When our food arrives, he helps Mia cut her burger into tiny bites, and she leans into him like she has known him her whole life. Maybe she has, not in years, but in the way kids just understand who is safe. Who loves them.
I watch them, the way Ethan wipes ketchup off her cheek, the way she giggles when he steals one of her fries, the way he looks at her like she is a miracle he gets to keep witnessing. And I feel it again, that fierce, bone-deep certainty that this man is one in a million.
Ethan glances up and catches me staring. He does not tease, does not look away. Instead, he reaches across the table, palm up. An invitation.
I slide my hand into his, and he brings it to his lips, brushing a kiss across my knuckles. Gentle. Sure. Mine.
My throat tightens.
Every day, I think I cannot possibly love him more.
And every day, he proves me wrong.
Later that evening, I am tucking Mia’s letter to Santa carefully into my purse when Ethan walks in. Everyone is here, Cas, Penny, Grace, Caleb, Dex, Jude, Jace. The whole Hawthorne clan packed into Lily and Josh’s living room.
“My babies all in one room,” Lily beams.
“We are all grown, Mama,” Jace laughs.
“She was talking about you, you big baby,” Dex shoots back.
Josh claps his hands.“All right, let us load up. We will meet in front of Summer’s shop for hot cocoa and marshmallows before the carnival.”
We pile into trucks. The air outside is crisp and smells like pine and chimney smoke. The streets are lined with twinkling lights, the whole town glowing with Christmas.
When we reach my shop, I hurry to unlock the door, flip the lights, and everyone gasps.
Yesterday, after closing, I pushed all the small tables together into one long farmhouse-style row. I draped it with red and white gingham runners, then strung warm Christmas lights in looping patterns above them. Ribbon-tied jars of marshmallows and candy canes line the center. Sugar and vanilla swirl through the air as the speakers hum to life with old Christmas classics.
It feels like magic.
Like belonging.
Like home.
“Summer, sweetheart,” Lily breathes, stepping closer.“You outdid yourself.”
“This is nothing compared to the help and love your family has shown me,” I whisper.
Lily shakes her head and cups my cheek with a gentle hand.“What are you talking about your family? You are part of this family now. Family takes care of family.”
I blink hard, throat tightening.
Josh joins her.“You thought we only adopted Mia? Sugar, you have been one of ours since the day you stepped into our home. Even before you started dating my son.” He grins.“I could not wish for a better woman for him.”
Warm arms slide around my waist from behind, grounding me. Ethan presses a kiss to my cheek, and my eyes sting.
“Who wants hot chocolate?” I call out, my voice wobbling.
The whole family cheers.
We scatter around the long table, wrapped in golden light. Dex flicks marshmallows at Jace, who pretends to be outraged but eats every single one. Penny helps Mia build a whippedcream mountain on her cocoa, while Cas sneaks extra chocolate chips into Ethan’s cup. Grace and Lily laugh so hard at Caleb’s story about Jude trying to untangle Christmas lights that Jude actually blushes.
Mia dances between everyone, bright, safe, adored.
And I stand there, hands warm around my mug, heart stretched so full it hurts, watching a life I never thought I would have.
A life Kevin could take away with one stamped document.
