"This one, daddy!" Harrison dropped Jack's hand and took off running down the row of trees toward the one he wanted.
Elizabeth chuckled. "You weren't lying when you said he knows what he wants. That took him all of two minutes to find."
"The kid is serious about Christmas."
"Did you see his letter to Santa?"
Jack nodded. "If only it was as easy as having Santa bring him a baby brother from the North Pole."
She slipped her hand into his. "He also wanted to ask for a meerkat or a bunny, but I suggested he maybe ask for something inanimate."
"Hence the dinosaur toys."
"Yep." She squeezed his hand as they approached Harrison.
"I want this tree." Harrison reached out, grabbing a branch on the tree in front of him.
Jack slowly walked around it, checking it out from every side. "This is a good one, buddy. What do you say we let mommy do the first cut?"
He nodded emphatically. "Yeah, mommy!"
Jack handed Elizabeth the saw. "Go for it."
"Don't complain if I mess this up."
Jack chuckled. "It's pretty tough to mess up. Just cut straight through the trunk."
"What if I cut it crooked?" She looked at him with uncertainty.
"That can be fixed."
"If you say so." She drew the saw across the trunk until she formed a groove.
"See. You've got it."
"Good job, mommy," Harrison encouraged her.
Halfway through, Elizabeth looked up at Jack. "I think you can finish it off. I don't trust myself to keep it from falling on top of me."
"I wouldn't let that happen." He kissed her as she passed the saw to him, trading places.
Ten minutes later, they sat inside the small building on the property, sipping apple cider while their tree was getting tied up.
"Daddy?" Harrison set his cup down. "How many more days until Christmas?"
"Let's count. Today is December third, and Christmas is on December twenty-fifth."
Harrison held up his fingers as Jack helped him count. "Twenty-two days."
"That's right. Twenty-two more days until Christmas."
"What movie are we going to watch tonight, Harrison?" Elizabeth asked. "Elf or The Grinch?"
"Um, Grinch!"
"Okay."
Jack ruffled his hair. "We need to decorate the tree first."
"Can we have hot chocolate while we watch the movie?"
"I think that can be arranged."
...
Elizabeth leaned her head against Jack's shoulder. Harrison was curled up on his other side, resting his head in his dad's lap.
The Grinch was playing on the TV, the lights on the tree twinkling in the corner of the room. Garland hung on the bannister, and three stockings were side-by-side above the fireplace. Simba was curled up on the rug, warming himself in front of the fire.
Elizabeth sighed contentedly. It felt like the Christmases she had as a child, the Christmases she dreamed of having with her own family one day. That dream was finally a reality.
Jack kissed the top of her head, his arm pulling her tighter to his side.
By the time the movie ended, Harrison was nearly asleep. Jack carried him to his room and tucked him in before returning to the living room.
Elizabeth had tears in her eyes when he took a seat beside her again.
"Sweetheart." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you okay?"
She nodded, putting her arms around his waist. "I'm wonderful, Jack. This day has just been everything I've dreamed about since I was a little girl. Snuggling up with my family, watching movies together after a day spent decorating our Christmas tree. I enjoyed my life before you and Harrison, and I was happy, but this is so much better than anything I could have imagined."
"I'm glad." He touched his lips to hers, just lightly. "It's not too late right now. Why don't we put on another movie?"
"Christmas Vacation?"
He chuckled. "Sure."
She grabbed a few snacks and refilled their hot chocolates while Jack got the movie pulled up. Back on the couch, she settled in, reclining against the arm of the sofa with her legs stretched across Jack's lap. He gently rubbed her feet while the movie started, smiling when she let out a soft moan.
"Shh." He moved his hands up to her ankles, her calves, her knees.
"If you keep doing that, I'm going to make you take me to our bedroom."
"Maybe that's my plan." He wiggled his eyebrows.
"But the movie."
He grabbed the remote and paused it. "We still have three weeks until Christmas. Plenty of time to watch it." He scooped her up, her legs wrapping around his waist as he carried her down the hall.
...
"Mommy? When will we get to the meerkats?"
Elizabeth chuckled. "Soon, Harrison. We'll go in here and look at the birds and lizards and monkeys first, and then we'll get to the meerkats."
He sighed. "Okay."
"Hey." She squeezed his hand. "Do you remember my vet friend, Dr. Miller?"
"Uh huh." He nodded. "She let me feed the monkey."
"That's right. Well, I told her that we would be here today, and she said that maybe we can go watch her do a checkup on a baby monkey that lives in here."
"Really?" His eyes lit up.
