Christmas Morning
Elizabeth, Lucas and Noa sat in a circle on the floor by the tree, holding their stockings.
"You go first, Daddy!" Noa told him.
He already had the best gifts, the girls in front of him, not to mention the picture album from Elizabeth. He couldn't imagine what else he could ever want. However, Noa was excited about something so he slipped his hand inside.
His fingers touched something hard so he pulled it out.
"Its from me!" Noa yelled.
The white coffee mug said, "Best Daddy Ever!" on it.
"Mommy can make your tea in it!"
"Oh wow! Thank you, sweet pea!" He hugged her for a long moment. He was pretty sure his heart had never been so full.
"Welcome, Daddy. There's more!"
He tried not to cry as he put his hand inside again. There was a new pair of socks, lip balm(for which he gave Elizabeth a wink), a package of sugar cookies and a new razor.
He leaned over and gave Elizabeth a few kisses and then hugged Noa again.
"Your turn, punkin," Elizabeth told their daughter.
Noa got a brand new pair of socks, purple and sparkly of course, cookies, new headbands, and a new doll. Lucas had snuck some little girl nail polish and makeup in there too.
Noa's eyes lit up and she tackled both of her parents, giggling and yelling with excitement.
"Mommy's turn!"
Elizabeth smiled and put her hand in the stocking. He had helped Noa pick out a small gift for Elizabeth when they visited him in New York. That's what she pulled out first.
"Oooh body butter." She twisted the tip and sniffed the scent. "Mmm apples and cinnamon. Thank you."
"What else is in there, Mommy?"
"Let's see…" Just like Noa and Luke, she too had a new pair of socks, lip balm, which earned Lucas a wink, and some cookies.
"Thank you, both. These are great gifts."
"There's something else in there," Lucas told her, trying not to be too obvious but barely able to stay cool.
"There is?" she put her hand inside and all the way down at the toe, she felt something. "Its a box?" she asked, her eyes getting huge as she saw the black velvety ring box.
"Lucas?"
He slowly took the box from her, got up on both knees and opened it.
"Beth, I've loved you since our very first punt down The Cam. I knew that day that I would marry you and even though we were separated by miles, my heart was always with you. I never gave it to anyone else." She wiped her tears and just kept grinning. "I promise you that I will try my hardest to be a good daddy to Noa and a good husband to you. If you'll have me."
She nodded and held out her left hand for him to slip the gorgeous diamond onto her finger.
"Yes. Of course I will, Lucas. You have always had my heart too and I"ll never stop loving you."
He cupped her face in his hands and slowly, passionately sealed their engagement with a kiss.
"I can't believe you proposed." Then she laughed remembering something. "That's why you talked to my parents."
"Guilty."
"That took a lot of guts, babe. They don't even know you."
"We basically played twenty questions. Well, the questions were asked by them but I must have said something right."
"You're gonna get married?" Noa asked, squeezing in between the still embracing couple.
"Yep! What do you think, sweet pea?"
"Are we gonna move to New York?"
"Nope. We are gonna live in Hope Valley, punkin," Elizabeth told her.
"Good! Can I be your flower girl?"
"Of course!"
….
Lucas had to fly home the next day but only after they planned he would fly back the next weekend to take a look at houses.
The week took forever to go by. If they had at least been at school, that would have helped the time pass but since they were on winter break…
Lucas couldn't call every night that week, mostly because he had to work more to take the next weekend off.
"When is he moving here, Mommy?"
"Punkin, we have to be patient, remember? Daddy has to do a lot of stuff before he can move here. Remember how big his house was in New York? He needs to pack all of that up and we need to have a house here for him to move into."
"Oh."
"Why don't you go brush your hair and change clothes so we can go to the bookstore?"
"Okay."
She didn't seem as excited as normal. Elizabeth understood. She missed Lucas too. She wanted to see him too. She wanted to start their lives together too. It was so exciting to imagine all the fun things coming up.
Lucas had no idea how difficult being away from them would be. Just being engaged changed the urgency of him moving. The missing of his girls made it hard to focus on his work.
"Gah!" he groaned, thankfully at his own apartment as he worked.
He looked at the time and figured it was around lunch for them so he called.
"Hey, hon," Elizabeth answered. He could hear the smile in her voice.
"Hi, Daddy!" Noa yelled from the background.
"Hey. I miss you both so much. I just need to move."
"We miss you too but we understand you have a lot of stuff to pack."
"Well, I'm hiring a moving company and they will do all the packing. So really, I just need to find a house in Hope Valley."
"I found a few more we should look at. I contacted the realtor and set up appointments for Saturday and Sunday."
"Thanks, babe."
