12 Christmas Romances To Melt Your Heart (39 page)

"And you're not a little girl anymore either."

That made Bethany smile. "Thanks. Like I said, I know this is in my head, but it's just going to take the rest of me a while to catch up. Mike's a nice guy. It's just … a little hard sometimes."

Annette pulled her daughter into a tight embrace. "It's hard on me too."

"Really?" Bethany mumbled in her ear.

"Really." Annette didn't pull away, until her daughter released her hold. "We're going to talk about this some more. Later. Right now I need to talk to Adam, and there's a slice of cheesecake in the kitchen with everyone's name on it."

Bethany smiled just enough to let Annette know her daughter really would be okay with all of this. "I love you, Mom."

"Love you too, baby." Annette patted her daughter's arm, and the two walked off in opposite directions. Reaching her son's room, Annette tapped lightly on the door frame. At least he hadn't closed the door. That was a good sign. "May I come in?"

Adam sat in front of his Gamebox and nodded.

"Want to tell me what's on your mind?" She eased onto the bed beside him.

Putting down the controller, he gave her a halfhearted shrug.

"Is this because of something Maggie said?"

"I guess." Without actually picking up the controller again, Adam continued to fidget with it, before looking his mother in the face. "Mike's a nice guy and all, but he's not Dad."

"No." Annette sucked in a breath. "He's not."

"I mean"—Adam looked away again—"I like him, and it was okay going to Wednesday-night pizza and stuff with him and Brian, but—"

"But that's different than just him and me going out?"

"Maggie says Dad wouldn't want you to be alone forever. Do you think that's true?"

"I'd like to think so. I know if I'd been the one who died, I wouldn't want Daddy to be sad without me."

"But I miss him." Adam leaned into her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Now that he was growing up, hugging Mom and snuggling with Mom was considered only for little kids. The gesture had her heart swelling and her eyes watering.

"I miss him too. I'll always miss him. But the heart is an interesting muscle. There's no limit to how much love it holds. I only have you and Bethany, but, when you guys grow up and have children of your own, I'm going to love them as much as I love you. And, if I live long enough to meet my great grandchildren, I'll love them too. I won't love you any less because I have more people to love."

He eased back and looked up at her. "Then you still love Dad?"

"Always will." It was all she could do to blink back the tears.

"And Brian's dad really makes you as happy as Dad did?"

This time all Annette could do was nod. She'd only had a few weeks with Mike, but she hadn't been as happy as she was now since losing Tom.

"Then I guess I'll catch up too."

"Catch up?"

"That's what Bethany called it. But we're not going to have to watch you two kissing and doing other mushy stuff, are we?"

That had her laughing. "Let's agree that, for now, there will be no public mushiness."

Adam's head bobbed. "Okay."

"You up for some cheesecake?"

His eyes lit up. "Maggie wouldn't let us have any until you got home."

"I take it that's a yes."

Adam didn't answer; he gave her a sly grin and ran out of the room, his growing feet slapping heavily against the wood floors. If only everything in life could be solved with a slice of cheesecake.

"
G
o
, Adam!" Hands cupping his mouth, Mike hollered loud and clear. "Cut to the hoop."

Annette was on her feet, beside him, hooting. She didn't have a clue what to shout out that might help. All she knew was Adam had the ball at the other end of the court, and that was a good thing for scoring opportunity. All the rest of the rules about lines, boundaries, and dribbling were completely lost on her.

Almost at the same time as Mike had yelled, Doug had given Adam the same instructions. Her son did as the two men had directed: drew the defense toward him and passed the ball to Jamie, a team member with Down syndrome. Jamie, taking his time—not something often seen in a regular game—aimed and flung the ball up and into the basket. The crowd erupted, and Annette clapped until her palms hurt.

"This really is exciting." Sitting on the other side of Annette, Maile Everrett leaned in closer. "I'd forgotten how much fun it was going to Billy's school games."

Though it astounded Mike when, one by one, the Everrett clan turned up in the bleachers, Annette wasn't even slightly surprised by the show of support. Emily had explained, with the high school program, few people had showed up at the first couple of games to cheer on the kids—only the parents and perhaps a few friends. As those players got better, more attendees came, packing the stands. Not wanting any of the kids in tonight's game to feel slighted, Emily made it a point to mention the game to her mother, brother, and friends.

