He nodded. “And now I can be a cop and serve and protect the community without facing down a mobster’s machine gun. There are ways I can help without putting myself in grave danger. I have a family who needs me.”
She smiled. “No regrets?”
“How could I have regrets when I have you and those four amazing little creatures upstairs? The five of you turned me into a family man. And I want to be home with my family every night.”
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. “Merry Christmas, Theo.”
“Merry Christmas. Our best one ever.”
“What’s in the bag?” she asked, gesturing at the big shopping bag he’d set down.
“Waaah! Waah! Waah! Waaaaaah!” came four distinct little cries from upstairs.
He laughed. “Perfect timing. I’ll show you.” He grabbed the bag and she followed up the stairs into the nursery. Four little Starks were standing up in their cribs. Theo reached into the bag and pulled out four impossibly small Santa hats. He placed one on Tyler’s head. The baby miraculously stopped whining. “And one for you, Mr. Henry. And one for you, Mr. Ethan, and one for you, Miss Olivia.”
Allie laughed. Each hat had Baby written across the red brim. She grabbed her phone out of her pocket and snapped photos of the babies in their first Santa hats, then a bunch of Theo holding two, and he took pictures of her holding the other two.
“Oh, wait,” Theo said. “I forgot ours.” He pulled out two more hats. “This one is yours,” he said, showing her the Mom on it before settling it on her head. “And this one is mine.”
She looked at Theo in his Dad Santa hat, her Christmas cup running way over.
This would be the best Christmas ever.
* * *
On Christmas Eve, the four Starks in their tiny Santa hats, Theo and Allie in their parently ones—and Theo in a Santa suit, minus the beard now—sat in the family room, mounds of gifts and wrapping paper all over the place. They’d both gone a bit overboard, but hey, it was Christmas. Their favorite gift was the set of keys each had given the other to the new house, which they’d closed on the day before. It was officially theirs and they’d be moving in a week.
As he looked over at the quads, crawling on their foam mats, Theo glanced down, then closed his eyes for a moment.
“You okay?” Allie asked, touching his arm.
“I just can’t believe this is really my life. A few weeks ago, I was hauling hay and rounding up heads of cattle on a ranch out in the middle of nowhere, playing cards with guys whose last names I didn’t even know. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get to see your face again, Allie.”
He could see tears mist in her eyes and he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.
“And then to get you back and find out I’m a father to them?” he said, shaking his head. “I’m the luckiest guy on earth.”
She squeezed his hand and for a few minutes they watched the babies play with their new toys, Tyler banging on the new toy piano, Olivia standing up and plopping down at the puppet theater while Henry stood in the window, being the puppet himself. Ethan was building a tower of foam blocks and knocking them over with glee.
“You know what I don’t feel so lucky about?” he said. “The endless packing we have in front of us. And we added a zillion more toys and kiddie stuff to the mix.” Did anyone on earth enjoy packing up a house for a move? he really wondered. They should start a business.
Allie laughed. “Right? Luckily, Aunt Lila and Aunt Merry offered to help.”
As Allie raced over to stop Ethan from bopping Henry on the head with the new foam bat, Theo thought about the Chadwells, who he’d paid a visit to an hour ago. He’d borrowed the Santa suit from a colleague for the purpose of surprising Hunter with a few gifts, including a gift certificate to a karate dojo in the town they were moving to. Santa had even brought a gift for Snickers, a “skunk” squeaky toy. Hunter had been so surprised he’d burst into tears and hugged Theo ferociously, then he’d ripped open his gifts and thanked him profusely, playing fetch with Snickers and his new toy. June had let him know they were moving tomorrow and that Hunter was looking forward to the fresh start where he could be the boy who’d make his dad proud.
Theo knew all about that. He’d given both Chadwells a hug goodbye and Snickers a scratch behind an ear, and then he’d driven home, barely able to believe how big his heart felt. The years he’d spent on that cattle ranch, his heart sometimes felt like nothing or shriveled up. Now it was bursting.
Theo’s stomach growled as he sniffed the air. Allie had made a huge Christmas dinner, essentially Thanksgiving dinner, since he’d missed that, and it smelled insanely good. She’d invited her sisters, and Virginia Gelman and her husband. Apparently, Allie and Virginia had become quite close recently. Theo had invited the rookie he’d be training in dangerous field surveillance—off the field, of course. The captain had let his colleagues know that Theo would be contributing to task forces and operations as their strategy point man, and whenever he ran into one of the officers in town over the past couple of days, they called him Professor. That was A-OK with Theo. Allie seemed to like it, too.
“Oh, before company comes, I have one more Christmas surprise for you,” he said. He reached for the little velvet box he’d hidden in a bowl under the coffee table.
“Another surprise?” Allie said, her eyes sparkling.
He nodded and got down on one knee in front of her. “Mrs. Stark,” he began. He reached for the little velvet box and opened it.
