Chapter 29
HARDY
“Daddy! Daddy, wake up! It’s Christmas!” Avery shouts as she climbs on the bed, jumping up and down, before crawling between me and Bella.
Since Avery decided she wanted Giraffe and Bella to celebrate Christmas with us, they spent the night.
They’ve actually been staying over every night since Christmas break started.
We were able to clear some space in the finished part of the basement for Isaac to set up an air mattress so he could have his own area too.
“Coffee,” Bella grumbles sleepily, curling up tighter. I roll out of bed, pull on some sweats, and head downstairs with Avery.
Isaac is sitting at the kitchen table when we walk in. “I already started the coffee for Mom. Hey, Butterfly, did you see what Santa did? Go look.”
She runs over to the front room with the tree and is stopped by a giant wall of paper blocking off the room.
“He did it!” Avery squeals as she jumps up and down.
“What’s happening now?” I ask, looking very perplexed at the wall of wrapping paper I definitely didn’t put there. When I look over at Isaac, he just gives me a wink.
“I asked Sprinkle to wrap up the whole room. Bella said you have to ask Santa, but I forgot, and then Isaac said I could ask Sprinkle on Christmas Eve. And he did it!” she says, bouncing up and down.
Bella stumbles downstairs in a pair of flannel pajama pants and one of my old fire station T-shirts, her hair thrown up in a messy bun on the top of her head. She’s never looked more beautiful, and I can’t help but stare as she walks over and reaches into the cupboard behind me for a mug.
“Why are you staring at me like that? Do I have something on my face?” she asks through a yawn.
I set down my mug and pull her into my arms. “You look beautiful, and I can’t take my eyes off of you.
” She shoots me a “yeah, right” look, and I hook my fingers under her chin, tilting her face to mine.
“You are the embodiment of Christmas morning.” I lean close to her ear.
“Yawning cause you’ve been up all night wrapping gifts, disheveled, and in my T-shirt looking like you’re mine, flushed because of how hard I fucked you last night, and totally and utterly beautiful.
This is a sight I want to wake up to every day. ”
She pulls back and searches my eyes like she’s worried I’m kidding. “You can’t say things like that to me. I’ll never leave,” she says as she leans in to kiss me, and I pull back and hold her face. “Okay, I was kidding. Kind of.”
“What if I wasn’t?”
“Wait, what are you saying?”
“I know this probably seems fast, but I feel like I’ve known you for years, not two months. But I don’t want to spend any more time apart. This week has been perfect, and I want to wake up to you every morning. You don’t have to say anything, and we can figure out logistics later but—”
“Yes! I want to wake up to your grumpy face every morning too.”
I pull her in for a kiss, keeping it short and sweet, but my heart feels so full of love for this little family we’ve made.
We eat breakfast quickly, just bacon and eggs, and Avery scarfs hers down, ready to break through the wrapping wall.
“Go brush your teeth.”
Avery whines but reluctantly ascends the stairs as I join Bella and Isaac at the table after washing the frying pan.
“You know you’re going to have to do that every year, right?” Bella says to Isaac.
“I know. But did you see her face?”
Bella smiles as she sips her coffee. “It’s a pain in the ass to put up, isn’t it?”
He laughs. “It is. But it was my favorite part of Christmas morning. Thank you for making it special for me.”
“It wasn’t me, it was Santa,” she says just as Avery runs back in the room ready to boss us all around.
Her run through the paper wall was epic. Bella was able to sneak into the room and capture the whole thing in slow motion, and the look on my little girl’s face when she saw the tree and stockings is one that will be imprinted on my soul forever.
Now, she’s handing everyone their stocking, but the three of us watch her empty and open hers before we touch our own. Each squeal lights up my heart. She was excited last year, but it was nothing like this, and I worried that I wasn’t capable of bringing this kind of magic back into her life.
“Hardy! Did you buy stocking stuffers right under my nose without me knowing?” Bella says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“I did.”
Her nose crinkles in the adorable way it does when she’s trying not to cry, and I scoot closer to her on the couch, pulling her into me so I can kiss the side of her head as she continues opening her stocking.
“Blind bags! Did you get these when we went to Denver? Seriously, this is some next-level stuff. I am so impressed. How did you do it without me knowing?”
“Let’s just say that kiss was a great distraction. And if Amber hadn’t walked up, I would’ve grabbed a few more.”
“What’s so special about those anyway?” Isaac says, plopping onto the other side of the couch as he crams a cinnamon roll in his mouth. I swear this kid is always eating, but I guess I was too at that age.
“It’s the gift you get to open twice!” she squeals, tearing open the back and marveling over the contents.
