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CHAPTER FORTY

BIG DAYS

ADELINE

I feel like I’m living a dream. No, better than a dream—because this is real.

I wake up to the sound of little feet pounding down the hallway and giggle when I hear the high-pitched squeal of Winnie’s excitement, followed by Sam’s deeper voice telling her to slow down so she doesn’t fall. But neither of them slows down. I smile in my pillow and hear Penn’s husky chuckle.

“I thought they’d never wake up,” he says, popping out of the covers.

He leans over to kiss me quickly, his dimples on full display, and I melt.

“Merry Christmas,” he says.

“Merry Christmas. What time is it?” I ask.

“Early,” he says, laughing.

“How long have you been awake?”

“Since three.”

“But we went to sleep around midnight.”

“What can I say? I’m excited.”

The door creaks open and then Winnie launches herself at us, climbing right over Penn and landing between us like a cannonball.

“Whoa! There’s a tornado in our bed,” Penn says, nuzzling his cheek up to Winnie’s.

Sam stands at the end of the bed, grinning.

“I tried to get her to wait until five, but no go,” he says.

“Merry Christmas, you two,” Penn says. “We said to wake us up when you were awake—when did you get up?”

“She snuck in my room at four,” Sam says.

Penn sighs. “You mean we could’ve been opening presents by now?”

Sam’s shoulders relax and he laughs. He’s trying to be cool, but the excitement is bouncing off of him. “Sorry, Dad.”

We all pause, Penn gulping hard, and he reaches out and tugs Sam onto the bed with us, giving him a big hug.

I tickle Winnie’s side and then Penn’s and he jerks and lets out an exaggerated whoop, making us all laugh. I launch at Sam and hug him, tickling his side too.

“You guys look so cute in your Christmas jammies,” I tell them.

“You too, Mrs. Hudson. You too.” Penn grins at me as he gets out of bed and lifts Winnie up onto his shoulders, looking down at Sam and me. “Well, I’m ready. I’ve already been to the bathroom, brushed my teeth…checked on the felines…”

“You’ve been up for a long time!” Winnie shrieks when Penn bounces her.

“I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying,” I say, rushing to the bathroom.

I don’t mess around in there, doing only the bare minimum before rushing back out.

They’re waiting for me and we go down the stairs together.

“Do you think Santa came?” Winnie asks.

“Oh, I know he did. Mrs. Claus too,” Penn tells her. “It was a joint affair.”

He pauses and sets her down on the stairs.

“Wait right here. Let me get a picture of you coming down,” he says.

He takes one with me and the kids and then I scoot out of the way so he can get one of them.

As soon as he takes the pictures, they jog down the stairs.

“Come on, Daddy!” Winnie says. “Mama, Sam, hurry!”

“We’re coming, promise,” I tell her.

We round the corner and there’s a collective gasp. Winnie’s is so loud, I check to make sure she’s okay.

The Christmas tree is perfection, if I do say so myself. The stockings are overflowing, and the floor beneath the tree is covered with presents, some wrapped and unwrapped.

“There are more presents here than last night!” Sam says, his voice croaking mid-word. He rubs his Adam’s apple absent-mindedly, his voice is changing and normally, he’s so embarrassed when it does that, but this morning, he’s too mesmerized by the sight before him.

Winnie runs to the floppy unicorn with the fluffy mane and buries her face in it.

“ I love it! ” she says, voice muffled in the fur.

Penn was probably most excited to give Sam the skateboard he’s been eyeing for a while. Sam’s scary good on the skateboard and this one is his favorite skateboarder’s brand. Sam goes over to the skateboard, his face all lit.

“A Disorder,” he gasps when he sees that it’s signed by Nyjah Huston. “How did you do this?” he asks.

“Santa must have a few connections,” Penn says, grinning at him.

Sam turns and hugs him. “I can’t believe you got me a signed Disorder!” he says against Penn’s chest.

“You just have to wear that with it,” I say, pointing to the cool helmet I found for him. “Every single time,” I add.

He rushes to the helmet and picks it up. “This is so sick,” he says, turning it every angle. “I love it!” He turns to look at me and I reach out and hug him. “I’ll wear it every time. Thanks, Mom,” he says.

“You’re so welcome,” I croak, hugging him tight and blinking fast.

Today’s the first time he’s called us Mom and Dad, and yeah, I’m going to be a puddle all day long.

We sit down around the tree…well, all of us but Penn, who jogs into the laundry room where the cats sleep. He comes back carrying the kittens, Jezebel on his heels.

“They didn’t want to miss out,” he says.

He sets them down and gives them the little toys we bought for them, and we laugh when Gizmo attacks his.

Penn points toward the stockings. “Want these now, or are we doing the big stuff?”

“Can I open this one?” Winnie asks, holding up a pink, sparkly box.

“Absolutely.” I nod.

Sam looks on happily, still holding his skateboard.

Winnie shrieks when she pulls out a set of glittery fairy wings and a matching tutu. “Fairy princess!”

“You’ve always been a fairy princess,” Penn tells her.

He hands Sam a box and Sam’s mouth drops when he opens the new headphones. “These are—these are so cool. I can’t believe it,” he says, shaking his head.

