Kissing my head, Cole whispered into my ear, “You okay?” I nodded and his arms wrapped around me. “I love you, babe.”
Smiling behind tear filled eyes, I squeezed his leg. “That’s my mom and dad.”
He sighed into my hair, squeezing me tighter. “Thank you for sharing this with me,” he whispered quietly enough for only me to hear, before turning my face to kiss away the falling tears.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
After spending an early Christmas with the Cartwright’s we continued rolling right into a slew of other holiday parties. It seemed like we were getting ready each and every night for something different, from client cocktail holiday parties to grand fundraising events where we were bidding on items to raise money to ensure the children’s pediatric center had enough gifts for all of the kids in the hospital. Christmas with Cole had been unbelievable.
His living room was transformed into a winter wonderland. I’d gone to work early one morning and when I’d gotten back that night the entire living room was covered in green garland that had beautiful hand painted ornaments attached to it, bright red poinsettias lined the rooms and fireplace, and the fresh scent of pine took over my nose as I took in the giant Christmas tree that had been perfectly decorated. I’d stopped dead in my tracks when I saw what was sitting next to the Christmas tree. Walking over to the gold box, I picked it up and ran my fingers over the top of it, a tear rolling down my cheek as I did. Footsteps behind me pulled me out of the flood of memories that had instantly come over me.
“I hope you don’t mind?” Cole asked, and I turned around to stare up into those beautiful eyes of his. I couldn’t express my feelings in words, so I just kissed him instead. I kissed him long and hard, ensuring he knew exactly how thankful I was for him in that very moment.
After catching his breath, he smiled down at me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “I know how important the holidays were to you and your family, so after seeing those movies I talked to Teresa and Theo and asked if they had anything that would bring back those great memories from your past, turns out they had a few things.” I smiled wondering what else I was going to get.
“Now, before you ask for everything at once I want you to know, I have a plan for when and where I’m going to give you each of the things they have given to me, so don’t ruin the surprise. It’s not going to be a long drawn out process, it just won’t all come at once. Firsts things first, Teresa gave me the angel tree topper that your parents bought the year you were born and I thought that it would be perfect for the top of our tree, so wait right here, let me grab the step stool and I’ll be right back.”
Opening the gold box, I gently pulled the porcelain angel out, holding her delicately in my hands. She was just as I remembered her the very last time I’d put her on the tree with my parents. Her body draped in a beautiful white gown, sparkling silver angel wings that flanked her back, and a gold halo resting atop of her dark brown hair, she was beautiful. My parents bought her the year I was born and each year when my dad would pick me up to place her on the tip top of the tree, my parents would tell me that they were so lucky to have a daughter who was just as beautiful as Heaven’s angels.
Cole rushed back in with the step stool, placing it as close to the tree as he could get it. Then reaching for my hand, helping me climb to the top of the stool. I still had to stand on my tiptoes to reach the top. I gently placed my angel on the top of the Christmas tree, just as Cole snapped a picture with his phone.
“What do you think?” I asked.
Helping me down and taking me into his arms he whispered, “She’s beautiful, just like you.”
I squeezed his hips, pulling him as close as I could get him. “Thank you, Cole, this really means the world to me. I miss them so much, but I love sharing them with you.” Kissing my forehead, we stood there for a few minutes before I broke the silence, “So, what do I get next?” I asked, laughing into his chest.
“I knew I shouldn’t have told you about the rest of them.”
It’d been a few days since Cole started the gift giving and I was getting anxious, trying to figure out what I’d get next. Christmas morning I was pleasantly surprised when I’d opened the next gift, a picture of me, Mom, and Dad the year we spent Christmas in Colorado. We were outside next to the snowman Addison and I built together. I was eight years old, and that had been one of the best Christmas’s I’d ever had. “Did Teresa tell you about this Christmas when she gave you the picture?”
He smiled gently. “She explained everything as minimally as possible; I think she wanted you to be able to share the actual stories with me instead of her.”
