Page 336 of Under Her Skin

Grazing my knuckles across her pink cheek, I say, “I think I’d like this night to be just about us and our family. The actual day of Christmas can be for the rest of the family too. All of them—your parents too. But on Christmas Eve, I’d like it just to be us and those we createtogether.”

“And just how many of those creations do you think you’d like to make to form our family,Blaine?”

“Nine or ten,” I say and watch a smile spread over her gorgeousface.

“Lower please,” she says, then giggles. “How abouttwo?”

I shake my head. “Four or five. I want a big family,baby.”

“We’ll see,” she says, then kisses me. “I’m not ruling it outyet.”

“I’m not worried. I can talk you into having my babies. So, about those kids we’ll have one day—should we let them believe in Santa or bypass that wholething?”

“You know, with everyone being at our grandparents’ home and having to travel to get there, we never got to do the Santa thing. I think we should do it for our kids. Don’t you? Did your family do the Santathing?”

Shaking my head, I say, “No. I think we should do it for our kids too. I think it would be fun to watch them be surprised on Christmasmornings.”

“Me too.” She kisses me again. “I think we’ve just made our first decision as parents,Blaine.”

“Weird, huh? Since we don’t even have one kid yet,” I say, then laugh. “Maybe it’s time to open the presents we bought for each other. I’m kind of dying to know what you gotme.”

“Me too. But that huge box has me totally without a clue as to what you have in there. I can’t think of a thing that big, except maybe a dishwasher, which I do not need,” she says as she looks at the huge box next to thetree.

“You haven’t commented on the wrapping job Idid.”

She looks at me with a grin. “I was told if I didn’t have anything nice to say, then I was not to say anything at all. But since you asked, it looks like a monkey wrapped thatbox.”

“Yeah, just wait until you pull that wrapping paper off,” I tell her, then kiss her and find her soft lips yielding to mine as her hands move over my back with softcaresses.

Before I know it, we’re getting carried away, and I’m lifting her up to straddle me. Then I remember what I’m about to give her and stop the kiss that became passionate much too quickly. “Let’s slow things down a bit. You give me your presentfirst.”

With a sigh, she climbs off me and goes to get the present she got me. Coming back with it, she sits down, Indian-style, and I imitate her. Then she hands me the present. “This comes more from the heart than thepocketbook.”

“Good. I like those kinds of presents the best. And might I say, the wrapping paper is lovely, baby.” I pull the large, red, shiny bow off the box, then untie the red ribbon that’s holding the box shut. When I take the lid off, I look up, see her biting her lip, and looking a little on the anxious side. “Don’t worry. I know I’ll loveit.”

“It’s just that you have everything, and I had no idea what to get you. If you think it’s lame, just tell me so I never repeat this,” she says, then leans forward to peek into the box. “Good. I was afraid the lady used the wrong frame, but it’s the right one—the goldone.”

Lifting the frame out of the box, I see it’s a picture of me, my sister, and my brother when we were kids. “This is the sweetest thing I’ve ever been given, baby.” My parents loom above us with smiles on their faces, as if watching over us from heaven. “I don’t know how you managed to get all these pictures into one, but this iscool.”

“The lady who did it just needed a picture of each of you, and she kind of collaged them together to form this one. Kate sent me the pictures through our phones. That lady is pretty artistic, isn’t she?” She moves to sit next to me and looks at the picture withme.

“Thank you, baby. This is the most thoughtful thing I’ve ever had, and I will cherish it forever. I wonder where I should hangit.”

“You know the entry room, Blaine?” she asks as she takes the picture out of my hands, gets up, then places it on the sofa. “I think that’s where our family pictures should go. You know, so people who come to visit us can get a glimpse of who we are and where we come from as they come into ourhome.”

“I can see it now, pictures of our wedding day, the day our kids are born, things like that. I likeit!”

This woman is going to make the best wifeever!

Chapter7

DELANEY

I can see it in his yes—he does like the picture and that makes me very happy. I was a little worried he’d think it wascheesy.

He’s sat me on the Queen Ann chair that’s near the Christmas tree and is going to get the huge box my present is in. I really have no clue what it could be. When he picks it up as if it weighs nothing, I find that hard tobelieve.

“What did you get me, Blaine? A box of air?” I ask with alaugh.