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chapter fifty-four

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this year's love had better last
heaven knows it's high time
i've been waiting on my own too long

and when you hold me like you do
it feels so right
-David Gray, "This Year's Love"

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10:30 am

"Mom! Can I have a muffin?" Kelsey called out, looking up from the piles of wrapping paper surrounding where she was sitting.

Caroline, who was sitting on the sofa just behind Kelsey, leaned forward to ruffle her daughter's hair. "I don't know, sweetie. You have to ask Grandma if they're done yet."

Lydia, who sat at the far end of the room next to Victor, shifted her weight and said, "I think they've got about five more minutes, Kels, but I tell you what? When they're done, you can come and help me take them out of the oven, alright?"

"Okay!" Kelsey agreed, smiling broadly as she became immediately occupied with the many gifts strewn on the floor beside her.

Sam watched in amusement as Kelsey and Bridget entertained themselves with the contents of the countless boxes and packages they had already opened. It was no secret that Victor and Lydia Fitzgerald loved to dote on their grandchildren.

Sam sat chatting quietly with Rebecca as Martin, Tim and Scott sat on the floor trying to assemble the kitchen set that Bridget received from Santa Claus. Rebecca held Natalie in her arms while Alex slept quietly in the carrier at their feet; from all reports, Alex did not have an easy night, and the peace and quiet was much appreciated - especially by his exhausted new parents.

Sam had to admit that she had a tremendous level of admiration for Rebecca and Scott. Natalie and Alex were beautiful children, but they were outliers on the growth chart, falling below the 3 in weight compared to other children their age. They had been evaluated by several physicians - including Tim - before the adoption was made official, but there were always problems that could arise down the road that no one could foresee at this point in time.

Sam suspected that was one of the main reasons Rebecca feared Victor would object to the adoption.

Just as she and Rebecca shared a conspiratorial smirk as they watched the three men struggle with the construction of the kitchen set, Alex awoke and began to cry. With Scott tied up in the construction project, Sam offered to take Natalie from Rebecca so that she could comfort her son.

Sam took the warm bundle in her arms, wondering at how something so small could simultaneously seem so heavy in spite of the supposed fact that she was far under the normal growth curve for her age. She felt her breath catch in her throat when Rebecca announced that she would have to go to the diaper bag, feeling a momentary panic that somehow in Rebecca's absence something might come up that she would not be able to handle.

She rocked the infant gently, feeling herself relax as she became more comfortable with each passing second. Natalie cooed softly in her arms and Sam felt an unfamiliar tugging deep in her heart.

She looked up in time to see Bridget decide that her father and her uncles needed 'help' - and in turn toppled over right onto Martin's lap. He tickled her and her laughter filled up the room.

She spent so much of her time being vehemently opposed to the idea of marriage, a husband, a family, but that was all before she had met Martin. She saw first-hand how good Martin was with his nieces and his cousin Jamie's daughter, and she knew that he wanted a family of his own someday. In spite of herself, she found herself occasionally thinking about a little girl with Martin's blue eyes or a little boy with his infectious smile.

She met Martin's eyes and smiled, shivering involuntarily at the intensity of his gaze.

And she felt she could hear exactly what he was thinking.

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8:00 pm

Sam could see her breath as they raced from the car to the front door of Martin's place, scaling the front steps quickly and leaning in against his shoulder as he fumbled with the keys in his front door.

Finally the lock gave way and the front door swung open, and they rushed quickly inside before shutting the door firmly behind them.

"It's freezing out there!" Sam exclaimed, rubbing her hands together as she tried to readjust to being indoors. "I always knew I should have asked to transfer to LA."

"I'm glad that you didn't," Martin countered, taking her coat from her and hanging it alongside his in the hall closet.

"I guess so," she teased, turning around to kiss him softly. "Imagine the scandal it would have caused if the New York Senator was dating someone from LA."

"Yeah," he breathed. He held her hand in his, linking their fingers together. "Thank you for coming with me tonight," he said.

