Twenty-Six

Haisley

Walking into the Hugheses’ mansion with Saxon’s arm around my back, I was struck speechless. I had thought they had already decorated when we came to Gypsi and Trev’s party. Boy, had I been mistaken. There wasn’t a space that wasn’t touched with holiday adornment.

A gorgeous blonde woman, dressed in a glittery white dress that clung to curves that made me envious, stepped forward, smiling brightly. The massive rock on her left hand caused my mouth to fall open, and I had to quickly close it. There was no way that was a real diamond.

“I’ve heard so much about you,” she told me. “I’m so glad to finally meet you.”

“Haisley, this is Fawn, Gypsi’s mother and Garrett’s fiancée,” Saxon told me.

I could see the resemblance. It was like looking at Gypsi in the future, although the woman looked maybe ten years older than Gypsi, not old enough to be her mother.

“Thank you for having me,” I told her.

An attractive older man with silver at his temples stepped up behind Fawn. His eyes reminded me of Trev’s. I knew this must be Garrett Hughes.

“Saxon,” he said in greeting, then turned to me. “Nice to finally meet you, Haisley.”

I swallowed nervously. “Uh, thank you, sir.” My voice sounded shaky.

Fawn reached out and touched my arm. “His presence is intimidating, but honestly, he’s a big teddy bear.”

Saxon coughed to cover a laugh, and Fawn winked at him, then glanced back at Garrett. I doubted anything about that man was like a teddy bear.

“I guess I need to remind you tonight how intimidating I can be,” he said, looking down at Fawn with possessiveness in his eyes.

She laughed and leaned closer to him. “I hope so.”

“Jesus, get a room,” Trev told them, walking up to us. “Sax, Haisley, come with me.”

Saxon excused us, and we followed Trev through an archway of white berries, silver chiffon, and white twinkling lights. He glanced back at us. “We have the firepits lit out on the veranda, where there are fewer old people.”

As we were walking through the great room with its massive, roaring fireplace and a live instrumental band, my gaze fell on Saxon’s mom. She was headed our way. I tensed, unsure of what to expect. Twice, I’d thought about going to the house and talking to her. Trying to see if I could smooth things out with us. But I’d let my fear and insecurities stop me.

“Hello, Trev,” she said in greeting. “I was hoping I could speak with Saxon and Haisley for a moment before you take them out to the others.”

Trev nodded. “Sure.” He glanced back at Saxon before heading toward the open glass doors.

“It’s Christmas Eve, Mom,” Saxon said tightly.

She pressed her lips together. “I know. I’m not here to argue with you. I miss my son, and … I want to fix things between us.”

His hand on my hip tightened. “Accepting Haisley is in my life, is staying in my life, and that we are having this baby together is the only way to fix things between us.”

She nodded. “I know.” She glanced at me. “I’m sorry. I handled everything wrong. Saxon is my only child, and I’ve had his life all planned out in my head since he was a baby.”

“And now, I’m an adult, and I make the decisions about my life,” he interrupted her.

“Yes, you do. I think … I wasn’t ready to let you go. I wanted you to get to choose who you had a child with.”

“Stop,” Saxon said, his jaw clenched. “What happened with Haisley and me wasn’t ideal. But not because of the pregnancy. Because I lost her. The pregnancy brought her back to me and gave me a chance to keep her. Convince her to want me. She’s the only woman I would ever want to have a baby with. So, if I got to choose, I would choose her. I got lucky.”

I was torn between wanting to cry and wanting to grab him and kiss him. I stared up at him, wishing I could tell him everything. That I did want him. I’d always wanted him. That my wanting him had nothing to do with my ending things with him.

“I know. I guess I’m not saying this correctly. I can see how much you love her. I made a mistake, and I’m asking you both to forgive me.”

I stood there, waiting for Saxon to correct her. He wasn’t in love with me. Was he?

He nodded. “Okay.”

I felt his mother’s eyes on me, and I turned to look at her. I could see the pleading look on her face. “Yes, of course. I hated coming between you both.”

