CHAPTER THIRTY
Rebecca—
A sudden weight lands on top of me, and I open my eyes to find Buddy with his big front paws on my stomach.
“Ooph,” I gasp. “Get off me, boy.” I try to shove him away, but he whines.
JJ rolls and shoves Buddy down. “Hey boy, she’s all mine.” Then his weight rolls onto me, pinning me to the bed. JJ grins, his face inches from mine. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Good morning, my love.”
“It’s Christmas Day.”
“It is,” I reply with a grin. “You plan to spend it lying on top of me?”
“I thought you loved me.”
“I do.”
“Then this is where I want to be.”
I shake with silent laughter, and it makes his body shake, too.
“Do that again. It makes your tits jiggle.”
“Get off me.” I try to shove him off.
“Not a chance, darlin’.”
“You’re worse than Buddy.” I tickle JJ’s ribs, and his brows lift.
“You really want to start a tickle war, babe? Because I guarantee I’ll win.”
“I give,” I beg when he starts tickling me. “Stop! Please.”
He dips to press a soft kiss to my lips. “Thought so.”
“I thought you loved me,” I pout.
“Didn’t I show you last night? Several times, as a matter of fact. You wore me out, woman.”
Little mewling cries come from the living room, and Buddy barks from where he’s still standing by the bed staring at us.
We both look toward the open bedroom door.
“What was that sound?” I ask.
“Don’t know,” JJ says, lifting off me to slip into his jeans, leaving the zipper and button undone.
I scramble into his discarded denim shirt and follow him out into the living room. The sound leads us to the blankets where Buddy’s new girlfriend, the golden lab lies.
“Did she catch a mouse?” I ask, trying to focus my sleepy eyes. “What is that?”
JJ squats and pushes her front paw out of the way to look.
There are a bunch of squirming fur balls at her belly.
“Good God, she’s had puppies,” he says.
“Oh, my gosh. She wasn’t fat; she was pregnant! How many are there?”
JJ does a quick count. “Holy crap, there are eight of them. And check out this one.” He scoops one up and holds it for me to see.
It’s black like Buddy. The rest are all golden, like their mother.
“Guess there’s no doubt who the daddy is,” I say.
“You been busy, huh, Buddy,” JJ says, staring at him as he sits four feet away, his tail wagging proudly.
“This is why he woke me up. He wanted us to see the puppies.” I bend and scratch his ears. “Are they healthy? Do they all look okay?”
“They seem fine. They’re all content, just eating like little piggies.”
I walk over and pet the mama. “You did good, pretty girl. Look at all your beautiful babies.”
Her tail wags slowly, and I straighten. “She must be tired.”
“You would be too. She’s been busy all night.”
“We never heard a sound.”
“I think I had you good and distracted,” JJ says, rising and throwing an arm around me.
I grin. “True.”
He kisses me, then dips his head to peer out the window. The sun is shining.
“Looks like the snow has stopped, but not before it dumped a shitload of it on us.”
I push the curtain aside. Everything is blinding white, the snow sparkling in the brilliant sunshine and the sky is a perfect shade of blue. “What a gorgeous Christmas morning.”
“It is since we don’t have to go anywhere.”
I wander to the tree and frown, finding an ornament I don’t remember buying. It’s a silver box with a ribbon. “What’s this?”
JJ has a smile on his face. “Open it and find out.”
I take it from where it’s nestled in the branches and pull the bow, then lift the lid. Inside is a diamond ring lying on blue velvet.
My eyes widen and lift to JJ’s.
When I don’t say a word, he approaches, scoops it out, and takes my hand, slipping the ring on my finger.
“How ‘bout it, Becca? You want to give it a go? I know I’m not much, but I love you more than life.”
I drop the box and cover my mouth. “Oh JJ, it’s beautiful. But I didn’t get you anything this big. I just bought you a stupid flannel jacket, so you’d match the town.”
His hands go to my waist to pull me against him, and he bumps my forehead with his. “Babe, you got me everything. You.”
I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and suddenly my eyes go wide. I move to the fireplace where I’d stashed my fortune from our very first meal together at the Chinese restaurant. I take out the little slip of paper and read it, then my eyes lift to his. “My fortune came true.”
You will find your meaning for living.
“And I found you and this farm.”
JJ crosses the room and digs out the fortune cookie slip from the inside pocket of his cut and reads it.
“Well, I’ll be damned. My fortune came true, too.”
Your family will come to mean everything to you.
He lifts me up and spins me in a circle and then kisses me. “You’re my family, and you sure as hell mean everything to me.”
Buddy barks and jumps on us.
We laugh and break apart.
JJ stares at the two dogs and eight puppies. “I think we’re going to need to update our logo next year and add all these guys.”
“We’re keeping them all?” I ask, stunned.
He shrugs. “Why not? We’ve got the room. Besides, I’ve already thought of the perfect names. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.”
“You’re insane,” I say, laughing.
“But you love me, anyway.”
I do. I really do.