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"We would!" they volunteered quickly, loudly, and quite clearly, leaving no doubt about their willingness nor their energy level to do the job. Their reaction pleased Drew, but it was the brilliant smile Hope bestowed upon him as she threaded her fingers through his that completely melted his heart.
Chapter Ten
By two o'clock, they'd informed Reese of the plan to decorate the tree, choked down lunch with a speed that begged for an attack of killer indigestion, unearthed several boxes of Christmas decorations stored in Reese's attic that he insisted they use instead of buying new, and positioned the tree in the corner of his grandparents’ basement apartment to the right of the entertainment center.
Once secure, all four of them stood back to look at the full-bodied Douglas fir. It was perfect.
"Can we start?" Obviously a rhetorical question, since Alex didn't wait for an answer before he was popping the lids off the plastic tubs and tossing them aside in his haste to get the show on the road.
"Here's some lights," the seven-year-old announced. "Can we put on colored ones?" he asked. "Mom said we could last year, but then she got sick, so we only had the tree at Gram's. And her lights are all white." His little brow furrowed as he looked up at Drew. "We're still gonna have a tree at Gram's, aren't we?"
Drew nodded and ruffled his nephew's hair. "You know Gram always gets the biggest tree. I'm sure she has the one she wants already picked out."
Hope's heart broke a little more as she watched relief wash over Alex's adorable face. After having his life upended by the untimely death of his mother, it was only natural for Alex to seek consistency and normalcy wherever he could find it. Since Gram had always had a tree, it was important to him that nothing disrupted that tradition. Not even if it meant foregoing colored lights on a tree he'd had so much fun helping to pick out.
"Hey, Alex, I found our ornaments," Zach piped up, holding a box he'd dug out of one of the containers. He pitched the lid on the sofa and fished out a glittery snowflake made of Popsicle sticks. "I made this in preschool," he announced proudly before rummaging for more.
The box overflowed with every imaginable decoration an elementary school-aged child could make using construction and tissue paper, beads, pipe cleaners, clay, and wood. There were wreaths, angels, bells, reindeer, Christmas trees, Santas, snowmen, and many more holiday-themed items, each with its own story and holding its own cherished memory.
Hope’s father had also kept a box of all the handmade ornaments she had made throughout her childhood. Apparently, both he and Olivia knew how meaningful those keepsakes would be for all the Christmases to come.
"Momma always let us trim the bottom of the tree with our stuff," Alex informed Hope and Drew. "And she never ever moved anything either. Even when Zach put everything in a clump. She just left it there."
Now the sadness in Hope's heart filled her eyes. All she wanted to do was haul both boys into her arms, hold them tight, and soothe away their sorrows. It wasn't fair. At least Sam had been in her life for thirty years. Alex and Zach were barely given a chance to know their mother, let alone create the years of lasting memories Hope and her father were so blessed to make.
It just about tore her already bruised heart in two.
Not wanting to put any kind of damper on their festivities, Hope knelt on the floor beside Alex and Zach as they sifted through the container. She listened to their stories about every decoration and how old they were or whose class they were in when each one was drawn, constructed, colored, or painted. Hope wondered about her own child and the stories he or she would have to share about their crafts.
As Hope listened to the joy in Alex and Zach's voices and watched the utter delight beam across their adorable little faces, she realized how much she didn't want to miss these moments with the child she carried. No, Hope wanted all of this. Wanted to be a part of those memories. To cherish every single one all the days of her life.
How had she ever considered giving her baby up for adoption?Because you're afraid, that little voice inside her head answered. Scared shitless was more apt, but what new parent wasn't? Besides, fear was a hell of a lot easier to overcome than regret.
Her gaze drifted to Drew. By keeping the baby, their lives would forever be intertwined. But just how would he fit into their lives? Would he go with them to find the perfect tree each Christmas? Help make ornaments? Bake cookies? Be a part of their decorating on the Friday after Thanksgiving?
And what about the other holidays? Would he help dye and hide Easter eggs? Make Valentine boxes? Go trick-or-treating? Attend every event no matter how often or varied? How involved would Drew actually be?
Especially if he chose to remain in Virginia and she returned to Kentucky. Six hundred miles was a long way to travel for every holiday, horse show, music recital, and sporting event.
Six hundred miles was a long way period.
"Are we gonna put colored lights on the tree?" Alex broke into Hope's thoughts.
Again, Hope looked at Drew, who was patiently untangling the strands of lights while she and the boys took their walk down memory lane. When their eyes met, the expression on Drew's face indicated all this was new territory for him as well.
Wrinkling her nose, Hope silently implored Drew to decide. This was his family, not hers. As a guest and someone who understood very little about children, Hope didn't want to screw anything up by making the wrong decision, even if it only amounted to what color lights to put on the tree.
Since they were both clearly out of their comfort zone, maybe it would have been better if she and Drew had done this whole tree thing without the boys.
"Well?" Alex prompted. Their gazes shifted expectantly from Hope to Drew.
"Sure," Drew finally decided and pulled the last string free of the knot. "Let's plug 'em in and make sure they're all working. Then we can get them on the tree."
That was all it took. As Hope exhaled a sigh of relief, the boys scrambled to their feet and rushed over to help Drew with the light check. Every bulb on every strand glimmered in a medley of green, blue, red, purple, and gold. Whoops of delight accompanied by fist pumps prevailed as Drew began to wrap the lights around the tree.
When it came time to decide on which decorations to use, another dilemma presented itself. Did they use the boys' ornaments or the more generic collection? Definitely generic, because the handcrafted decorations should grace the tree at the main house for all to see.
Hope looked up at Drew. "Your mother doesn't have a themed tree, does she?"
