Page 42

Emma

Six Months Later

“M ommy! Santa’s been!” Max’s excited voice wakes me at the crack of dawn as he comes rushing into the bedroom with his stocking.

“Shh, Sweetheart, you’ll wake the whole house,” I chastise gently.

“Ben’s awake already, he’s waiting in our room while I wake you up,” Max informs me, proud to have thought of it but missing the fact that the rule ‘knock and wait for mommy to tell you that you can come inside before entering’ also applies to him.

I roll my eyes and smile at him indulgently, it is Christmas day after all. “Well go and get him then, but do it quietly!”

Max races off and I turn on my bedside light and sit up in bed. I slept alone last night, fully aware that this exact situation was not only likely but almost inevitable and not wanting to give the CPS people a reason to deny our claims to Ben and Lucy.

After lots of meetings, legal jargon, string-pulling, and favors being asked, we have finally gotten somewhere with the adoption of Ben and Lucy. As predicted, Lucy’s dad didn’t want to take on his estranged teenage daughter and denied ever having slept with Jessica again, let alone fathered a child. We then ran a paternity test which confirmed Ben is indeed Adam’s biological son as we suspected. Both of these facts have helped to move the process along in our favor as, since Max and Ben are half-siblings, we have a claim to Ben, and with no one else wanting to take on Lucy, they’re almost grateful that we do.

It will take time, but we’re hopeful that the children will join our family officially soon. For now, they have been staying with us under supervision and have been allowed to spend Christmas here too, something I fought tooth and nail for.

I smile as the boys return looking adorable in their matching pajamas, dragging along a half-asleep Lucy with them.

“Max, I told you not to wake anyone,” I chastise gently.

“It’s okay,” Lucy concedes with a yawn.

Throughout all of this, Lucy has amazed me with her strength and resilience, she’s a smart, mature young girl who loves her brother dearly and while she misses her mother, she seems happy with the plan to live with us.

“Well, hop onto the bed, and let’s see what Santa brought you all shall we?” I say, reveling in their joy. I wink at Lucy who smiles and mimes zipping her lips to show she won’t reveal to the boys the truth about Santa.

As the children begin taking turns to open the small gifts in their stockings, a familiar handsome face pokes around my door.

“I thought I heard you were up,” Jax says with a smile, his hair tousled from sleep.

As much as I love seeing him shirtless, his usual preference for wandering around early morning, I’m grateful that he remembered to pop on a t-shirt, it’s a silly Christmas one that makes him look almost boyish.

“Jax!” the boys exclaim happily while Lucy’s cheeks turn red.

The boys love the men who never tire of roughhousing and playing games with them. Lucy has a slightly more tentative and complex relationship with them. She’s understandably wary and also hyper-conscious of their masculinity, but they’re working on building her trust every day. Each of them patiently asks about her day, listening carefully when she responds, or helping her with homework.

Jax perches on the bed, giving me a chaste peck on the cheek and wishing me a merry Christmas before happily making all of the right noises as the children show him their gifts. We soon head downstairs for breakfast, making pancakes and having fun letting the kids help. Mason soon comes to join us and gets stuck into the festivities with gusto, giving me a quick kiss.

“Merry Christmas beautiful,” he murmurs.

Not long after, Ty joins us. He hovers in the doorway watching us for a moment with an unreadable expression on his face and I worry that this will be too much too soon for him. I move to stand next to him, taking his hand in mine and giving it a gentle squeeze. He pulls his hand away and I worry he’s about to go but instead, he wipes away a tear that’s rolled down his handsome face.

Alarmed, I quickly ask, “Is everything okay? Is this too much? Do you need to go?”

I’ve never seen him cry before and I fear we’ve asked too much of him.

“No… no, I’m okay. It’s just… I really wish Danielle could be here, she would have loved our family,” he says gently.

“I wish she could too,” I reply gently, moving away to allow him to take his time before joining us.

Jacob and Bess arrive later on, joining us for the Christmas dinner. Bess brings her new girlfriend, a beautiful and funky rock chick with heavy kohl eyeliner and punk clothing that is almost a juxtaposition to her sweet personality. Jacob is healing well and has a great time with his nephew and new niece and nephew, treating them as his own. He turned up dressed as Santa, much to the delight of the boys who believed that he was the real deal—with his beer belly and big beard sprayed white he made a convincing St. Nick for sure—so much so he eventually had to ‘leave’ and come back as Uncle Jacob, listening and feigning annoyance when he discovered he’d just missed Santa Claus.

The day passes in a blur of food, drinks, presents, games, laughter, and fun. There are typical Christmas mishaps you’d expect in any family, burnt stuffing, and some good-natured arguments over charades, but all in all, it is a wonderful day that we all thoroughly enjoy.

With our guests gone and the children in bed, we finally have a moment alone. Cuddling up in front of the fire we discuss how well the day went.

“I have one more present to give you,” I say, heading to retrieve the small package hidden away at the back under the tree.

“No fair, we don’t have anything else to give you!” Jax protests.

“You’ve given us too much already,” Mason adds.

“Well, this is only small,” I say holding it out in front of me.

Confusion flits across their faces as they wonder what it could be.

“Who wants to open it?” Ty asks.

“I think, maybe you should as you’re in the middle, if Mason and Jax don’t mind…” I say tentatively.

They nod their approval, scootching closer to Ty to get a better look. He rips off the paper and opens the box. They all look at what’s inside, their mouths popping open in surprise as they realize what it is.

“Is this?”

“Are you?”

“Are you telling us…”

“I’m pregnant!”

I study their reactions carefully quickly being sure to add, “I don’t know who the father is of course…”

“I don’t care who it is! We’re going to have a baby!” Jax exclaims excitedly, more than happy to welcome another child into our family.

“I don’t need to know either, this is amazing news, Emma,” Mason adds sincerely.

We all look to Ty uncertain of how he will take the news that he could be becoming a biological father again. I don’t know how he will feel, and it scares me to death.

When his eyes meet mine, I know that it will be alright. They’re filled with so much love and happiness I think I might burst with joy.

“This is the greatest Christmas gift you could have given us, Emma. I love you, I love our family.”

His words permit us all to finally celebrate as they kiss and hug me in turn, excitedly talking about the baby and making plans for the future, including a bigger home to house our growing family.

I’m not sure I could have hoped for a more special, magical Christmas.