by Leah Atwood
Alec scoffed. “And why is that a problem? I love my wife.”
Matthew whistled. “It’s not a problem. I just didn’t think you’d get all domestic on us so quickly. Whenever we come over I’m always wondering if you’ll be wearing an apron.”
Alec cuffed Matthew on the back of the head. “Stop mocking me in my own house. And give me a break. Being back here is like a slice of heaven. And if Maggie wants me to help out in the kitchen and put an apron on, I’ll do it. Because I’m a real man and I’m not threatened by domestic life. Maybe you’ll feel the same way when you grow up.”
Jude and Tim walked up just in time to hear his comment. Immediately they began hooting and hollering. “Oooh. He put you in your place, Matty,” Tim said with a snicker.
Jude covered his laughter by putting his hand over his mouth. “I think he’s calling you out, big time.”
Alec glared at his three brothers. Did he really have time for their foolishness? Things had been so peaceful before their arrival. He swung his gaze back and forth between the three of them. He folded his arms across his chest. “And furthermore, what goes down between my wife and I is personal. No more questions about Maggie and me. Period. Point blank.”
Matthew, Jude and Tim nodded their heads in unison.
“Maybe we don’t really need a tree,” he said as visions of cuddling on the couch with Maggie danced in his head.
Maggie appeared in the doorway, decked out in snow pants, a puffy down jacket and a pair of sturdy winter boots. “Of course we need a tree, Alec. It’s tradition.” The look of pure happiness on her face was priceless. He wouldn’t take that away from her for the world.
Matthew met Alec’s gaze with a gigantic grin that showcased his dimples. His little brother had figured out that he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If Maggie hadn’t been standing there he would have loved to wipe that grin off his little brother’s face. Even with only one good arm he could still take Matty down. Instead he reached for Maggie’s hand and entwined it with his own, pleasure shooting through him at the solid weight of her hand linked with his.
“You’re right, baby. Let’s go get that tree.”
As they headed outside, Alec reminded himself to be patient. His favorite Bible verse from Corinthians said it best. “Love is patient, love is kind.” Before this night was over he and Maggie would be having their own private, romantic reunion. And all would be right in his world.
“Family time is the best time!” Jude Donahue
Chapter Ten
Nottingham Woods was a fairytale, Maggie realized, a winter wonderland filled with rolling hills, acres of balsam and pine trees. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d been happier. Being with Alec was awesome, but being with all four Donahue brothers was a little slice of heaven. As an only child, she'd never enjoyed rollicking good times with siblings. She'd never been a part of the inside jokes or the good-natured teasing. She’d never had a soft place to fall until she met Alec and his family. Uncle Gene and Aunt Tamela were terrific, but it had just been the two of them. She’d always wanted a big, bustling family.
Now, for the first time since she’d lost her parents, she really felt as if she belonged to a tribe. She was one of them.
The moment she laid eyes on the seven-foot Balsam tree, she’d known it was the one. It was practically screaming her name and shouting, “Pick me. Pick me.” She pointed to it, then gave the boys their marching orders while she did her own version of the happy dance. Alec and his brothers stared at her as if she’d violated some Donahue code of conduct, but she didn’t let it stop her from celebrating. As soon as they cut it down she ran over to it and knelt down beside it, burying her nose in the fir and boughs. It smelled like Christmas, she realized. Fresh, woodsy, natural.
When the tree had been strapped to the top of the car, she decided it was time to celebrate. She bent over, scooping up a mound of snow in her hand and sculpting it into the perfect snowball. For a moment she stared at it, admiring its beauty and simplicity. With a devilish grin, she hurled it at her husband’s back, excitement coursing through her veins when it landed with a loud thwacking sound.
She leapt in the air and shouted, “Score!”
As if in slow motion she watched Alec turn around, his face incredulous as he realized she’d thrown the snowball.
“Seriously? Do you really want to go there?” he said in a warning tone.
