by Ivy Jordan
It was my third Christmas in Miami, and I still couldn’t get used to the sunshine beaming in through the windows as I decorated with garland and white lights. The smell of the turkey roasting in the oven marinated the house as I moved to the white Christmas tree that Isaac selected and carefully placed the multi-colored candy canes on each branch.
My life had never been better, and I had Isaac to thank for that. I’d been taking cooking lessons for over a year and a half now and was ready to start my career as a private chef. Isaac still chuckled when he watch me in the kitchen. “Who knew getting hit by a car could make you a good cook?” he’d tease.
A lot of things in my life had changed since I was hit by that car. I had friends, a life of my own, and one I shared with an amazing man. Rob had gotten out of jail around Christmas the previous year, but as far as I knew, he never tried to contact me or Isaac.
I moved into the kitchen, almost floating on air as the aroma pulled me into the room. The turkey was perfectly roasted as I pulled it from the oven, trading places on the rack with a homemade apple pie.
The waves slapped at the shore behind me, soothing my soul as I stirred the gravy, and then added a few finishing touches to our holiday meal.
The doorbell rang as I finished icing the last cookie, causing me to rush to answer it. “Merry Christmas!” Beth exclaimed, wrapping her arms around me tightly. We’d become very close friends since I’d returned to Miami, so close that I considered her my best friend, aside from Isaac, of course.
“Merry Christmas, Maddie,” Elijah smiled, handing me a bottle of wine. Beth made a face, wrinkling her nose at his gift. “Man, I miss wine,” she complained. Her hands rested on her round belly, patting it gently as she smiled.
“Two more months, and then we’re celebrating,” I smiled, giving her baby bump a soft rub.
Her new husband, Marty, entered behind her, winded from running up the street. Parking was tight since everyone on the street seemed to be celebrating at home. He was tall, good-looking, and best of all, nice. He came with a son, baggage as Isaac had teased, but to Beth, who thought she couldn’t have kids after her abusive past, he was a dream come true.
I hated that I wasn’t right about Beth and Elijah. But, Marty made Beth happier than I’d ever seen her, and they made the perfect couple.
Marty’s son bounced into the room, rushing straight for the Christmas tree. He checked each box until he found his name. “Mine,” he grinned from ear to ear.
Beth had confided in me that she didn’t think she could have kids of her own, and being a part of Marty’s life, and his son’s, made her feel whole again. We couldn’t believe it when she announced her pregnancy, and even her doctors called it a miracle.
“It smells amazing in here,” Elijah noted, taking a big whiff as he gave me a side hug.
“Everything’s almost ready. We’re just waiting on Isaac,” I announced.
Almost as soon as I made the announcement, Isaac entered through the front door. His cheeks were flushed red from the cooler winds blasting through the tropical city, and his eyes filled with a strange excitement. “Merry Christmas,” I said, tippy-toed to reach his lips. His arms stretched out to wrap around me, and something fell from his pocket.
I leaned down, picking up the small black box from the floor. I gasped as I realized what it must hold inside. Isaac nervously took it from my hand, his eyes wide and filled with fear. “You weren’t supposed to see that yet,” he smirked.
“Then we’ll pretend I didn’t,” I said sweetly.
Beth’s eyes were all over me. She’d seen the box, and she knew what was inside; her expression gave that away instantly. “Let me help you in the kitchen,” she offered, pulling my arm as she drug me into the kitchen.
She let out a squeal of excitement once we were alone. “Was that a ring?” she asked.
I nodded, my cheeks starting to burn. I imagined that Isaac probably had something romantic planned, and me seeing it may have ruined his surprise. “Do you think he’ll ask you tonight?” she questioned, her excitement stirring my own to a level I almost couldn’t control.
“I hope so,” I screeched.
“It’s been two years, so it’s about damn time,” Beth insisted.
Isaac, Marty, and Elijah entered the kitchen, cutting our conversation short. They helped carry the dishes to the large dining room table where we’d all eat our Christmas meal with a perfect view of the sunny beach.
“So, Beth was telling me about your latest case,” Elijah questioned Isaac from across the table.
He finished carving the turkey and looked towards his friend. “Yes, its pro-bono case, but I think for a good cause,” he replied.
