Chapter 10
Sev
Once he got a couple of painkillers in, it didn’t take Sev long to start feeling better.
After going inside and greeting her father and Marta, he was personally invited by the Admiral to stay for dinner.
Around big bowls of homemade beef stroganoff, they visited and laughed, much like any family getting together for the holidays.
When Kelsey had called him and told him of her father’s clean bill of health, Sev knew he had to see her. He’d been looking forward to their date all year, but something else had taken hold of him inside.
He’d fallen hopelessly in love with her.
They fit together perfectly. He could listen to her talk for hours, and often had. She understood the abstract stuff that no other woman he’d dated seemed to get. He knew she was special, not to mention entirely out of his league, but it made him want to hold onto her tighter. To never let her go.
When he had told his parents and siblings that he had to go to Newport for Christmas Eve, they’d been completely supportive. None of them had ever seen him so besotted with a woman before, and deep down in his heart, Sev knew that Kelsey was the one for him.
So when he packed up a bag and filled up his gas tank, his siblings high-fived him, his father clapped him on the back, and his mother packed him a snack for the road.
“We’ll give you Christmas,” she’d told him as he was ready to reverse out of the driveway. “But you bring her back here for New Year’s.”
“I will, Mom,” he’d promised.
Though he had to admit, if the smile on Kelsey’s face was any indicator, he was fitting in pretty effortlessly with her family.
They had been welcoming from the start, but it probably didn’t hurt that, on the way in, Sev handed the Admiral two bottles of wine from a local winery back home.
It was a gamble, but seeing how happy it made him, and by proxy how happy it made Kelsey, he knew it had been the right move.
Even more, when the floral deliveryman showed up with three blood-red roses for her, Kelsey burst into tears.
“Sweetheart,” Sev said, not hesitating to wrap her up in his arms as soon as her head dropped. He knew it probably had to do with the stress of the holiday and her father’s treatment all exiting out of her body at once. But still, “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”
“This is seriously the most thoughtful thing ever,” she said, sniffling and wiping her eyes as her father and Marta looked on.
It hadn’t taken Kelsey long to find a vase for the roses, placing them in the center of the table.
“Where are you staying tonight, son?” her father had asked.
“On base,” he answered, definitively. The last thing he wanted to do was show up unannounced, expecting to take advantage of their hospitality. “I figured I’d grab a room at the hotel there.”
Her father nodded, seeming to like the notion that he had planned ahead. And probably because of that, “Don’t go to all that trouble. You can bunk here on the couch tonight.”
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate that,” Sev said, nodding at her father. Her dad nodded back, as if he’d successfully passed a test. Plus, he had no room to complain. He was under Kelsey’s roof and would remain there for at least another day.
Best Christmas Eve ever.
Knowing that the Admiral had kept up his habit of retiring early, Sev immediately took the hint to do so himself.
After helping the family load the dishwasher and wipe down the table (another plus for him if her dad’s approving smile was any indicator), he took his bag and changed into a T-shirt and pajama pants for bed.
Grabbing his bag, he wandered into the open-concept living room with the vaulted ceiling.
The only light cast was from the twelve-foot Christmas tree and the warm embers dying down in the fireplace.
Kelsey stood by the now freshly made-up couch in her white and red flannel pajamas, her face lighting up into a stunning smile as she saw him come toward her.
“Got you all set up,” she said, gesturing to the couch, which looked quite comfy. She had tucked in a full set of sheets, added a couple of pillows, and a down comforter that he knew would ward off the cold. Course, he could think of something else that might ward off the cold, too.
“C’mere,” he said, dropping his bag and opening his arms to her. She came to him without hesitation, sliding her arms around his waist as he pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, surprised by his gratitude. It was so easy to make this woman happy. “It isn’t much, but it’s yours for the night.”
“Better than a lot of places I’ve slept.” Given some of the stories her dad and his buddies told her, he had no doubts she knew he was speaking the truth.
