Page 73 of Tacos & Toboggans
“Hi,” I said, kissing her gently on the cheek before I shook Irving’s hand. “It’s good to see you both. Congratulations on the new little one. I’ve been so busy at the hospital, I haven’t had a minute to stop by and meet her. How are you feeling?” I asked Hazel, who smiled.
“Tired,” she said, lowering the carrier to the floor. “But incredibly happy.”
“Can I?” I asked, pointing to the carrier that had a warm cover over it. She lifted a flap in the center, and out peeked the sweetest little angel. “Goodness,” I whispered, gazing at the sweet baby girl. Her eyes were closed as she worked a pacifier in her mouth. “The pictures didn’t do her justice. She’s stunning.”
“Thank you,” Irving said, pride puffing out his chest. “She has a stunning pair of lungs on her as well.”
Cameron laughed louder than anyone. “Oh, how I remember those days. The good news is it gets better.”
“That's a relief,” Irving said. “Since she’s fed and happy, we decided it was time to get trees for New Beginnings. We thought we’d better come out before all the good ones are gone.”
“We would have happily delivered trees, guys,” Cameron said.
“Still hoping you will,” Hazel said with a chuckle. “But we wanted to introduce Angel to the farm and pick out the tree for our apartment. We’ll choose from the precuts this year since I’m not moving fast yet and I don’t want to take her out in the cold for long.”
“Hazel!” Jaelyn said as she walked into the room. “Irving! What are you guys doing here?”
She shared a round of hugs with them before checking on the sleeping baby. I pulled her into my side to the raised brows of Hazel and Irving, but I remained nonchalant, unwilling to take the bait. They could be protective of Jaelyn, but I was determined to prove I was the most protective of all.
“It’s T minus three weeks until Christmas, and we don’t have a tree yet,” Hazel said, making the Scream face, which made her and Jaelyn break into giggles. “That’s just unheard of, but extenuating circumstances and all that, right?”
“Right,” Jaelyn said. “If you want, you can leave Angel with me while you go pick out the trees. It’s cold, and the snow was starting when we left the cut-your-own patch.”
“It’s coming down at a decent clip now,” Irving agreed. “That might be best. We should head back before it gets worse.”
Hazel glanced at the carrier and nodded. “Okay, we’re just picking our tree from the precuts. We’ll let Cameron work his magic for the trees we’ll need at New Beginnings. We won’t be long.”
“Take your time,” Jaelyn said as she hoisted the baby carrier and carried it closer to the fireplace.
Hazel and Irving followed Cameron out the door, and I joined them by the chairs. “She’s gorgeous,” I said, sitting nextto Jaelyn, where she was cradling the still sleeping Angel in her arms.
“I told Hazel she could enter her in any newborn contest and win.” She traced a finger down Angel’s tiny cheek, and my gut clenched as my gaze drifted to the cabinet with the red jasper ring. The thought of being as rich as Irving was at this moment was overwhelming and aroused a bit of jealousy in me. Then again, there was nothing to be jealous about when I had all the components necessary to make that dream a reality.
“Do you want to hold her?” she asked, leaning back on the couch and bringing the baby to her shoulder to rub her back.
“I’d much rather sit here and admire you with a baby in your arms. I love the way it looks on you.”
When she tipped her head to the right to smile, there was little doubt in my mind that I was already the richest man in the world.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Frank Sinatra’s smooth voice drifted from the speaker, where Major had connected his phone to play carols while we decorated the tree. True to his word, he’d insisted on stopping by the storage unit to pick up the lights. That was when he’d told me we could put the lights on, but we’d have to wait to decorate the tree until we could get to town tomorrow to buy decorations. Turns out, it had been more than a few years since he’d had a tree. Since I’d saved all Yaya’s decorations and ornaments along with the lights, we’d loaded those into his SUV and brought them back to the house. By the time we arrived, we had over six inches of snow, and it was becoming dangerous to be on the roads. I was relieved that Hazel and Irving had left the farm before we did, so I knew they were safe and sound at home. We had pushed it a little too far and barelyhad our tree in the house when the wind picked up and the sky darkened. It wasn’t long before the streetlights came on. That alone told us this was going to be a doozy of a storm.
A gust of wind shook the windows, and I snapped my head around, surprised to see the glass was now covered in white, blocking out the view of the street. If this kept up, we wouldn’t enjoy the lights on the tree for long. I straightened several of the ceramic hearts and stars to rest better against the garland while inhaling the scent of the evergreen. When I suggested we use her ornaments, I wondered whether it would be difficult to see them again since she was no longer with me to enjoy them. It wasn’t. They brought a smile to my face, and all the good memories I had of bygone Christmases filled my heart. I missed her, but I’d reached a point in my grieving where I could appreciate the memories again, and that was something to be thankful for this season.
I remembered how much fun we had cutting down our tree and the calamity of getting it off his SUV. It turns out that we should have let Cameron deliver it, but with a bit of help from Major’s neighbor, we finally managed to get it in the house without losing all the needles. All of that was great, but the best part? The truly merry part? That was the ten-foot-wide smile he wore as he placed my yaya’s Christmas rooster at the top of the tree. That man had giggled like a little kid as it bounced around on its springy base, the rooster’s comb replaced with a red Santa hat. When he pulled me into him and nuzzled my neck, thanking me for reminding him what Christmas was about, I melted. That was the moment when I welcomed him into my heart.
The other thing to be thankful for was open communication. Since our heart-to-heart at the tree farm, I’ve found it easier to relax and enjoy my time with Major. He wanted to spend time with me; that was why he was here. He wasn’t doing me a favor or helping a friend. Once I accepted that, it had been surprisingly easy to have a conversation with him without feeling inferior. It was only in hindsight that I realized he never made me feel that way. I’d made myself feel that way.
Once we had the tree decorated, I made eggnog French toast. While it may not have been quite as good as a plate from The Nightingale Diner, I hadn’t heard any complaints around all the moaning he did with every bite.
“It’s ugly out there,” he said, walking back into the room with two mugs. “You’re going nowhere.”
I accepted the mug he held out, clinked glasses with him, then tasted the spicy eggnog. I took a swallow and coughed once. “Did you dump the entire bottle of rum in it?”
“Rum?” he asked, wearing a sly grin. “What rum?”
Tasting it again, I tipped my head. “That’s not rum.”
“Brandy,” he supplied. “That’s how we always drank it. I am a purest if nothing else.”
