Lila moved around the room, making certain that the decorations she'd put up for the holidays were set. Outside her window, snow swirled in the air, an appropriate addition to Christmas Eve.

She pressed a hand to her belly. It wasn't the baby this time that was making her queasy. No, she thought wryly, it was nerves. She was terrified of what would happen when Cameron came over. She was half-afraid that he would ask her to marry him and she was more than half-afraid that she would accept.

It wasn't that she didn't want to marry Cameron.

She did. It was just that she wanted it to be about them, not about the baby. And she knew that Cameron was anything if not honorable. He'd marry her for the baby in a heartbeat.

But was it wrong of her to want them to be married because they loved each other and not for the baby they'd created?

Lila shook her head. There was no sense in worrying about it. She needed to put it out of her mind. It was only right. She had the love of a wonderful man, a baby on the way and all that mattered that now, today. They'd worry about the future later.

She turned away from the window when she heard a knock on her door. Smiling now, she went to open it. Cameron stood on the other side, bogged down by a handful of packages.

She laughed, taking a few boxes from him. "What have you done?"

He moved inside, dropping the rest of the packages under the little tree she'd put up for the occasion. "Just for Christmas. For you and the baby."

She smiled again, refusing to listen to the little voice in her head that told her to run like the wind. "That's sweet of you. I'm hoping that you also brought food."

He grinned, leaning down and capturing her in a kiss. "I did. Burgers from Kelly's. I begged Lulu to make up the order before she closed for the holidays."

"Perfect." She drew him into the kitchen. "I know that we usually have the dinner portion after the sex portion, but I'm starving. Baby's screwing with my love life. So maybe, just this once, we can eat first?"

He chuckled. "Anything to keep Baby happy. I'll get some plates." He walked to the cupboard, pulled down plates and glasses. Lila grabbed the sparkling cider from the refrigerator and forks from the cutlery drawer. Within minutes, they had food on their plates and cider in their wine glasses. Lila was amazed at how easily they moved together. It was almost…domestic.

Funny, she thought as she bit into the burger, she was beginning to think that maybe marriage wasn't such a scary idea.

"This is really good," she said around a mouth-full of food. Cameron grinned at her and ate a French fry. "Lulu really outdid herself."

"She's rooting for us, you know. She wants us to have our happy ending."

"I'm sure she is," Lila replied dryly, taking a sip of her cider. "Everyone else is."

"I want us to have a happy ending, Lila," Cameron said quietly, wiping his hands off with his napkin and reaching for her hands.

She began to resist. It was habit, she thought, backing out when the going got tough. It was a habit, she realized, that she was beginning to break. She took a deep breath, relaxed her hands when his grip tightened.

"I know, Cameron, I know."

"I love you, Lila. I want a future with you, with our baby. We created this life. We need to be responsible for it."

Her eyes began to fill and she pulled her hands from his. Standing up, she paced the small space. "That's just it! Don't you get it? I don't want this baby to be a responsibility. I want to marry you, I do. But I can't until I'm certain that I'm marrying you because you love me and not because you are being honorable!"

Cameron closed his eyes, sat back in his chair. "Lila. I love you. I've been in love with you, long before we ever found out about the baby. I was planning on wearing you down. I know how you are about commitment. I was going to get you to fall in love with my and realize that you can't live without me. Because I know that I can't live without you. The baby just sped things up a bit."

She stopped pacing, turned, and faced him. She knew that he wasn't lying, that he'd never lie to her about something so important. "Cameron. I know that you love me. I've always known. Perhaps the game of chase was safer for me. It didn't require me to commit to anything." She stopped, placed a hand on her belly. "But this does. I need to be responsible for this. For our baby. And for you. Because I've only begun to realize that I've been hurting you, as much as myself. I've shut you out. I don't know if it was intentional. It just happened. I shut you out and it hurt all of us. For that, I'm sorry. I love you and if you still want to get married, I do too. More than anything. I want to be a family with you. With you and Baby."

He smiled, reached up and pulled her into her chair. "I will cherish you forever, Lila. I will do anything for you and for our baby." He stood now, moved around the table, knelt in front of her chair.

