Christmas carols play softly from the speaker in the kitchen, and I hum along. I add sprinkles to the final batch of cookies and step back to admire my work, snapping a photo on my phone.
“I think we outdid ourselves this time,” Mary says as she breaks a gingerbread man in half. She offers me the top, munching on his legs.
“I would have to agree,” I tell her as I nibble on the cookie. I can only nibble on the cookie because I’ve had so many samples from baking. We’ve spent the entire day in the kitchen, creating every kind of Christmas dessert imaginable.
Mary and Christopher arrived here a few days ago and they’ve been staying with me and Nate for the holidays. They’ll go back to the Naughty List Ranch soon, but I’ve loved every minute of having them here. So have Nate and Rudy and Danny.
Danny is five now, speaks in nearly complete sentences, and loves nothing more than following Nate around the farm. I think he would glue himself to Nate’s back if he could.
As for Nate, he adores Danny and loves being his dad. The day the adoption papers were finalized, he broke down in tears. He was so happy that he could finally call Danny his own in every sense of the word.
“Christmas baking is one of my favorite traditions,” Mary says. “Do you get tired of baking, now that you do it full-time?”
I wash down the rest of my cookie with a big sip of hot chocolate and give her a grin. “I still love it.”
Danny’s Desserts, our little company that Nate and I started from the farm, is crazy successful. I use the jams in the Danish pastries we sell. They’re delicious and earn rave reviews from our customers.
But the best part is the profits go into a trust fund we’ve set aside for Danny’s care. I sleep well at night knowing that all of his future medical costs are covered.
“Should we go check on how the boys are doing?” she asks of Nate and Christopher who are outside.
It’s late, and Danny is already asleep in his bed with Rudy curled up beside him. The two of them are inseparable these days.
When we moved Danny into the nursery, Rudy stopped sleeping in the big bed with me and Nate. Instead, he moved into Danny’s room with no prompting at all.
He spends his days trailing after my little boy and making him laugh in the best ways. They’re the sweetest of friends.
“Yes, let’s go check on them,” I say, saving the cookies in an airtight container.
Outside, underneath the starry night sky, the men are putting together a play set for Danny. It’s his Christmas gift, and he’s going to love it. He’s been wanting one for months.
It looks as if the work is almost done. There are only a few pieces left to attach. It shouldn’t take much longer.
Christopher finishes tightening a bolt, looking up to see Mary. The moment he does, he smiles. “I’m headed in for the night.”
He claps Nate on the back before putting his arm around Mary. I watch the two of them go into the house, already chatting with each other about their days. They have the kind of love that most people spend their lives yearning for.
I grab a wrench and look at Nate. “Do you need some help?”
He smiles at me, his gaze warm. He taps a different bolt and says, “Tighten this one right here.”
I follow his instructions, and we work comfortably in the cold. Snow flurries float through the air and land in my hair before melting. My breath comes in little pants that fog up the bolts, but I don’t mind the chill. Not when I think about what Danny’s expression will look like tomorrow morning.
Finally, I yawn, the sound escaping without my permission.
Nate grimaces. “It’s too cold for you to be out here. Go in the house and let me finish this.”
“But I’m fine,” I protest.
His gaze drifts to my abdomen, his features softening. I’m four months pregnant.
“Go in, mama,” he says quietly. “Your husband has this under control.”
My cheeks heat. I love it when he refers to himself as my husband. We’ve been married for so long, but he still puts butterflies in my stomach with just a look.
“Promise you won’t stay out too long.”
He presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “I’ll be there soon. Go in and take a warm shower.”
Inside, the house smells of sugar cookies and gingerbread men. Christmas carols still play quietly, and the lights on the tree twinkle as if welcoming me back into the warmth.
I walk through the quiet house, turning off lights left on accidentally, checking locks, and turning that one leaky faucet all the way off.
Then I move to Danny’s room. I’m extra quiet as I turn the doorknob. I can’t help smiling when I see that he’s fallen asleep with his head pressed to Rudy’s back.
I tiptoe inside and pull the blanket over him and his best buddy. They’re probably both dreaming of tomorrow morning when they’ll open their gifts.
I wish them both sweet dreams before I head to the bathroom for a warm shower. The water eases the aches and pains in my muscles, and I stay until my skin is pink and wrinkly.
I’m in the walk-in closet when I hear Nate come into the bathroom. I pause with a towel still wrapped around my body. “Did you finish it?”
“Yeah, I got some great photos of it too. I’ll show you when I get out,” he says, and I hear the shower water start.
“Don’t take too long,” I call and quickly reach for the little red outfit I bought from Sew Cute earlier this week. I’ve been saving it for something special, and Christmas Eve definitely feels special.
I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and can’t help grinning. The way it hugs my baby bump is perfect. Nothing drives Nate wild like putting his hands all over my swollen belly.
The red negligee with the thong nestles between my plump cheeks when I bend to check the back view. He’s going to love that too. My husband loves everything about my body.
I think about last week when he came in early from the farm chores to find me baking. He laid me out on the kitchen island and covered me in icing that he spent the next hour licking from my body.
Just the memory has my core heating and the thin material of my sexy outfit going damp.
The shower water shuts off, and I wait, anticipation building and making me ache even more.
When he steps inside the closet with a towel slung low around his hips, he pauses and takes in my outfit. The moment he does, heat sparks in his gaze. “You look amazing.”
“I thought you deserved an early Christmas gift.” I can’t help smiling because of the way he’s looking at me. Like I’m the most beautiful woman in the world.
“I must have been really good this year,” he mutters.
I sashay across the floor and lean up on my tip toes to press a kiss to his lips. “That’s why I’m going to be extra naughty tonight.”
He lifts me in his strong arms and carries me to the bed where we spend the next few hours making love to each other.
After it’s over and we’re both panting, he holds me close.
“Merry Christmas, wife,” he whispers and brushes a soft kiss to the shell of my ear. “You’re the best gift ever.”
I drift to sleep in my husband’s arms with a smile on my face. I never imagined that when the strong, handsome cowboy rescued me all those years ago that I would one day wear his ring and raise a family with him. Our love story is the perfect Christmas miracle.
***
If you loved Nate and Callie’s story, be sure to look for Hunter’s book, The Mountain Man’s Christmas Elf.
For Christmas, I got stranded on the side of the road. While wearing the world’s most ridiculous elf costume. But the gruff, bearded lumberjack who rescued me might just be the perfect gift.
