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“Merry Christmas, Daddy,” Quinn croons, then places a quick kiss on my lips as the girls attack the wrapped gifts.
Unable to get enough of this woman, I hook my hand under her pert ass and pull her closer. Her hands grip the shirt on my chest.
“Mmm,” she hums, kissing me again.
“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Barton.”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to being called that,” she says with a big smile across her face.
“Well, you better… because you'll be hearing it for the rest of our days.”
The day I married my best friend was one of the greatest moments in my entire life. It was a quiet beach wedding on Kauai, one of the small islands of Hawaii. Just our closest friends and family were in attendance. Quinn was a vision in her crocheted gown. I'm man enough to admit that I fought back tears as our sweet little angels walked ahead of her and Brad down the aisle. The declarations of love that were shared along those shores will stay with me for the rest of time.
“Mama, Daddy… come on!” the girls yell, breaking the little bubble I find us in all too often. Not that I mind, since my girl will always be the center of my universe.
We both chuckle, knowing they have officially run out of patience.
“All right, little monsters, who gets to open their gift first?”
A chorus of “me, me, me” fills the air, as I hand out the first of many presents.
Sophie takes her gift and sits on Quinn’s lap, and Addy tackles me with hers.
“For how long that took to set up, they certainly ripped through it at lightning speed.” Quinn laughs, handing me a cup of coffee. The girls are busy with their new toys sprawled from one end of the room to the other.
There’s nothing better than celebrating Christmas in New York, especially when you don’t have to worry about cleaning up the mess of toys for company. We will be heading over to my parents’ house for dinner later on, and everyone will be there tonight. Now that we’re all family, we’ve altered our long-running Christmas Eve celebration to Christmas night. Alternating whose house hosts, but regardless of the location, we’re all together.
I'm thankful we were able to make it up here for the holiday. Quinn’s accelerated program doesn’t offer much time off, but they did schedule a small Christmas and New Year's break. Can’t believe she’ll be graduating in May. She amazes me each and every day, between being a damn good wife, going to school, studying all night, and being an active mom for the girls. I’m beyond proud of her.
“Go sit and relax. I’ll get breakfast started.” Kissing her temple, I walk into the kitchen.
I go into the back room and get the special gift I had delivered this morning, all thanks to Brayden.
“Oops, it looks like one more gift didn’t make its way under the tree… Everyone go sit on the couch, and I’ll bring it in,” I yell from the hallway.
Excited cheers and the sound of shuffling feet fill the air once more. The moment I turn the corner, I hear Quinn’s gasp. The girls are practically jumping out of their skin.
“Lovies, I want you to meet the newest member of our family,” I say, placing the golden retriever puppy on their laps.
“Now he’s just a baby, so we have to be gentle with him, girls.”
“Oh my goodness.” Addy giggles as the puppy licks at her face.
“Oh, Eli, I can’t believe you did this. He looks so much like Beau,” Quinn says, still in shock. Her hands run through the puppy’s soft fur.
I rub my hands playfully over his head and floppy ears. “He does, doesn’t he? It’s why I picked him.”
“You know, all those years ago, I told myself that I would buy you another Golden Retriever one day. Once I made it to the majors and had my own money… I just never thought it would be as a gift for my wife on Christmas morning.”
Tears prick her eyes as she stares at me. “I don’t know how you pulled this off, but it’s one of the best gifts I could’ve asked for.”
“There was a selfish motive behind it too.” I smirk, then continue. “Needed to add another boy to the family… I'm outnumbered here.”
“Does he have a name yet?”
Shaking my head at her question, I smile. “Nope, not yet… Can’t wait to see what you ladies come up with.”
We let the puppy down, and the girls flop off the couch after him, all three of them in a pile on the ground. Laughing when he jumps up on Addy and knocks her over, then covering her with kisses, I can’t stop smiling at the sight.
