The Love Series Complete Box Set

by Melissa Collins

  Momma smiles and laughs at me as I wipe my spit-out coffee up from the table. “I’m so happy that you’re here with us, Reid. And I’m thrilled that you and Maddy are learning to make things work.”

  I place my hand on top of hers and squeeze gently. “Thanks, Mrs. Crane. That means a lot to me, to both of us.”

  She ruffles my hair like I’m a little boy and says, “Enough with that Mrs. Crane stuff. You either call me Lucy or Momma. Got it?” I nod my agreement and she smiles down at me one last time.

  “Okay, then. I’m going to grab a shower and then head out to the fish market. The line is always a mile long there on Christmas Eve.” I stand from my chair and block her exit from the kitchen.

  “Why don’t you let me take care of that? I’m not going to be much help later with the cooking and everything, so it’s the least I can do. Besides, the driveway needs to be shoveled and it’s still snowing out. You don’t have to go out in that. Just write down what you need me to get and I’ll take care of it.”

  A huge grin appears on her face. “That’s very sweet of you, Reid.” She pulls a notepad and pen out of the junk drawer and jots down the list and directions. Handing me some money that I try to refuse, but she won’t let me, she just says, “Here you go.”

  To say that the rest of the day passes by in a flash would be a huge understatement. Momma, Mel and Maddy busy themselves getting dinner ready and when we sit at the meticulously decorated table, I’m overwhelmed by Momma’s words. “I have never been as happy as I am tonight. Seeing the three of you . . .” She looks softly at Melanie, then Maddy and then me. “Seeing you all around my table, I just . . . I love this little family we’ve got here. I’m so looking forward to having to put another chair around it next year.” Her smile brightens when she looks at Maddy on that last line.

  Melanie raises her glass and we all follow suit. Clinking them together, we share a toast and enjoy the meal. The entire evening plays out like a scene in a movie. We laugh and watch old Christmas movies. It feels like everything I’ve been missing out in my life is right here in front of me. And even though they’re not here, we called the rest of the gang and chatted for a while on the phone. It was so good to catch up with everyone.

  Sometime around eleven o’clock, Momma and Mel excuse themselves through their yawns. They go to bed and leave Maddy and I alone. Rather than immediately retreating to her room, we stay down in the den and watch the fire dance and flare in the fireplace before us. There’s a calm air of peace surrounding us in this bubble. We know that when the week is up, we’ll have to deal with the struggles of not seeing each other every day. But right here and now, we bask in the comfort of each other’s embrace.

  After the clock strikes midnight, I rouse Maddy from her sleep. She’s out cold even though she just nodded off a few minutes ago. Stretching her arms over her head, she rubs her eyes and smiles up at me.

  I kiss her forehead and let my lips linger a second longer than is necessary. “Can I give you your gift now?” I can’t hide the excitement in my words.

  She lazily crosses her legs underneath her and I walk over to the tree. Reaching behind all of the other presents, I pull out a small simply wrapped box. Anyone with half a brain can tell that it’s a jewelry box, so when I turn back to Maddy and she catches sight of the gift in my hand, her eyes widen in shock and she gasps.

  I sink back down onto the couch next to her and place the box in her trembling hands. She doesn’t say anything; honestly, it looks like her brain has stopped functioning for a moment.

  “Reid . . . I . . . I don’t know what to say.” She starts picking at the silver ribbon that sits atop the box and I realize she must be thinking that it’s an entirely different piece of jewelry.

  Before I can say anything to calm her down, her breath hitches in her throat and she says, “Reid, I love you so much and there will never be anyone for me other than you.” Her sweet lips curl up at the corners and she puts the gift on the coffee table before taking my hands in hers. “I want to be with you, please believe me, but this is kind of out of nowhere, don’t you think?”

  She’s so damn cute. I pull our hands up to my lips and kiss her knuckles.