This close-knit family had taught Annette the true meaning of solidarity. The only people missing were Nick and Kara, since little Catherine had come down with a slight post-vaccinations fever. Jim was on another mission, so his wife, Lexie, was in town for a few days and here cheering on Adam and Brian and even Eddie. Billy and Angela were on Maile's other side. They'd brought their baby girl, Isabella, as well as Nick's son, Bradley. Emily and Bethany were on the lower bleachers, closer to the action. Although Emily cheered for the boys, she did a lot of smiling and thumbs-up pointing at Doug for his coaching efforts. Bethany followed more closely in her mother's footsteps, just hooting and hollering for both her brother and Brian.

One of the away-team members passed the ball, and, instead of reaching the desired teammate, Brian, guarding the player, tapped the ball out of play. Once again Mike sprang to his feet, shouting, "Attaboy, Brian." Though it wasn't necessarily the right thing to have done, having Brian do anything was a major breakthrough.

Unlike Adam, who occasionally glanced at the crowd when his name was called, Brian focused on the ball, watching and moving in tandem with his assigned player. Annette's heart swelled with pride. She'd come to understand just how hard doing those two simple tasks simultaneously were for Brian. Because of his friendship with Adam, and Doug taking his time to familiarize the special ed kids with himself and the gym, Brian had been more cooperative about his participation. Not so much for some of the other children. Annette had heard one of the boys on the other team hid every day after school to avoid practice, until one of the teachers finally had to escort him there.

The fear of change was overwhelming for some of these kids. Or perhaps the fear of participation. She still wasn't sure, but she was delighted to see all the children on the court looking pleased, if a bit like preschoolers playing “herd” ball. So she understood expecting Brian to respond to the crowd was too much, but she and Mike cheered him on anyway. She truly believed, though Brian didn't acknowledge them, deep down he knew they were cheering for him.

With only a few minutes left in the game, the other team had come within two points of catching up and just a moment ago had tied the score. For as raw as Annette's nerves were, she'd have thought the children were playing in the Olympics. Watching the clock tick by slowly, she almost didn't see Eddie dribbling up the court to shoot and score. Another wave of cheers and whistles surrounded her.

“Nice shot, Eddie,” Annette shouted seconds before the final horn blew. The boy's team had won the game by only two points.

"Wow," Billy's wife, Angela, said, shaking her head. "That was a nail-biter."

"Tell me about it." Annette leaned closer to Mike, knowing, if she sidled next to him, he'd shoot out his hand for her to hold. She loved all the small silent understandings they'd come to. Some days she swore he could actually read her mind.

From where she stood, she could easily see the children below. The teams crossed the court to shake the opposing team members' hands and then, she noticed, on their way out of the gym, Adam and Eddie doing a high five, followed by Eddie giving Brian a high five too. She knew it was mostly because Brian felt the need to copy everything Adam did, but she liked the idea that Eddie was, indeed, learning more about teamwork. This was especially true since, as Adam had reported to her, even though she'd cut back to only joining the boys for lunch one day a week, Eddie no longer terrorized the geeks and misfits.

"Okay. Down to the locker rooms to wait for the boys." Mike climbed over the row in front of him. Still holding on to Annette, he waited for her to land beside him before extending his other hand to the Everrett matriarch.

"Don't you even think about it." Maile slapped at his hand. "I'm not that old yet."

Annette laughed. "He helped me. I certainly hope I'm not that old yet."

"At your age it doesn't matter." Maile chuckled beside her, waving off the comment. "At my age, climbing down myself is a statement."

"Ah. Got it."

Holding back a grin, Mike squeezed Annette’s fingers a little tighter. Maile was definitely a force to be reckoned with. "This may sound a bit silly, but I feel like a real parent."

Annette's face scrunched in confusion.

Holding her hand, Mike and she continued to work their way toward to the gym floor. "Today I drove my son to another school to play in a ball game. For the last thirty-plus minutes, I sat in the bleachers, cheering for my child, like all the other parents here. It felt so normal."

There were no words for the emotions gurgling inside her. Sharing this moment with Mike had her nearly tearing up. So many things the average parent took for granted. So much she still didn't understand but was slowly learning.

"Are we all heading out for a celebratory ice cream?" Billy asked, one arm around his wife, the other held the infant carrier with Isabella.

"No." Mike shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea tonight. We're going to go home to familiar territory and lay low."