“I can’t believe you came all this way,” she said, reaching up to run the tips of her fingers through the hair hanging over his forehead.
“Haven’t you learned yet?” he asked, sliding his thumb across her cheekbone and down along her jawline. She stretched as he did it, clearly loving the touch. “There isn’t anywhere I wouldn’t go for you.”
“I believe you,” she said, staring back up at him. “I got you something.”
“Are we exchanging now?” he asked. “I thought your family liked to do that first thing Christmas morning?” During dinner, they’d discussed their particular family traditions.
Kelsey and her dad liked opening presents first thing Christmas morning while waiting for a pan of cinnamon rolls to come out of the oven.
Marta liked to open everything on Christmas Eve and take the next day to travel.
Sev was already figuring out how to convince Kelsey to come back with him for New Year’s, knowing full well his family would be getting her gifts, anticipating a second Christmas when they arrived.
“We do, but I wanted to give this to you privately,” she said, walking toward the Christmas tree and pulling a wrapped package from below the boughs. At the same time, Sev pulled open his bag, reaching in for the gift he’d brought for her.
Coming back over to where he stood, he watched her take a deep breath, pressing the gift to her chest as if she were trying to gather her courage. But as her eyes drifted to the small rectangle in his hands, her eyebrows lifted in surprise.
“You got me something?”
“I did,” he confirmed, handing it to her. He knew it was perfect when he first saw it months ago. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”
Laying her present down on the couch, she took the package from him, crinkling her nose in excitement. “You didn’t have to get me anything,” she said as she eagerly tore into it.
When the paper was gone, he watched her face as she took in the framed picture, her jaw dropping at the sneaky shot his sister had taken, unbeknownst to them.
“Sev!” she said, her jaw dropping as she looked up at him. In all the time they’d known one another, they’d never taken a picture together. They always had too much fun to remember to pull out their phones. “Where did you get this?”
“Emma snapped it last year.” He had actually been floored when his baby sister texted him with it.
It was from last Christmas Eve when he and Kelsey had just left Art & Soul.
They’d been standing on the sidewalk, talking with wonderful smiles on their faces.
Kelsey had been holding her new sketchbook tight to her chest as the snow had gently started to fall.
“I love this so much,” she said, the sentiment of it nearly taking her breath away. Her eyes got glassy, and she began fanning her face, trying to laugh at the emotions that were playing out there. “Thank you.”
Of course, she didn’t realize that’s one of the reasons he loved her so much. She always wore her heart on her sleeve.
“You’re welcome,” he said, reaching for her and pulling her close, dropping a sweet kiss on her lips before wrapping her up in a bear hug. She hugged him back as tightly as she could with one hand still firmly around the picture.
“I guess now’s the time to give you this.” She reached for the present, holding it out for him to take. Instantly, Sev’s face lit up in delight at the gift. While she had given him plenty of kisses, this was the first actual physical gift she’d ever given him.
Still, he remembered her hesitation from earlier and wondered, “Should I sit down for this?”
Once again, that nervousness was back in Kelsey’s face. “Um, we can?”
Studying this once confident woman, he decided to heed her words and carefully sat down on the couch-come-bed. Patting the spot next to him, Kelsey perched next to him, audibly taking in a deep breath and letting it out.
Putting an arm around her, he leaned in and touched his lips softly to hers once more.
She kissed him back, touching her fingertips against his jawline where his day-old stubble had once again made an appearance.
When she tipped her nails and lightly dragged them away, like she always did, he knew that whatever was in this package, her feelings hadn’t changed.
Turning his attention to the gift in his hands, Sev carefully pulled the tape from the paper, tearing it slightly as he pulled out the sketchbook with the stickers on it she’d decorated last Christmas Eve.
“Uh…” he began, trying to figure out why she was giving him back the gift he’d given her.
“Open it,” she encouraged him with a hopeful glance, silently assuring him that there was more to it. Cracking open the cover, he turned to the first page. To his surprise, it was a pencil drawing of the two of them sitting together at the Second Call.