Page 54 of Christmas Bubble

“Oh. His name is Riley. He’s…not really my boyfriend.”

“But you’re spending Christmas together. Mommy says Christmas and important holidays should be spent with our family. Boyfriends are family.”

“Where’s your mommy?” I ask, hoping I don’t get some tragic reply like she’s dead or something. I’d need to bake a dozen cakes to make up for upsetting the kids.

“Oh, she’s going to meet Dr. Mike’s parents. He’s her boyfriend.” She comes closer and whispers, “Did you know they are going to get married just like Daddy and Fletcher. Dr. Mike asked me if it was okay for him to ask Mommy to marry him, and I said yes. Mommy doesn’t know yet.” She clasps her gloved little hands in front of her in excitement.

I smile. “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“We asked our dads for a baby brother or sister for Christmas,” Gigi says.

“Oh really? And what did they say?”

Both kids shrug, and then Megan says, “Daddy looked really scared. Like his eyes opened reeeally wide, and Fletcher laughed.” She chuckles. “Maybe my mommy and Dr. Mike can have babies soon.”

“Would they still be my brother or sister?” Gigi asks.

“Duh,” Megan replies.

I ruffle the beanies on their heads. “You two might be the most adorable people I’ve ever met. Fact.”

They both smile wide, and then Gigi whispers something in Megan’s ear. Megan’s eyes go wide as she turns to me. “Does that mean we get what we want for Christmas?”

I shrug. “I don’t have the right clearance with Santa to know that information. But I’ll tell him you’ve been really good and so helpful teaching me how to build my very first snowman.”

They seem happy with my answer and go back to picking the accessories for the snowman.

I stare at them. I’ve never thought much about having children before, but these two kids make me want to be a dad.

What would a couple of little Bubbles be like? I chuckle to myself. They’d be a handful, that’s for sure.

I turn to Riley once more, and my heart skips a beat.

Be still. Be still.

21

COACH

I sipfrom the huge mug filled with steamy cocoa and marshmallows that Harrison gave me. “God, this is too good to be good for my health.”

“Don’t look at me. Fletch says at Christmas, all calories are free.”

I laugh. “If only that were true.”

“How are things going with you and Bubble? We really feel awful about the situation we put you both in.”

I wave him off. “You had no way to know, just like Bubble couldn’t have known. Things are working out okay.”

He raises a brow. “Just okay? Was that a kiss I just saw before I went inside for the cocoa? Correct me if I’m wrong, but my impression when we arrived was that you weren’tthatclose before.” He takes a sip of his drink and sighs. “Christ, I’m spending too much time with Fletcher. I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. You can ignore anything I say, and we can just supervise the kids to make sure they don’t turn into icicles.”

I chuckle. “It’s okay. You read the situation right. We weren’t that close. I’d go as far as saying we weren’t even friends. When you arrived yesterday, I was here to apologize to Bubble for being an ass to him the day before.”

Harrison laughs.

“What’s funny?”

He clears snow off the porch rail and sets his mug down.