Christmas Eve
Luke woke with the worst headache of his life. Bright lights assaulted his eyes and he felt sick to his stomach. His mouth was dry and he licked his lips, but got no relief there.
“Where am I?” he said to no one in particular.
“He’s awake,” said a voice with relief in it. It sounded like Amanda, Emily’s mother.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Emily said with a quivering voice. “Baby? How’re you feeling?”
“Like a truck hit me,” he croaked.
“Almost did. But it was saving Pez that did you in.”
“Pez?” he said.
“Don’t you remember?” Emily said. Now concern edged her words.
Bits and pieces floated to his memory but he couldn’t put them together.
“The Rojos showed up at the Christmas party, remember? And Pez started trouble and you chased him out the door. When the plow truck showed up it startled you, and when you pushed Pez out of the way you slipped and flew into the concrete steps.”
The memories were hazy but they made sense. If he could only get a hold of them he would feel better. But details were beyond his grasp.
“How long have I been out?” he said.
“You have a serious head injury. You’ve been in and out for the past seven days.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“I know, baby. You didn’t remember anybody.”
“Oh, Em. I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” she said. But her eyes were lined red, and he could see she’d been crying.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m sorry I’ve brought you so much trouble, Emily. That last thing I want is to see you cry.”
“And you haven’t,” she said firmly. “You aren’t at fault for this. None of it.”
“But I played into Pez’s hands. I did one favor for them, and Pez used it to make trouble for me and the club.”
“I know,” she said. “He confessed all it when he was arrested for assault.”
“He was? Why did he do that?”
“Because he’d rather be tried for simple assault than attempted murder.”
“Oh,” Luke said.
“It turns out your uncle hired him to make trouble, to lure you into their club, so he could draw you into his business.”
“Bastard,” Luke muttered. “Does the club know this?”
“Yes,” said a gravelly voice from the corner.
“Oakie?” Luke said.
“He’s been here the whole time. The nurses couldn’t kick him out.”
Luke was overwhelmed with emotion as the old man came into his field of vision. It touched his heart that Oakie had waited at his bedside this whole time.
“I’m sorry, son, that I doubted you. It never occurred to me that your uncle would go that far.”
“Oakie,” Emily said, “we can talk about this later. You should let Luke rest. Now that you see he’s okay you should go home and get some rest, too.”
“Sure, Emily.” The Spawn’s president took Luke’s hand. “That sergeant-at-arms job is still open.”
“Oakie,” Emily said in a warning voice.
“Okay. You can’t blame a guy for trying. Later, Luke.”
Emily took Luke’s hand and gave him such a loving gaze it filled his heart to bursting.
“I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t scare me like that again.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said contritely. “I’m sorry. When do I get to go home?”
It took two more days. The doctors ran tests on Saturday and let him out Sunday, Christmas Eve. Emily’s entire family turned out to take him home, with Sam Dougherty driving Luke’s SUV with Luke, Emily, and Robbie in it. Amanda, Angela, and Angela’s husband, Justin, brought up the rear in the Doughertys’ car.
Robbie cooed “Dada,” and Luke twisted to smile at him. But he felt the truck turn when it shouldn’t.
“Mr. Dougherty,” he said. “This isn’t the way to our apartment.”
“We need to make a stop,” Sam said roughly. “Be patient. We’ll be there soon.”
Luke looked back to Emily, who just shrugged her shoulders. Soon they were pulling up at Mrs. Diggerty’s house.
“Why are we here?” Luke asked.
“Come on,” Emily said as she got out of the SUV. Sam took Robbie out of the car seat while Emily took Luke’s arm.
“Emily, I’m tired. I’d like to get home.”
“Well, we are home, aren’t we?” she said.
Luke stared at her dumbly.
“I found that key in your pocket when you were in the hospital. I recognized it as one of Mrs. Diggerty’s keys. And when I asked her, she said you had arranged for us to rent the first floor.”
“That was my Christmas present to you. We couldn’t stay in the apartment anymore.”
“Well,” Sam said, coming up from behind Luke. “You’ll be doing more than renting. Mrs. Diggerty accepted your offer.”
“What? I mean, I wanted to buy it, I didn’t have the down payment.”
“Well, Amanda and I did, and considering we spent a ton of money on Angela’s wedding and not yours and Emily’s, I—”
“He means ‘we’,” said Amanda as she took Robbie from her husband’s arms.
Sam cleared his throat. “Yes, we thought it was the least we could do. Our grandson needs a yard to play in.” He spoke gruffly, with great authority, as if that was the only consideration worth mentioning.
“Grandpa,” Robbie said, holding out his arms. Sam took the boy out his wife’s arms easily.
Luke watched his son and his father-in-law and blinked, feeling extra tears in his eyes. Not having a family of his own, he realized how much richer Robbie’s life was for having extended family.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” he said.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Sam said gruffly. “You still aren’t good enough for my daughter.”
“Sam!” Amanda protested.
“But you’ll do,” he added. “After all, if Robbie likes you, you can’t be half bad.”