“And what are you going to do about it?” She threw her hands in the air in a defiant posture. “You’ve only got one good arm there. Not much of a threat.” She snickered at the sight of him—red-faced from the cold and struggling to remove snow particles from the back of his neck.
With the speed of a running back he began sprinting towards her, a mound of snow nestled in the crook of his good arm. Alarmed, she let out a cry. She tried to pivot around and make a quick getaway, but the knee-deep snow had her trapped. Closer and closer Alec came, unnerving her so much that she ended up stumbling over her own feet.
She fell backwards in the snow, landing flat on her back with her head resting against a snowbank. Alec crouched down next to her, a huge snowball in his hand poised over her head.
Maggie let out a squeal. She held her hands up to cover her face. “No, Alec. No! Please, don’t. Have mercy on me.”
He looked down at her, his face hovering mere inches above her. She could see the tiny flecks in his blue eyes and the indentation in his chin. She couldn’t help but notice the slight shadows under his eyes and the hint of vulnerability in his expression.
Alec Donahue prided himself on his strength, his manliness and his military prowess. He was a man of incredible courage. His fellow soldiers called him a machine. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man. But, he wasn’t invincible. He’d been to hell and back. He’d seen death, dismemberment and brutality up close and personal. And he was still grieving the loss of his father. After a while it took its toll on a person. To endure all those things and remain unscathed would be almost miraculous.
More than anything else, she wanted to take away all the bad things. She wanted to soothe his pain. For once, she wanted to give him a soft place to fall amidst all the madness.
“Hmmm. Where’s all the smack talk now?” he asked, locking gazes with her. “Not so big and bad, are we?”
The December air was so cold she could see his breath hovering in the air. His lips were slightly purple from the cold. She wanted to kiss his purple lips and bring them back to life.
She gazed up at him, her emotions a wild jumble. Her feelings were almost too vast to be contained inside her.
“What do you have to say now?” Alec asked, his tone tender.
“I love you,” she blurted out. She reached up and caressed the side of his face with her mittened hand.
He flinched as ice particles made contact with his skin. His eyes scanned hers, searching for something she couldn't pinpoint. “I love you too, baby.”
She took her mitten off then reached out and traced the shape of his lips with her finger.
“Be careful. Your fingers will freeze,” he warned. He captured her fingers with his mittened hand and gently began kissing them all over. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh of contentment.
“I’m so glad to be back, Maggie. You have no idea.”
“And I’m so glad you came back to me,” Maggie said. “My life is so much better when you’re in it. You make me better. Stronger. Wiser.”
Alec lowered his head and captured her lips in a searing kiss. This time there was pure fire in the kiss. Her frozen lips began to thaw out as his lips began moving over hers. She let out a satisfied sigh as his tongue slid into her mouth, heightening the intensity of the kiss. He placed his hands on the side of her face, anchoring her to the kiss. Her hat tumbled off and he ran his fingers through her fiery mane of hair. “My Maggie. My sweet wonderful Maggie,” Alec said, his voice full of emotion.
“Oh, Alec,” she whispered. “How I’ve missed you.”<
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**
“Alec! Maggie! Where are you guys? We’re ready to roll.” The sound of Jude’s voice intruded on their private interlude, reminding them both that they were not alone in their wintry paradise.
As they pulled apart, Alec let out a string of blistering words about his brothers. “With these three around I can’t even properly kiss my wife.”
Maggie wagged a finger at him. “If your mother heard you right now she’d take you over her knee.”
Alec snorted. “Mama could barely take me over her knee when I was five, although I’m willing to bet she’d try and wash my mouth out with soap.”
Maggie held up a finger. “Shhh...I think they’re coming this way.” She peeped over his shoulder and spotted the three of them about one hundred feet away. They were glancing in every direction and calling out their names, but they didn’t seem to spot them. Maggie would wager that they were being shielded from view by a cluster of birch trees.