"Hey, it was no problem," she insisted. "I had a good time. Besides, your new tie was a hit."

She smiled, wanting to reassure him. He had insisted she did not need to accompany him with his family to Mass, but she had decided to come along anyway. She enjoyed spending time with his family and learning more about what Martin's life was like when he was growing up.

"Yes, yes," he said with a wave of his hand. He would never admit it, but she knew he secretly enjoyed that she had selected ties that better matched his suits. "So," he said finally, gazing down into her eyes. "What do you say we get some eggnog and head downstairs?"

Sam agreed easily and followed him into the kitchen, where he poured two glasses of eggnog. They took the back stairwell down into the basement and settled down in front of the tree, the lights casting a colorful glow around the room. Martin turned the knob and started the gas fireplace before coming over to sit beside her.

They sat on the floor, Martin leaning back against the sofa and Sam leaning back against him.

"You want to go first?" he asked, handing her a small gift-wrapped package.

"Sure," she said, taking the package from him and beginning to tear at the wrapping paper. She slid her finger underneath the crease and broke the tape, peeling back the brightly colored paper to reveal a light blue Tiffany's box. "Oh, Martin," she whispered. "You really didn't need to..."

"Shh," he urged. "Just open it."

She flipped the lid of the plush velvet box to reveal beautiful diamond drop earrings. She inhaled and fingered the earrings gently; in all the years she had lived in New York she had never actually bought anything from Tiffany's, never able to justify the expense.

"They're beautiful," she said finally, "Thank you." She took off the pearl studs she was currently wearing and carefully fastened he diamonds in each lobe. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I think," he replied, kissing her tenderly. She felt him place another box in her lap, "that you should open this."

She exhaled and with unsteady hands began to pull the wrapping paper away from the second box, opening it to reveal the diamond pendant that matched her earrings.

"Martin..." she breathed, completely overwhelmed by the perceived extravagance of her gift.

"Shhh," he replied. "It's not too much. Caroline was mentioning you hadn't decided what jewelry to wear to the Adair's party on Saturday, so I thought that if you wanted... now you would have something to go with your dress."

She found herself completely speechless, so she twisted her torso around and tilted her head in to kiss him. "Thank you," she breathed finally and held the box out to him. "Will you help me put it on?"

"Of course," he replied. She held her hair back and out of the way as he draped the diamond pendant around her chest, kissing the nape of her neck as he fastened the clasp in the back. Letting her hair fall back into place he grinned and said, "Just for future reference whenever you are concerned, I always prefer taking it off."

She laughed. "Easy there," she said with a smirk, "there will be time for that later." She held out her own carefully-wrapped parcel and said, "In the meantime, I have something else for you. It's not much, but..."

"I'm sure I'll love it," he reassured her, kissing her tenderly as he began to open the box. She felt herself hold her breath as he separated the lid of the box and began to lift up the layers of tissue paper protecting her gift. Then finally he inhaled sharply, "Oh, Sam... Where did you even get this?"

She smiled at him, satisfied that he seemed to like his gift, and peered into the box once more to inspect the antique watch with a careful eye. She motioned for him to hold out his forearm, and she fastened the watch in its proper place around his wrist. "I asked your Aunt Bonnie about it," she explained finally. "When she was first diagnosed, you mentioned all about your grandfather's watch and how she gave it to you the day you decided you were going to go into politics. When I asked why you never wore it..."

"... I told you it was because it stopped working a long time ago and no one could ever figure out how to repair it," he finished for her.

"Anyway," she continued, "About a month and a half ago, a newlywed disappeared from baggage claim at La Guardia on her way back from her honeymoon, and her husband is a talented craftsman who specializes in antique watches. I called Jamie up that night and asked her if Bonnie happened to know what had happened to the watch, and she said that they still had it up in storage with the rest of your grandfather's things. So I went down to the storage unit with your aunt and your cousins, and I had it fixed." She paused for a moment, inspecting the antique watch once more. "What do you think?" she asked finally.

He smiled. "I couldn't love anything more."

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