Allie gasped, staring at the diamond ring nestled inside. “Are you proposing, Theo? You do know we’re already married.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “Yes, but I want us to renew our vows.”
“Renew our vows,” she repeated, her eyes misting up again. “I’m verklempt,” she added, waving her hands in front of her eyes.
He smiled. “Everything about us is new, Allie. So a ceremony to renew our vows seems very fitting, don’t you think?”
“Something new,” she said, a sweet wonder in her voice.
“What?” he asked, tilting his head.
“Just thinking of that old wedding poem. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. We’re the old, and the new. You’re the blue, and that crazy Santa costume you’re wearing is the borrowed.”
“Is that a yes?” he asked, pulling her into his arms.
“Dabababada!” Olivia squealed in the background.
“Oh, that is definitely a yes,” she said. “I didn’t think this Christmas could get any more special, but it has.”
He kissed her and held her close. “The first of many.”
Epilogue
Six months later, on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in June, Mr. and Mrs. Stark prepared to renew their vows in the Wedlock Creek Park, their four toddlers as ring bearers and flower girl. The procession would start in a few minutes, and Allie kept stealing glances at Theo, who stood at the other end of the “aisle,” on a shiny red carpet Lila had found for the occasion, looking absolutely gorgeous in his tuxedo.
And next to Theo was his best man—his father—looking exceptionally dapper in his own tuxedo and blue tie, to match the bridal dresses. Clinton Stark looked quite happy to be out enjoying the day and the special occasion. Allie knew how much it meant to Theo to have his father as his best man.
All of his colleagues from the WCPD were in attendance as well, including Detective Reed Barelli and all five of his kids, who were impressively well behaved. Allie could see the Gelman Girls, Virginia in a fancy suit like the one Allie had worn for her almost-wedding to Elliot Talley, sitting up toward the front, and several others of Allie’s clients were dotted around. And in the middle row of chairs, there himself was Elliot Talley, who’d brought his new girlfriend, Hallie—no lie. Lila and Merry could put themselves into hysterics over that one. Hallie was
a sweet single mother of one kindergarten-age boy, so hopefully, if they made it to a wedding of their own, Elliot wouldn’t go racing away. He’d been very pleased to be invited to the vows renewal, and Allie wished him and his girlfriend all the very best.
As she stood behind the huge potted trees meant to provide a gathering place for the wedding party, she turned her attention to her dear little quads, who were getting a little antsy at all this boring standing around. Tyler, Henry and Ethan wore tiny versions of their father’s and grandfather’s tuxedos and looked so adorable that Allie couldn’t stop taking pictures of them. And Olivia, in her periwinkle dress with the lace hem, dropping rose petals a bit early, was having the time of her life.
“The Aunts MacDougal”—as Theo jokingly referred to them—who were also Allie’s co–maids of honor, were in charge of keeping eagle eyes on the little wanderers. Where the Stark quadruplets could run, they charged. And naturally, as a huge white-and-yellow butterfly flew by at toddler eye level, Olivia shouted, “Butterfly!” with a point and all four Stark toddlers went chasing after it.
Merry dutifully raced off after them, scooping up Henry and then Ethan. Lila, meanwhile, almost ruined her own pretty dress to catch Olivia before she could take a running slide after the butterfly. Grass-stain disaster averted in both cases. Tyler was bribed to follow the group back to the wedding party spot with a promise of two M&Ms, which Aunt Lila handed him from the just-in-case-we-need-bribes stash in her fancy clutch purse.
Allie was thrilled that Merry and Lila had both come with dates. Merry was still dating the divorced father of triplets and Allie wondered if there would be another MacDougal sister wedding in the near future. According to Merry, if she did marry him, she’d have to avoid the Wedlock Creek Chapel like the plague, since adding multiples to triplets would be one too many kids for her. Considering that Allie and Theo were renewing their vows in the park for that very reason, Allie totally got it.
Lila’s date was a rancher—a first for Lila, who tended toward suits and ties. She refused to say a word about him, so the man, tall, dark and very good-looking, was shrouded in mystery. Allie would just have to get the details out of her later. And since Lila was the queen of asking the most personal questions, she was going to get it given back to her and then some. Allie wanted info. She smiled as Lila snaked her arm around her rancher’s arm and then nodded at Merry, who did the same. It was time for the ceremony to begin. For some crazy reason, Allie had butterflies of her own flying around, right in her stomach.
And then Allie heard Lila whisper “Hit it,” to her neighbor Geraldine, who was in charge of the music for the occasion, and the wedding march came over the sound system.
Finally, it was Allie’s turn to walk down the red carpet. Holding her beautiful bouquet against the off-white lace tea-length dress she’d fallen in love with during a shopping trip to nearby Brewster, Allie started toward her husband and her future, the wedding poem checklist in her head.
Something old: Allie and Theo before.
Something new: Allie and Theo now.
