Page 51 of Everything I Promise

“Hey, handsome. Have I told you lately how lucky we are to have you? I can’t believe you’re taking him to the trampoline park. He’s been talking about it for weeks. I have to ask though, did Preston okay this?”

“Of course I'm taking him! He deserves some fun. He got good reports from school, he took care of me, and he’s just a great kid, Lace. You are doing such a good job as his mom.”

“Okay, but are you cleared to go?” She asks again raising her eyebrows in question.

“Yes, sweetheart, I called Preston. You’re welcome to check with him yourself. As long as I don’t do the jumping I’m good. Plus he insisted on coming so I'll be under careful watch.” I pull her to me, and our lips melt together as Lacey leans into me.

After a minute she pulls away. “Okay, let’s go buckle my baby up. If I don’t stop touching you, you won’t be leaving, and I have to go for this call with Willow.”

“You got it. I hope everything is alright. Did Addy say anything about it?”

“Just that Willow was crying hysterically, and she had a hard time getting out the words. Something about her manager, or boyfriend, or maybe he is both. I’m not too sure. I’m really scared he’s taking advantage of her, Colton. I never got a good vibe from him, and Willow has become so withdrawn since. I know Mom is worried about her, and Willow has stopped answering her calls. Addy can usually get through to her, they’ve always been closer like Scarlett and I since they are the younger two.” She drops her head.

“I’m so sorry, Sweetheart. If you need me I’ll have my phone on, we can come home early if you need us too.”

“No, I won’t ruin my baby’s night. He is so excited.” She looks back at the truck and smiles.

“And that is why you’re a great mom.” I kiss her cheek before opening Oliver’s door.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lacey

Christmas Eve seems so much easier and is actually enjoyable when I’m not trying to keep Michael happy. I got to wake up in Colton’s arms, and now Oliver and I are making a special Christmas breakfast for the three of us before heading to my Mom’s house. We spent the night last night and we’ll spend the night again tonight after we decorate a tree before Santa comes.

In all the craziness of the salon opening, and Michael showing up, we just never had the time to get a tree. Colton and Oliver picked up a fake tree when they went Christmas shopping, and they were both very excited to show me. We decided since it was so close to Christmas Eve we would wait to decorate until tonight after dinner at my mom’s house. After we have a chance to steal some more of her cookies. Of course, it wouldn’t be tree decorating without Mom’s cookies.

“What is this special treat we have here?” Colton asks as he kisses the top of Oliver’s head and my forehead. He has seemingly filled this father role with ease, and he actually seems happy to do it. We had a conversation the other night that I didn’t expect him to be an immediate father to Oliver. But he fought me on every excuse and told me to stop because he loves Oliver, too. It was, and still is, hard for me to accept that someone wants me and my son. And it’s hard for me to accept that I’m so lacking in confidence about this. I mean, how can anyone not love Oliver?

“We made you a special Christmas breakfast! Mommy made eggs and bacon, and I made cinnamon rolls all by myself!” Oliver exclaims, running over with the pan of cinnamon rolls he is frosting.

Although it seems Oliver is frosting his face as much as the cinnamon rolls.

“That all sounds delicious.” Colton winks my way. “What time do we have to be at your mom’s house?”

I know Colton is just asking because he wants to know, but I can’t push away the feelings of anxiety that take over trying to explain holiday plans. “Well, I said I would go over and help Mom cook around noon with the girls. Preston will be there at noon with Scott, too. So, you can come with us, or stay here and relax alone until dinner, or you can not come at all, and we’ll just see you tonight. If you still want us to spend the night. . .”

He comes and wraps his arms around me. “Lacey, calm down and breathe. I’m not Michael. I want to spend the day and night with all of you. I will go over at noon with you, and I will love every minute of it. I promise.”

“I’m sorry.” I let out an exasperated sigh,why am I like this? "We would love that.” I knew Colton would want to go over to mom’s when we do, but I can’t help it. I wish I could be as resilient as Oliver.

Colton and Oliver go to the living room and close the French doors, pulling the curtains, telling me to absolutely, under no circumstances, come in there. Oliver is giddy, giggling and whispering with Colton.

My Christmas wish is coming true to see Oliver so happy and surrounded by love. Mom would say she has the same Christmas wish for me. She’s more than happy to see Colton’s love for me; she says that Michael was never it for me but she knew I had to see it for myself instead of her telling me her opinion. Now that I have seen the light, I appreciate everything that Colton does for us so much more.

For the first time in a long time, I am relaxed at Christmas Eve dinner, and able to enjoy the time with my family and the traditions we hold. I don’t have to fight with anyone in hushed tones in the hallway so no one hears the nasty things being said to me. I don’t have to shove food in my face so we can leave before dishes are even cleared. Looking back, I don’t know why I didn’t tell Michael to get out and never come back sooner, why I let my fear of Oliver having a broken home control me. It’s not like he had a good home with an uncaring father, that’s worse I think in hindsight. I guess I should be thankful he cheated and chose that family. It was the push I needed to reclaim my life.

Oliver keeps telling me how much he loves getting to ‘hang with the guys’. He is thriving with all these positive male role models around him. Even Scott, who Mom just started admitting was her boyfriend. Scarlett, Addy and I just laughed at her while she cut potatoes with a deep red blush when she admitted that Scott asked her to be his girlfriend last night.

Scott treats her like a queen just like Dad did. She fought her feelings for a while but I’m glad she finally got over her issues. I like to think that I might be getting there too, albeit slowly. I’m also glad she pointed out that I needed to take my own advicewhen I gave it to her a while ago. I really did need to get out of my own way.

Now, here we are, walking hand in hand back to the apartment over my new salon while Oliver stomps in the fresh Christmas Eve snow falling. I didn’t even think being this happy was possible. Yet, here I am.

“Mommy, did you remember to get more cookies from Grammy? We can’t decorate the tree without cookies, and Santa needs cookies. Oh, do we have carrots for Santa’s reindeer, too? We can’t forget them.” Oliver is so excited to decorate tonight, he is just spewing questions at us without even staying to listen to the answers. He and Colton have even drawn out a‘blue map’,in Oliver’s words, to show how we need to decorate the tree to maximize our decorations and space. I’m not sure who is more excited.

“Of course, I did. We have cookie dough, and we will bake it fresh while we decorate, so Santa can have warm gooey cookies per your request,” I say, chuckling.

“And I grabbed carrots this morning from the general store,” Colton responds.

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