"Understood." Billy gave a curt dip of his chin, and Annette got the feeling Billy understood things better than any of them.

"Besides," Annette said, "we promised the boys we'd do the Christmas tree at Brian's tonight."

Billy frowned and looked over his shoulder to Annette. "Christmas is only a few days away. Isn't it a little late to be putting up a tree?"

"We don't usually do trees at all," Mike answered, continuing their descent. "But we've been to Annette and Adam's several times since they've had the tree up. Brian keeps staring at the lights. When he was young, the tree just sent him into a tizzy. Now he wants one of his own, so tonight's the night. I figure they'll be on an adrenaline high from a well-played game—at least Adam will. Brian's harder to predict lately. So we might as well accomplish something while waiting for him to wind down."

At the head of the line, Billy reached the end of the bleachers first and directed his wife down the gymnasium main hall.

"So," Maile reached the next to last bleacher, "will you and Brian be joining us for Christmas Eve dinner with Annette and the children?"

Annette noticed Mike's shoulders sag before he answered. "Thank you for the invitation but new places are difficult on Brian. Especially new places with lots of people and the commotion involved in presents and gift-giving. It's best if we treat the day as close to any other day as possible."

That same furrow that appeared earlier on Billy's face formed now on his mother's brow. "I suppose you're right. But if anything changes, you're always welcome."

"Thank you."

This time it was Annette who squeezed Mike's hand, offering a little emotional reassurance. They'd discussed how to handle Christmas multiple times. Some days, when Brian had had an exceptionally eventless day, Mike had thought
maybe
. Then, on others, when Brian seemed to be on everyone's last nerve, Mike knew a big commotion like that wouldn't work. Tonight was a test of sorts. How well would Brian do with Annette and both her children at his home in a holidaylike event? Would Brian's familiarity and comfort with his own surroundings be enough to maintain his calm with the addition of new people
and
a Christmas tree? She prayed it would. If tonight went well, the new plans for Christmas involved the Beckers and the Delucas celebrating the holidays as one family.

She loved that idea. One family. Integrating the two worlds would make
The Brady Bunch
seem like a walk in the park. Even though Adam and Bethany appeared to be on board with the growing relationship, and Brian had begun to accept the Deluca family's involvement in almost everything as part of his routine, she and Mike were still taking their time.

If what they had was real, and she knew it was, then she had nothing to lose taking things one day at a time. But both she and Mike had a goal.

"You doing okay?" Mike asked softly over his shoulder.

"I'm doing more than okay."

"Good." As the final couple to reach ground level, Mike lifted Annette over the last row of bleachers, sliding her down his front. "Damn, you feel so good."

Before she knew what hit her, Mike had tugged her from the moving crowd and into a nearby hallway cutout. Her back to the corner, his arms protectively against the wall on either side of her, his lips fell on hers. The kiss was hot and fast and all-consuming. Just as suddenly as he'd tugged her into the corner, he pulled away. "One day," he mumbled against her forehead.

"I know," she said. "One day. One family."

T
hank
you for reading Love Walks In !

A
re
you curious to learn more about Annette Deluca?

Annette first appears in the Aloha Series in

Book 2:
ALMOST PARADISE

R
eady for more of
the popular military romance Aloha Series?

Start at the beginning with

Book 1:
ALOHA TEXAS

W
ant
access to Subscribers Only FREE stories?

Want to be the first to know when a new book is coming out?

Want exclusive sneak peeks at scene photos?

Sign up for my newsletter on my website or click here:
bit.ly/ASA_NL

M
eet
Chris

Author of eleven contemporary novels, including the award winning Champagne Sisterhood, Chris Keniston lives in suburban Dallas with her husband, two human children, and two canine children. Though she loves her puppies equally, she admits being especially attached to her German Shepherd rescue. After all, even dogs deserve a happily ever after.

M
ore on Chris
and her books can be found at

www.chriskeniston.com

B
ooks by Chris Keniston
:

A
loha military romance series
:

Aloha Texas - Almost Paradise - Mai Tai Marriage -

Dive Into You - Look of Love - Love By Design - Shell Game

S
urf's Up Short Story Flirts
:

Shall We Dance - Love on Tap - Head Over Heels - Perfect Match

F
amily Secrets Novels
:

Champagne Sisterhood - Hope's Corner - The Homecoming