Leaning back against the couch I closed my eyes, and I began to see snow fall, it was like I was right back in Colorado. “Addison and I begged our parents to take us to see snow for Christmas, one of the kids in our class convinced us that if it didn’t snow Santa wouldn’t bring us gifts. I remember mom and Teresa didn’t want to go, they already had both houses decorated, the gifts were all wrapped and the annual Christmas party was planned for the day before Christmas Eve. Addison decided if we could talk our dad’s into it, then our mom’s would eventually cave, so we did.
“The afternoon of the Christmas party we cornered our Dad’s while they were running around making sure everything was ready. We’d decided I would plead the case, after all, I’d known from a very young age I was going to be an attorney. So I went for it, Addison chiming in as needed, and before we knew it, the night before Christmas Eve my dad was calling his assistant to have her arrange our flights and book us a log cabin at a ski resort in the mountains of Colorado.”
Opening my eyes I looked at him and a grin grew across his face. “So even at eight years old you had the men in your life eating out of the palm of your hand?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “I wouldn’t say that, there were times I didn’t get what I wanted, granted they were few and far between, but nonetheless, they occurred.” His facial expression spoke for the words that were running through his head, and I laughed harder. “We were spoiled, I know, but trust me, we were thankful, still are. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t know how blessed we are.”
Handing him a gift, we rolled into the other presents that were under the tree. We’d spent the next few hours opening presents, after we were finished we laid down on the floor in front of the fireplace and looked at all of the wrapping paper spread throughout the room. “I think we may have gone a bit overboard on gifts, what do you think?”
Cole pulled me closer to him, so my head was resting against his chest. “Just imagine when we have kids.” My heart skipped, and then it was instantly slamming into my chest as I tried to replay the words that had just come out of his mouth. I could feel his body shaking under me as he squeezed me tight. “I thought we’d put a stop to those panic attacks?” he asked, as I tried to calm my nerves, his body still shaking with laughter.
We did, until you decided to bring up kids, you must have really hit your head in that fall.
I thought to myself. Rubbing the length of my arm, Cole spoke in between laughs, “Babe, I can feel your heart pounding against my ribcage, calm down, you aren’t going to get pregnant by lying next to me. I’m just talking about the future, one day down the road.” Sucking in a long breath I tried my best to calm myself down.
Lying there for a few minutes in silence I was able to calm my nerves, just in time for the doorbell to ring. Cole sat up and looked at me. “Are you expecting company?”
I shook my head. “No, are you?” He shook his head no, as he stood up and walked towards the door. Jumping up, I started grabbing the wrapping paper that was spread throughout the living room, trying to clean up for whomever had decided to drop in. Before I could get it all together I heard the one voice on this earth I could pick out a million miles away.
Looking towards the entryway of the living room I saw Addison scurrying in as Case followed behind her, gifts stacked so high in his arms he couldn’t even see over them. Laughing, I ran towards her, “Merry Christmas!” I shouted, hugging her so tight.
Casey passing me as he tried to find a place to put all of the gifts, “Merry Christmas, Case.”
He laughed. “Right back atcha, babe,” as the gifts came toppling out of his hands and crashing to the floor.
Laughter erupted amongst all of us and Addison was quickly at his side, pulling him down to the floor to sit. “It’s okay, babe, we were going to end up down here anyway.” And on that note Cole and I cozied up next to the tree and the four of us began our first annual Christmas morning tradition.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
“Babe, come on, we are going to miss our flight.” Cole shouted from the front door.
I was trying my best to move as fast as I could, pulling my carry on behind me as I ran out of his bedroom. “I’m sorry, it’s just a little hard to get everything together when you have absolutely no idea where you are going.” Planting a kiss on his lips, I hurried out the door towards the elevator. Pressing the button as many times as I could, in the hopes of making it arrive faster.
“You know pushing the button a thousand times doesn’t increase your chances of it getting here any quicker, right?” Scrunching my nose, I shot him a funny face as the bell chimed and the doors slid open.
The stewardess handed Cole a Yuengling and me a glass of wine as the plane flew west over the Gulf of Mexico. “Ma’am, would you mind telling me where we’re headed?” She looked at Cole, who shot her an evil glare, and she quickly apologized and scurried off. “Seriously, even the flight attendants know it’s a surprise?”