“You’d think they’d get the hint that we want to be alone,” Alec muttered.
“Maybe if we stay really still they won’t notice us,” she whispered.
Maggie tried to keep a straight face but she began to giggle. Her giggles soon turned into snorts that set Alec off. He began with a low chuckle that transformed into guffaws. He threw his head back with laughter, his face lit up with merriment. His body shook with the effort. She felt the splash of tears on her face—happy tears. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get control over her out of control laughter. It felt like an impossible task.
When she opened her eyes, there were three pairs of boots sticking out of the snow. She looked up to see Tim, Jude and Matthew standing next to them, all in various states of disbelief.
Jude shook his head, his face scrunched up with disapproval. “Were you guys...fooling around?”
Jude’s loaded question started another round of laughter. Maggie knew she should feel some measure of embarrassment, but all she felt was joy. It was Christmas, for goodness sakes, and she was kissing her husband in a snow bank. It didn’t get any better than this.
Alec chuckled. “Jude. We’re an old married couple. I think it’s perfectly fine if we show a little affection. Kisses aren’t against the law.”
Maggie let out a chirp that sounded suspiciously like laughter. She clapped her hand over her mouth and tried to think of sad things. C’mon, Maggie. War. Pestilence. Hunger. For some reason, all she could think of was the disapproving look on Jude’s face. He was acting like an old man for goodness sakes. The very thought of his grumpy old man face made her giggly.
Matthew looked down at them, his lips twisted in displeasure. “Something tells me you heard us calling you,” he said with a frown. “That’s not cool. We’re freezing our butts off out here.”
“B-Butts,” Maggie said, mimicking Matthew and finding yet another reason to burst into hysterics. They continued to lie in the snow as more waves of laughter consumed them.
“These two are gone,” Tim said. “A pair of absolute nuts.”
Alec raised himself up from the snow and scrambled to his feet, leaning down to lend her a hand up.
He turned towards his brothers. “Lighten up, you three. You’re acting like a couple of Grinches. Next thing you know you’re going to be sliding down chimneys on Christmas Eve and stealing presents from little kids.”
Maggie paused to brush the snow off the seat of her pants. “Yeah, triplets. You seem to be lacking holiday cheer. We wish you a merry Christmas. Have yourself a merry little Christmas.” She stroked her jaw with her fingers. “Hmmm. I think I see a theme here. The key word is merry,” Maggie added.
“We were merry,” Matthew insisted. “Until you ditched us and made us freeze our...buns off.”
“Don’t try to reason with them,” Jude suggested with a tremendous eye roll. “We’ll be here all night.”
Alec grabbed hold of Maggie’s hand and began walking towards the car with her, hand in hand. Just as they reached the jeep he turned towards her and encircled her in his arm, planting a firm kiss on her lips as he dipped her backwards. The kiss was long and lingering. The two of them practically set off smoke signals.
“Ugh. Since when are you two into such public displays of affection!” Tim griped.
With Maggie still in his arms, Alec turned towards his brothers and winked at them. “You should be so lucky. I’ve been away from my bride for more than six months. I love her more than life itself. And I’m not afraid to show the whole world how I feel about her. You should be so lucky one of these days.”
Maggie didn’t think she could possibly love Alec any more than she already did, but his speech to his brothers pushed her love for him toward the stratosphere. Even though the temperature had dipped into the mid thirty-degree zone, Maggie felt all warm and fuzzy inside. And she knew it had everything to do with her husband being back in her orbit.
“All it takes sometimes is a simple gesture
to touch a person’s heart.”
Dottie Donahue
Chapter Eleven
Alec knew he’d done a good thing as soon as the Christmas tree was put up in the living room. The sight of it, proud and majestic, caused tears to trickle down Maggie's face. She seemed very sentimental at the moment.
He chewed his lip and studied his wife from across the room. Ever since his return she’d been an emotional mess. He was trying not to take it personally, but it was causing him to dredge up the past in his mind. Was she happy? Really, truly happy? Or were her tears an outward sign of an inner struggle?
