Page 37 of His Christmas Gift

“I’m fine, princess. I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you,” Jasper added, making her eyes widen as her face popped up to meet his gaze. “No one is going to bail my brother out of jail, they can’t even arraign him until he’s out of the hospital, so until then, he’s going to be handcuffed to the bed. I’ve already asked Vance to look to see who all he owes money to to ensure none of them try to come after us to pay off what he owes. You and Mom are my priorities, of course that includes Fred and his kids as well, but most people wouldn’t go after them to get to Callum or me. You and Mom they might, so until I have a better read on the situation, I’m increasing security around us, alright? No one is going to get even close to you and no one is going to mess up our wedding, I promise.”

“You need to promise me you’ll be safe too. I mean it Jasper, I can’t stand the thought of losing you.”

“It will never happen, princess. I told you, twenty-years from now, you and I will be curled up together in front of the fire—or on a beach somewhere since it’s now summer,” he said, with a smile that settled her heart completely, letting her slip into sleep with ease wrapped in his arms.

The morning of the wedding she woke, alone for the first time in forever, but thankfully, it would be the last time for a long time. She slipped out to the sitting room of the hotel suite smiling when her dad was already at the table with a cup of coffee, glancing through the paper.

“Not too early for you?” she joked, figuring he was still three hours behind them timewise after only being in New York that last three days.

“Not to see you marry the perfect man for you,” he said, making her eyes sparkle with happiness, and not even the whispers of a few guests’ mentions of Callum at their reception dimmed it any.

Jasper’s brother was still in the hospital, still legally under arrest, but he’d had a few setbacks and complications. The doctors missed a tiny sliver of wood that was lodged in his neck, and it’d apparently slipped through his veins until it didn’t have enough room and caused a blockage in Callum’s brain. They’d barely managed to fix that but the next day he had a stroke from a blood clot. He was once more stable but unable to be moved from the hospital, and despite some urgings from Callum’s friends, and even from the now ex-employed Patrick, Jasper refused to drop the charges.

Evelyn had only been to see him twice—both time before any of the brain issues arose, and both times, Callum blamed her for what became of his life. Accused her that she loved Jasper more than him, and anything else to hurt her, and Fred put his foot down and told her no more. She’d admitted to Melissa the night before their rehearsal dinner that she was glad she could ‘blame’ Fred for why she wasn’t visiting her son, because without it, she was terrified she’d fall straight back to the place she was with Jasper and Callum’s father—stuck under the rule of an abusive alcoholic.

Those closest to them all knew the truth. They understood why they refused to postpone the wedding or why Jasper would press charges against Callum to begin with, and they were the ones that kept the other guests from becoming nuisances. Letting Melissa float around in a dream state with Jasper in the most amazing wedding dress ever.

It was a stunning ball gown, and although it weighed nearly thirty pounds, it was everything she’d ever dreamt of as a little girl. It had floral appliques from bodice to hem, making it look like a bouquet of flowers covering her with beads and gleaming gems holding them together. She knew it was the right choice the moment she saw Jasper’s eyes caressing her as her father walked her down the aisle to him, and the way he held her as they danced sent her heart fluttering with joy that she was now all his.

They stayed wrapped in the same dream state all through their honeymoon and the quick weeks leading up to the company’s anniversary event. Having Jasper on her arm as they arrived made her smile brilliantly as the women she’d worked closely with doing their donations mobbed them, wanting to know everything about the wedding and their future.

The best part of the event was her father’s speech, most particularly when he let everyone know that he didn’t see any potential negative changes in the coming years, not with his new son to lead them—whenever he decided to retire. Everyone chuckled when he said it was likely a ways away, unless of course he just couldn’t begin to keep working once he had grandchildren to spoil—but that wasn’t an announcement that one was on the way.

Jasper’s lips teased her ear as he whispered to her after the speech, “Is it time to discuss going off your pill or do you want to wait for that a bit longer still?”

“Do you really mean that?” she replied, lifting her face to his, a bit in surprise.

“I want everything with you, princess, whenever it’s meant to be.”

“If I go off them things might be a bit wonky with my cycle,” she warned, her heart racing knowing she wanted his baby more than anything.

“Maybe we can talk to the doctor, see if there’s anything else that will help with things but won’t stop us from conceiving,” he suggested, and that was honestly the only thing on her mind as they headed home the next week—well, other than Jasper.

Melissa was on her way to a doctor’s appointment when they got the news that Callum had unexpectedly died after showing steady progress the last few weeks. Jasper quickly messaged her, telling her not to cancel it, that Phillip was already on the hospital staff to get them reviewing things and they’d do an autopsy. There was nothing they could do to change it, and his mother wasn’t in town, but away with Fred again, so there was no need to rush home to support her. She hesitated about it, but knew deep down, he was right.

Jasper arrived as they finished the exam, and she slid into his arms, hoping the doctor was right and that perhaps, she’d outgrown the need to use the pills to regulate her cycle. She wanted his baby desperately and they went home, both unsure how to feel about Callum.

The one thing they did know was that nothing had changed between them.

Jasper gave his mom a hug as she headed up for bed. The small funeral was over, but his mind still swirled with questions the police had brought. For now, they had the culprit behind his brother’s murder behind bars, but she wasn’t saying a word about why she’d done it. Why a woman that had no connection to any of them would pretend to be a nurse, slip into his room, and inject air into veins.

The knowledge that they might never know rebounded around his skull, but it slipped away the moment Melissa slid into his arms, curling up into his hold. “How did you know I needed you in my arms, princess?”

“Because it’s what I needed just as much,” she said, resting her forehead against his chin. “It’s hard to believe everything that’s happened in the last eleven months. Most of it makes me so happy, being with you is everything I’ve ever wanted, can’t imagine anything better than this, but yet…”

“Callum brought most of what happened on himself. He didn’t deserve to die the way he did, but everything else that put him to that spot…that was all on him. The only thing he ever did to make my life better was to be such as an ass to you that I couldn’t leave you with him for one more second, princess. I promise, none of our kids will ever behave like him. I won’t let them,” he said, pressing soft kisses to her face, snuggling with her until he had to have her beneath him once more.

The weeks sped past, bringing no real answers to why his brother died, but also no reprisals from anyone he owed money to, and Jasper watched as Melissa made everyone feel special with her incredible ways.

The company’s Christmas party was even more spectacular than last year—made far superior by the fact that she was his wife. No one could find a single fault with any of it, or any of her other parties, and he slid his arms around her, holding her tight on Christmas Eve as she put the last presents under the tree for the kids from ‘Santa.’

“You smell like Christmas cookies and caramel. Did you girls break out the hot cocoa?” he teased tracing kisses down her neck.

“No, just the salted caramel icing,” she said, turning her lips to his, giving him a long, tasty kiss. “Speaking of cocoa though, I’m going to need you to distract the others tomorrow when I make them, so they don’t realize when I don’t add any alcohol to mine.”

“What?” he said, pulling back, staring down at her smiling face. “Missy?”

“I’m pregnant…Merry Christmas, Jasp,” she added, laughing as he lifted her into his arms, taking her straight upstairs.

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