He chuckled. “Yes, now quit trying to ruin it. We’ll be there before you know it. Once we land, you’ll put two and two together and then it’ll no longer be a surprise, so just appease me for a few more hours, please.”
“Fine” I said, pretending to pout as I looked out the window and sipped my wine.
Three hours later the jolt of the tires hitting the ground woke me out of my nap and I looked at Cole, who was squirming in his seat like a child. Looking out the window all I could see was white snow and mountains for miles. “Umm, Cole, I don’t think I have enough clothes to keep me warm in this weather.”
Smiling, he pointed to the coat rack on board and said, “Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.” Being that we were seated in first class we were able to get off the plane quickly. After getting our luggage, we walked towards the exit of the airport where our rental SUV was waiting for us, before going outside Cole helped me into my coat. “You ready, it’s pretty freezing out there?” Smiling, I reached for his hand and we exited out into the frigid weather.
Opening the passenger's door I jumped in the car and turned on the heat as high as I could get it. Cole threw the luggage in the back and jumped in the front seat and then drove off. Now, I was the one squirming in my seat like a child. “Okay, can you please tell me where we are going?”
He glanced over at me and smiled. “If you haven’t figured it out, yet, then I’m not going to ruin it.”
“I hate surprises, are we going skiing?” I asked, hoping he would possibly indulge me in a round of twenty questions.
“Yes.” He smiled, watching the road as the snow came down around us.
“How long is it going to take us to drive there?”
He looked down at the clock and back to the road. “Probably twenty minutes, no more questions, please.”
I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Fine, I’m just so excited.”
Turning off of the main highway, we started heading up the side of a huge mountain. The sun was beginning to set in the distance as we made our way further and further up the mountain.
When we got to the top Cole looked over at me and smiled. “You ready?”
I began bouncing in my seat, “yes, the suspense is killing me!” I shouted.
Turning off of the road he began driving slowly down a long drive. By the looks of it the snow plow had just recently come through, the mounds of snow pushed off of the driveway were stacked to my shoulders and before I looked back ahead of me the car came to a complete stop. Opening the door I jumped out of the SUV as my jaw instantly hit the ground below me. I looked to Cole who had emerged from the SUV and then back to the quaint log cabin sitting before me.
I ran towards Cole as fast as I could, tackling him into a pile of snow as I grabbed the sides of his face and took his mouth, my tongue shoving past his lips while my hands grasped at his hair. His arms wrapping around me as I devoured his mouth, pulling away from his lips his hands flew to my hips as I straddled his lap in a pile of snow.
“You have no idea how amazing you are. I cannot believe you booked the exact cabin we came to when I was eight.” Grinning up at me with those gorgeous golden eyes, he just laid there, relishing in the moment. Kissing him quickly, I jumped off of his lap and pulled him up, as I tugged his hand towards the cabin. “Come on, I have to show you around. You’re going to love it here.”
When we got to the porch Cole pulled the keys out, but before he opened the door he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. “I wish I could have brought you here for Christmas, but I figured New Years was second best.”
Pressing my lips onto his, I grabbed the keys from his hands. “This is perfect, Cole.”
The lock clicked with the turn of the key and I opened the door and stepped in flipping on the light switch to my right. I looked around the open log cabin and memories of being there almost twenty years ago came flooding back. My smile grew even bigger as I felt Cole’s hands wrap around me. Not only had I made amazing memories here with my family, but now I was going to be making memories with Cole, as well. Cole slipped my coat off and hung it on the rack next to the door.
I pointed to the corner of the living room and said, “That’s where the tree was. It was so small and there were no lights on it, all we had were paper ornaments that Addison and I made and hung on it with some fishing line we found in a drawer. We got in midday on Christmas Eve and everything was already closed, so Addison, Dad, Theo, and I went out in search of a tree we could cut down. When we found it I remember thinking it was perfect, it was no taller than the two of us girls. We helped chop it down and Dad and Theo set it up right there.”