by Kim Law
“Mom sounds good,” she said, delaying the words she really wanted to say.
“Your mom has been doing really well lately. She’s getting more exercise. We got the workout room upgraded and reopen for guests, and she’s been using it every day.”
Her mother always did better when she stayed active.
“She still cooking a lot?”
“Improved her jalapeno cornbread recipe recently, and now she’s talking to the chef about using it in the restaurant.”
Maggie smiled. Her mother’s jalapeno cornbread was better than the potato soup Maggie had cooked for Cord that first night at the cabin.
“Dad . . . will you please consider coming to visit me in the hospital? I want my family there. Not just Cord’s family.” And she had no doubt that Cord’s family would be there. They’d all accepted her as part of them, and they’d already been discussing plans for being there while at the hospital yesterday.
“I don’t know, Maggie . . . You know your mother.”
“I do know, Dad. But maybe it’s time?”
She didn’t say anything more. It wasn’t just her mother’s reluctance that bothered her, but her father’s too. She’d once been so close to her dad. He’d been her hero when she was a kid. Always there for her when her mother couldn’t be. And though the two of them did remain close—as close as the distance allowed, anyway—when he and her mother had moved away, she’d felt deserted.
“I think we’ll just wait and visit after you’re home.”
Chapter Nineteen
Fat wet snowflakes fell from the sky as Cord shifted into park, stopping his truck beside his sister’s SUV. He looked over at Maggie. Light glowed across the fresh snow and into the cab of the truck, coming from the strands of clear globes running the length of the porch. Hanging on all the front windows and the house’s new double doors were pine wreaths tied off with large red bows, and visible through the panes of the front doors was a festively decorated tree. The place looked ready for a magical Christmas.
He reached over and took Maggie’s hand. “You ready for this?”
He’d arrived at her place earlier that day and helped fix the side dishes she’d signed them up to bring for dinner. Jaden and Arsula were in charge of the prime rib; his dad and Gloria had taken desserts, and everyone else was on sides.
“I suppose I am.” Her breaths were too short, giving away her fib, and Cord tilted his head as he looked at her.
“Why are you nervous? It’s not like everyone doesn’t already know you.”
“I know. I’m just jittery, I guess.” She looked out the window, her teeth nibbling her bottom lip, before bringing her gaze back to his. “I’m tired because I didn’t sleep well last night. So my emotions have been all over the place today. But also . . . I haven’t been to anyone else’s family Christmas since I was in college,” she confessed, and he totally understood that. It had been since high school for him. Since before his mother died.
“Then how about we be nervous together,” he suggested. “This is new for me, too.”
He’d had similar thoughts earlier that week but had pushed them aside anytime they’d filtered into his consciousness. Bringing her tonight was the decision he’d made, and it was the route he wanted to be on. However, the speed which things had moved between them continued to overwhelm him. A few short weeks ago he’d thought he would never have a serious relationship, much less a kid on the way and a girlfriend. And now . . .
Well . . . the present he planned to give Maggie after they were alone later certainly wouldn’t slow things down any.
He leaned across the space, sliding one hand over her belly while slipping the other behind her neck, and pulled her mouth to his. The kiss didn’t last long, but he tried to show her through touch that, same as her, he was both scared and excited for this evening. Her returning smile was exactly what he’d been hoping for.
“It’s going to be a good night,” he whispered.
“I know.” Her eyes shone bright as she peered back at him, and the complete faith he could read in their depths relaxed him. It didn’t matter what his father might have tried to manipulate him into doing the weekend before. It didn’t matter that he still hadn’t talked to his dad, nor that he’d decided not to talk to him at all. Arguing about his father’s actions wouldn’t help anything. He and Maggie were good. He and Maggie could be great if they stuck together. And that was what counted.
He kissed her fingertips before pulling away. “Sit tight until I get around to help you out.”
She nodded, and as he exited the truck and rounded the front, he refortified himself to go into the house. From the look of the vehicles already parked, he and Maggie were the last to arrive. He hoped that meant they could get on with dinner and then presents without too much small talk. He’d spent the week not talking to anyone in his family for fear that he’d let his continuing anger be exposed, and as he’d told Maggie the weekend before, he didn’t want his issue with his father to get in the way of their last Christmas in this house. And soon, it wouldn’t be an issue any longer, anyway. Because he had come up with a better plan.
He held Maggie’s hand as she exited the truck via the step he’d had installed, then he reached into the back seat and passed over the dishes of Brussels sprouts and green beans they’d brought. He grabbed as many of the wrapped packages as he could carry while still leaving a hand free to help Maggie if she needed it, then together, they headed for the porch.
“You good?” he asked as they reached the steps. The six inches of snow that had already fallen had been cleaned from the sidewalk and front steps.
“I’ve never been better.”
She gave him another smile, and this time his heart thumped a little harder. He was glad she’d come with him.
“Maggie!” Megan squealed as she opened the door to the two of them. Megan and Nate had refused to let any of them enter the house since renovations had been completed two weeks before. They’d needed time to have the place cleaned and move in all the furnishings Megan had picked out, as well as let the decorators get the tree and other decorations put up. They’d wanted everything to be a surprise for the whole family. “Come in!”
