Page 20 of Christmas Escape
The line moved forward, and we followed.
“So fine,” I said, picking up where we’d been before. “I won’t knit a scarf for Clarence, even though I think it would be a great Christmas present for him.”
“Melody…” Caleb groaned.
“But I need something to keep my hands busy while I’m thinking about my next book.” The last one was with my editor, and now, I was in the thinking part of the writing. “So…maybe, I’ll knit a baby blanket instead.”
I heard Caleb’s intake of breath, but he didn’t say a word. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.
“Or booties…”
“Melody,” he whispered. “Are we…pregnant?”
I grinned so hard it almost hurt. “No,wearen’t but I am.”
When I looked, he stared at me with his mouth slightly open.
“Don’t look so surprised,” I laughed. “It was bound to happen. We never remember protection.”
“And you’re telling me when we’re in line for candy?”
“I mean…we could go to the cabin of doom where it all started,” I offered.
“Can’t. It’s rented.” He grasped my hand and pulled me into his chest. “How much do you really want these sweets?”
I licked my lips. “You have a replacement in mind?”
“Yeah, your favorite treat.” But he was already pulling me out of line and toward the door.
I just laughed. Life with Caleb had been perfect every day, and escaping to Majestic Falls had been one of the best decisions of my life.
Epilogue Two
Caleb
Seven Years Later
“Dad, it’s crooked.”
I looked up at my six-year-old daughter who was so much like her mother that I was sure I knew what Melody had been like as a child. I had the miniature version right here.
“Aria, the penguin’s not crooked. It’s windy.” I glanced back at the inflatable we put up every year for Christmas. The first year, we’d put it up the day after Christmas, and we’d left it up into February. Since then, Mr. Penguin and a few friends we’d added went up mid-December and stayed up into January.
Melody and I both love Christmas and were anxious to celebrate it every year. It wasourseason, the time when we’d gotten together and when we’d married—a week after we’d met. Some people might think we were crazy, but we knew better. We were meant to be, and every day since had proved it. The family blessing ofknowinghad continued to me. My wife and I would be forever, just as I’d always known.
“Aria,” Melody called from the porch. “I made hot chocolate. Come inside and have some with your brothers, and let your dad finish up.”
“Ugh…boys,” my daughter scoffed.
“Keep that thought,” I muttered as she skipped away.
The love of my life ruffled our little girl’s hair as she passed, then Melody wrapped her arms around me from behind.
“Heisa little bit crooked,” she said, looking up at me while I peered over my shoulder at her. “I like it, though.”
“I don’t know. He might be on his last legs.”
“Oh! Don’t say that!”
