“Cole,” she mouthed as the dial tone rang in her ear.
“Hello?” came Cole’s voice a second later.
“Hey!” she said. “You called?”
“Yeah, where were you guys?”
Lily tried not to look in Sloan’s direction, even though Cole couldn’t possibly see her blush, the last thing she wanted was to tell Cole the truth.
“We didn’t hear it ring,” she said, not entirely a lie. “What are you doing? Everything okay?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be? Can’t a guy call his best friend and his brother?”
Lily frowned at the comment, but let it slide.
“No, of course. So what’s up?”
There was a rapping sound in the background, like he was anxiously tapping a pen against his books.
“Not much,” he replied slowly. “Just studying.”
There was silence as Lily waited for him to tell her why he was calling. He seemed to be waiting for something as well, his nerves maybe?
“How’s the baby?” he asked finally.
Lily looked down at the small hill pushing up the front of her towel. “Still cooking.”
“Yeah? That’s cool.”
She finally rolled her eyes. “What’s up, Cole? Just say it.”
“Say what?”
“Whatever you called to say, you weirdo.”
“I didn’t call to say anything.”
Lily raised an eyebrow he couldn’t see. “You called to sit here in silence?”
“Why not?”
“Cole!”
There was a sigh, followed by a grunt. “Okay, fine. I’ll tell you, but you have to promise you won’t freak out.”
“You joined the circus,” Lily guessed. “You kicked a munchkin. You lost your clothes in an underground gambling ring.”
“Are you finished?”
“You woke up this morning married to a pineapple.”
“Hey, that pineapple and I are very happy, okay? So just back off.”
Lily laughed. “So tell me your news.”
Cole hesitated. Something chimed in the background. It sounded like a microwave. A computer chair squeaked and she guessed he was getting up to retrieve whatever was inside.
“Cole?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry.”
“What’s going on?”
Lily lowered herself down on Sloan’s bed and found her gaze locked with the owner from across the room as he tied the drawstrings on his flannel bottoms.
“Will you talk to me?” she demanded.
Sloan was watching her with narrowed eyes now and she decided to do them both a favor and put Cole on speaker phone.
“Look, it’s nothing, okay?” Cole insisted. “But I might not be able to come down for Christmas—”
“What?” Lily cried.
“The swim team has a huge tournament after the winter holidays and I want to spend the two weeks hitting the pool.”
“But…” She looked to Sloan for help, but now that he knew nothing serious was going on, he was busy pulling a shirt on over his head. “We have pools here in Willow Creek!”
“It’s not the same, Lil,” Cole said. “I really need to focus. This is my first real tournament with the team and I don’t want to let them down. But I promise to make it up to you guys.”
“How?” she muttered. “We have always spent Christmas together.”
“I know, but this is really important to me. I’ll see you guys for March Break. I promise.”
“Yeah, okay,” she grumbled.
“I gotta go, but I’ll try and call you guys back later this week.”
They said their goodbyes and hung up. Lily tossed the phone down onto the bed and slouched as low as her belly would allow her.
“I feel like we’re in a long distance relationship and we’re slowly breaking up.”
The spot next to her dipped and Sloan rested a gentle hand on her lower back.
“Cole loves you,” he said gently. “But we knew things would be different when he went to school. We knew we would have to adjust.”
“I know!” Lily stood and turned to him. “I just hate that he’s so far away and I hardly get to see, or talk to him. I mean, we went from seeing and talking every day for nineteen years to nothing. That is a huge blow. And it’s Christmas!”
Sloan rose and went to her. He glided tender hands along her arms and drew her to him.
“We could invite your parents over for Christmas.”
She shook her head dejectedly. “They’re visiting my aunt Irene this year up in Milton. She hasn’t been feeling well.”
“Irene is the one…”
“My mom’s sister,” she supplied. “She’s the one with cancer. Mom wants to spend some time with her in case…”
Sloan nodded understandingly. “Then I guess it’s just you and I this year. Do you mind?”
