Chapter 17
Ronan
While my intent had been to wake my husband up early on Christmas morning with some soft, gentle kisses that would hopefully lead to more than just kissing, my plan was thwarted by a small body that surprisingly took up a lot of space.
Not to mention the Spiderman doll that was nudged up under my armpit.
I hadn’t even heard Jamie sneak into bed with us during the night, but I definitely didn’t have a problem with it.
Especially not with how cute he looked all snuggled up against Seth’s chest and Seth holding him protectively with one arm.
I supposed it was a habit we shouldn’t be encouraging, but for now it wasn’t something I would have changed for anything.
A glance at the clock showed it was pretty late considering it was Christmas morning, but it wasn’t really all that surprising considering it had been well after midnight by the time we’d gotten home.
The kids had been tired, but they’d seemed to have had a good time at the wedding.
At one point Seth had even managed to get little Nicole out on the dance floor when they’d been doing one of the dances that appeared to have a choreographed routine associated with it.
Nicole hadn’t heard the music, of course, but I suspected she’d felt the vibrations.
She’d been nervous at first, but as soon as Jamie, Matty and Leo had joined Seth and started following along with the routine, Nicole had gotten in on the act and she’d been all smiles by the time the song had ended and she’d gone back to the safety of her sister’s company.
Willow hadn’t been able to do much since she was limited as to how much she could move around, but Hannah had spent most of the reception by her side and I’d often seen the girls talking and laughing as they’d discussed whatever it was that teenage girls talked about.
I forced myself out of bed and went to the bathroom to take care of business before searching out my pajama top.
Bullet eyed me from where he’d stolen my spot on the bed and he actually dropped his big head to my pillow when I shook my head at him.
I chuckled and then went around the bed to drop a soft kiss on Seth’s temple before leaving the room.
I could already smell the coffee brewing as I neared the kitchen, but I was surprised to find the room wasn’t empty.
Nicole was sitting in one of the kitchen chairs facing the window, her eyes on the light snow falling outside.
Since I didn’t want to startle her, I flipped the light switch for the chandelier above the table a few times.
She turned slowly in her chair to look at me, but didn’t react in any other way.
I went to the table and sat next to her, concerned by her solemn expression.
Seth and I had had multiple sessions with a sign language teacher, but we were far from fluent. I mentally crossed my fingers and signed what I hoped were the right words.
Everything okay?
Nicole nodded, but didn’t sign anything back.
Did you sleep okay?
That question earned me another nod, but nothing more.
Are you hungry?
This time a shake of the head.
I tapped my fingers on the table as I thought about what to say next, but Nicole beat me to the punch and began signing. Relief went through me when I recognized the words.
Merry Christmas.
I smiled and signed the words back to her and added her name for good measure. She smiled and then she was sliding a piece of paper that had been sitting face down on the table in front of her across to me.
I turned it over and felt my insides light up at the sight of five carefully drawn people and a dog in front of a house that had the same colors as our house. One of the taller people had dark hair, the other one had blond hair.
Is this for me? I signed.
Nicole nodded and then pointed to the blond-haired figure.
And Seth?
Another nod.
I felt tears threatening, but I managed to hold them back.
Thank you.
You’re welcome.
I carefully reached out to touch her cheek and she let me.
I took the picture over to the refrigerator and stuck it on it with a couple of magnets.
I searched the cabinet for the package of instant hot chocolate Seth and I had bought in anticipation of the kids’ arrival and took it along with a bag of marshmallows back to Nicole and showed it to her.
She nodded without me even needing to ask her if she wanted them.
I got her drink ready and tossed a few marshmallows in and then took the rest of the bag back to the table along with the mug.
As she topped off the drink with an insane number of marshmallows, I got myself a cup of coffee.
We sat in silence for a few minutes just drinking and watching the snow fall, but when I saw Willow appear in the doorway to the kitchen, I got Nicole’s attention and pointed behind her.
Nicole got out of her chair and ran to her sister and hugged her.
They began signing back and forth, but their motions were too quick for me to catch much.
The only words I got were Merry Christmas .
“Morning,” I said to Willow as she stepped farther into the kitchen.
