
“I knew you would want that.” Gently he eased her off his chest and sat her back up, then he went to the table and grabbed an envelope. “I asked Adam and Jessica to get me a piece of your sweater. The rest is in evidence, but Jay is dead, and they have your statement and a whole bunch of other evidence, so they were able to get me a piece of it. A non-bloody piece.” He gave it to her, and fresh tears trickled down her cheeks.
“I love you so much. All these years I prayed that you would love me back, and now that you do it’s so much better than I could ever have imagined.”
Brian sat beside her and pulled her back into his lap. “I love you too. And even though I wish I’d known sooner that I was going to fall in love with you, I think our relationship is going to be even stronger because we’ve been such great friends for so long. I hope a baby is growing in here.” He placed his hand on her stomach. “Then you, me, and Kinsley will have another member of our family to love.”
“Family.” She sighed contentedly and snuggled closer. “I love the sound of that word. My parents gave me the perfect family to grow up in, and now you and I are going to have a family of our own. Even if I'm not pregnant, I will be one day, and we’ll have our very own little baby to love. And Kinsley, we are going to smother her with love, so she never feels unsafe or unloved ever again. Christmas was the first real holiday I celebrated with my new family when I was adopted, and it’s always been my favorite holiday, but now I love it so much more. Merry Christmas, Brian.”
“Merry Christmas, my sweet, beautiful Hayley, I love you so much, and I feel so lucky that I get to love you every day for the rest of my life.”
Christmas had always been his favorite holiday, ever since he could remember, but Hayley was right, sitting here together, in the early hours of Christmas morning, the Christmas tree lights twinkling brightly, knowing that they were at the beginning of their journey as a couple, that they would soon have a family of their own, and that the magic of the season had played a part in them getting here, now he loved it even more.