"Lila Rae Alcazar, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" he asked, fumbling as he pulled out the little black box from his pocket. Her eyes filled when he opened it and presented her with the ring.

She put a hand to her mouth. "Oh Cameron." Then she smiled. "Yes, yes. I will most definitely marry you. As long as you promise that it won't be a long engagement. I want to marry before I look like a blimp gliding down the aisle."

He laughed and slipped the ring on her finger. She threw her arms around his neck. "I think that that can be arranged."

Lila pulled back, looked into his eyes. She took his hand, laid it on her belly. "I love you Cameron Spencer. And so does our baby."

Overcome by emotion, he pulled her back into his arms, burying his face in her hair. He couldn't believe that she was his. That everything was right in his world. He had Lila and they had their baby.

It was better than any gift under the Christmas tree.

GH*GH*GH*GH*GH

Carly stopped in the doorway of her living room when she saw the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree. It was so beautiful, she thought, and it made her think of the days when her children had been small. She'd always believed that Christmas was for children, but since she sometimes thought of herself as still a child, she figured that she could love Christmas just as much and without any qualms.

Obviously Jax had taken her love of Christmas to heart when he went shopping, she thought, noting the abundance of wrapped gifts beneath the tree's leafy arms. She walked further into the room, breathing in the cedar scent. She'd always insisted on a live tree because it made everything seem more real.

She moved closer to the tree, and with a quick glance to see that no one was watching, picked up one of the gifts at random. She rattled it slightly, disappointed when she heard nothing. Either it was well insulated or it was something soft. Something like socks, she thought disdainfully. Socks weren't the kind of gift one gave at Christmas.

"Snooping, are we?" a voice from behind her asked.

Carly whirled around, the gift still in her hand. Jax leaned against the door jam, eyeing his wife. He knew her habits, suspected that today wasn't the first time she'd come in and tried to rattle the boxes.

"No, no. I—was just rearranging. It was sticking out into the walkway," Carly replied with an air of shock. She acted as if she couldn't believe that he would assume something like that.

Jax chuckled and walked further into the living room. The entire room—no, the entire house—was decked out in Christmas fancy. Carly had definitely gone overboard, which was nothing new. Carly always did things over the top.

It was just one of the many things he loved about her.

"I see," Jax replied, moving over and pulling her into his arms. "I love you."

She smiled, twisting to look into his eyes. "I love you too. And you know me, I hate surprises. Why can't I just open one gift?"

Jax laughed again, resting his chin on her head. "You're worse than one of the kids."

"Who's worse than one of the kids?" Morgan called out from the foyer where he and Mattie were shedding their coats and scarves.

Carly let out a little cry of delight, rushed out of Jax's arms and into Morgan's. "Oh I'm so glad that you were able to get here okay. With the snow and everything." She slipped out of her son's embrace and pulled Mattie into one of her own. Mattie looked a little nervous.

"The roads are fine. The plows have been out in anticipation for the snow," Morgan replied, moving to free his fiancé from his mother's gasp. "Mom, don't scare her away before we can get to the altar."

Mattie tossed him a grateful glance and thrust a gift box into Carly's hands. "Here. It's from me. In addition to the one from both Morgan and I."

Carly's eyes widened happily. "Thanks." She looked slyly at her husband who shook his head. "Spoilsport," she muttered and made a great deal out of placing it underneath the Christmas tree.

Morgan crossed into the living room. "But seriously, who's worse than one of us?" He stopped to take in the beautifully decorated tree. His mother had innumerable decorators at her fingertips, but refused them and was adamant about doing the decorating of the house herself.

And he had to admit, she'd done a spectacular job.

"Your mother," Jax replied dryly. "She is practically begging me to open one of the gifts. She just can't wait for things to happen naturally."

"I'm just excited," Carly piped up, defending herself. "I've always been like this. It shouldn't be a surprise. I don't like surprises—unless I'm in on them."

"That's why we work so hard to keep you out of them," Victoria commented, strolling into the room. She wore a long sweater and black leggings. In her arms, she held a large box. Morgan jumped up to take the box from her and put it under the tree. She smiled her thanks and moved over to hug her mother. "But that's okay, we love you anyway."

