There was a knock on the bedroom door. Nope, it was not one knock. It was lots of incessant knocking. Owen opened his eyes and checked the time on the bedside table. It was 6 a.m. He groaned and shook Cristina awake.
"Hey, get up," he said. "The kids are at the door. They want to open their Christmas presents. I should be grateful that they are knocking and not bursting through the door."
Cristina murmured. "Wake up," he told her and started kissing her all over. She started to laugh.
"Can't you hear them knocking?" he said.
"Yes," she said. The knocking was persistent. She could tell that there were three different people knocking on the door.
"They are not going away," Owen said. "Come on, baby, get up." Cristina groaned, got up and went to the bathroom. Owen slipped out of the bed and opened the bedroom door. The children burst inside the room and jumped on to the bed.
"We're ready, dad, to open the presents," Christopher said. He looked around. "Where is Cristina?"
"She is in the bathroom," Owen said. "Okay, let's go to the living room. I am sure she will join us, soon."
The children left the bedroom, screaming all of the way to the living room. When they got there, Owen told them they could each choose out a present to start opening. After checking carefully through all of the gift tags, the children each took out a present. Owen also took out a present and put it on his lap. The children sat there on the floor, waiting.
"What's the matter?" Owen said. "Why don't you all open for your presents?"
"We're waiting for Cristina to get here," Hayley explained. Owen found that was so endearing that his children did not want to exclude Cristina from the Christmas morning ritual of opening presents.
"That is very nice of you," Owen said. "Yes, we will all wait for Cristina to get here." She finally emerged from the bedroom and was surprised to see all of them, sitting quietly.
"What's the matter? I thought this place would be in a frenzy with you guys opening your presents and wrapping paper tossed everywhere," Cristina said.
"We were waiting for you," Griffin said, solemnly. "Everyone gets to open their first present at the same time."
"You're waiting for me?!" Cristina said. She was very touched by the gesture. "That makes me feel all gooey on the inside."
"Choose your present, Cristina," Christopher said. Cristina made her way to the tree and chose one present with her name on it. She then took a seat next to Owen.
"Okay, guys, let's start opening," Owen said. "Ready, set, go." Everyone started attacking the gift paper and tearing them off, furiously.
"Oh, gosh, it is a remote controlled robot," Griffin screamed. "Thanks, Dad." He got up and gave his dad a hug.
"I finally got the microscope I wanted," Hayley said. She loved science and this was the perfect present for the young miss. "Thanks, dad." She, too got up and gave her dad a kiss.
"Wow, oh, wow," Christopher said, pulling out a telescope from a huge box. "A telescope! This is the greatest."
"Now, I got that for you so that we could watch the stars outside," Owen said. "I did not get this for you to spy on any neighbors." Christopher laughed.
"Thanks, dad, this is just awesome," the boy said. "What did you get, dad?"
"Well, the first present I got is a book on the great construction feats of the world," Owen said. "I think the person who bought it knows me very well." He leaned over and gave Cristina a kiss on the lips. "And what did you get, Cristina?"
"I got the most wonderful necklace from three of the most wonderful children in the world, perhaps the universe," Cristina said, showing off a gold necklace with a heart locket pendant.
"We put up our savings to buy you that," Hayley said. "Dad helped us, too. Do you like it?"
"Like it? I love it, Hayley. I think you all should give me a hug and a kiss," she said. The three children got up and went to her and got their kiss and a hug. "Ah, this is the best part of the present. Getting some hugs from you guys."
Owen knew the children had missed Cristina, tremendously. When Hayley told him that the three of them wanted to get Cristina that necklace with the heart shaped locket but they didn't have enough money, he gave them the rest of the money so they could get it.
"Look inside," Griffin said. Cristina opened the locket to reveal a picture of Owen on the inside.
"Because Daddy loves you," Griffin said. "He would want to be close to you at all times."
"Oh, my God, you are embarrassing your father here, even though it is true," Owen said, laughing.
"We have a picture of ourselves to put on the other side of the locket," Christopher said, a little shyly. "Bu we didn't know if you would want to put it in there." He took the picture out of his pajama pocket and showed it to her. It was a very small picture of the three children. "We got it small as possible so it could fit in the locket."
Cristina gave him a smile that lit up her face. "I would be honored to put your picture in the locket. Give it to me, Christopher." She fit the small picture into the other side of the locket and showed the children, who were in glee.
"Owen, can you put this on for me?" she said. Owen put it around her neck and did the clasp.
"I will cherish it so much," Cristina told the children, who were all grinning at her. They were ecstatic that she loved the present.
