Page 42 of Merry with a Single Dad

“Now I know where you get it from,” Savannah said.

I raised my hand to flip her the finger, but Mom smacked it down.

We worked together to pack the presents under the tree. Then we ate Santa’s cookies, drank his milk, and put the reindeers’ carrots back in the refrigerator.

“I think everything looks perfect,” Mom said.

“You’re a good dad, son, you know that?” Dad said. His voice cracked with emotion.

My throat tightened at the sincerity and emotion in his words. “I learned from the best.”

A comfortable silence fell as we stood admiring the tree and boot prints. The familiar warmth I’d been feeling more often than not lately spread through me.

Everything felt right.

Everything looked perfect.

As Emily and I shared one more kiss in front of the tree, I thought about Christmas morning and how it couldn’t come soon enough.

Chapter Sixteen

Emily

Chris and I had just crawled into bed when my phone rang.

“Emily! Hello? Oh my! I think Gigi’s going into labor.” Celine’s voice was frantic on the other end of the line.

I sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. My stomach tightened in nervous excitement as I thought about the baby growing inside me.

Looking at Chris, I almost blurted out the news.

“It’s okay, Gigi,” Elodie said.

“In two hundred feet, turn left,” an automated voice interrupted.

“Celine, are you driving?”

“Yes. I thought I was ready for this. But I-I’m on my way to your house.”

“Okay. Okay.” I signaled to Chris and hopped out of bed.

Wrapping myself into my robe, I listened as Celine continued. “I don’t know what to do. I thought I did. But, oh! My poor baby!” A stream of flawless French poured from her mouth as she talked to Gigi and Elodie.

Thankfully, Savannah was in a deep sleep as I walked past her in the living room. I stared out the front window, anxiously awaiting Gigi’s arrival. My knees knocked together, and myhands started sweating. Unable to process the anxiety rushing through me, I made my way to the kitchen table.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t hear Chris come up behind me and practically jumped out of my skin when he said, “What’s going on?”

“Gigi. Celine’s on her way,” I whispered. “She’s in labor.”

He ran his hand through his hair, eyes wide open, staring at me like I’d just spoken a foreign language.

“Babe,” I said. “It’s going to be fine. We’ll just . . . Crap.”

“Yeah,” Chris whispered. “I checked on the dogs. They’re sound asleep with Hudson.”

“Should we wake him up?”

“No. If we do, he’ll see everything, and I’ll never get him back to bed.”

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