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“I love you too,” Mindy whispered, but she didn’t need to speak any louder. She knew that Noah heard her. “I love you so much, Noah. I’m not sure I ever stopped.”
He brought his lips to hers, and she felt like the only thing tethering her to the earth was the man standing in front of her. As their kiss deepened, she wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him like she would never let go—because now, she knew she wouldn’t have to.
She had no idea how long they stayed like that, locked in each other’s arms, lost in their kiss. But by the time they parted, both of their faces were flushed, and they were short of breath. Noah’s green eyes flicked upward, and another grin lit up his face.
“Look,” he said, nodding toward the ceiling.
When Mindy followed his line of sight, she was shocked to find a bundle of green affixed to the ceiling, dangling just above their heads.
“Mistletoe,” she breathed. Then she met his gaze, lifting a brow. “I guess that means this is meant to be.”
Noah’s only response was to nod and kiss her again.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
“Here, Piper,” Lacy said, pointing to the small rip in the wrapping paper that she’d just torn. “Grab this and pull.”
Piper looked up at her with wide brown eyes before doing exactly as she was instructed. It was Christmas morning, and Lacy, Derek, and their daughter were all seated on the floor around their Christmas tree.
A fire crackled in the hearth of their fireplace, while Christmas music played through their TV. And while Piper might be too young to really get the meaning of the whole Christmas thing, Lacy didn’t think she had ever been more excited.
She sat back, watching as Derek began helping their daughter figure out how to open the presents that had been laid out before her. While he was distracted, Lacy glanced behind her, making sure that the present she’d set aside was still there.
Sure enough, it sat right by the sofa, exactly where she’d left it.
After a few more tries, it was clear that Piper cared more about the wrapping paper itself than what it was concealing. So they decided to let her just play with the paper and worry about her presents later, and they began exchanging their own gifts.
One by one, alternating between the two of them, they passed out their own presents. Derek’s first gift was a new toolbox that she’d caught him eyeing at the hardware store a couple of months ago, and Lacy’s first present was a personalized perfume that Derek had had made for her. Sweaters, books, movies, and personalized wall signs were all unwrapped, until finally there were no presents left under the tree. Except for the ones that Piper was still playing with, of course.
“Well, should we open the rest of hers for her?” Derek asked, looking pointedly at the unwrapped pile their daughter was ignoring in lieu of sticking a bow on top of her head.
“You aren’t done yet,” she said with a grin, laughing at the confused look on her husband’s face as she scooted over to the sofa, grabbed the box beside it, and then handed it to him.
Derek took it, his eyes darting from the box to Lacy and then back again.
“I thought we agreed to no more than seven apiece?” he asked, giving the box a little cursory shake.
“Consider this one a special exception,” she said. “Go on. Open it.”
Lacy watched as Derek began to rip open the paper, peeling it back layer by layer. Underneath the paper was a long, rectangular box. Once again, he shook it curiously, and Lacy laughed.
“Just open it already!” she groaned in anticipation.
“Okay, Miss Impatient,” Derek joked, pulling the lid off the box.
He glanced into it and froze, and Lacy tried not to squirm while she waited for him to respond.
“Is this for real?” he asked, astonishment filling his voice as he reached into the box and pulled out its contents.
Lacy nodded. “It’s real.”
Derek held the pregnancy test reverently in his hand, and Lacy didn’t need to see it to know what the small screen on the front of it said. She had been suspecting the truth for weeks, ever since Shelley had shared the news that she was pregnant, and a test had finally confirmed it. Lacy was pregnant as well.
“We’re having another baby,” she said softly, and tears sprang up in her eyes when Derek looked up at her.
His face was filled with so much joy and love that she thought her heart might burst. Before she could react, Derek set down the test, lifted Piper off the floor, and then pulled Lacy to her feet, wrapping them both in a giant bear hug.
Piper squealed with excitement, throwing bits of wrapping paper into the air so that it rained down over them like confetti, and Lacy laughed. Caught up in that moment, with her husband and daughter both so close and so happy, and with new life growing inside of her, she couldn’t imagine how life could get any better than this.
