Page 37 of Holiday Hitch

Dorothy smiled at her daughter before even beginning to unwrap her gift. Robin knew that she had already had suspicions, especially after the day at Bear Creek.

But as they each sat there, waiting for someone to rip the paper first, Robin prompted, “Well, go on.”

Sarah was the first to undo her ribbon, saying, “I don’t have time to wait around.” She winked at Robin and Zoey as the rest of the family began to open their boxes.

Dorothy was the first to get through the tissue paper, and her mouth fell open as she processed what she was looking at: the first sonogram of her next grandchild.

Sarah was next, “You’re joking.”

The kids stared at theirs before looking to their mom, unsure what exactly the black-and-white image was.

It wasn’t until William had the sonogram in his hand that Zoey finally confessed, “We’re having a baby.”

The sentence was barely out of her mouth when Dorothy rushed across the living room and scooped both of them into a tight, warm hug. She hadn’t stopped squealing when Sarah and William joined in on the group hug.

“Congratulations,” Dorothy said, kissing Zoey’s cheek.

William grumbled, “I was starting to think you’d never have any.”

Sarah was giddy, “I can’t believe it’s finally happening.”

The kids joined in on the hug, their little arms weaving around Zoey and Robin’s legs.

“It’ll be a summer, baby,” Zoey said as she walked with her mother to the kitchen.

Dorothy grabbed the coffee cup from the end table and shook her head, “You better not have had any of this.”

Zoey laughed and said, “I’m not taking any risks.” She looked back at Robin with soft eyes as she spoke.

Robin joined Dorothy, Sarah, and Zoey in the kitchen while William watched the kids play with their new toys. Christmas music played through the house.

Sarah asked, “How long have you been trying? I had no idea.”

Shaking her head, Zoey said, “Not that long, egg retrieval took a few months, so it was a bit before we were ready to implant, but we just got kind of lucky from there. It took really fast.”

Sarah nodded with wide eyes. She knew that IVF was an option, but she and her ex-husband, Jason, hadn’t used it, so she was curious about the process

Dorothy looked at her daughter with kind and gentle eyes, “It’s not just you anymore, is it?”

Without Dorothy needing to say anything else, Robin could see the recognition on Zoey’s face. It was all Zoey needed to hear to know taking a step back was the right option for her family. And she was lucky to know that her work would always be there when she was ready to go back.

Robin put an arm around Zoey, her other hand resting where their baby was growing. She looked into Zoey’s warm eyes, still just as happy as ever to have finally found each other again and to get to do this every year for the rest of their lives.

18

Leah

Wakingup next to Daryl on Christmas morning felt like a dream. It wasn’t until Daryl rolled over and kissed her that she realized her girlfriend really was there.

They’d talked everything over a few days before, and Daryl had assured Leah that she really wanted to be there, not out of a sense of obligation or pity, but because she really loved being a part of Leah’s family. It was all Leah needed to agree to have Daryl at the Vargas family Christmas.

Now, laying there with flurries of snow passing by the window behind the bed, everything felt right. All of her hesitation had evaporated in the bright light of Christmas morning.

Faster than Leah had expected, Daryl sat up in the bed and said, “Merry Christmas! Are you ready to go out there?”

Leah giggled as she wiped the sleep from her eyes and looked up at her girlfriend. She nodded, yawning as she stretched.

Daryl put her feet on the ground first and slipped on her comfiest pajamas, passing Leah hers from her bag. Leah slipped on the big t-shirt Daryl had passed her and looked around the room.

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