"Well, that was a very successful round of presents. Come on, let's dig in for the rest of them and then, we can do the stockings that Santa left," Owen said. The two older children rolled their eyes. At 11 and 9, Christopher and Hayley knew that it had been Owen and Cristina who had filled the stockings and that it was their dad who ate the cookies that Griffin had left out for Santa Claus. Owen gave them a glare. He was willing to let Griffin believe in Santa Claus as long as possible. Then, he thought that if he and Cristina had children, Santa Claus would continue to live in the Hunt household for a long time. He liked that thought.
After all of the presents were opened and the stockings emptied, it was time for breakfast. Owen could easily handle breakfast but he was not prepared to cook a full Christmas luncheon. He had decided to have that catered by his favorite restaurant. Molly had gone to visit her family for the holidays. He certainly couldn't handle cooking a Christmas meal by himself. Besides, it was the first time that Cristina was spending Christmas with them and he didn't want to have to burden her with helping with the cooking. After all, they had only got back together two weeks before at the school Christmas pageant. He wanted Christmas to be special for everyone.
And indeed, it was a very special Christmas. The restaurant delivered the food just before lunchtime. The children laid out the table with special Christmas dinnerware, which featured a festive seasonal theme on it. Even the tablecloth, the napkins and the flatware all had a Christmas theme. When Cristina asked about it, Hayley advised her that it was bought by their mother for them to use at Christmas time. Emmalyn was clearly still in their lives without them even realizing it, Cristina thought.
The food was indeed very delicious, much to Owen's delight. He just wanted everything to be perfect. He wanted the day to be perfect. There was a reason. He was going to ask her to marry him. Yes, they were only back together for two weeks but he felt it was right. They had wasted so many months, not being together.
After a long day, it was just the two of them in the outdoor area, staring out at the ocean. She shivered a little bit, even though she was wearing his cardigan.
"Cold?" he said. "I will keep you warm." He wrapped his arms around her and she happily snuggled into his body.
"This feels so good," she said. "I am glad that I decided to spend Christmas with you guys than in snowy Philadelphia. All now, I would have been trapped in my mother's house with a snowstorm raging around us. I wouldn't have been able to leave the house. Instead, here I am, being able to sit outdoors with you on a cool Christmas evening."
"I am glad you decided to spend Christmas with us, too. The children were very excited," he said. "They were very happy that you loved their present. It was really cute, too, when they came to me and told me that they didn't have enough money to buy the necklace. I pretended I wasn't going to give it to them. They looked so forlorn before I finally relented and gave them the money. I took them to the jewelry store and they proudly paid for it, all cash, too."
"You are so evil to have them suffer like that," Cristina said, shaking her head. "They are amazing kids and you should be grateful that they are so great. They are kind and generous and genuinely care about other people. But then again, the only reason they turned out like that is because you are their dad and you have led by your example."
"Thanks, even though it makes me feel like I don't deserve it. Emmalyn did her part, too. She was a good mom," Owen said, softly. He didn't want Cristina to feel like she couldn't measure up to Emmalyn by mentioning his dead wife but he had to give credit where it was due.
He continued, "Don't worry, Cristina. I know you are going to be a great mom, too. The kids love you so much. As do I. A lot." His heart was starting to beat fast. He knew he was going to ask her, now. He hoped that she would not turn him down.
"Cristina," he said in a very tender tone. She caught the tenderness in his voice and looked into his eyes. She could sense it was an important moment.
"Cristina," he said, again. "I know we've only been back together for two weeks. Being apart from you was one of the worst times of my life. If it weren't for the kids, my life would have been so empty. So this is why I am going to do this." He dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a blue velvet box. Cristina knew immediately what he was going to do, so she sat up and looked at him in disbelief. He opened the box to reveal the cushion cut diamond engagement ring. Her mouth dropped open. She had never seen a ring that beautiful.
"Cristina, I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?" he asked. His voice was hopeful. His face showed how much that moment meant to him.
As much as she loved the ring, she knew that she could not accept. There was something that he needed to know. He may not want to marry her, after what she had to say, she thought.
"Um….I can't," she said. She could see the immediate disappointment in his face. He looked devastated.
"I am sorry. It is too soon," he said. "You are not ready. I am sorry if you think I am rushing this."
"It's not that, Owen," she said. "I do want to marry you but I haven't been perfectly honest with you. There is something that you should know. You may not want to marry me right now, after you hear what I have to say."
He was puzzled .What was she talking about? He couldn't possibly think of what it could be.
"Tell me," he said. "It can't be that bad. What would make me change my mind about marrying you?"
"Okay, I am going to start. Remember the day of Hayley's party," she started. He nodded. "That's when I found out I was pregnant." Owen's eyes opened wide. He was shocked.
A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. I do appreciate them.