"Bye, Daddy," Noa sobbed into his neck as he held her at the airport.
"Bye, honey. I will video chat with you tomorrow, alright?"
Elizabeth saw his eyes filling with tears which of course made hers fill too. He held out his arm, wanting her nearby too.
"I'll miss you, Beth. So much. I love you."
"I love you." He didn't care that Noa was right there, he just needed to give her one last kiss. It would be a month before he saw them again and that was a very long time.
"We need to go, punkin. Give Daddy one more hug and kiss."
She clung to him hard and then he put her down.
"See you soon?" Elizabeth wondered. She hoped he would come for Christmas.
"Yes. Soon."
He kissed her one more time and then watched her and Noa walk away. His heart hurt to see them leaving. They belonged with him. He needed to really seriously house hunt.
…..
As the next few weeks went by, Noa and Lucas talked every night and then he called back to talk to Elizabeth. It was how they got through it. He kept his secret that he was coming for Christmas though.
The week before the holiday, Janette returned from Venice and he asked her to help him pick out a ring for Elizabeth.
"I don't know her, Luke. You need to do this on your own."
"Well, I was going to give her the ring I bought five years ago but I want to get her something nicer."
"Can I see it?"
"Sure." Lucas got up from the couch where they were watching some Korean drama she was hooked on and walked to his bedroom. He returned a moment later with a little black box.
"First of all, she needs the best. I say go to Tiffany. That little blue box will make her feel like a million bucks."
"I know exactly what she will say if I were to bring her a box from Tiffany. She would say that she isn't a Tiffany kind of girl. That I don't need to spend that much money on her."
"See, you know her. You don't need me."
Janette opened the box and smiled. "This is beautiful. Yes, its small but you are the only one who knows if she needs more or not."
"She may not need more, but I want to get her more. Just not Tiffany more."
Janette was right. He could do this. He was more than capable of finding the perfect ring for Elizabeth. Maybe he'd turn the stone in the old ring into a necklace and give it to her as a Valentine's day present.
…..
Elizabeth's parents were due to return from their travels in a day or two so Elizabeth, Noa, her sisters and Vi's kids went over to their house to decorate for Christmas.
"This is gonna be fun, Mommy! I like playing with Caroline," she told Elizabeth, speaking of Vi's older daughter. The one who spilled the Santa beans.
"Remember, we aren't just going to play. We need to decorate for Nana and Grandpa too."
"Yeah, but I'm a kid. I want to play." Elizabeth chuckled at her daughter in her booster.
"You're right, punkin. You stay little for as long as you can."
"Is Daddy coming for Christmas?" Noa asked for the third time that morning.
"I don't know. He hasn't told me yet. Last I knew he had important stuff going on at work."
"Oh. Can we go there? Please, Mommy! He says there's a really really big tree by the ice skating place. I want to see it. He says it touches the sky."
Rockefeller Center. It would be a cool thing to see but she didn't want to use her savings on plane tickets. She needed to get a new car in the next year or two and wanted to keep her payments low.
"I don't know, punkin."
"Okay."
Elizabeth's Bluetooth notification went off so she hit the dashboard button. "Hello?"
"Beth!"
"Faith, hi! I miss you!"
"Hi, Auntie Faith!" Noa yelled.
"Hi, doodle bug! I miss you!"
"I miss you too. Are you coming to visit?"
"Actually, we are. As soon as Carson comes home from work, we are hitting the road. We should be there by midnight."
"You can stay in our guest room," Elizabeth told her. "No arguments."
"Great. Thank you, Beth. We really appreciate it."
"But what if Daddy comes?" Noa asked. "Where will he stay?"
"Oh, is Lucas coming? Carson and I can get a room somewhere."
"No, I don't know if he is coming for sure. You are welcome to the room."
"Okay, thank you so much."
Once Elizabeth ended the call, they continued driving.
"Mommy? When are we gonna decorate our tree?"
She had been dreading the task. She didn't want to do it without Lucas. It felt like a family thing to do and as far as she was concerned, he belonged in their family.
"Soon, punkin. Maybe tomorrow since Auntie Faith and Uncle Carson will be here. How does that sound?"
"I miss Daddy," she pouted.
"Me too."
"Can I call him, Mommy? Please?"
"He's asleep right now. Remember how when it's morning here, it's even earlier in New York?"
"Oh yeah."
Lucas didn't show up that next day. Not that she really expected him to. He never verified his schedule when they chatted after Noa went to sleep.
Elizabeth smiled at his handsome face on her tablet. "I miss you."
"I know. Have you found any houses on the website I sent you? Or looked at my favorites?"
"Yes I looked at your favorites and, babe, I loved them all. They are so expensive though."
"Well, yes. California, even Hope Valley, is expensive. I'll send you my budget spreadsheet. I think we need to have that conversation sooner rather than later."