I loved that his heart was so pure, so giving. He’d told me about the case earlier that week. It was a young girl, pregnant, and already with two small children. Her husband was abusive, and she wanted away. He threatened her with lawsuits to take away her children, and with his money, she feared he could. Isaac knew she couldn’t get her hands on any money since her husband controlled everything, so he agreed to follow them for the next month, gathering all the proof she needed to fight him in court.
“We should start a Christmas program that supports abused women and children,” I chimed into the conversation.
Beth was immediately for it, being a survivor of abuse herself. “The police have a program in place already. We could use our contacts there to get something started,” Isaac mentioned.
I was about to burst with excitement. The discussion of the program, of Isaac’s case, was all a great distraction, but I still knew what was in his pocket, and I wanted it now.
“I think we should do presents before pie,” I announced as everyone finished their plates.
Beth grinned, knowing what I was pushing for. There was no better setting than this one for Isaac to propose. We were with our dearest friends, and they’d gone through so much with us, they deserved to be a part of this as well.
Isaac’s eyes glared into mine, his lips curling into a crooked smile. It was obvious he knew what I was up to.
Marty’s son was first, immediately running to get his box. “An X-box?” he exclaimed, jumping up and down with the present in his hand.
“That’s a little extravagant, isn’t it?” Beth sighed.
I giggled. “I can spoil my nephew if I want,” I sassed.
I didn’t have any brothers or sisters, so I knew nephews and nieces wouldn’t be a part of my life. Once we became so close with Beth and Marty as a couple, I decided right then and there that they were family, making me an aunt. A very proud aunt.
I handed Marty and Beth each their present, Beth getting two since she was carrying my little niece in her belly. Marty got a certificate to golf all year at the best club in town. Elijah got a gun he’d been wanting, a vintage one that he and Isaac talked about frequently, and Beth opened the baby’s first: a handmade quilt that my grandmother had made, carried down for generations. Her gift was a soft, fuzzy robe, slippers, and a soothing sounds machine for her labor. “Thank you,” they both said in unison while Marty’s son worked on hooking up the X-box he’d received.
Beth gave me a photo album, filled with pictures of our two years together. “New memories are the best memories,” she smirked. I agreed.
Marty handed me a large thin box. I opened the lid to find a gourmet set of knives, each carved with the initials ‘ML.’ He must’ve known I was about to lose my maiden name and take Lewis as my new one. I smirked and nodded in appreciation.
Elijah gave us an expensive bottle of Scotch that he planned to share with Isaac later, and me a small box that contained business cards for my new business, flyers he’d printed out, and a link to a website he’d created with a full five years of tech support and design assistance.
“That is so sweet; thank you,” I wrapped my arms around them both. I couldn’t be happier, or could I?
I looked at Isaac, his eyes nervously shifting back and forth. “Can we do ours now?” I asked, win
king in his direction.
His cheeks turned pink, a shade I wasn’t used to seeing on him. “Okay. I guess there is no better place or time than here and now to give you your present,” he said, standing from the table.
He walked towards me and took to one knee. He pulled the black box from his pocket, holding it in front of him and towards me. “Maddie, I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you when you moved into the house next door. I spent my entire life dreaming of you, wishing you’d love me back, and I never believed in a million years I’d ever get so lucky. Today, I feel like the happiest man on earth, but I know if you’d be my wife, I could be even happier,” he choked out as he opened the ring box.
It was a gorgeous vintage ring, a diamond so big it caught every light in the room and displayed a beautiful shimmer of color. “I would be honored,” I gasped, wrapping my arms around his neck. My lips pushed into his, and Beth, Marty, and Elijah clapped and cheered.
“I have something for you too,” I said with teary joy in my voice.
“I can’t imagine anything better than your yes,” Isaac smiled.
I pulled a box from under my chair and handed it to Isaac. He looked at me curiously as he opened the top lid. A small stick was inside: a pregnancy test with two blue lines.
“We’re pregnant?” Isaac screeched. I nodded with tears flowing down my cheeks from my overwhelming happiness.
He wrapped his arms around me, then pulled me from my chair and into his chest as he covered me with kisses. “I didn’t think it was possible, but you just made me even happier,” he roared with excitement.
I never dreamed anything would make me this happy in life. But here I am, with the man of my dreams, a beautiful baby growing in my belly, and two of the best friends a girl could ask for.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Ivy Jordan