Mrs. Hart sets her mug down. "I"m really proud of you for everything you did, honey." She reaches over and squeezes Sabine's hand while I dig into my dinner.
"She was incredible, wasn't she?" I chime in, grinning with my mouth full of delicious food.
"Stop," Sabine says with a smile, because she hates it when I tell people how amazing she is, but it's true. And I couldn’t possibly love her more.
We eat, talk about lighter things—Mrs. Hart's garden back home, the humid Savannah summers we're still adjusting to, the stray cat that keeps visiting our porch. And Sabine refills ourcocoa and passes out cookies. Chocolate chip with pecans, my favorite.
After dessert, her mother excuses herself to the bathroom down the hall and the moment the door clicks shut, Sabine is out of her chair and in my lap, arms around my neck. She hugs me tight, face buried against my shoulder.
"Thank you," she whispers. "For inviting her and making this Christmas special."
I wrap my arms around her waist, breathing her in. She smells like the yummy food she's been baking all day. "She's family."
She pulls back just enough to kiss me a deep, grateful kiss that still sets my blood on fire after a year together. Her hands frame my face, thumbs brushing my jaw.
"I can't believe you'd go through all that trouble," she says against my lips. "You risked everything for me."
I hold her closer. "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. I mean that."
Her eyes shine in the low light, and she kisses me again, slower this time. "I love you."
"Love you too."
Sabine leans against me, head on my shoulder.
"Best Christmas yet," she says, and I have to agree.
One year later, I never thought I'd see the day, but we're here in each other's arms living life together. No one would ever suspect I used to be a Mafia hitman, and Sabine has moved on from her army life, though she teaches self-defense classes at our localYMCA. It's a great way to help women not end up in situations like the one she went through.
We keep in touch with Hannah and Everett, who are now dating happily, and that makes me a happy man knowing "Ham-dog" isn't gonna come after my woman.
"You know what?" I say, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"Mmm?" she hums happily, not bothering to move even though I hear the water running in the bathroom indicating her mom is heading back this way soon.
"I want a family, Bean." I use the nickname I've adopted and smile as I think about the patter of little feet in this house in coming years. "And I want it soon… Let's have a baby."
"Are you serious?" she asks me, sitting up to look me in the eye.
"Yeah… I'm dead serious… Let's have a family. Let's start now. I want to fill this house up."
Before Sabine can respond, I hear her mother squealing with glee. She's overheard what I'm asking Sabine and is clearly delighted by it.
All Sabine can do is smile and let her eyes fill up with emotion. This really is the best Christmas ever, but next year, if we're lucky, our family will be larger by one, and then it'll be the best Christmas.
I have a feeling it only gets better from here.