Dear Lord, please let Maggie be content with her life, even though I know we’ve gone through numerous trials as a married couple.
She caught him watching her as she swiped tears away.
“I know it’s silly,” she explained, “but I can’t stop thinking about how blessed I am. I expected to spend the holidays alone and now you’re here. And I thought the last thing I wanted was a Christmas tree, because it would have reminded me of you. But now,” she continued, her voice wavering, “I have everything that I could ever want right here in this room.”
“As long as you’re happy,” he said, his voice probing.
Maggie frowned, her brows coming together. “Yes, I’m happy. Aren’t you?”
Alec nodded, unable to speak past the huge lump that had gathered in his throat.
Happy? He was ecstatic! Being back home was the closest to heaven he would ever get on this Earth. Being with Maggie was all that mattered to him, outside of the Donahue clan. But how did he put that in words? How did he let his wife know that she was all he’d ever need in this world? Without her he was nothing. He wasn’t verbose or sophisticated. Words constantly eluded him like will of the wisps he couldn’t grab onto.
Somehow, he’d have to find a way. Every wife deserved to know she was treasured.
“I’m starving,” Jude called out from the kitchen, causing Maggie to quickly beat a path to his side.
“I can make chili and cornbread,” she said as she opened the kitchen cabinets and began scouring them for the ingredients. “Chili powder. Kidney beans. Spices. I have turkey and salsa in the fridge, so I think we’re alright.”
Alec glared at his brothers who were sitting at the kitchen table with hungry, expectant looks on their faces. Matthew and Jude got the message and hustled towards the front door without a word of protest.
“They can’t stay,” he tersely explained when Maggie gave him a befuddled look.
He grabbed Tim by the arm and walked him towards the door. He gave him a little push over the threshold.
“Hey! Watch who you’re shoving,” Tim protested. “Is this any way to treat a guest?”
Alec let the door close with a bang.
Someone on the other side banged on the cedar door and yelled out, “I thought we were having chili!”
Maggie looked at him wide eyes, her mouth swinging open in surprise.
“Alec! You can’t just kick them out like that!”
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His mouth twisted; He was fighting the urge to grin. “Sure I can. They’ll be fine. If I know my brothers they’ll head over to my mother’s house and give her a play by play of everything that went down today. I made them promise not to tell her about my arm and how I was shot. If she knew, Lord knows she’d break every speed limit known to man to get over here. And I want to spend quality time with you before we get interrupted again.” Alec brushed a weary hand over his face. “She’ll probably make them a four-course meal and wait on them hand and foot. Don’t worry about them, Maggie. They’re in good hands.”
He grabbed her around the waist and swung her towards him so that their bodies were pressed against each other. He began to hum a lively tune, then twirled her around before pulling her back toward him. Maggie, who loved to dance, began getting into it. Her feet were moving at a fast pace as she showed him her moves.
“Not so fast. I want to slow dance with my lady,” Alec said, drawing her back so that they were dancing closely.
“That’s fine by me,” she said in a quiet voice.
“I’ve been dying to have you in my arms all day,” he said as she lowered her head to his chest and began to slow dance with him.
“Really?” she asked, her voice coming out like a squeak.
“Really. Truly,” he murmured, his hand running down the length of her hair.
He knew this side of Maggie like the back of his hand—her shy side. Sometimes when they’d been away from each other for a while she reverted to the Maggie he’d met a few years ago. The reserved young woman he’d courted and wooed until she’d let down her walls and allowed him in to her world.
He loved all her complexities. One minute she was assertive and loud and the very next she was soft and demure. Sweet one moment, sassy the next. It was one of the many reasons he loved her so fiercely.
After a few moments of bliss, Maggie pushed him away, her emerald-colored eyes frantic with worry as she met his gaze. Her hands rested on his chest.