As much as the thought of Cole not being there hurt, Lily could see the perks of spending the Christmas alone with the man she was crazy about. It would be their first together before the baby was born.
She gave him a grin. “No, I really don’t.”
His mouth found hers in a toe-curling kiss that left her leaning into him and forgetting all else.
“Good. Me neither.”
The Christmas holidays started as it always did in Willow Creek. The town was alight with ropes of colorful bulbs that were strung from every tree, lamppost, and building. The air was filled with the sweet scent of powdered sugar, gingerbread, and cinnamon. Kids raced through crowds of shoppers with their little sleds and thermos of hot cocoa. Lily remembered being one of them once with Cole by her side. They would chase each other to Dead Man’s Drop and spend the entire day in the snow.
Now the idea of doing anything remotely active left Lily exhausted. If it were up to her, she would stay huddled on the sofa until the baby was born, or winter went away. But there was so much to do.
December was a slow month for Sloan’s moving company. Most of their ample free time was spent decorating the house, Christmas shopping, and visiting people neither of them cared about. The latter was something her mother encouraged her to do. In turn, Lily forced Sloan to tag along.
“That baby is going to be raised in this town,” her mother had said during one of Lily’s visits. “You can’t just hide away from everyone.”
Lily wasn’t necessarily hiding from anyone, but the thought of being around people she didn’t really get along with wasn’t entirely pleasant either. Regardless, her mother was right. She did need to start making an effort to get along with some of the other moms. In the future, her baby would need friends and she didn’t want it to feel unwanted because she never gave it a chance to get to know the other children.
Sloan assured her she was overthinking the situation, but he didn’t exactly stop her when she started accepting invites to Christmas parties.
By Christmas morning, the house was lit up with lights. Sloan had even hung icicle lights outside the front door and along the windows while Lily had wrapped the iron banister with garland. They hung a wreath on the door and considered it a success.
Inside, they put up a tree draped in layers of lights, shimmering tinsel and glittering bulbs of all sizes. Instead of a star, they perched a praying angel on top with wings made of tiny lights and a halo of silver. Lily hooped a felt skirt around the bottom and placed her gift to Sloan on top.
Usually, her parents went all out for Christmas with the whole tree and lights everywhere and little Christmas figurines. But this was her and Sloan’s first Christmas, and while they hadn’t overdone it like some houses they’d visited over the weeks, she knew they would get more as the years went on, not so much for themselves, but for the baby. For now, their little tree was perfect. It was right next to the fireplace so the flames in the hearth reflected off the colorful bulbs.
That night, they had a quiet dinner and snuggled under a mountain of blankets beneath the tree to watch the lights twinkle. Sloan had
placed a fresh log on the fire and it blazed brightly, warming their feet.
Lily smiled up at the man in her arms, her insides brimming with all the emotions she couldn’t put a name to. His pale hair shone and the shadows cast by the fire put hollows in his cheeks and darkened his temples where he had let his hair grow out for the winter. His blue eyes seemed to reflect the flames, making the irises glow almost unnaturally. He was braced on one elbow, toying with a strand of her hair.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I’m trying to figure out how this happened,” she whispered. “I can’t believe you’re actually here, after all this time.” Her smile slipped a notch. “I’m a little scared I’ll wake up and it’ll all be a dream.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re stuck with me.”
“Forever?”
He tugged lightly on the strand coiled around his finger. “Much longer.”
Lily laughed. “I can live with that.” She wiggled into a more comfortable position. “So, when do I get my presents?”
He arched a brow. “What makes you think I got you anything?”
She rolled her eyes. “Because you’re a smart man.”
Grinning, he bent his head and skimmed a loving kiss to her mouth. “That I am. All right, but you’ll have to close your eyes.”
Biting her lip in excitement, she covered her eyes and waited. She heard him moving around, felt the sheets shift as he left and then shift again when he returned. The sound of paper rustling filled the air and then he said, “Okay.”
Lily dropped her hands. Her gaze flicked over his hands, then the area around them, but there was nothing there, unless it was invisible.