  “Let me start by saying, I love you.” I break the contact of our hands and pull her on my lap. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I look into her deep, emerald eyes, which are shining with what I hope are happy tears. “I won’t lie; I thought about proposing. I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. There will always be just you, Maddy. There has never been anyone else, but you’re right. It is too soon. We still have a mountain of issues that we’ve just started working out.”

  Maddy leans her head onto my shoulder and nuzzles into the crook of my neck. Pressing her lips there sweetly, she says, “I love you.”

  “I love you too, babe. And I promise that when I propose, there won’t be a doubt in either of our minds, or any other outside issue in our way.” I reach across to the table and hand her the gift again.

  “So now that we’re both on the same page regarding that, will you please open my gift?”

  She nods enthusiastically. She doesn’t tear the paper to shreds, though. Slowly, almost torturously, she peels the tape back slowly unveiling the black velvet box beneath. Snapping the top of the box back, she stares at the gift before her with an adorably confused look plastered to her beautiful face.

  Pulling the necklace from the box—yes I put a necklace in a ring box just to throw her off a bit—she inspects the three charms that dangle at the center of the white gold chain.

  “It’s beautiful, Reid. But what is it?” I take the necklace from her hands and separate the first charm from the rest.

  “This one is yours.” I hold the flat circular disk on my fingertip. Moving to the next one, I say, “And this one is mine.” Dropping that one from my fingertip, I pull the third one to her attention. “This one. Well, this one is for the baby.”

  She stares in wonder at the charms before her. Each plate is engraved with a simple, but bold capital letter—“M” for Maddy, “R” for Reid and “B” for baby. A small stone is set within the disc, right below the initial, for each birth stone—garnet for Maddy, sapphire for me, and a pale green for the baby.

  A lone tear trickles down her cheek and I kiss it away. “You see, Maddy. This necklace means more than any engagement ring ever will. This is not about you and I spending the rest of our lives together; this is about us,” I move my hand from her waist and splay it over her belly. “Our family will always be together.”

  Wrapping her hands around my neck, she pulls me close. She kisses me deeply, passionately, as if she’s trying to devour me. Raining kisses down my neck and across the V of my T-shirt, she runs her hands across my chest and down my back and resumes kissing my mouth. I pull back from her when I taste more tears flowing across her lips.

  “Hey, what’s going on here?” I ask, the concern clear in my words. She leans her head on my shoulder once more and breathes deeply.

  “I’m just so happy. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve a second chance with you. Hell, even the first chance was a shot in the dark, but I am just so lucky to have you and this baby. It’s all so much to take in sometimes that I don’t realize the whole picture.” She catches her breath and looks deeply into my eyes. Running her hands through the front of my messy hair, she leans forward and kisses me softly.

  I take the necklace from her hands and clumsily clasp it around her neck. She pulls the charms up to her lips and kisses them before saying, “It’s the most perfect gift ever. Thank you. I’ll never take it off.”

  She stands from her perch on my lap and walks over to the stack of presents under the tree. Sitting down on the floor, she pats the spot next to her, calling me to sit with her.

  She hands me two boxes neither of which are any bigger than a shoebox. I start to open one and she pulls it from my hands. “No, this one first.” She tells me as she puts the other, smaller one behind
her back.

  When I pull a small model car—a replica of my mustang—out of the box a smile creeps across my face. The note attached to the top of the car says, “Sorry, I wrecked your baby. Your replacement will be here in about seven months.” I laugh at her little joke. I hope she realizes that she and the baby will always be more important than some stupid car.

  “Thanks, baby. I love it.” Crumpling the wrapping paper in a ball, I move the box to the side and hold out my hand for the box she’s still holding. Rather than handing it over, she slides the first box back in front of me and tells me, “There’s something else in there.”

  It must be buried under the tissue paper in which the model car was nestled because I have to empty the entire box to get to the additional gift. As I pull the ornament out of the box, I smile over at Maddy.

  It’s another Mustang replica, obviously small enough to hang from a tree, rather than sit on a mantle. She must really think I’ve got a thing for my old car. Taking the ornament from my hand, she turns it over to point out what’s written across the bottom -“Our first Christmas.”

