All I Want For Christmas Is You (11 page)
Natalie frowned. “But all you got her was a sweater and some coffee.”
Sam covered her mouth and laughed. “Honey, I like my sweater. And that’s my favorite coffee.”
Natalie looked skeptical, the way only an eight-year-old could.
Patrick held open his arms until Natalie stepped into his embrace. Buried his face in their daughter’s hair. Sam’s heart ached. “Baby, Mommy just made sure our family would always be a family. And nothing will ever change that.”
“But you two aren’t married. Don’t people have to be married to be a family?”
“No, baby, people don’t have to be married to be a family.” She looked at Patrick. “But I think I would like to be married to your Daddy very much.”
“This is the best Christmas ever.” A slow smile spread across her daughter’s lips. She leaned forward with a happy sound, her arms around both their necks. “I got everything on my list.”
Sam rested her cheek against Patrick’s shoulder.
“Me, too,” he whispered. “All I ever wanted was you. Both of you. Forever.”
She closed her eyes and felt. Everything. All of it. The sadness and the happiness. The joy and the sorrow. It was so much. So overwhelming.
But at the center of it all was Patrick and their daughter.
Steady. Safe.
She’d almost lost him. She’d almost lost herself.
The war would never leave her.
But in that moment, she knew she had a chance to really come home.
They
had a chance. As a family.
Maybe they’d gotten their miracle after all.
Thank you for Reading!
Thank you so much to everyone who has ever bought one of my books, emailed me or just stopped by the blog, twitter or Facebook just to say hi.
Reviews help other readers decide whether or not to pick up a book. If you’d consider leaving one, I appreciate any and all reviews.
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www.jessicascott.net
If you’d like to read my novels about soldiers coming home from war, please pick up my Coming Home series. It starts with
Because of You
.
The series continues in
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
,
Anything for You
,
Back to You
,
Until There Was You
,
All for You
,
It’s Always Been You
.
All I Want For Christmas is You: A Coming Home Novella
will be available on November 11, 2014 and is featured in
Home for Christmas: A Holiday Duet
by JoAnn Ross & Jessica Scott.
If you’d like to read about my own experiences in Iraq and the transition home, please check out
To Iraq & Back: On War and Writing.
and
The Long Way Home: One Mom’s Journey Home From War
.
Jessica Scott is a career Army officer, mother of two daughters, three cats, and three dogs, wife to a career NCO, and wrangler of all things stuffed and fluffy. She is a terrible cook and even worse housekeeper, but she’s a pretty good shot with her assigned weapon and someone liked some of the stuff she wrote. Somehow, her children are pretty well-adjusted and her husband still loves her, despite burned water and a messy house. No ZhuZhu Pets were harmed in the writing of this book.
Photo: Courtesy of Buzz Covington Photography
Copyright
©
2014 by Jessica Scott
All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any print or electronic form without permission.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing 2014
ISBN: 978-1-942102-01-4
Author photo courtesy of Buzz Covington Photography
For more information please see
www.jessicascott.net