Everyone laughed at this, and Luke realized this was how Sam Dougherty joked around. Emily, Angela, Justin, and Amanda were used to it, so he guessed he could get used to it, too, even if the things he said were slightly rude.
“Let’s get inside,” Amanda said.
They entered the apartment from the front door and Luke was amazed. All their possessions were moved in and the house was decorated for Christmas. Presents sat under the tree and the scent of food wafted in from the kitchen. Spider, then Oakie, Rob, and lastly Saks came out the kitchen bearing a plate of food they placed on dining room table. Mrs. Diggerty came out, too, with a big smile on her face.
“Welcome home, Luke and Emily.”
Luke gave Mrs. Diggerty a hug. “This is amazing. You did the food?”
“Oh, no. It was this young man.” She pointed to Saks.
“Saks, I didn’t know you could cook,” Luke said.
“All Italian men cook. They just don’t tell people about it. But this is from the Red Bull. Uncle Vits sent it over with an apology for causing trouble at your party.”
“I thought you'd be in Florida right now.”
Saks shrugged. “Uncle Vits has calmed down regarding the Spawn, so I won’t be quitting.”
“Really,” Luke said with mock seriousness. “Don't you think you should talk to me about that?”
“I've already talked to the boss,” Saks said with a sly smile.
“The boss?”
“He means me,” Emily said, sliding her arms around Luke's waist. “Hey, someone had to take care of business while you were laid up.”
“I defer to your good judgment—boss.” He kissed her cheek.
“That's what I like to hear,” she said smugly.
“The Rojos,” Rob said, “won’t be bothering you again. Part of Pez’s plea bargain was a permanent stay away order. He shows up anywhere within a thousand feet of you, call the police and they’ll arrest him.”
“How did you get that?”
“He didn’t,” Saks said. “But my cousin, the detective, is very persuasive. But your boy Matt Stone helped, too. He gave him some free legal advice and convinced Pez it was in his best interest to cooperate. Well,” he said, clapping his hands, “shall we eat and then open presents?”
Luke told himself he was still shell-shocked from the head injury, because he felt overwhelmed. Emily’s family’s sudden acceptance of everyone else in his and Emily’s life was mind-blowing enough. But even Rob was treated like an old friend, and the Doughertys even had a present for him under tree. But after the years of being alone, and then the two Christmases Emily and he had spent alone, this flood of friends and family around him left him feeling very grateful and very lucky.
“We have an announcement,” Angela said, beaming as her husband hugged her.
“No!” Emily squealed.
“Yes!” Angela said. “Robbie should have his first cousin next September.”
“That’s wonderful!” Amanda said with excitement. “Sam, another grandbaby.”
Sam smiled and then glanced at Luke and nodded his head.
“Yes,” he said. “That will do nicely.”
Something passed between Sam and Luke at that moment, and Luke knew that Sam Dougherty’s words about Luke not being good enough for Emily was just bluster.
“Yes,” Luke said, “Robbie needs a cousin to play with.”
“And maybe another brother, eh?” Sam said with a wink. “Maybe between my two daughters we can get enough boys to put a baseball team together.”
“Sam!” Amanda protested. “You are just impossible sometimes. I’m sure Emily would like at least one daughter on the team.”
Everyone laughed and Amanda took a turn at handing out presents.
“Well,” Amanda said. “That’s about it for the presents. But I didn’t see anything here for Luke from Emily.”
“Oh, I left it in the garage. Luke, can you come help me with it?”
Curious, he followed Emily to the garage. Her ponytail bobbed as she moved with an extra bounce in her step to the garage. She flipped on the light, but Luke didn’t see anything wrapped as a present. There was, however, a suspicious shape under a tarp in the middle of the room.
“Emily? Why isn’t the touring bike at the shop?”
“It is,” she said with a smile. “Merry Christmas, baby.”
“What?”
“Look,” she said with a mischievous smile.
Luke pulled up the tarp and stared.
“That isn’t...?” he gasped.
“Yep. Your Sportster. Turned out Matt is a one-bike guy.”
“But where did you get the money?” He drew Emily close to him. “Have you been holding out on me, Mrs. Wade?”
“It was a Christmas secret,” she protested. “I’m allowed.”
“A Christmas secret?” he said. “I’m not sure I can allow Christmas secrets. I think you must be punished.” He swatted Emily on the butt and she squealed.
“Do you think you can wait, Mr. Wade, until my family and our guests leave to punish me? I want to make sure you do it properly. And it may take a long time.”
“Hmm,” he said, pressing his hips against hers and rocking her side to side. “Okay. We can wait. We have our lifetime together, so there will lots of time to punish you,” he kissed her, “with the most” he tweaked her nipple with his fingers, “incredible tortures.” He pushed his fingers back and forth between her legs, “so you’ll scream my name each time.”
Emily sighed. “I love you, Luke Wade.”
“And I love you, Emily Wade, for the rest of my life.”
THE END
HAPPY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!