"Really," Elizabeth confirmed. "But she'll be here pretty soon, so we'd better get inside."
They walked through the building, looking at various reptiles as they made their way toward the monkey enclosure. Fiona met them outside the Diana monkey exhibit, greeting an excited Harrison when they approached.
"Hi, Harrison. It's good to see you again."
"Mommy said you got another monkey."
"That's right. This one is a baby, and he's due for a checkup." She held out her hand, inviting him to follow her through a door leading to an area behind the enclosures.
Elizabeth stayed a few steps behind as Fiona continued talking to Harrison.
"He's a Diana monkey. They're named for this ridge of white fur on their foreheads, because some people think it looks a bit like the crown that the goddess Diana wears in a lot of art."
"Cool! Did you know that, mommy?" He turned to look at Elizabeth.
"I did."
Another zookeeper was waiting beside the enclosure, feeding small bits of food to the little monkey.
"Hi, there. I'm Emily." She gave him a small wave.
"Hi."
"Bud, are you going to tell her your name?"
"Oh. I'm Harrison."
Emily chuckled. "It's nice to meet you, Harrison. Dr. Miller here said you want to be a vet someday."
"Yes. How old is the monkey?" He stepped closer, crouching down to get a better look at the little primate.
"He's almost six months old. We're just doing a quick checkup on him today to make sure he's growing like he should."
"Like I get checkups?"
"That's right," Fiona answered. "This will actually be a lot like when you get checkups. We're going to weigh and measure him."
With Emily's help, Fiona performed the checkup, explaining everything to Harrison as she went along. Elizabeth smiled as she watched. Harrison was clearly in his element, asking questions and giggling when they allowed him to feed the baby a bit of food. When it came time to put the little monkey back in with his family, Harrison pouted, not ready to say goodbye.
"Hey, Harrison." Elizabeth put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll come visit him again. Okay?"
"Okay, mommy."
"And now it's time to go see the meerkats."
He lit up again, bouncing in excitement. They thanked Fiona and Emily before heading out of the building and toward Harrison's favorite animals.
"Mommy!" Harrison ran up to the meerkat exhibit, pressing his face against the glass. "Look at them!"
"I see them." She chuckled. "They're really running around today, huh?"
"Mommy?" He tugged his hat further down over his ears. "Do they get cold?"
"Sometimes. When it's really cold or really hot outside, we keep the door open so they can come inside."
"Oh."
"That's why sometimes when you come here, some of the animals aren't outside. They might be inside warming up or cooling down."
"Or eating?"
She laughed. "Or eating."
...
Jack held Harrison's hand as they walked through the store. "What should we get mommy for Christmas?"
"Um…" he put a finger to his chin as he thought. "Flowers?"
"We can get her some flowers. What else?"
He shrugged. "I don't know."
"Let's think. What does mommy like to do?"
"Make kissy faces at you."
Jack laughed. "That's not really what I meant."
"Um, she likes to play Legos with me and make yarn stuff."
"Legos and knitting." Jack squeezed Harrison's hand. "Let's go see what they have."
Half an hour later, they walked out of the store with a Lego set, a knitting bag, and a few skeins of light pink yarn—"because it's mommy's favorite color," Harrison had insisted—along with wrapping paper and ribbon.
"Daddy!" Harrison gasped as they headed toward the car. "We didn't get flowers for mommy."
"They didn't have flowers at that store. We'll have to stop somewhere else for those."
"Oh. Okay." He swung Jack's hand between them. "Is mommy going to like her presents?"
"I think mommy is going to love her presents. You picked some great things for her."
"I never had a mommy to get presents for."
Jack's heart clenched as he helped Harrison into his car seat. "I know, bud."
"Daddy?"
"Hm?" Jack buckled him in.
"I'm glad I have a mommy for Christmas now."
"So am I, buddy." Jack kissed his cheek. "So am I."
A little while later, they came into the house, finding Elizabeth out back with Simba.
"Mommy!" Harrison burst out onto the back porch. "We're home! We got you flowers!"
"You got me flowers?"
He nodded, holding out the bouquet of red and white roses. "I helped daddy choose them."
"Thank you so much, Harrison." She ruffled his hair, taking the flowers from him. "I love them."
Jack joined them on the porch, pulling Elizabeth into his arms and kissing her soundly. "Hi."
"Hi," she breathed, warmth spreading through her body.
"I see Harrison already gave you the flowers."
She nodded. "They're beautiful."
"He was so excited to pick those out for you."
"Mommy, we got you presents!"
"Shh, Harrison." Jack put a finger to his lips. "The rest of the presents have to stay a surprise until Christmas."