She smiled, looking relieved, and stepped forward, holding out her hands. “Can I hug you?” she asked me.

I nodded, and she wrapped her arms around me. I returned the hug.

“Thank you,” she whispered, then let me go and moved over to pull Saxon into a tight hug.

I watched as she kissed his cheek and whispered something to him before letting him go.

“So, tomorrow morning,” she said, wiping at a tear that had gotten free and rolled down her face. “Will you come to breakfast?”

Saxon looked down at me, as if waiting for me to answer.

“That sounds nice,” I said, looking from him to her.

“Can you make it a late breakfast?” he asked.

She smiled happily. “Yes, of course. We can make it a brunch.”

Kenneth walked up then and looked from Saxon to his wife. “I take it, by the look on her face, all is well here?”

She nodded and turned to smile at her husband.

Kenneth turned to me. “Then, we will be seeing you for breakfast?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Good.” He gave Saxon a nod.

When we left them to go outside, I wanted Saxon to say something about the thing his mom had said about him loving me.

Instead, he leaned down and brushed a kiss on my temple and whispered, “Thank you.”

I frowned. “For what?”

He chuckled. “For being fucking perfect.”

When I opened my eyes the next morning, the sounds of Christmas music came from the living room. I glanced over, and Saxon wasn’t there. I stretched, then climbed out of bed. A long-sleeved red flannel shirt of Saxon’s was lying on the end of the bed. Smiling, I picked it up and slipped it on. This hadn’t been there when we fell asleep last night. He must have laid it out for me.

I quickly went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and hair. My fingers touched a small bruise at the base of my neck, where Saxon had bitten me during a wild round of sex on the kitchen counter while we were making fudge last night. We had stayed up past midnight, making different sweets while also having sex twice. Smiling at the memory, I was ready to see him.

Slowly, I opened the door, excited about my first Christmas morning with Saxon. The tree had colored lights that were twinkling, the fireplace was lit, and three stockings were hanging on it, where they hadn’t been before. They seemed full, as if they’d all been stuffed. Finally, my eyes fell on Saxon, sitting in one of the leather chairs, watching me with a cup of coffee in his hand.

His lips curled into a smile. “Merry Christmas.”

I felt giddy. “Merry Christmas.”

“You want some hot cocoa, or do you want to start with gifts?”

I licked my bottom lip. “Um … gifts,” I admitted.

He grinned, setting his cup down. “I kinda figured you’d say that.”

He curled his finger at me, and I walked over to him. He reached up and pulled me down into his lap.

“I need a kiss first.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed him. His hands ran up my back and then into my hair as he gave my bottom lip attention. It reminded me of last night, when he’d rubbed icing on my lips, then licked it off.

Pulling back, he groaned. “If I don’t stop, we won’t get to the gifts.”

Normally, I would want to keep going, but I was too excited about watching him open what I had gotten him.

“Okay,” I agreed and scrambled off his lap.

He laughed at me, then stood up. “I need to give you your gifts in order,” he told me.

“There’s an order?” I asked, looking at the tree and realizing there were more gifts there than there had been last night.

“There is,” he confirmed.

He reached for a medium-sized box with red wrapping paper that had 2003 in white on it. I looked from him to the box.

Why is the year I was born on the wrapping paper? I wondered.

“Why does it have 2003 on it?”

He sat down on the ottoman in front of me. “Because that was the year you were born.”

I nodded. “Yes, I know that, but—”

“Just open it,” he replied, smiling.

I unwrapped it and then opened the lid to a white box. Reaching in, I pulled out a brown bear, wearing a yellow-and-red striped scarf and red deer antlers on its head. He was sitting down, and on one foot, it said Macy’s, and on the other, it said 2003.

I looked at him as tears stung my eyes. “I can’t believe you found this.”

He shrugged with a grin on his face, holding out another present. This one was red-and-green striped with 2004 in white on the paper.

“Why 2004?” I asked, wondering what was special about that year.

“I can’t go back in time and fix the past, but I can make up for every year you didn’t wake up to Christmas gifts under the tree.”

