Page 61 of Moonlight & Matrimony (Oak Ridge #2)

“Luca?” Ivy’s voice brings me back to the present, her hand paused with a construction paper reindeer near the top of the tree.

“What? Sorry. I missed what you said.”

“I asked if you wanted to do pizza for dinner.”

“Sounds great,” I say, swiping at my phone to place the order.

“It’s beautiful,” Ivy whispers. The Christmas tree casts a colorful glow around the room; red, green, blue, and gold hues reflecting off every surface. The tree is a chaotic mess of decorations, mainly concentrated along the bottom half of the tree, and it couldn’t possibly be any more perfect.

Cuddled up on the sofa with my girls, Rylin is fast asleep with her head on Ivy’s lap.

She drifted off somewhere between the fourth round of jingle bells and the second rendition of White Christmas.

Ivy is nestled into my side, her head resting on my chest as she strokes her fingers along the delicate curls splayed across her thigh.

“She reminds me so much of Paige at that age.” I don’t know what prompts my admission, but something about this night makes me want to open myself up and lay bare all of my insecurities.

“Yeah?” Ivy glances up at me through her lashes, her glasses long discarded on the table, giving me a stunning view of the swirling shades of green, brown, and gold. I swallow thickly.

“Mmhmm. Not just the wild curls, though there is that. It’s her spirit,” I say, a slight hitch in my voice.

“Paige wasn’t always so introverted. She was a very energetic little girl, but over time, her brilliance was slowly stripped away — bit by bit.

I was too caught up in my own issues with our parents to realize it until it was too late.

Yet another one of my failings as a big brother. ”

“You were a child, too, baby. It wasn’t your job to keep the family intact.”

Her words grip me like a vice, squeezing my heart. “Yeah, it’s just hard to reconcile my role in everything she had to cope with.”

“She’s okay, Luca.” Her gaze softens as she looks up at me, and I can’t tell if we’re talking about Paige or Rylin anymore.

“She survived. We all survived.” The last words get stuck in her throat, a tear tracking along her cheek.

I gently swipe it away, replacing it with my lips, and I don’t miss the slight hitch in her breath at my touch.

Determined to steer the conversation into safer waters, I change the subject. “If you could have anything for Christmas, what would it be?”

“Anything?” she asks.

“Anything at all. No limitations.”

“I think I already have it,” she whispers.

Me too.

Fully expecting to wake up to an empty bed, I’m taken aback when I open my eyes to see a pair of brilliant blues staring back at me.

“Merry Christmas!” Rylin’s enthusiastic voice cuts through the silence of the room just as footsteps sound down the hall.

Ivy and I were up late playing Santa, and while I wanted nothing more than to ask her to come to bed with me, I knew the timing wasn’t quite right so we went our separate ways at the top of the stairs, resisting every inclination to pull her into me.

“Ry? You in here?” I glance around Rylin’s bedhead, finding my wife’s face peeking through the crack in the doorway. “I’m sorry,” she mouths and I can’t help the smile that overtakes my face. Shaking my head, I turn my attention back to Rylin.

“Merry Christmas, Bug. I ‘spose you’re here for a reason, eh?”

“Santa came, Luca! Come on!” Ry tugs on my arm, but her attempts are completely ineffective, so I pull myself up, pretending she did it all on her own.

“Ok. Ok. Let’s get this party started.”

I slide out of bed and lift an excited Rylin into my arms, following Ivy to the living room.

It must be pretty early because the room is still dark with only a sliver of light peeking through the curtains.

Ivy pulls them open, flooding the space with golden sunlight and Rylin gasps as the tree and all the gifts scattered underneath come into view.

“Wow,” she sighs, trying to wriggle herself from my hold. Her excitement fills me with contentment as I set her down on the hardwood.

I turn to Ivy then. “I have a very important question for you.” Her brows draw together, and she plants her fists on her hips. The last time I pulled this, it was the sandwiches, which is decidedly not an important question. “Stockings first or last?”

“First, obviously. What kind of deviant saves stockings for last? That’s so anticlimactic.”

I hold my hands up in surrender, grinning at my wife. “Just making sure we’re on the same page.”

We settle into the sofa, watching Rylin tear into each gift with a look of awe and appreciation that never wavers.

Content to sit back and watch Rylin open her gifts, I’m shocked when Ivy hands me a large package.

We never talked about exchanging gifts, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting anything.

Her teeth dig nervously into her bottom lip as she watches me tear open the wrapping.

. “It’s not much,” she says. “Just wanted to show you how much these past 6 months have meant to us.”

My hand closes around the edge of a large canvas, a swirl of blues and purples appearing as I expose more of the art.

“Ivy, this is…” Words escape me as I take in every delicate brush stroke used to create the moonlit night over the lake, and the constellations dotting the sky, reflected on the surfaces of the glassy water below.

It’s the view from the back deck of the cabin with the dock floating in the middle.

The silhouette of a curly haired little girl seated at the end, a three-legged kitten beside her.

No doubt Rylin had a hand in that detail.

“It’s incredible. Thank you.” I choke on the words, hanging onto my last thread of restraint as the need to consume her bubbles to the surface.

“I have something for you, too.” Setting aside the canvas, I direct Rylin to retrieve the last gift tucked underneath the tree. “And if you say anything about how I didn’t have to get you anything, I would refer you to the masterpiece you just gifted me, so don’t bother,” I say with a chuckle.

Rylin places the small package in Ivy’s palm, and it’s my turn to be nervous, afraid this gift might be too intimate.

She peels back the haphazard wrapping job, revealing a delicate gold chain with a round pendant.

“It’s a map of the sky on the night we met,” I explain, a slight hesitancy to my tone.

Her eyes soften as her thumb strokes over the surface.

Ivy

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

I’ve shed enough tears to last a lifetime, but this gift is damn near breaking me and putting me back together all at once.

“It’s beautiful, Luca,” I whisper, barely containing my emotions.

“That night changed my life.” Truer words have never been spoken, and I’m surprised to find I don’t want to take them back.

Opening up like this is new for me, but it feels right.

“Mine, too,” he says, leaning over to kiss my cheek.

Rylin climbs up onto the couch, nestling between us with her new fleece blanket. “I’m hungry,” she says. Her tummy rumbles right on cue, cutting through the tender moment.

“Wouldn’t want you to wither away,” Luca teases. “How ‘bout we make some pancakes?”

“Yes!” she squeals in delight, practically bouncing down the hallway towards the kitchen.

Luca smiles, the rare smile that forms a dimple in his cheek, following Rylin out of the room.

I’m frozen in place, still stroking my thumb over the surface of the pendant.

I don’t know what this means for us, but I’m choosing to take it as a sign to stop worrying and let the universe guide me. I just hope it leads me to Luca.