He blew his breath out on a sigh, considered calling his mom to come down and help or even just to watch, but that made him swallow hard. This video would be Tory’s only way to see the twins on Christmas morning and somehow or another he felt having his mom in the frames would take away from the intimacy of that.
He snorted a laugh and shook his head at the stupidity of that. He might have been strong enough to let her go for the holiday, but he wasn’t perfect.
“Okay, we’re all set,” he said, reaching under the tree to get a gift for each child and set them on their walker trays. He grabbed the camera. “Okay. Go. Rip off the paper.”
Cindy played with hers a bit. Sam tried to stick his in his mouth. Chance got two minutes of that footage, then he realized it would take all day to open their presents if they kept this up. So he set the camera on the second step of the three-step ladder, about knee high. It recorded everything about the twins and only got shots of him when he ducked into the frame to give each kid a gift.
Even that process took an hour. He hadn’t realized how many gifts he and Tory had chosen for these two. But he also hadn’t missed one second of the kids’ first Christmas. And now neither would Tory.
Thinking of how happy she’d be to see this video, he glanced down and saw a flicker of light bounce off green foil paper. Paper he didn’t remember buying. He reached down, pulled the package out from under the tree and saw it was a gift to him, from Tory.
He swallowed. He hadn’t bought her one because he worried she’d think it too personal. That she’d feel guilty getting it. The best he could do was give her a bonus.
He sat. Stared at the pretty green package. His heart filled with trepidation. What could she possibly have bought him that wouldn’t be too personal, yet would still be a real gift?
Slowly, almost afraid, he tore the green paper. When it opened far enough he saw it was a book. Avoiding Sibling Rivalry.
He laughed. He’d said he worried about the kids competing and she’d listened.
She always listened.
She always did the right thing.
And it was going to kill him when he lost her.
But he would lose her. Before her accident, she’d already completed almost two years of schooling. Once she got herself organized, she’d go back for refreshers on her basic classes then only need about two years or so to finish her degree.
Then she’d be gone. And losing her would hurt worse than losing a hundred Liliahs.
CHAPTER TWELVE
WHEN TORY RETURNED ON January second, she felt good again. Normal. Eager to see the kids, but grounded about her responsibilities to Jason. He’d taken the brunt of the accident for her. She would stand by him.
But as soon as she opened the door to the cottage, she knew something was wrong.
Sliding out of her new black wool peacoat—a Christmas gift from her parents—she said, “What’s wrong?”
Chance faced her with a laugh. “What? No hello? Just what’s wrong?”
“I can feel it in the air.”
“It’s no big deal. Sam’s nose is runny. That’s all.”
She rushed over to the highchair where Sammy sat. “Oh?”
“We took him to Doctor Nelson and he said Sam was getting a cold. Again, not a big deal.”
She kissed his forehead. “Well, it might not be a big deal to Dr. Nelson, but it’s a big deal to us.”
Sam raised his hands, asking to be held and she lifted him from the highchair. He snuggled into her neck.
Contentment overtook motherly worry. If something was really wrong with Sam, she would handle it. If he only needed a little pampering while he had the sniffles, she would provide it.
“So what else happened?”
“They liked their presents. I’ve got a video of Christmas morning we can watch tonight, if you want.”
“I’d love to.” She bounced Sam then smiled at Chance, so damned glad to be home she could burst, but also glad she had her priorities in order again. “What else?”
“My mom showed them off to most of the population of the free world.”
She laughed.
“And speaking of my mom, she’s gone to Houston to visit friends for the entire month of January.”
Tory gaped at him. “The entire month?”
“She hates winter.”
“Well, don’t we all?”
He sniffed a laugh and walked to the closet for a topcoat to put over his suit jacket. “Anyway, she’ll be gone, but Cook’s your backup for lunch or if you need help, any help at all, since she doesn’t have any cooking to do.”