“You go first,” I whispered. “Please.” I knew being the gentleman he was that he would try and argue that I should go first, but mypleasemust have let him know I needed a moment before it was my turn.
When he pulled the frame from the sack with red tissue paper, tears formed in his deep brown eyes. I noticed he had pics of the kids up and while they had photos of their mom in their room, he didn’t leave a photo of her in any other part of the house. I’d taken one from the kid’s bedroom of Isabelle and had it set in a rustic frame that read, “In Loving Memory. You Will Never Be Forgotten.”
“That should be out, always,” I said softly.
He leaned forward on his knees and kissed me gently on the lips, then sat back in place. “You’re a remarkable woman, Gemma.”
Nodding to the bag, I said, “There’s one more thing in there.”
Bodie peeked inside and pulled out a small box. When he flipped the top open, a huge smile lit up his face. “This is amazing,” he said, pulling out the Men’s Black Alloy Bracelet Photo Watch. He’d mentioned his watch broke and so I’d been looking online and saw this one.
The watch was a cool design and on the front, it had a picture of him, Peyton, and Piper behind the hands that told time. When he flipped it over he saw it had both the girls’ names and their birth date engraved on the back.
Setting the watch to the side, Bodie grabbed my face in both hands and pulled me closer to him, then covered my mouth with his. He drew out the kiss until we were both breathless and then let me go.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m one lucky man.” He picked back up the watch and ran a finger over the picture frame. “Thank you, love. These gifts are amazing.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, pleased that he liked them.
“Now it’s your turn.”
Bodie picked up a small, perfectly wrapped box from the bedside table and placed it in my hands that were sitting on my lap. Looking down at the gift, I smiled, wondering if he had it professionally wrapped or had one of our friends help him.
“I wrapped it myself, thank you very much.”
My head snapped up in shock that he knew exactly what I’d been thinking. He laughed at my surprised expression.
“Open it,” he said softly.
Nervous energy swam through my body. I wasn’t sure why but it was a feeling I had that something was going to change between us when I looked in the box. Pulling the ribbon, I worked it off and then slowly took off the wrapping paper. Bodie didn’t rush me, he just watched patiently.
When I pulled off the lid, I gasped at the beautiful locket that lay in a pile of tissue paper. The man was too much. The day I picked out the girl’s lockets when we were shopping, I’d looked at this locket myself with longing, thinking one day I’d get one too. And when I did I’d—
The rest of that thought died as I flipped the locket open and in it was a picture of my parents. My favorite photo of them and the very one that I would have put in the necklace myself. A small gasp left my throat and I looked up at Bodie with eyes welling up with big fat tears.
“I don’t know if we are supposed to make each other cry on Christmas,” I told him, letting out a small chuckle as I tried my hardest to get my emotions in check.
“We aren’t done yet.” He looked back at the box. “Check under the tissue.”
What I found left me puzzled and I stared at the object as if it was foreign to me. Sure I knew what a key looked like but I didn’t know why there was one in the box. I slipped my finger through the key ring loop and held it up, the key dangling in the air to study it.
Still confused, I looked back down in the box and saw a folded piece of paper. I picked it up and unfolded it to see the most beautiful home. On the bottom was an address and I realized it was on the river right down the road from Braxton and Jurnee’s place.
My gaze swung back to Bodie.
“I bought a house and I can’t imagine you not sharing it with us. You have been in my bed and my arms for weeks and that’s where you belong.” He swallowed and I could see he was nervous. “If you want to use that key to come and go when you want, then that’s what it’s for. But if you want to make a home with us, then use it to do that.”
My heart thumped erratically and happiness flowed from every pore in my body.
“If it’s all too fast I will understand. I know some people might think so, but I only know what I am feeling.”
I didn’t give a crap what anyone thought. I knew what I wanted.
After setting the stuff back in the box, I laid it next to me on the bed and was quickly moving. I crawled into Bodie’s lap, facing him, and wrapped my legs around his waist. I almost had forgotten what I was going to say as soon as our bodies came in contact with one another. I knew I needed to get it out quickly because my skin was on fire already.
“I want to make a home with you,” I whispered, our faces mere inches apart.
My arms circled his neck as the biggest smile split his face.
