Epilogue:
I woke to Leah kissing me and whispering, "Come on, wake up! It's our first Christmas morning together. Let's go open presents!" I smiled and opened my eyes and pulled her to me. I put my lips on hers and kissed her long and slow. "Mmmm, let's stay here and I'll give you a Christmas present," I said against her lips. She smiled and ran her hands over my chest. I rolled her over and kissed her lips and her cheek and down her throat. She sighed as my hands found all of the places she liked best. I loved to hear her cry out as my fingers worked their magic on her. Before long I was on top of her and inside her. I moved slowly until she begged me to move faster. And when she came, she shook and cried out, which made my release that much sweeter. We lay there trying to catch our breath and I rolled to the side to look at her. "Merry Christmas, baby," I said with a smile. She laughed and kissed me. We lay there wrapped in each other for awhile then I finally said, "Did you say you wanted to open presents?"
Her eyes lit up and she said excitedly, "Yes! Let's go!" She flew out of bed and threw on her old pink robe that I loved so much. I pulled on some gym shorts and we walked out to the living room where our little tree was sitting in the window. The Nativity Scene I had given her last Christmas as lovingly displayed on a little table next to the tree. I turned the tree lights on and we sat next to the tree.
We had fun giving each other our gifts. We told each other we weren't going to spend a lot because it really took most of the money we earned just to pay our bills. But business was booming at the garage and the new year looked like we would be bringing home more money.
Finally, Leah handed me the last gift she had for me. She smiled as I opened it. I looked at her curiously as I pulled out a tiny baby onsie that had "I Daddy" on it. Daddy? Is she . . . I looked over to see her nodding. "Baby? Are you pregnant?"
She nodded with tears in her eyes. "Yes, I am. About 10 weeks. I just found out two days ago." I threw the little t-shirt down and pulled her to me. "Oh baby," I whispered. I knew how important this was to her.
"Are you OK with this?" she asked.
I pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Of course I am! I love you, Leah. I've always wanted to have babies with you, you know that."
"I know, but we haven't been married that long, and I . . . "
"I told you when it was time for babies, the baby would be here. So, it must be time." She smiled and I kissed her softly on the lips. "This is the best Christmas present I have even been given." She just glowed. I was truly blessed.
Later, we had Christmas at Mom and Dad's new house. Sam, Emily, Lily and Abby came over, along with Sue and Seth. We all exchanged presents and Lily was happy playing with all the wrapping paper! Leah brought out a big shopping bag and went around handing everyone a small wrapped box. She told them to all wait and open them together. Once they were passed out, she said, "OK. Open them."
They did and there were gasps all around. Mom, Dad and Sue all opened their box to find a tiny onsie like I got, but it said, "I Grandma (or Grandpa)." Sam and Seth got one that said, "I My Uncle" and Emily, Abby and Bree got one that said, "I My Aunt." Even Lily got one that said, "I My Cousin." Leah's face was priceless as she watched everyone open their gifts.
Sue was the first to Leah and she hugged her tight and said, "Oh, honey, I'm so happy for you! I know how worried you were." Then she pulled back and said, "Oh my God! I'm going to be a grandma!" That made us all laugh. After that, everyone came up and offered their congratulations. Abby was especially touched that Leah had given her one that said Aunt.
"Abby, we will always be sisters. You belong to this family now." She cried and hugged Leah and said she couldn't believe how lucky she was. That was the one good thing to come from all of the heartache that Josiah caused us. He did bring Abby to us.
I looked over at Dad and caught his eye. He was holding Bree and he smiled. I was going to be a dad! Next Christmas, that would be me holding my baby. I smiled back and thought again how lucky we all were. Life was sweet indeed.
A/N: Thank you so much for all of your reviews! I had fun creating all of the new characters in this story. I know I have a long way to go, but I am enjoying my new found love of writing. I am now working on a Jake/Leah story. I said I wouldn't do one, but I woke up one morning with a scene in my head and I had to write it down. It just grew from there! Watch for it. I'll be posting it soon.