Something borrowed: One of Olivia’s little rhinestone-dotted haircombs, which was tucked into the chignon at the back of her head. She felt très élégant, even if she were wearing a hair accessory bought in Baby Bonanza.
Something blue: Allie’s police sergeant of a husband, not to mention the police presence at the ceremony. True to his word, Theo did come home every night at six, maybe two or three times in the past six months staying late to work on a strategy with the team for capturing a suspect at large. He thrived in his new role and had discovered it tapped into interests he wanted to study more deeply. Theo was the opposite of blue when it came to how he felt about his work.
As Allie approached her husband at the end of the aisle, his father beside him, her sisters beside her, Theo pressed his hand against his heart and mouthed, You look so beautiful. She smiled at him, afraid she’d cry and start the raccoon tracks down her cheeks, ruining her makeup. Luckily, though, their “officiant” began talking and Allie focused on him for the moment.
Since this was a reaffirmation of their vows and not a legal ceremony, anyone could “officiate,” and Theo had asked his captain to do the honors. Morgan White, in full uniform, spoke about rare second chances and a love to last forever, and then Allie and Theo each read the vows they’d prepared for today.
Finally, the little ring bearers—Ethan holding a tiny pillow with Theo’s ring, Henry holding a little pillow with Allie’s ring, and Tyler between them, linking arms with both—were coaxed up; and Theo snatched the rings before any of the boys could fling the bands off the pillows and into the grass, never to be found again, or at least not for a half hour of looking.
With her gaze on her handsome husband, Allie slid the ring, engraved with Forever, Allie onto his finger. And then with his gaze on her, he slid her ring onto her finger.
“Feel free to kiss your hearts out,” Captain White said with a smile.
And so they did, Theo dipping his wife to a wolf whistle from someone in the rows of chairs. Lila, probably.
“You it!” Olivia shouted, tapping Ethan as they went running across the grassy area in front of the canopy.
“You!” Ethan said with a giggle as he tapped her back.
“No, I’m it,” Theo said, mock-chasing his delighted toddlers on the grass.
“Ahhh!” the quads screamed, racing in all directions.
“Got you!” Theo said, scooping up Henry and twirling him around in his little tuxedo before scooping up Ethan.
“And I’ve got you!” Allie said, plucking up Olivia and Tyler.
Whoa boy, one-and-a-half-year-olds were a lot heavier than babies, she thought, giving them each a smooch on the cheek. Soon enough, she’d barely be able to lift one.
Then the six Starks continued up the aisle together to claps and cheers from their guests, a family forever.
* * * * *
If you loved this story, be on the lookout for
Melissa’s next book,
A New Leash on Love,
the first book in Furever Yours,
a brand-new Harlequin Special Edition continuity kicking off in January 2019
about couples finding love—both romantic and pet—through the Furever Paws Animal Shelter!
And for more adorable multiples, check out these other books in The Wyoming Multiples miniseries:
The Baby Switch
Detective Barelli’s Legendary Triplets
Available now from Harlequin Special Edition!
Keep reading for an excerpt from The Sergeant’s Christmas Mission by Joanna Sims.
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The Sergeant’s Christmas Mission
by Joanna Sims
Chapter One
A loud, urgent knock at the door and the barking response of his black German shepherd, Recon, awakened Shane Brand. He had passed out on the couch, as he always seemed to do, with a pile of crumpled, empty beer cans littering the coffee table and floor.
“Quiet.” Shane ordered his canine companion to stop barking. Without any protest, the dog stopped barking and sat at attention, waiting for his next order.
“Man. Chill out!” the ex-sergeant hollered in a scratchy voice when the knocks kept on coming.
His tongue felt like sandpaper in his mouth and his eyes felt like they were glued shut. Damn, he felt lousier than usual.
Shane sat up, his head throbbing, wondering if he had any beer left over from the night before. After a couple of seconds of sitting on the edge of the couch, trying to assess the situation, trying to figure out whether or not he could stand without falling down, Shane stood up. He cringed at the ache in his back and neck, the stiffness in his left shoulder, from a night spent on his thrift-store couch.
“God bless,” he muttered as he stretched his back. He felt like a bag of broken pieces hung together by rusty nails and screws.
More knocking.
“I’m coming, damn it!”
He kicked a couple of beer cans out of his path and shuffled his way from the small living room, through the galley kitchen, to the front door of his garage apartment. No one bothered to knock on his door—not his friends and certainly not his family. They’d all learned their lesson over time to let him come to them on his own terms, in his own time. Feeling annoyed and grouchy, Shane yanked open the door to give the person on the other side the death-stare. He was, unexpectedly, greeted by the loveliest wide-set, hazel eyes he’d ever seen in his life. He stared into those eyes, unable to look away, and something unexpected—something he couldn’t explain—rocked him at his core.
Wyoming Christmas Surprise Page 17