“I know, thats why we made them.” I hurried towards the bowl and slapped his hand away.
“Wash your hands first, you’re filthy!”
He mocked me but went to the sink. Coming back, he showed me his hands like a little boy before sticking a finger in the batter.
“I love you,” he said as he finished his taste.
“When did you know you were in love?” Jimmy asked suddenly. We both turned to look at her. Her blue eyes were big and curious.
“My dad said he knew he loved my mom when he saw her sing for the first time,” Dallas told us.
“Uncle Adrian said he loved Uncle Chase when he arrested him. He was going to put him in jail, but Uncle Adrian was too cute.”
My mouth fell open. I can’t believe he told them that. Well, I could, but still.
“So,” Jimmy put her hand on her hip and looked at me expectantly. “When did you fall in love?”
“Why are you so curious all of a sudden?” Mark asked and then furrowed his brow in thought. “I knew I loved your Aunt Renee when she told me she loved my family. I told her I couldn’t love someone who didn’t love Uncle Derek, Uncle Adrian, and your mom. When she loved them, I loved her.”
“My mom likes you too. She told me so,” Jimmy said to me. The timer for the cookies went off and I hurried to take them out.
“While we wait for them to cool why don’t we go decorate the tree?” I suggested.
“Can we listen to Christmas music?” Jimmy and Dallas leapt off the chairs they had been standing on. Mark ruffled Jimmy’s hair and followed them out.
“We sure can. Now, who’s gonna help me with the tinsel?”
After they left in the evening, I pulled out everything to start wrapping presents. Beau and Bonnie kept getting in the way and wanting to play; it was beginning to get frustrating.
“Mark, can you help?”
He came in and saw me tangled up in ribbons and tape while the dogs rolled around on the wrapping paper. He started laughing and called the dogs.
“Beau, Bonnie, get outta here!” They jumped up and quickly followed him up the stairs and into the bedroom.After we wrapped the last gift and had gotten everything put away, we went upstairs and wrapped ourselves in a blanket with the dogs at our feet. With a bowl of popcorn in between us, we settled in for a movie.
“You know, this could be the last Christmas where it’s just the two of us.” He said. I looked up at him.
“It could be. Remember we’re not going to stress about it right now?”
He rolled his eyes.
“So what? We can think about it a little bit. I can’t wait. This time next year we could have a little guy in between us.”
“Or girl,” I added. He smirked.
“Or girl.”
I snuggled in closer.
“We just need to cherish these moments while we’re here. Once we have a baby, things are going to change. It’s not going to be just me and you anymore.”
“That’s a good thing though,” he said, kissing my hair.
“I know. I just know I’ll also miss it being just the two of us too.”
“This is kind of a rare moment, if you think about it. Derek isn’t here,” he chuckled. I moved my head to look up at him.
“He’s been on the go ever since they took his wheelchair. It’s been nice.”