Carly laughed and squeezed her youngest daughter. "Nice of you to make an appearance."

Victoria leaned back, raised an eyebrow. "It's Christmas Morning in Greece. I was talking to Antonio."

Morgan leaned closer. He knew of his little sister's long-time beau and wasn't sure how he felt about it. "Antonio. You're still into him?"

Victoria frowned and turned to face her brother. "Yes. Why would you ask that? I've only been seeing him formally for three years and have known him for two years longer."

"You're too young if you ask me," Morgan muttered under his breath, but Victoria heard him.

"Well no one asked you, did they?" she shot back even as Mattie elbowed him in the ribs. He frowned at his fiancée as if she were mental.

Carly rolled her eyes and moved over to sit between her children's line of sight. "Let's all get along, kids. It's Christmas and I'd like the illusion to remain that I raised three gorgeous, well-behaved, rational adults."

"Well, you don't have to worry about Rachel," Victoria muttered and turned to Mattie. "You really should control your fiancée, Mattie. He has this idea that I'm still six years old and in pigtails."

"At least then you'd be safe from Greek boys who only want one thing," Morgan muttered and Victoria glared at him but said nothing when she met her mother's eye.

Carly turned to Mattie. "So, I saw your aunt yesterday. She said that the final fitting of your dress went well."

Mattie nodded and smiled. "Yes, Federico really outdid himself on it. He's so enthralled with Maxie that he'd probably do cartwheels down the Brooklyn Bridge if she asked. She was a little disappointed that she wasn't the one to make my dress." She turned to Morgan, gripped his hand, smiled. "But we didn't want to wait."

"I want to get you to the altar before you can think about anything else," Morgan answered, leaning over and kissing her.

"Get a room!" Victoria grumbled, a smile teasing at her mouth. Then she turned to her father.

"Where is Rachel?" She demanded, frowning.

Jax shrugged. "I'm sure she's on her way. She probably got caught up. She's been doing work for both ELQ and Lady's Court for weeks."

"She's becoming overworked," Carly commented. "I tried to get her to come to the hotel for a spa treatment, but she started muttering about decorators and a retail location. She's too far gone." It was easy to tell how proud Carly was of her daughter, despite her worries.

"I don't believe it's polite to discuss someone who isn't in the room," Rachel muttered, striding into the room. She still wore her work clothes, having obviously just come from ELQ.

Carly rose, walked to greet her daughter. She placed a gentle kiss on Rachel's cheek. "We were just saying how dedicated you are. It's not easy to juggle two full-time jobs."

Rachel shrugged, accepting a glass of wine from her father, who was pouring for everyone. "It's my job. And I'm excellent at keeping the balls afloat."

Victoria snickered behind her hand. "And yet, she does not have a beau or anyone remotely special." The comment earned a bland look from her mother and a horrified look from her sister. "No balls there to keep up."

"That's a little inappropriate, don't you think?" Rachel asked, credulously. She couldn't believe that her little sister would say something like that. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

Jax rose, reached for his wine glass. "On that note, why don't we get this celebration started? First, a toast." He lifted his wine glass. "To the wonderful news of Mattie and Morgan's engagement. To Victoria's successful graduation from College. To Rachel following her business dreams. To family." He knocked his glass with his wife and Mattie, who sat nearest to him. "And lastly, to you, Carly. Mother of my children and love of my life."

When the toasts were made, Victoria stood and walked to the tree to resume her traditional position as Santa Clause. She began passing out gifts and wished everyone a happy Christmas.

Carly sat back, watched her family. Christmas wasn't just for children, she thought. No, it was for family, no matter how old they were.

Because, by God, she'd managed to raise three beautiful, successful, and all-around great children.

GH*GH*GH*GH*GH

So we are definitely nearing the end. I'm thinking that at least two more chapters will be devoted to Christmas and soon after that will be Mattie and Morgan's wedding. I've already started the epilogue and it's already two chapters. Keep reviewing! Thanks for Reading!