Page 85 of Hot Mess

“New tradition?”

“You made these for us for the first-time last year. I couldn’t imagine this morning with you, without something that was uniquely us, these.”

He picked up the baby and her bottle and settled onto the couch.

“I can feed her,” I said.

“You can feed yourself. I’ve got the girl, have breakfast.”

“Fine.” I dipped a sausage ball into the cheese sauce and bit into it. Nick had done a good job. All I did was roll them up and put them in the oven.

I watched him as he fed our daughter. Last year, Nick was the best Christmas present I could ever imagine. I had no idea a year ago how much I could love a person. And as I watched the two of them, I think I loved them even more.

Chrissy smacked her lips and sighed as she finished her bottle. She slumped in her sleep. Nick put the bottle down and carefully stood. He cradled her and carried her up the stairs. She would sleep for about an hour before she woke up again.

When Nick came back, he pulled me onto the couch with him. I snuggled in and curled against him. Our living room was a mess. Wrapping paper was crumpled and tossed hap-haphazardly around.

“This was fun. We’re making cookies later, right?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t miss it. Did you realize we were starting new traditions last year?”

“Last year we were starting a lot of things, weren’t we?”

He laughed deep in his chest. “You haven’t opened all of your presents.”

“I’ve opened plenty,” I said. “It can wait. I like the present I have right now.”

I looked up at him and lifted my face for a kiss. I didn’t need mistletoe for an excuse to kiss Nick. I kissed him at every opportunity. He kissed me long and slow. He pressed me back into the couch as he deepened the kiss. We had a few minutes to celebrate before the baby woke up.

I hooked my leg over his hip and urged his body closer.

With a growl, Nick ground his hips against mine. This was turning into a very nice Christmas morning.

There was a wail from the baby monitor. We froze and stared at it, waiting. She started crying in earnest a moment later.

Nick pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “I’ll take a rain check on this.”

He pushed out of my embrace and ran up the stairs.

I could hear him cooing at the baby and singing gently to her in his deep soothing voice as he changed her. While he took care of the baby, I started to clean up after opening presents. I sorted the recycling as I picked it up. Paper into paper bags, plastics into another bag.

“Someone didn’t want to nap,” Nick announced when he returned downstairs with Chrissy in his arms.

She looked sleepy, and I was pretty sure with some gentle cuddles and holding she would eventually fall back asleep. He sat and put her on his shoulder, gently rubbing her back, in case it was a burp that had disrupted her sleep.

“Did you look for your other present?”

“We have people coming over later.”

“Yeah, later, for dinner. It’s still early,” Nick complained.

“Sure, and once you fall asleep with the girl, the next thing you know it's time to get up and get ready because my mother will come over early. She isn’t going to trust the caterer to get everything right.”

Mom was staying in the little bungalow while she visited over the holidays. She made it clear she was not pleased that Chrissy and I lived with Nick before we were married and wouldn’t stay in the house with us. Which was fine by me. Nick and I agreed to not get married until the legal issues that resulted from my cousins blackmailing were resolved. Mom was just going to have to accept that.

“Find that present. I want you to open it before your mother gets here.”

I rummaged under the tree and found a flat package with an obnoxiously large bow on it. The tag hanging off proclaimed “open me first!”

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