As Cord stepped across the threshold, he leaned in to give his sister-in-law a kiss on the cheek. “You look happy,” he murmured. It was fitting to have Megan greet them at the door since she’d been key in pulling the place together. “Hosting Christmas suits you.”
She laughed. “I’m thrilled. And I know we don’t live here, but after all the renovations we’ve overseen and picking out every piece of furniture, artwork, dishes, and supplies now in this place, it kind of feels like we do.”
“Cord. Maggie.” Nate came up the hallway behind his wife.
“Hi, Nate.” Maggie’s nerves could be heard in the tightness of her voice, and Cord put a reassuring hand to the small of her back.
“Nate.” Cord nodded at his brother. “Everyone here already?” He could see several of his family members in the back room, as well as hear even more who were out of sight.
“We were just waiting on you.”
Megan took the presents from Cord, and Nate offered to go out to help bring in the rest of the gifts, and just like that, Maggie was swept down the hall, into the crowd of his family. He waited before stepping back outside, watching to make sure she would be okay without him. Her nerves had surprised him. But when she didn’t look back, instead quickly disappearing into the throng of people in the other room, his own anxiousness eased.
“We’re all thrilled about you and Maggie,” Nate said as they headed for the truck. “And if I remember correctly, I think I called it the day of my wedding.”
“You called what?” Cord eyed his brother in confusion before remembering the toast Nate had made right before he’d walked down the aisle. He’d pointed out that Cord was the last man standing. The last single Wilde. And he’d implied that could easily change.
Cord hadn’t believed that possible.
“Love is good, man,” Nate said just before the top half of his body disappeared into the back seat of Cord’s truck. “Hold on to it.”
“I never said I love her,” Cord pointed out. And he didn’t love her. He cared strongly for her, definitely. He thought she was wonderful, and he couldn’t be happier that it was her having his child. But he hadn’t reversed his stance on love. Love and hate were too intertwined, and he wouldn’t give anyone the power to use that kind of emotion against him. Not even Maggie.
“You’re full of shit.” Nate reappeared with the rest of the presents from the back seat. The dollhouses were under a tarp in the bed of the truck. “And I’m not blind, either,” Nate continued. “I’ve seen you with her. You couldn’t keep your eyes off her last week at the hospital. And I just watched you again with her. You’re protective of her, man. You’re head over heels.”
Cord grabbed the overnight bags he and Maggie had packed and stacked one of them on top of the presents in Nate’s arms before hanging the other over his brother’s fingers. “Of course I’m protective. She’s carrying my baby.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “It’s love, idiot. You’re just too damned stubborn to admit it.”
“It’s not love, and it’s not stubbornness. It’s reality.” He pulled back the tarp, not interested in talking about his “love life” any longer, and took great pleasure in seeing the way his brother’s eyes widened at the sight of the remaining two gifts.
“What the crap are those?”
Cord grinned. “Those are my security in remaining the favorite uncle for years to come.”
“That’s bullshit,” Nate muttered with awe in his voice before turning back for the house.
Cord carried in the dollhouses one at a time, setting each inside the front door and being extra careful not to tilt either one. Maggie had painstakingly added tiny strips of tape between each piece of furniture and the floors of the rooms each piece belonged in, and he’d been given strict instructions not to allow anything to get misplaced. She didn’t want a bed to suddenly end up in the kitchen.
Once he had both presents in the house, and by the time he’d shrugged out of his coat and hung it up, word had gotten to Jenna and Haley that he’d come in with something extra special. He picked up one of the gifts, readying to carry it into the other room—the main Christmas tree had been set up in the back—and he took only one step before both girls appeared. They stood at the end of the hallway, their jaws slack and astonishment written across their faces.
“Please tell me those are for us,” Haley begged.
Jenna seemed at a loss for words.
Cord grinned. The rest of the family had risen from their seats and filed in behind the girls, and they all wore similar expressions to his oldest two nieces. Also, not a single person spoke. The room had gone eerily quiet. “This one,” he began, making a show of looking at the nametag hanging off the side of the package, “is for . . . Haley.”
The girl bounced on her toes, a little squee of noise coming out of her.
“And the one Uncle Nate is going to carry is for Jenna.”
Jenna’s hands went to her cheeks, her mouth still forming a small O.
“Don’t tilt it,” Cord informed his brother when Nate reluctantly squatted to pick up the other gift. “And hold it by the bottom.”
The group of them parted as Cord and Nate made their way down the hall, nothing more than murmurs coming from any of them, and as Cord caught Maggie’s eye, he gave her a wink. She was as much a part of these gifts as he’d been, and he loved that they got to share this moment together.
Once space had been made near the tree and everyone had appropriately oohed and aahed over the fact that the gifts were “larger than any other gift ever,” both Haley and Jenna turned to him. “Can we open presents before dinner? Pleeease.”
