The Nurse Who Saved Christmas (14 page)

He nodded. “I’ve got some making up for the past to do. Especially to my mother.”

“What time are we supposed to be there?”

He brushed her hair away from her face, pressed a kiss against her temple. “They don’t know we’re coming, so whenever we arrive will be okay.”

She wrapped her arms around him, kissed the corner of his mouth, excited at the magic filling the day. “Your mother is going to be so happy when you walk through that door, Dirk.”

“She’s going to be even happier when I tell her our news.”

“That we’re getting married?”

“That she’s getting a new grandbaby for Christmas.” He smiled wryly then shrugged. “And that she’s getting her son back, along with a daughter-in-law who he loves more than life itself.”

She hugged him, so proud of how far Dirk had come. “Your family is going to be so excited to see you.”

All her dreams were coming true. She was getting a family. Dirk’s family. And most importantly, she was getting the man she loved and who loved her. Dirk.

He grinned. “Yeah, and you know what? I’m going to be excited to see them, too, and to see their faces when I hand out their gifts.”

“Gifts?” Abby raised her brow in question. “What did you get them?”

“Bought each one of them a
Dummies Guide to Holding an Intervention
and wrote a message, letting
them know how much I appreciate them and that they have my permission to intervene anytime deemed necessary.”

Abby laughed. “Oh, Dirk, you really are serious about this, aren’t you?”

His brow lifted. “Did you doubt me?”

Had she? No, she trusted him with her heart, with their baby’s heart. He loved them. She could see that truth in his eyes, feel it in his touch, in the way he’d cherished her while they’d made love. “Not in the slightest. You’re a good man.”

“I’m your man, Abby.” He smiled in a way that reached in and touched her very being. “I’ll always be your man. Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”

“The best.” But she suspected only the beginning of even happier times when she and Dirk celebrated the holidays with their baby, with his family—their family. “Merry Christmas to you, too. You’ve given me so much.”

“Not nearly as much as you’ve given me. You gave me back my life, my heart, my family, my belief in Christmas.” He placed his palm over her belly, caressing her there. “I love you and our baby.”

Knowing Dirk had made her Christmas dreams come true, would continue to make them come true every day for the rest of their lives, Abby rolled over to kiss her very own Santa all over again.