“Morning,” she said quietly.
“How are you feeling?”
“Good,” she responded. She was still clearly nervous around me, but I hadn’t really expected anything different.
“Would you like some hot chocolate? ”
Willow nodded and stood behind Nicole’s chair as I prepared it. She ran her fingers over her sister’s hair as Nicole drank. By the time I was putting her mug on the table, I heard the clicking of nails on hardwood and Bullet came trotting into the kitchen with Jamie right on his heels.
“Santa came!” he shouted and then he was throwing his arms around his sister’s legs.
“How do you know?” Willow asked as she reached down to pick him up, but he squirmed out of her reach and grabbed her hand instead.
“Come on!” he ordered impatiently and then he was grabbing Nicole’s hand. He practically dragged his sisters out of the kitchen and I saw Seth barely move out of their way in time as he reached the kitchen entry way.
His eyes fell on me and his already wide smile grew wider.
“Morning,” I said softly and then he was walking into my arms.
“Morning,” he murmured tiredly and then he was lifting his mouth to mine. The kiss was short and sweet…and utterly perfect. “Merry Christmas, Ronan.”
“Merry Christmas, baby,” I breathed against his lips before brushing another kiss over them. “Coffee?” I asked, but Seth didn’t even get a chance to answer because Jamie rushed back into the room and grabbed both our hands and tried to pull us forward.
“Hurry up! He came!”
Seth and I both laughed and then Seth was letting himself be dragged out of the room.
I snagged my coffee as I followed them to the living room.
I leaned against the archway as I watched Jamie excitedly showing Seth all the presents beneath the tree.
Nicole was standing shyly next to them and I saw Seth signing Merry Christmas to her.
She smiled and then hugged him before dropping to her knees to start rifling through the presents and sorting them.
“Um, Dr. Grisham?”
Willow approached me slowly from where she’d been standing off to the side watching her brother and sister.
“You can call me Ronan,” I reminded her.
I hated that she felt the need for such formality with us, but I knew it would likely be a while before she became comfortable enough to really see us as anything besides a temporary way station in the chaotic journey she and her siblings had been on in the past year.
“Ronan,” she said, as if testing the sound of my name. “I was wondering…we were wondering,” she said as she motioned to her brother and sister. “If we could take you up on the offer to use the other bedrooms?”
I hid the joy that rushed through me at the question.
I knew that Willow had insisted the trio share one room as a way of keeping her brother and sister close, so to have her be the one to ask if they could each have their own room was a huge step forward.
I managed to play it cool as I said, “Of course. We can move you into them today if you want.”
Willow nodded. She shifted back and forth on her feet, but remained quiet so I said, “Was there something else?”
“Um…Hannah was telling me that she and her friends are going to a movie tomorrow and she invited me to go. They’re going for ice cream afterwards, but the ice cream store is just a couple doors down from the theater so I wouldn’t have to walk much…so I was just wondering if I could go.”
“Of course you can,” I said, again hiding the fact that I was practically doing cartwheels on the inside. “I’ll talk to her fathers today at Christmas dinner to make the arrangements.”
Willow nodded and a small smile graced her lips. “Thank you.”
I wanted so badly to reach out and touch her, but I didn’t.
“You’re welcome.”
I thought for sure that was it. That she’d turn away and go to her brother and sister and start looking through all the presents, but she surprised me yet again when she slowly approached me and then pushed into my arms. I automatically wrapped my free arm around her since my other one still had the cup of coffee in it.
“Merry Christmas, Ronan.”
My voice was so thick with emotion that I barely managed to get out, “Merry Christmas, Willow.” I dropped a kiss to the top of her head and then saw Seth watching us both with a big smile on his face.
Willow glanced up at me shyly as she released me and then she was heading towards Jamie and Nicole.
Seth passed her as he was walking towards me and she graced him with the same hug she’d given me.
I put my arm out long before Seth reached me and he automatically walked into my embrace and leaned against my side.
He didn’t say anything and neither did I.
We didn’t need to. He merely brushed his mouth over mine in the sweetest of kisses and then we both turned to revel in the sight of our new family enjoying the first of what I knew would be many Christmases to come.