She looked up into his face, bemused.
He chuckled. “I want to say something before I give you your present.” He took the hand closest to him and kissed her fingers. His gaze never left hers. “I’m not very good with words and originally I was just going to give it to you and let you decide what to do with it, but I don’t want to do anything half-assed with you, Lily. I don’t want short cuts. You and the baby are worth so much more than that. And yes, I’m including him in this, because I know I’m not the biological father and I don’t care. He’s part of two of the most important people in my life and I will love him until the day I die, just like I would do anything for you.” He smoothed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip, skimmed the rest of his fingers along the curve of her jaw and bent down for a light kiss. “I’ve loved you for so long, baby girl. So damn long. There were times I felt half-crazy with how much I needed you and now that I have you, I don’t want to ever let you go.”
A tear slid down Lily’s temple and disappeared into her hairline. She sniffled and tried to hide it with a chuckle, and failed.
“Is that your present? Making me cry?”
He smiled gently. “No…” He reached behind him and drew forth a small, black box. “This is.”
Lily’s eyes went wide even as her heart leapt with a joyous exhilaration. Her hands flew to her mouth to keep her scream tapered, but a single sound escaped and it was the squeak of a mouse getting stepped on.
“Sloan…”
“I know I asked you this before, and got shot down pretty harshly…” He grinned at his own teasing. “Will you marry me, Lily?”
“Oh my God!”
Firelight caught the teardrop point and sparked like blue flames against a bed of glittering diamonds. Delicate sparkles of light followed the intricate vines weaving the gems to its bed of silver. Lily couldn’t believe such a beautiful thing existed.
“What do you say, Lily?”
Her wet gaze jerked past the precious gift to the man offering it to her. His blue eyes appeared black in the semi darkness, but they held the shimmer of hope, anticipation and fear while he waited for her to possibly shatter it all. The latter had her reaching out. Her palm rested lovingly over his cheek as she bottled back the babble of emotions threatening to burst free.
“I love it so much!” she said, once she was able to speak without shrieking.
Sloan searched her eyes a little desperately. “Is that a yes?”
Laughing and crying, Lily nodded savagely. “Yes, it’s a yes!” She laughed harder. “I don’t want anything more.”
His shoulders dropped and she realized he’d been holding his breath. His face broke into a devastating smile that melted her straight to the core. He took her hand and, without breaking eye contact, slipped the ring onto her finger.
Lily shot upright, cradling her hand close to admire the way it glinted in the lights. She traced the sapphire and diamonds with a finger and marveled at how perfectly it fit, like it had been made especially for her.
“It was my mothers,” Sloan murmured, brushing a kiss to the slope of her shoulder, just next to the thin strap of her camisole. He scraped the spot lightly with his teeth before lifting his mouth to the pulse at her throat. “It’s been in the family for generations.”
Lily head came up fast, her eyes round with surprise. “You’re giving me your mother’s ring?”
He raised her hand and kissed the back, all the while watching her from over the bumps of her knuckles. “There’s no one I want to see it on more.”
Battling back a fresh wave of tears, Lily quickly pulled away from him. “Okay! My turn.”
“No.” He stopped her when she made to get up. “I have one more gift.”
Intrigued, she sat back and watched as he dragged a second box out from behind him.
It was small and wrapped in blue paper with glittering snowflakes. A fat, red bow was perched jauntily on top. When he put it in her hands, it was light.
“What is it?” she wondered.
Sloan eyed her with amusement. “You won’t know until you open it.”
She opened it slowly, enjoying the play of lights off her ring. She loved the delicate weight of it and how it seemed to embrace her finger like a lover’s arms. No matter what was inside that box, she knew he had already given her the best gift possible.
The paper parted like the soft petals of a flower, revealing the sleek, black box nestled inside. Lily had to turn it over to see the label, and her heart leapt. Her breath caught even as she tried to speak. The contents of the box rattled in her trembling grasp as she ripped into the packaging.