Dinner had been delicious, the company sublime, and being included as part of the family in the night’s fun was turning out to be one of the best times of Maggie’s life. She sat on one of the love seats beside Cord, laughing each time another gift was opened because as soon as the recipient laid eyes on whatever their present was, either Jenna or Haley asked if they could open their gift from Uncle Cord yet. And every time the answer was no.
Without it needing to be said, there had been consensus among the adults that the two girls’ presents would be the last ones to be unwrapped.
“Now?” Jenna asked as Harper held up the two onesies she’d just revealed for Emma and Ellie before draping them over the sleeping babies.
Cord’s fingers aimlessly stroked along Maggie’s back as he chuckled along with everyone else. He’d been touching her all night. “Not yet,” he said, and Jenna and Haley both groaned.
“This one is for Maggie,” Nate announced. He stepped across several piles of paper and reached over Mia’s head, who sat in the middle of another pile of paper. She had new toys and packaging scattered everywhere around her. “It says it’s from Dad and Gloria.” Nate had been playing “Santa” by passing out all the gifts tonight.
Maggie graciously accepted the present, its glittery silver paper topped off with a shiny green ribbon, and sent the older couple a smile. “Thank you.” She’d never felt so welcomed. Or so loved.
“I hope you like it,” Gloria said. “Max picked it out.”
“I hope it’s not another belly casting kit.” Jaden shuddered from his position on the other side of the room, and his fiancée elbowed him in the stomach.
“Shut up,” Arsula said. “That was a great gift.” It was also the one that Arsula had picked out. “She’ll forever have a sweet memory of what she looked like just before giving birth.”
“Said from a woman who’s yet to have everything about her stretched into an unrecognizable form,” Dani added.
Harper and Erica both snickered along with Dani, and though Maggie had had a similar thought about the idea of casting her oversized belly into a giant mold, she’d appreciated the thoughtfulness behind the gift.
She opened the present in front of her now to find a gorgeous ceramic table lamp with the phases of the moon cut out around the sides of its cylindrical shape. The cutouts were meant for the light to shine through. “Oh, my,” she whispered and held it up in front of her. It was a muted blue color. “It’s gorgeous.”
Max beamed. “We thought it would work well in the baby’s room. It doesn’t put off too much light.”
“It’s perfect.” She turned to show it to Cord, but when she found him looking slightly away from the group, his jawline more rigid than usual, she was reminded—yet again—that he hadn’t directly spoken to his father all night.
She hadn’t been able to catch him alone to ask if he was okay, but she had caught looks from several members of his family any time it had been obvious Cord was intentionally keeping his dad at a distance. They’d seemed as confused by the situation as she.
“What did Uncle Cord get you?” Jenna asked from the floor. She’d sat down next to the dollhouse present that had her name on it when they’d first started opening gifts and hadn’t moved from its side once.
“I don’t know.” Maggie tossed the girl a what-can-you-do look. Cord had shared that he wanted to give her his present when they were alone later, which worked for her because she’d hoped to save her gift for him until they were by themselves, too. They’d set the two gifts on the dresser in their bedroom when they’d been given a tour of the house earlier. “Maybe he didn’t get me anything,” she teased.
“That would be awful.” Jenna scowled at Cord as if the words were the truth, then she glanced back over at her still unopened gift. A furrow formed between her eyes before she said, “I could share mine with you if he didn’t get you one,” and Maggie’s heart fell a little more in love with the whole family.
“Don’t worry.” Cord curved his hand over Maggie’s shoulder. “I got her something. And it’s even better than what we got you.”
Both Jenna’s and Haley’s eyes widene
d, as well as Maggie’s, and she turned to look at Cord. What could be better than the dollhouses? He stared back at her, the look on his face part secretive and part naughty Santa, and she suddenly found herself ready for the “family” part of the evening to be over.
“I think you should give it to her now,” Haley declared.
“You mean right now?” Cord looked between the two girls, his movements clear and intentional. “Like…before you two get to open your gifts?”
Their eyes went even bigger. “Now?” Haley asked in an excited whisper.
“I don’t see any more presents under the tree,” Haley’s dad pointed out from his position next to Dani. Ben passed baby Alice off when Dani held her arms out for her daughter, then he inched out to the edge of his seat. He looked as excited to find out what was in the large gift bags as the girls.
“Uncle Cord?” Jenna begged with her eyes.
Everyone in the room turned to look at Cord, and the pleasure Maggie took in that single moment made the entire night more special. This family was love. They were big and sometimes rowdy, and even knowing that there was something going on between Cord and his father, Maggie couldn’t miss what each of them meant to the others. What this night in this house meant to all of them.
Cord scanned the faces, even lingering on his dad’s anxious expression for a beat, before giving a decisive nod. “Now.”
The girls whooped with excitement and jumped to their feet. Maggie kept herself from warning them that they needed to be careful or they might mess up all the cute furniture placement before they could even see it, and as Cord’s hand slid down her side and pulled her in close, she turned her face and pressed a kiss into the side of his neck.
“I love you.” She mouthed the words into his skin. He wouldn’t have heard them, but the words wouldn’t stay inside her any longer. She loved this man, and she wanted to be with him forever. She wanted them to make a family and a home with their son.
She wanted them to have what everyone else in this room had.