Penn sits down beside him and ruffles his hair. Then he hands me a huge box.

“Me?”

“Yes, you.” He smirks.

Inside is a luxurious blanket. I hold it up to my face and sigh. “So soft.”

He gives me a sweet smile, his eyes heating with promise.

I give him a sweater and a beautiful decanter set that he loves. He gives me a robe that makes me feel like a queen, stunning earrings, and an adorable floppy flamingo.

It’s Penn’s turn to get teary when we give him an album filled with the pictures he’s been taking.

Sam and Winnie are beside themselves with every present we give them, so excited and so grateful.

When they give us each a leather key chain with Mom and Dad on the front, there are more tears. And under the little leather flap that opens up, there’s a picture of the four of us together.

“This is the best,” I cry.

We go through the stockings one at a time, and it’s Just. So. Fun. Seeing Christmas through Sam and Winnie’s eyes—and Penn’s because he’s just as excited—makes me happier than I thought possible.

There’s one little box left in my stocking and I pull it out, eyes wide at Penn.

“Open it,” he whispers.

Inside the box is a delicate chain with dainty charms—Cupid’s arrow, a unicorn, a skateboard, a football, ballet slippers, and an infinity symbol. I laugh when I see the last two—a slice of pizza because Sam will always say he wants pizza if asked. And last but not least, a flamingo.

I bite my lip. “Penn...”

“You like it?”

“It’s perfect.”

“You are.” He leans in and kisses me slowly, his hand sliding into my hair.

“What an amazing day,” I whisper.

He nods, leaning his forehead against mine.

The rest of the day is a blur of noise and laughter…and a little snoozing on the couch. Friends and family start pouring in by late afternoon. The house is bursting at the seams with pure joy.

At some point, Penn taps his glass with a spoon and stands. “Hey, can I say something?”

Everyone quiets down.

“I have an announcement,” he says. “Well… we have an announcement.”

He looks at me and Sam and Winnie, and there’s so much love there, it almost knocks me over.

“We are extremely happy to tell you that, come Monday…” His voice catches for a second. “Sam and Winnie will officially be Hudsons.”

Everyone stares at us and then the room erupts into cheers. Sam laughs and Winnie claps her hands.

“You all know me,” Penn continues, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I didn’t think I was cut out for this. I resisted all of it.

But these two?” He looks at Sam and Winnie.

“They taught me otherwise. They taught me how to love big. And this woman right here…” His eyes find mine.

“She made me believe I could have it all. She showed me how to love with my whole heart. I don’t even recognize the man I was before because once I met Addy and fell in love with her, it took over every part of me.

So, this whole family thing? It’s all thanks to her.

” He lifts his glass and winks at me. “Literally.”

I bite back a smile as tears blur my vision.

Our fake marriage may have started out as a means to an end, but there’s no doubt in my mind that what we have is the real deal.

“I love you, Adeline Hudson. With everything in me, I love you. And I love you, Sam and Winnie Hudson. The three of you are the best Christmas gifts I could ever get.”

There are lots of sniffles around the room.

And then we lift our glasses.

“To Sam and Winnie,” Penn says.

“To Sam and Winnie,” we all echo.

It’s a good thing there was a game yesterday—the Mustangs won, woot woot—because otherwise, I think my husband would have driven me crazy waiting for Monday to get here.

As it is, he has been a handful, but at least the distraction of the game helped.

We take the kids out of school an hour early on Monday afternoon, and the nerves are high on the way to the courthouse. When we arrive, Winnie holds my hand so tight my fingers go numb.

We walk inside, and I’m touched to see our friends and parents lingering outside the courtroom. Even Sutton is there, grinning like a proud uncle, and so is his beautiful wife, Felicity.

“Aw, you guys,” Penn says. “I can’t believe you all came.”

“Of course we did,” Henley says.

“We wouldn’t miss it,” Weston adds.

David shakes Penn’s hand and pulls us both in for a hug. “Let’s make this official.”

When we take our seats, I start second-guessing everything.

What if they don’t approve us? What if something goes wrong?

But when I see the judge, my insides relax.

She’s an older woman with warm eyes and a kind voice.

She looks at Penn and me, then Sam and Winnie, and smiles as she begins the proceedings.

David asks us a few questions and then the judge does, and it’s all easier than I expected.

“I don’t usually say this,” the judge says, “but this is an exceptional case. Seeing the way these relationships came about…Mr. Hudson, the way you’ve been involved in Sam’s life consistently over the years, and then the way Winnie came into your lives…

well, I’ll just say that this is one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made. ”

She stamps the paperwork and then hands out the two new birth certificates.

“Congratulations,” she says.

I stare down at the papers, my breath catching. Samson Cole Hudson. Winnie Mae Hudson.

Sam looks up at us, his eyes shining. “It’s real?”

“It’s real,” Penn says, his voice thick.

Sam hugs Penn, hard. And Winnie wraps her arms around my waist. I bend down and lift her, hugging her tighter. Penn looks at us, tears in his eyes.

“We did it,” he says. “They’re ours.”

I nod, tears slipping down my cheeks. “They’re ours.”

“And you’re mine,” he says, leaning over to kiss me.