This has been one of the best Christmases I’ve had since joining the Army. Many of them I was on deployment and not able to come home. I missed my family, but I was serving my country. It was something I was damn proud of and still am to this day. I miss my brothers, and I need to reach out to them more. Make more of an effort, but I can’t say that I miss the Army. How could I? That would mean I would be missing all of this. My son, my fiancée, and my family. I’ve missed out on enough. It’s time to start living. For me, and for them.
Chase is flying Milo around the room like an airplane, and he swoops him in toward me. “Dddd!” he cheers, and my heart stops in my chest.
“Milo!” Hollis stands from her seat next to Tina and Gabby on the couch. “Colt, did you hear that?” she asks. I nod because the words won’t come. “Are you trying to say Dada?” she asks him.
“Look at that, buddy. You made Daddy speechless.” Chase grins, setting him on my lap.
“Dddd!” Milo cheers.
I wrap my arms around my boy and hug his little body tight. “Daddy loves you,” I tell him.
“Ddd!” he says again, kickstarting my heart as the room erupts in laughter.
Best Christmas ever.Chapter 18Hollis“You excited?” Colton asks from the driver’s seat of his truck as he pulls down a long, narrow path.
We haven’t been on the road long, maybe fifteen minutes or so, but just long enough to really build the suspense. He’s done that since he came home from work yesterday and told me to be ready at five with an overnight bag packed—clothing optional. His lips have been sealed ever since, even though I’ve begged and pleaded with him to spill the beans. Hell, I even tried to utilize my female wiles last night in a sexy nightgown. Two orgasms later, he still wouldn’t tell me what he had planned.
“Anywhere I’m going with you makes me happy,” I finally answer, glancing around at the trees and tall grasses. Even though night has fallen, I can see a small building just off to the right. The distant shimmer of water reflects off the headlights as we follow the lane and stop in front of a cabin. “What’s this?” I ask, glancing around.
Colton smiles, pulls the keys from the ignition, and exits the truck cab. Before I have a chance to open my door, he’s there, helping me out. The New Year’s Eve night air is brisk, but not too cold, especially when he throws his arm over my shoulder and pulls me into his side. Colton grabs our bags from the back seat and guides me to the porch.
“Where are we?” I ask again, realizing he didn’t answer my previous question.
The moment we step up on the small porch, he turns and smiles. “This is my family’s cabin.” Colton slips a key into the knob and releases the lock. “Come inside, and I’ll show you.”
The moment we step inside, I’m hit with the warmth of a fireplace burning in the center of the room. “Uhh, Colton?” I ask, taking in the rustic décor and worn, brown leather furniture.
“Chase was just here and got the fire started,” he answers my unspoken question. Setting the bags on the floor, he glances around the cabin before turning back to me. “This was my grandpa’s place. Chase and I grew up here, fishing and skipping rocks in the lake out back. When Grandpa passed, he left the cabin to Mom and Dad. I haven’t been here much lately, but Chase still uses it. In fact, this is where he and Gabby got married a few months ago.”
I’m already grinning, picturing a young Colton and Chase running through the tall grass I saw and jumping into the lake. “That must have been nice,” I tell him.
“But I don’t want to talk about that now,” he says, taking me in his arms and placing his lips against my forehead.
“No? What would you like to talk about?”
His eyes darken as a grin spreads across his face. “We have twenty-one hours together, all by ourselves, so I’m thinking there shouldn’t be much talking. At all.” He punctuates his statement with a little waggle of his eyebrows.
“I still can’t believe you talked your brother into watching Milo. On New Year’s Eve, no less.”
Colton blows out a huge puff of air. “Are you kidding? There was no talking him into anything. He actually called me and offered.”
“Really?”
He nods. “Yep. He was planning a pizza and Rocky movie party tonight.”
My eyebrows shoot skyward. “Really?”
He shrugs. “Well, that’s until Gabs gets a hold of the remote. Come on, let’s take a tour.”
Together, he shows me the open concept great room and kitchen combo. There are plenty of windows, and even though it’s dark out, I can picture the spectacular view of the lake. Down a short hallway to the right are three doors. The first one is a small laundry room with a stacked washer and dryer and a large utility sink. The second door is a bathroom with a four-foot shower unit and small vanity. It’s decorated with grizzly bears, and I can picture Colton’s mom searching for the perfect décor. The third door is a bedroom. It has a queen-sized bed in the middle of the room with light green bedding. There’s an older dresser and a pair of nightstands, and even a rocking chair by the window.