My eyes went wide, and I looked back at the tree. “You got me a gift for every year of my life?” I asked in disbelief.

“One for every year but this one. You got several for this year.”

“Saxon, that is way too—”

“Don’t. Just open your gifts. Let me enjoy this.”

I stared at him in amazement. He was serious. How was he real, and how was I the one lucky enough to be here with him?

“Thank you,” I said finally, although once again, those words were so inadequate.

“You’re welcome, Haisley, but this was also for selfish reasons.”

I frowned. “How is putting this much thought and money into someone else’s Christmas selfish?”

He smirked. “I’m trying to make sure you never leave me. And I love making you smile.”

“You could have saved a lot of money then because you’ll have to throw me out to get rid of me. All of this was not required … although it sets a bar that can never be reached.”

He picked up his cup and took a drink, then winked at me. “Good. Now, open it up. We only have two hours before we have to go to my parents’.”

I continued opening the gifts as he gave them to me. They were specific to the year, and several of the items were things I realized he’d asked me about casually.

Like when we had watched A Christmas Story, he’d asked if there was a toy I wanted as a kid and never got. I’d listed three easily—My Little Pony, a Bratz doll, and Polly Pocket. Those were the 2006, 2007, and 2008 gifts he gave me.

I laughed and teared up as I unwrapped things, like a Hannah Montana CD and wig. I’d admitted to being a fan back when I was a kid and wanted to bleach my hair to look like her. Every time I thought he couldn’t outdo his last gift, he managed to. I laughed until my side hurt at the One Direction poster. The Justin Bieber Believe tour T-shirt looked new. I was grinning so much that my face hurt.

“How did you find this?” I asked.

He’d told me about his first concert, and it had led to me telling him how I had wanted to go to the Believe tour so bad. All the girls at school were going and talking about it. Then, when it was over, they all wore their concert shirts to school. I’d been so jealous.

“Let’s just say my masculinity suffered a little, and the guy I got it from didn’t look like he believed my story. If word gets out that I’m a Bieber fan, you know why.”

I pressed my lips together, then put the shirt down and stood up to go wrap my arms around his neck. Burying my face in his hair, I inhaled. I didn’t think I could love him more, but he was proving me wrong.

He fisted his hand in my hair and pressed a kiss beside my ear. “Just a couple more, and we will be to the 2023 gifts,” he whispered.

I let go of him and sat back down to finish.

When he handed me the first shiny red gift that was for this year, I felt my heart flutter. I was ready to give him his gifts even though what I had gotten him paled in comparison to what he’d just done for me.

The first gift was a butter-soft cream leather jacket with sherpa lining.

“As much as I love seeing you in my coat, I figured you’d like something more feminine.”

I had been happy with his coat, but this one was gorgeous. I loved it.

In a small box was a gold bracelet of linked hearts that had a red stone inside each one.

“The ruby will be the baby’s birthstone,” he said simply.

My eyes teared up again, and I sniffled, taking it out so that he could fasten it on my wrist.

“It’s beautiful, Saxon. Thank you,” I said, wiping at my face.

The next gift was a pair of riding boots, which he informed me I would need after the baby was born. But that I could break them in, coming to the stables with him and getting to know the horses. Followed by a gift certificate for five pregnancy massages and a Christmas ornament of a pregnant woman that had the year on it. He took it from me and hung it on the tree.

After I was finished, there was a pile of wrapping paper and ribbons all around me. I stood, stepping over it, and went to get the things I’d gotten him.

Turning back to Saxon, I smiled. “Your turn.” I placed them in front of him. “I don’t have an order to them, but I will be honest; I can’t compete with what you gave me. I don’t think anyone can. That was amazing.”

He took my hand and pulled me down to him. “Are you happy?”

I nodded. “Very.”

“Then, I got my gift.”

Holy crap. He had to stop. I was going to blurt out those three words I had been having trouble not telling him. He made it hard to keep my feelings tamped down. Although, after all this, I wanted to believe he loved me. What man did that for a woman he didn’t love? Was he waiting for me to say it first?

