“But I know you have your own commitments—”
“I can work it out with the nanny. Really, it’s fine.”
He sighed quietly. “You really don’t mind?”
“Absolutely not. When I said I couldn’t handle Derek, I meant I couldn’t sacrifice my job for him. But when I’m off the clock, I don’t mind at all. I love spending time with him. I love seeing him every day. I’m happy to make dinner for him, make sure he does his homework, get him in bed on time, take him out on Saturday to the zoo or whatever. Please don’t misunderstand what I meant, Deacon.”
“Alright.”
“We’ll figure it out, one day at a time.”
He stared at the desk for a while, lost in thought.
“I’m really sorry about Valerie.”
He nodded slightly. “I am too.”
“But he’s got both of us and your family. That boy will always know how much he’s loved.”
“This whole experience makes me realize how much I took for granted,” he whispered. “Neither one of my parents shared my intellect, but they loved me no matter what. I never doubted their love for me. I never…” He shook his head and sighed. “I knew that my parents would do anything and everything for me. They would make any sacrifice…anything at all. They would never leave like that. And I just… It breaks my heart that Derek doesn’t have that.”
Seeing the way this man wanted to give his son everything made me fall more in love with him. He wore his heart on his sleeve, breathed for his little boy. He’d put aside his differences with Valerie a million times to give him what he deserved. “That’s not your fault, Deacon. And…he always has me.” Deacon hadn’t asked me to marry him and I didn’t know what our future held, but he knew that was what I wanted—and I believed we would have it someday. I didn’t know if I would be the world’s greatest mom, but I would definitely make Derek feel loved. At the end of the day, that was all a child really needed, to have a tribe, to have a place where people loved him.
He lifted his gaze and looked at me. “Yes…he does have you.”
I hightailed it out of there and headed back to Manhattan as quickly as I could. I made phone calls, pulled in some favors, and did my best to turn that residence into a scene from a Christmas movie.
I put up a large Christmas tree, had my decorator spend two hours adding ornaments, and I set up the rest of the living room, placing reindeer on the table, stockings over the fireplace, a bowl of red and white mints that Deacon would probably toss.
When three o’clock came around, I knew I needed more time.
I called Deacon.
“Hey, baby. What’s up?”
“Have you picked up Derek yet?”
“I’m at the school now, waiting for the bell to ring. Why?”
“I need you to stall for, like, an hour.”
“Stall?” he asked. “Why?”
“I’m working on a surprise for him at the condo, and I’m not ready.”
“What surprise?” he asked.
“It’s kind of a surprise for you too…”
He was quiet for a while. “Baby, you didn’t have to do that. You do enough for us.”
“I really think Derek is going to like it. So, maybe take him out for ice cream.”
He chuckled. “He asks me to take him every damn day. I already made this big speech about no treats during the school week.”
“Well, think of something.”
He sighed. “Alright. See you soon.”
“Bye.” The second I hung up, I got back to work.
The doorman texted me. He’s here.
“Okay, we’re out of time.” I pushed the boxes into Matt’s hands. “You gotta go.”
Anna finished the last bit of tinsel and threw the trash on the cart. “It looks so cute in here!”
“Can you take the other elevator?” I asked Matt. “Because I’m afraid if they see these boxes, they’ll figure it out.”
“You got it.” Matt pushed the cart out the front door, and they left.
I turned on the TV and put on Christmas music.
Then the place really felt like a winter wonderland.
Since Deacon’s apartment was decorated with neutral tones, festive colors of red and gold just didn’t work, so the decorations were silver, white, and blue, and the tree had white powder on the needles, to resemble snow like the trees at the cabin. Silver reindeer were on the coffee table, stockings over the fireplace, and other accent pieces were scattered around that made it feel like Christmas. I’d even inserted real pine needles into the tree to make it smell real when it was actually fake.
The doorknob turned, and Deacon stepped inside, Derek right beside him. He stilled when he saw everything, as if this were the very last thing he expected. His senses were overloaded by the music, the trees, the perfectly placed decorations, and he released a laugh. “Wow…”