“I can’t believe…”
She stared at the compact digital camera with stunned disbelief.
“It’s not the one you had, but it’s digital and rechargeable so you don’t have to worry about getting new batteries or paying someone to print the photos out,” Sloan said as she held down the power button and the shutter window slid open with a quiet hum.
Lily turned her head to him, her expression awed. “Why…?”
“Because I don’t want you giving up something that clearly means so much to you, not if I can help it.”
The camera slipped into her lap, nearly disappearing in the folds of the comforter as she stared at it through a hot shroud of tears. She picked it up again, traced the smooth, shiny plastic with her thumb.
“What’s wrong?” Sloan wondered. “Don’t you like it?”
A tear spilled down her cheek with the rapid shake of her head. “I love it.” She rubbed at her face with the back of her hand. “I just…” She wet her lips and forced herself to meet his gaze. “My gift seems so small after this.”
“Lily.” His whisper kissed her temple a split second before his lips did. “Everything I’ve ever wanted you’ve already given me.”
Lily shook her head again. “Not like this.”
“Hey.” He took the camera from her and put it aside. Then he reached for her. “Look at me.” He didn’t wait for her to do it. He slipped his fingers under her chin and tipped her face to his. “Stop. I didn’t give you this to upset you.”
“It’s not just this!” Her bottom lip wobbled and she held it down with her teeth. “Since all this started, since I found out about th
e baby, you’ve been there in every way that counts and you never once asked for anything in return.”
“I told you, I have everything right here.”
He skimmed his mouth over hers, tasting her with slow, even sips that crushed her despite its tenderness. The weight of that kiss seized the regular patter of her heart and turned it wild in her chest. The pressure made her head swim deliciously. But she pulled away before the heat took her over.
“I still want to give you your gift,” she murmured.
Sloan inclined his head and dropped back down on his elbows to wait.
Lily crawled to the foot of their makeshift bed and pulled out the flat, rectangular box she’d wrapped the night before. She brought it over to the mound of pillows, positioned herself comfortably once more and passed it to him.
Sitting up, he tore off the ribbons, then the paper, then pulled the lid off and pushed aside the tissue paper. Lily waited with her lip caught between her teeth as he studied the glossy square of glass nestled inside. The butterflies in her tummy amplified when he reached in and gingerly lifted it from its bed of paper.
His eyes widened. “Lily…”
She waited anxiously for him to say more, but he had gone unnaturally rigid. The bumps of each knuckle had gone a stark white around the frame he held as though the very sight of it was something alien and beautiful.
“I looked everywhere for this picture after Mom died.” His voice was low and hollow, like it was rising from somewhere deep in the darkest part of his soul. “I thought my dad had destroyed it, like he’d destroyed all the other pictures of her.” He raised his head slowly and she was struck by the bright shine of his eyes. “Where did you find this?”
“Cole’s room,” she whispered. “It was taped to the back of his headboard. I had it blown up and framed.”
He nodded as though that made sense and went back to staring at the beautiful woman smiling up at him from her glass prison. She had her arms around two beaming boys, one just a baby and the other about five or six. They were sitting on the porch swing of their childhood home, the one Sloan had left behind with his father. Baby Cole sat perched on his mother’s knee, a chubby thing with curly blond hair and rosy cheeks. He looked like he’d been clapping; the area around his tiny hands was slightly blurred. On the other side of her sat Sloan, leaning into his mother, his round face bright with the biggest smile Lily had ever seen. Then there was Calla McClain, an elegantly regal woman with a long neck and a slightly upturned nose. Her hair was the same sandy blonde as her sons and they had her startling blue eyes that crinkled at the corners when they smiled. But her mouth was a thin slash against her triangular face and she had a decisively pointy chin that was uniquely her own. Behind the trio, the world was a beautiful landscape of orange and red leaves and a piercing blue sky. Lily wasn’t sure who had taken the photo. She doubted it had been Jacob McClain. He’d been a nasty man even before his wife’s death.
Forever His Baby Page 17