I looked down at the smallest gift and knew the inscription on the leather bracelet was pretty damn close to telling him without saying it.

He reached for the first box. It was the one Trev had helped me with. He opened it and took out the framed picture.

“I was at that game. It is one of the few football games I went to in high school. I remember watching you make that touchdown, and I wanted to cheer. I couldn’t, of course, since I was sitting on my school’s side. I think my crush on you started then.”

Saxon stared at me in disbelief. “You had a crush on me?”

I nodded. “To be fair, I think every girl in this county had a crush on you and Trev.”

“You had a crush on Trev?”

“No. Just you.”

He looked back down at the picture. “I can’t believe you were there.”

“Turn it over,” I told him.

He turned it over to see the other side was a picture of me. A friend of AJ’s had taken that picture with his phone.

“That was me that night,” I told him.

You could see the scoreboard behind me and part of the field.

“Damn, you miss a lot when you’re on that field,” he said. “I wish I’d seen you then.”

“Our worlds were completely different. It wouldn’t have mattered.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “I can promise you, I wouldn’t have given a fuck about our worlds.”

I smiled at the thought but knew that my dropping out of school to work and take care of the kids had happened shortly after that game. We wouldn’t have worked at all. But it was nice to think about.

Saxon set the frame down and shook his head. “I feel sorry for that guy in the picture. He had no idea about the smokin’ hot girl in the stands who had a crush on him.”

I picked up another box and handed it to him.

He opened it and started grinning. The deluxe edition of The Godfather I’d found in the local bookstore. “I’ve actually never read it. I’m looking forward to it.”

I shrugged. “It’s a pretty edition, and, well, when I saw it, I couldn’t walk away from it. I’ve read it, by the way, and it’s great.”

He placed it by his picture, then picked up the next gift. I bit my lip, wanting to laugh before he opened it. He pulled out the bag of specialty coffee beans and the grinder first, and then he took out the travel coffee tumbler. Turning it around, he read the word DILF on it and started chuckling.

“You needed something better to keep your coffee warm when you go out to the stables in the morning.”

His crooked grin as he nodded was definitely DILF-worthy. “The guys are gonna love this.”

When he reached for the last box, I felt nervous. I tried not to fidget and held my breath as he opened it up. Taking out the leather bracelet, he turned it over and read the words on the copper plate. I didn’t say anything this time. I wasn’t sure if this was a good idea or a bad one.

“I am?” he asked, looking up at me.

I nodded.

We sat there, staring at each other silently. Finally, he slipped it on and touched the engraved words.

“I’m trying to decide what you’re saying with this. If this is true, then that would mean …” He stopped.

It was then I saw the uncertainty and hope in his gaze. He was afraid to say it. He needed me to say it. I understood that now. It was why he hadn’t corrected his mother or brought it up to me later.

“It says My Fairy Tale because that’s what you are. I imagined falling in love, but my imagination didn’t compare to this. Falling in love with you has been the most beautiful, terrifying, exciting thing that I’ve ever experienced.”

Saxon was up out of his seat and pulling me into his arms the moment the words were out of my mouth. His lips touched mine with a fierce possessiveness as his hands fisted in the shirt I was wearing. He kissed me like he was afraid I was about to vanish. I held on to him just as tightly, wanting to assure him I wasn’t going anywhere.

When he broke the kiss, I was breathless. He rested his forehead on mine, keeping me against him.

“I love you so fucking much, Haisley,” he said in a husky whisper. “When I’m with you, I’m whole. I don’t want to think of life without you. I can’t.”

I kissed him then replied, “I’m not going anywhere.”

He let go of the shirt and began unbuttoning it before tugging it over my head. “I need inside you—now,” he growled.

I began taking off my panties as he tore his shirt off and shoved his sweats down.

Grabbing my waist, he backed me up until I was against the wall. He picked me up. “Wrap your legs around me,” he ordered.

When I did, he sank into me with a hard, deep thrust.

“I love you,” he groaned.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I love you,” I gasped.