"You're welcome. It's the least I can do to get you home."
He sighed and sat back in his chair. "I like the sound of that. Home."
He had never felt completely at home at his apartment. It was just the place where he lived. It didn't hold meaning beyond that. However, the moment he saw Elizabeth again that first day in Hope Valley, he felt a connection to the place. He belonged. Because of her and Noa, he belonged somewhere. It was a great feeling. Complete.
"I love you, Beth."
"I love you too."
"Thank you for helping me belong somewhere again."
Next Lucas called his parents. He wanted to tell them about his news and plan a trip to bring Elizabeth and Noa to meet them. After making those plans, he was able to get back to work. His heart felt settled again.
……
Saturday
He, Elizabeth and the realtor stood back, looking at the third house on their list after touring the inside.
Two stories, three bedrooms, two bathrooms. Nice kitchen. Fireplace in the living area. It was fairly new and it was in Hope Valley.
Elizabeth squeezed his hand. He looked at her and she nodded.
"Its newly on the market and there are a couple more bites," the realtor told them. "This one will be snatched up fast."
"We'll pay full price, cash," Lucas told him, making him raise his eyebrows.
The statement he made hadn't surprised her. They had talked about it and he told her that if they found one that was perfect, he'd make sure they got it. It was going to be theirs. Together.
"I'll put in the offer," the realtor told them. "You'll hear back from me soon, I expect."
After thanking him, he left and they stood hand in hand, looking at the house.
"It's a great house," she told him, kissing his cheek. "Thank you, Lucas."
"You don't have to thank me. Its not a gift. Its our home."
"I know, but I'm very blessed to have it, regardless of what it is."
"Do you think Noa will like it?"
"Yeah. Her bedroom especially."
"So, what plans do you have for tonight?"
"Tonight?"
"Its New Years Eve, babe. We should do something."
"Like stay in, get takeout and watch the ball drop?"
"That sounds perfect. What's Noa's favorite takeout?"
"She loves pizza but she'd also be happy with Chinese."
"What would you like?"
"You choose, Luke."
They walked to her car and got in, ready to head to pick up Noa from Viola's house.
"So I was thinking," he started. "We could get married this summer."
"Summer? Like five or six months from now?"
He chuckled. "Too long?"
"Yes. Let's compromise and say March. I'd like to make sure we can plan a little."
Lucas leaned over the middle console and kissed her twice. "I'm up for anything. I figured you'd want to plan so that's why I suggested summer."
She grabbed his collar and kissed him back. "March," she mumbled against his lips. "I don't want to wait longer."
The sellers accepted their bid so Lucas and Elizabeth were proud owners of their very own house together. It felt awesome to finally have a home that he was looking forward to spending time in.
….
"Three, Two, One, Happy New Year!!!!" the host on the television show yelled. Elizabeth and Lucas just smiled and kissed each other while Noa lay on the floor on blankets and pillows sleeping.
"Happy New Year, honey," Elizabeth whispered.
"Happy New Year. Its going to be a pretty great one."
"It is."
"What do you think about having our wedding on the beach in San Diego?" he wondered as she snuggled up to him and closed her eyes.
"Sounds good to me."
"Are you falling asleep?"
"Mmhm. Its late. Noa gets up early."
He kissed her forehead and smiled. "Why don't we go to bed?"
"Okay." She opened her eyes and stared at him. "Not together though, Luke."
"I know. I'm sleeping in the guest room."
"Its just…I want our wedding night to be special. A new start and if we jump ahead, like we did before, it won't be new."
"I get it. I'm a patient guy. I can wait."
She smiled and led him to the doorway of the guest room. "Night, Luke," she whispered against his lips. "I love you."
"To the moon and back, Beth?"
"All the way." She winked at him and walked to her own room, hardly believing she was going to get married. To Lucas. Noa's Dad and they would be the family she'd always thought they'd be.
Lucas texted his parents and let them know that they should not make plans to go anywhere but Hope Valley in March.
He heard a soft tapping on his bedroom door. "Come in."
The door opened and his little girl was standing there, a purple octopus in her arms.
"Daddy?"
"Hey, sweet pea. I thought you were asleep."
"I had a bad dream. Can you hold me?"
"Of course. Come here." She walked in and he pulled her onto his lap. "Wanna tell me what the bad dream was about?"
"I don't remember. But it was scary."
He kissed the top of her head and held her closer. "Well, that's all it was, honey. Just your mind thinking about things."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Okay." She yawned and leaned into his chest, breathing slow. "Can I stay here? With you?"
"Sure, honey. Just until you fall asleep."
"I love you, Daddy."
"Love you too."