‘Was a tragic accident! Nothing more! I need you to let that go.’
Jacob sucked in a breath. ‘Without you and Seb I’m nothing. I can’t let you go.’
She stepped closer, pulling the warmth of him against her. ‘You don’t have to.’
‘You mean it?’ He hesitantly risked a smile.
‘I mean it.’
She reached up on tiptoes and kissed him, and she forgot how cold she was, pressed against him. Feeling herself against him.
With him.
‘I spent so long standing alone, Jacob. It was just easier for me, I thought, to push you away before you left of your own accord. I thought I was protecting myself. Protecting my heart from being crushed.’
‘I’ll never hurt your heart. I’ll always cherish it. I’ll always cherish you.’
She reached up and stroked his face, and as she did so snowflakes began to fall. A soft flurry of snow, sweeping in across the capital in the morning light.
They looked about them in wonder, and then back at each other.
‘It’s snowing! On Christmas Day! Seb will love this!’
Eva snuggled into his chest, feeling safe, feeling home.
‘So we’re going to do this? Together?’
She nodded. ‘Together.’
They kissed.
As the snow fell all around them on the rooftop of the hospital, alone in their own special little world they kissed. Their cold noses pressed against the cheek of the other, and their hot breath warmed their mouths and lips as they proved their commitment to the other.
When they broke apart Jacob looked her in the eyes. ‘I love you, Eva. From the moment we met I haven’t been able to get you out of my head. You’ve always been there for me. Even in the dark times. Even when you didn’t know it.’
Eva let out a big grin. He loved her!
‘I love you, too, Jacob.’
‘You do?’
She nodded, then shivered. ‘But could we go back inside? I hate to be the one to spoil a romantic moment, but I’m freezing!’
Jacob wrapped his arm around her as they hurried back to the rooftop door. There was a bang in the stairwell as it closed behind them, and they ran down the steps, laughing and breathing heavily.
Back in Seb’s room, they found he was still sleeping, so they sat beside each other, knowing Seb would get better, that this story would have a happy ending for all of them. And soon, hopefully, Seb would be out and about on his new bike.
Jacob raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.
When Seb woke again he would have the best Christmas present he could ever have wished for.
EPILOGUE
‘I’D LIKE TO make a toast!’
Jacob stood in the lounge of his parents’ home, in front of the vast fireplace. A small fire was crackling away, keeping them all warm and cosy despite the fresh snowfall outside.
A whole year had passed, and this Christmas Eve had thankfully arrived without incident.
Eva and Jacob had been married for three months. Their September wedding had gone without a hitch, despite his nerves about it being to the contrary, and this last year had been the happiest of their lives.
He raised his glass to his family, looking at all their happy, smiling faces. There were still one or two pieces of Christmas wrapping paper on the carpet that had been missed, but that didn’t matter. Seb was sitting on the carpet, surrounded by a big pile of toys and wearing the paper hat from a Christmas cracker. Eva sat between his parents on the couch, feeling very full after his mother’s most ambitious Christmas yet.
‘I’d like to raise a toast to family,’ he said, raising his glass once again before letting his gaze come to rest on Eva. ‘Family is the heart of everything. You don’t have to be blood relatives to be family. You just need to be surrounded by those you love and those who love you back. Love is the greatest thing we can give one other.’
Eva beamed at him and gave a little nod.
‘But most of all I’d like to make a toast to my wife, Eva...’
His parents raised their glasses and looked towards her.
Eva felt excited. Nervous. She’d been dreaming about this moment for a long time. About telling them. Seeing how they reacted. Because this time she was going to share the experience. This time, she wouldn’t be going through anything alone.
‘And to the baby she’s carrying.’
Molly almost dropped her glass. She gasped, her hand covering her mouth in genuine surprise and joy. ‘You’re pregnant?’
Eva nodded happily.
‘You’re pregnant! Oh, Eva!’ Molly burst into tears and hugged her daughter-in-law, and Eva hugged her back.
This was what she’d wanted. For a long time.
Family.
To belong.
To be loved.
‘To family!’ she said.
They all raised their glasses, and they were just about to clink them together before taking a sip when Molly grinned and swiped Eva’s champagne flute, swapping it for her own—non-alcoholic—orange juice.
‘To family.’
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460389744
A Father This Christmas?
Copyright © 2015 by Louisa Heaton
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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