AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come home with us,” he said. “We don’t need a nanny. We just need you.”
“Hmm.” I pretended to turn over my options. “Will I have my own bedroom?”
“Not a chance,” he said, his voice going low, sexy, irresistible.
As the crowd counted down to zero and the tree’s thousands of lights twinkled on, I leaned into him, soaking in the feelings. For so many years, I’d been searching for a place that felt like home. I finally found it just when I’d least expected it.
It was here.Thiswas it. Knox and Juniper were it for me.
EPILOGUE
QUINCY
Christmas Eve had arrived, and my heart was full.
I’d never understood that saying before. Now I knew it was a legit physical sensation where you had so much joy inside of you your heart felt as if it was bursting with sparkles and overflowing with gratitude.
The best news was that Knox’s ex had signed a voluntary surrender of parental rights. This little girl in my arms was his, and we no longer had to worry about Gina surfacing and demanding time with her. It was the best Christmas present in the history of Christmas presents. I would never understand the woman who gave birth to this beautiful girl, and maybe her mental health diagnoses were to blame, but I was grateful that Knox had closure.
Even before that news, Knox and I had planned a Christmas Eve party and invited everyone we loved. Now we just had extra to celebrate.
We’d decorated the house until it brimmed with holiday beauty, with evergreen garland, silver bows, white bulbs, and twinkle lights everywhere. The tree was fourteen feet tall, reaching to the ceiling at that end of the living room, and we’d loaded its branches down with ornaments. Underneath the evergreen was a bounty of wrapped packages, a good half of them for the baby girl who likely wouldn’t remember them anyway. We couldn’t help ourselves.
I was standing by the tree at Juniper’s insistence—she was obsessed with the reflections of the lights in the glass bulbs and loved watching them blink slowly on then off.
“Hey, honey.” My dad came up beside me. “Hi, Junie Bee.” His voice got ridiculously adorable when he spoke to Juniper.
“Hi, Dad. Having fun?”
“It’s been a great night, hasn’t it? All three of your younger siblings have behaved, gotten along even. Cynthia and Faye hit it off as if they’ve known each other for years. Your friends are a pleasure to talk to. Thanks for inviting us.”
“Of course,” I said. “But be honest. What you like most is the food.”
“Truth? The olive balls and the spiral-cut glazed ham are the best things I’ve eaten in recent memory. I could live on them alone.”
“If there were leftovers, I’d give you some,” I said, laughing. “Wouldn’t we, Junie?”
“We’re getting ready to leave, but I saw you and this cutie pie alone and wanted to tell you how proud I am of you.”
“Um, thanks, but we had the food catered in. I can’t take any credit other than the extensive tasting we had to do.”
“You poor girl.” He laughed. “I meant in general. This.” He looked around us, becoming entirely serious. “The life you’re making for yourself.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I wasn’t sure if you could call it that since Knox and I had only been together a little over a month, but whatever it was, I’d never been happier.
Grasping my upper arm gently and pulling me to face him more fully, he said, “Cynthia pointed out that, all these years, I might’ve made you feel pressured to go back to school, and I suppose she’s right.”
I nodded, surprised by the seriousness of the topic in the middle of the festivities.
“All I’ve ever wanted for you, Quincy, is a happy, fulfilling life. Maybe I thought school could help you find that.” He shook his head. “What’s important is that you findyourpath. The Quincy path. Only you can say what that is, but from where I’m standing, it looks an awful lot like you’ve found it, daughter of mine.”
I smiled, a little choked up. “Knox makes me happy, Dad. Juniper makes me happy.”
“It’s obvious. And that makesmehappy.” He kissed the top of my head and squeezed my shoulder. “Good going, Quincy.”
I laughed, elated…at his long-awaited credit as much as with my current life situation. “Thanks.”
“I love you, dear girl.”