  She hangs it on the tree before us, and kisses my cheek. “When you said that you haven’t had a real Christmas in years, well, I just knew that I wanted to mark this one as special somehow. Now, every year, when we decorate our tree, we can look back at this ornament and remember the first time we knew we would never be alone again.”

  I have to clear my throat of the heavy emotion sitting there. My voice shakes a little as I say, “I love you and I love it. Thank you.” Emotions take over and my love for her flows through my veins. Our eyes meet and before she even realizes it, my mouth is pressed against hers. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pull her down onto her back and sprawl out on top of her.

  My hand travels up her shirt and I pull down the cup of her bra. Toying with her nipple, she writhes in pleasure. Passion consumes us quickly and we’re fumbling with snaps and zippers as if time is going to slip away from us. Reaching her hand into the waistband of my flannel pajama pants and boxers, she frees my erection and begins stroking me root to tip. When her thumb rubs slow, sensual circles over the head, spreading the moisture around, I groan her name and beg her not to stop.

  In record time, we’ve both stripped each other bare, completely disregarding the fact that we’re in the den and not her room. She pushes my pants over my ass with her feet, and when they’re down by my ankles, I stand to get rid of them completely. As I’m pulling off my last sock, Maddy kneels in front of me and grabs for my cock once more.

  She pulls me into her mouth quickly—no teasing licks or gentle kisses. Holding her head in place, I thrust in and out of her mouth as she runs her tongue over my entire length. I feel my orgasm building, but I want to come with her, inside of her. I pull away from her mouth and return to the floor.

  Sitting between her legs, propped up on my knees, I cup her mound and slide my middle finger into her core. Curling it forward into that spot that drives her crazy, I brush my thumb over her clit and her hips shoot up wildly into my hand. I let her writhe and move against my hand until she almost comes. When I feel her insides tighten I remove my hands and plunge into her with my painfully hard erection.

  We move perfectly and silently in sync—bodies bowing and bending; mouths lapping and devouring; hands roaming and exploring. The ecstasy I feel in the moment that we both find our release is beyond words. The sparkle from the white Christmas tree lights blazes in her eyes and illuminates the beads of sweat on her face.

  I fall to her side and pull her close to me. When our breathing and our pulse rates return to normal, I cup her soft cheek in my hand and brush her hair behind her ear. Kissing the tip of her nose, I tell her, “I love you so much. Thank you for making this a night I’ll never forget.”

  She smiles at me and kisses me in return. Reaching over her head, while still tucked securely in my arms, she fumbles for the other gift. When she finally has it in her grasp, she says, “You still have one gift left.”

  I shake it playfully as I hold it up my ear. I didn’t expect any noise, so when something clangs around inside the box, I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised. “What is it?” I ask and she just shrugs her shoulders. “You have to open it, silly. That’s how this whole gift thing works.” She adds air quotes when she says to word “gift” as she ruefully rolls her eyes at me.

  Still lying on our sides, still naked, I tear the paper open and pull out the mounds of tissue paper filling the box. When it’s finally empty, I catch a glimmer of something metallic shining back at me. Reaching into the box, I pull out a silver keychain on which is a single key.

  I eye her suspiciously and dangle it in the air between us. “Care to explain what this opens?” My mocking tone and arched eyebrow are meant to be light and playful.

  She traces her thumb over my cheek before cupping it tenderly. Staring into the depths of my eyes, she says, “Our apartment.” In that instant, the playfulness evaporates and my deepest desire is that she’s not joking.

  With wide eyes and a shocked voice, I ask, “Are you serious? You’ll move in now, but what about what you said before?” The words race out from my lips so quickly that I have to take a breath just to calm myself.

  She reaches over to the pile of our clothes and slides my T-shirt over her naked body. Handing me my boxers, I do the same and we both go to sit on the couch. We face each other, legs tucked under our bodies, hands entwined; our eyes never waver from the other.