"Okay."
"Do you have a spreadsheet of your budget?"
"Nope. I'm not a spreadsheet kinda girl."
"I can help with that."
"Well, maybe you can just handle the money and I can follow your expertise."
"I can handle the money but I need you to be on board. You have to be fully aware of everything so we have trust and….just in case anything happened to me, you won't be completely lost."
"I can't even think about that, babe. Seriously…"
"I know, I can't imagine how completely devastating losing a spouse would be. That's why its so important to me that we are 100% teammates on this. That includes my money being yours."
"I wish you were here. Does that make me sound like a child? I'm sorry if it does. I love you and I can't wait to see you. Noa even asked if we fly to New York to see you."
He looked away from the screen briefly, breaking eye contact. He wanted it to be a surprise for both of them that he was coming to Hope Valley.
"I miss you too. I'd love to send you tickets but I'm afraid I may have to work and then I won't be able to spend time with you."
"But you could work here…"
"The office may need us to come in on Christmas Eve."
She took a breath and refused to cry. She didn't want him to feel guilty for not being able to fly all the way across the country.
Christmas was four days away and if they had to spend it apart, so be it.
……
Spending time with Faith and Carson was wonderful. It almost distracted Noa and Elizabeth enough that they didn't focus on Lucas not being there.
On Christmas Eve though, the doorbell rang and Elizabeth got up from the board game they were playing to answer it.
"Oh my goodness! Lucas!" Elizabeth said, throwing her arms around him and kissing him hello.
"Merry Christmas, honey."
"Merry Christmas."
He had a couple presents sitting next to him on the porch and a suitcase. "May I come in?"
"Of course. Yes." She stepped aside and he carried his things inside. "Noa! Punkin, come see who's here!" she called.
"Daddy!!!!" she yelled running and jumping into his arms.
"Hi, sweet pea! I think you grew since I saw you last."
"Mommy says I did. She says I'm growing like a weed."
"I think she's right."
"Are you gonna stay? Auntie Faith and Uncle Carson are here too."
"Oh. I don't think there's another bedroom for me. I'll probably stay in town."
"I think everyone is booked," Elizabeth told him. "There's a Christmas tree lighting downtown tonight and we have lots of visitors."
"That sounds fun. Let's see that tonight."
"Maybe you could stay at my parent's house."
"Nonsense," Faith said from the doorway. "Carson and I got a room at the Bluebird Inn for tonight. The room is yours, Lucas."
"The only way you could have gotten a room was if you knew Lucas was coming and booked it early. Hmmm."
"Actually, we want to spend Christmas morning just the two of us, so we planned all along to stay somewhere. We didn't know Lucas was coming."
"Oh ok. I guess that makes sense."
Faith took Carson's hand. "We are going to go pack so you three can have some time together."
Faith gave Noa kisses and hugs and so did Carson and then they left the room.
Lucas and his girls walked into the tiny living room and sat down on the couch.
"You did a great job with the tree and stockings," he told them.
"I'll be right back," Elizabeth said, leaving the room. She opened her closet and pulled out the gift bag that held Lucas' stocking. She had purchased one in the hopes that he would show up.
Lucas eyed Elizabeth's stocking and tried to figure out when he would be able to sneak her engagement ring in there. He might have to wait until everyone was asleep.
Elizabeth returned and handed him a gift bag. "Its for you to open now."
"Now?"
"Yes please."
He opened the bag and smiled. "Thanks, Beth. This is a great gift."
He lifted the stocking higher and realized there was something in it. "Am I supposed to look inside it now too or wait until tomorrow?"
"Your choice."
"Open it, Daddy!" Noa told him.
He smiled and pulled the object, which appeared to be shaped like a small gift-wrapped book, out.
"A book?"
"Open it," Noa said again, a big smile on her face.
"Why don't you help me, sweet pea."
So they opened it together. "That's me, Daddy! Its pictures of me for you!"
His eyes immediately filled with tears as he opened the photo album that was titled, My Little Girl.
"Oh my," he whispered, leaning over to kiss the woman responsible. "Thank you so much."
"I know that we agreed not to cast blame over the past but I wanted you to see all the pictures that I could find from day 1 of Noa's life."
…..
4 and a half years before, Hope Valley Hospital
Faith held her hand as she pushed with all her might. She needed to meet the tiny human that had been kicking her for the last six months. She needed to know if she looked like her father. She needed to hear her cry and count her fingers and toes.
"Push, Beth! She's almost here."
About ten minutes later, that tiny cry filled the room and she could relax. She was perfect and beautiful and to have her lying on her chest…it was overwhelming.
"Hi, punkin. Its Mama. I love you so much."
Noa stopped crying and looked directly at Elizabeth, making her gasp.
"You are so beautiful and I'm positive your Daddy would think so too. One day I hope you'll meet him. He's wonderful."