“Daddy, look! There are new ornaments on the tree!” Avery says, pointing to a new princess ornament covered in entirely too much glitter for my liking.
I walk over to examine it, and sure enough, I don’t recognize it. When I look over at Bella, she winks. It’s amazing the way she and Isaac have seamlessly folded into our lives, combining their traditions with our own.
Avery is playing a game that Isaac coded from scratch just for her on an iPad he said his dad gave him that he didn’t need anymore. The gesture is so touching and thoughtful.
The room is a mess, there’s wrapping paper and ribbon everywhere, but there’s one more present tucked into the corner of the room, and I drag it over to Bella.
“Hardy, this is huge!” Bella squeals.
“That’s what she said,” Isaac says, and then slaps a hand over his mouth. I look over, but Avery is too engrossed in her sparkly princess palace to notice. “Sorry, force of habit. Mom makes it way too easy.”
I chuckle at his astute observation. “I’ve noticed.”
“Hey, I’m not that bad,” Bella says.
“Open it,” I say, gesturing to the giant box in front of her.
Everyone else has opened all their gifts, but Bella had insisted that she would go last. She eyes the box up and down, trying to determine the best course of action.
“I’m pretty proud of the wrap—” Before I can finish complimenting my own wrapping skills, Bella tears into the box as little scraps of paper fly all around her.
It’s almost comical the way her arms are flailing as she continues ripping, but I see the minute she reveals enough of what’s underneath.
“Oh my God, Hardy. Is this—is this a giant Die Hard inflatable of Nakatomi Plaza exploding?”
There’s a stupid grin on my face as she scrambles to get up, nearly slipping on a large piece of wrapping paper as she runs over and throws herself into my arms.
“Does this mean we aren’t going discount inflatable shopping tomorrow?”
“We can still go, but I wanted you to have something to add to your Christmas collection.”
“So, you admit that Die Hard is a Christmas movie?”
I nod my head. “Die Hard is a Christmas movie.”
She presses her lips against my ear, squeezing me into a tight hug. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you utter sexier words.”
Leaning back, I kiss her nose and then nod toward Isaac. “There’s one more thing. Isaac made you something.”
She climbs off my lap and walks over to Isaac as he hands her his phone. “What am I looking at?”
“Hey, Avery, you should go put your princess dress on and show Bella,” I suggest. “I bet it will look great next to the sparkly palace.”
“That’s a great idea,” she says, taking off for the stairs.
Bella’s brow pinches. “I’ve seen that dress before.”
“I know. I just needed her to be preoccupied for a minute.”
Isaac points to an app on his phone. “Tap the app with Santa on it.”
She follows his instructions, and it’s obvious she hasn’t figured out yet what she’s holding.
“This is cool. Are these like little Santa games? Did you build this for Avery?”
“Kinda?” Isaac says.
“Keep exploring,” I say.
“So kids play the games and earn nice points? And they can do chores and read stories to earn points too?”
“Yup. Now, hit the icon in the top corner of the screen.”
She frowns. “It’s asking for a password.”
“Type 1234,” Isaac says.
“You guys, what is this?” She swipes excitedly through the different screens. “Is this what I think it is?”
Isaac looks at me, his grin as big as mine.
“Did you build me an app for The Santa Rules?”
“Isaac did,” I say, full of pride for the kid.
“It was your idea,” Isaac says.
“This is so cool. Can I customize my tier to include anything I want?”
“You can,” Isaac says, grabbing the phone and walking her through the other parts of the app.
He’s so excited to show it off, talking animatedly about it, and I can’t help but tear up a little.
“And there are message boards to connect with other parents, share recipes, and find volunteer opportunities.”
She turns to me. “This has everything we talked about that night in the bar. And more. You listened to everything we said, and you made it real.”
“It’s the magic of Santa, and you’ve been a good girl—”
“Gross, guys.”
“Wasn’t being dirty that time.” I laugh and then continue. “You are so good to others, and you deserve some of that goodness to come back to you. And this is a great way to share your idea and spread the magic of Santa with everyone.”
“Thank you,” Bella says, pulling me and Isaac into a three-person hug.
“This is the best Christmas ever!” Avery squeals as she runs over to us in her princess dress.
Bella is beaming ear to ear as I scoop Avery in my arms, and she gives me a big hug.
“And I got everything I asked Santa for.”
“You asked him for the princess palace, I take it?”
She nods enthusiastically. “But I also asked him for another gift. A secret one.”
“What was that?” Bella asks, coming up beside us. She leans into my side and I wrap an arm around her waist.
“I asked Santa for a family. And we’re like a family. We do stuff together, like Christmas.”
Oh, my fucking heart. I love this little girl so much. And the life we’ve created. And the family the four of us have forged.