  She shakes her head as if she’s trying to organize her thoughts. Running her thumb over my knuckles, she takes a deep breath and begins speaking. “I know I said I wasn’t sure, but I lied. The more I think about it, the more I realize that living with you, even if you’re not there every day, will make me happier than anything.” She moves closer to me, if it’s even possible, and puts the key back in my hand. “I went back to the complex the next day while you were out shopping. I signed the paperwork to hold the place. Sam is just waiting on both of us to get back there to finalize everything.”

  I’m surprised to say the least. After how the conversation went the other day, I figured it would take months for her to come around. I pull her on my lap and chuckle briefly when her bare ass slides onto my leg. “This,” I hold the key up in front of us again, “is the best present ever. I’ll never forget it.”

  She laughs at me and takes the key from my hand. Dangling it between us, imitating my move from just seconds ago, she says, “This is actually just some random key that I pulled from the junk drawer. I don’t even know what it opens. I just knew I had to tell you somehow, as some kind of gift that I made up my mind about us.”

  Pulling her face to mine, we kiss—almost as if to seal the deal.

  As I break away from her lips and nuzzle into her soft hair, I realizing that it’s well past one in the morning. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.” She yawns and nods her head.

  We move quickly and quietly as we gather our clothes and sneak up into her room.

  Spooning behind her in her tiny bed, I pull her as close to me as possible. Pressing my lips to the tender spot where her neck slopes down to her shoulder, I kiss her sweetly. “Goodnight, beautiful girl.”

  She mumbles something in return before her breathing evens and she falls into a deep slumber.

  Closing my eyes, I actually look forward to the morning. For the first time in four years, I will not be alone on Christmas morning. More importantly, I know that I will never be alone ever again.

  Chapter 16

  Tuesday December 25, 2012

  One of my last happy memories from Christmas was from when I was about fourteen years old. I just started high school that year and Shane took me under his wing. I was immediately part of the cool crowd and I felt like King Shit. Anyway, what made that Christmas my most favorite ever, was the fact that he gave me his most prized possession as a gift: his old baseball mitt.

  He was a baseball star and I wanted to be just like him. So that morning, so
many years ago, when he reached under his bed, and slid a clearly-wrapped-by-a-teenage-boy present across the hardwood floor towards my bed, I never expected his glove, the one he used to win the state championship the year before, to be inside of it. While he had outgrown it, I felt like I would never be good enough to fill it.

  I didn’t learn how to play baseball like most boys do. My father was never around and when he was, well, it wasn’t pretty. Baseball was not quality father-son time; it was a test of our capabilities. Shane and I had to demonstrate how strong or how fast we were in order to garner our father’s approval.

  Of course thinking of my father brings up thoughts of my mother. How is she spending the day? Is she having one of her good days? When Katie called me almost two weeks ago, I just wasn’t ready to deal with anything relating to that part of my life, to my mom—her apology, her illness, her imminent death.

  Then of course, thinking about my parents, brings my present status of Daddy-to-be to the front of my brain. There’s going to be a baby here with us next year—our baby. With that image in mind, a ridiculously goofy grin splits my face. I’m fairly certain every soon-to-be parent says that they’re “going to do things differently from their own parents,” but I know for certain that I will never be like my father.

  Yet the more I reflect on it, the more I realize that being like my mom, at least before everything happened with Shane, might not be so bad. Even recently, her humility, openness and honesty are all traits that I would want to share with my child.

  Lying here, with Maddy snuggling up against my chest, so many of the issues that I’ve been trying to deal with, swirl in my head. Hell, even Maddy and I haven’t worked out all of our problems, but for the first time ever, I realize that not every single detail needs to be cleared and neatly packed away in order for us to move on. Tracing an invisible pattern on Maddy’s shoulder and upper arm, I think about our promises to one another from the other day—that we’ll be honest with each other, even if it’s scary in the moment, that we’ll be right next to each other in whatever decision we have to make, that somehow, through all of this crazy shit, we’ll figure out how to make this work.