"Oh, right," he giggled. "Sorry."
"Why don't we get inside so I can put these in some water?"
...
"Daddy! Mommy!" Harrison launched himself onto their bed. "It's Christmas! Santa came last night!"
"He did?" Jack rubbed his eyes.
"Uh huh! Is it time for presents now?" He bounced up and down with excitement.
"Breakfast first, bud."
"Hey, Harrison," Elizabeth said sleepily. "Why don't you go see if Santa ate all the cookies you left for him? Daddy and I will be out in a minute."
"Okay!" He jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.
"So much energy." Jack chuckled.
"Can you hand me that blanket?" Elizabeth pointed to the fleece blanket bunched up at the foot of the bed.
"Are you cold?" He handed the blanket to her.
"A little, but mostly I don't want to risk Harrison running back in here and seeing me while I try to get to the bathroom to put clothes on." She wrapped the blanket around herself, holding it closed.
"Oh. OH." His eyes widened when he realized they were still undressed. "Yes. Go get dressed. I'm right behind you."
She picked up her pajamas on her way to the bathroom, tossing Jack's boxers to him before disappearing behind the bathroom door.
A few moments later, Jack stepped up behind Elizabeth as she washed her face, wrapping his arms around her. "So, I need to be better about remembering to lock the door."
"Yes." She chuckled, drying her face with a towel. "But it was an honest mistake. And thank goodness the quilt was fully covering us both."
"We should get out there before he comes looking for us again."
"You should put on pants first." She reached over and snapped the waistband of his boxers.
"Oh. Right." He laughed. "You're just too distracting." He kissed her neck before retreating to the bedroom to find some clothes.
"Mommy!" Harrison jumped up when she came into the living room a few minutes later. "Santa ate all the cookies, and he wrote a note!"
"Wow! What does it say?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. My name is there." He pointed at the top of the paper. "You help me read it?"
"Sure, bud." She took a seat on the sofa, and he climbed up into her lap, handing her the note. "It says, 'Dear Harrison, you've been a very good boy this year. I heard you got a new mommy, and you've been very nice to her. I'm sorry that I can't bring you a baby brother, but I hope you get one soon. Keep being a good boy. From, Santa Claus.'"
"Can I open my present from Santa now?"
"Daddy said breakfast first."
"Please?" He stuck out his lower lip, trying to muster up his cutest look.
"Nope. How about you go feed Simba while I put the cinnamon rolls in the oven?"
"Okay," he said dejectedly.
"It won't take too long, Harrison. I promise. We'll be opening presents before you know it."
...
Harrison sat in the middle of the living room with Simba relaxing beside him, playing with his new Lego set. Christmas music played softly over the speakers, setting a festive tone. Jack watched from the couch, a smile stretching across his face as he draped his arm across Elizabeth's shoulders.
She turned to meet his eyes, smiling at the look on his face. "Good Christmas?"
"Perfect Christmas." He kissed her softly. "My last Christmas with Olive, she was about four months pregnant with Harrison. This is what I imagined for our future back then. Christmas morning, seeing the excitement on our kids' faces when they see all of their presents. I miss Olive, but I'm so happy that I'm finally getting to experience this. With you."
She leaned against his side. "I love you, Jack."
"I love you, Beth." He stroked her hair. "Thank you for helping my dreams come true."
"I could say the same to you." She tucked her legs up under herself, snuggling even closer to him.
"Mommy." Harrison looked over at her. "Come play with your Legos!"
"Maybe later, Harrison. I'm having fun watching you play right now."
"Have you had a good Christmas, bud?"
He nodded excitedly. "Yeah! Thank you for my toys."
"You're welcome." He nuzzled his face into Elizabeth's neck, lowering his voice. "And I can't wait to see the secret present you have hidden in our bedroom."
"Jack Thornton!" She lightly hit his arm. "You weren't supposed to find that."
"What is it?"
A flush rose in her cheeks. "Well, it might be something I got for the honeymoon that I forgot to pack."
He grinned. "How early do you think we can convince Harrison to go to bed tonight?"
"You are incorrigible, Doctor Thornton." She put a hand on his chest, kissing him softly. "For now, let's just enjoy our first Christmas as a family." She moved from the couch, taking a seat on the floor with Harrison. "What are you building right now, little man?"
"A helicopter. Look at the T-Rex!" He held up the T-Rex that he had already finished building.
"So cool!"
He grinned at her, looking so much like Jack. "I love you, mommy."
She put an arm around him, hugging him to her side. "I love you, Harrison."