Page 116 of Blissful Devotion

It’s hard to keep things from her. None of us are good with secrets, and with so many of us, the odds of someone spilling it are very high.

None of us answer, and she purses her lips, watching a large truck back down the drive. They park and pull open the back door, revealing an ungodly amount of Christmas decorations and two other trucks already there.

Kat’s face lights up, and her eyes go wide.

We unpack from the car, and Oliver takes Nico up to the nursery. He’s the only one who can successfully transfer him from his car seat to the crib.

“The tree will be here soon, but while it’s getting set up, why don’t you decide on what you want to put up out here?” Father tells Kat, pressing a hand to the small of her back to lead her to one of the trucks.

Addy quickly follows them while Vince and Alex head inside to bring down the inside decorations from the attic.

We’d hired a company to set everything up and take it down after the holiday, knowing damn well she would enjoy the display, and judging by her wide eyes, we were right.

They offered so many different styles: classic, candy land, bells… so much more that we couldn’t possibly pick. Father didn’t want to ruin the surprise, though, so in the end, he had us pick three for her to choose from.

They decided on candy land, with a heavy request from Addison that I’m sure was a big factor.

For the next two hours, we’re all in and out; the tree is delivered and set up, and the house is transformed into candyland on the outside and a winter wonderland on the inside.

Christmas music plays throughout the house, smiles on every face as we decorate, nibbling on cookies and sipping hot cocoa. Nothing escapes the Christmas makeover; tinsel, lights, and mistletoe cover every surface, fake snow, glitter, and more lights.

Through it all, Kat’s laughter rings through the house, filling each of our hearts and soothing some of the scars that losing her left on us.

With Nico on her hip and Addy running around in her shadow, I watch as they twirl and smile, and I know this is my future, the only thing I’ll ever need.

It’s not until a knock sounds at the door that I even realize how late it’s gotten.

I open the door to find the decoration company's manager.

“We’ll be back in the morning with another truck to finish,” he tells me with a nod, and I smile and offer him my hand. I appreciate the work he and his crew put in today and had a chance to talk with a few of them when Kat brought them cookies and cocoa. They seem like good people and a good company, one I have no doubt we will be using yearly now.

“See you then,” I tell him, closing the door as he turns to leave.

We eat dinner with Addison still belting Christmas music and telling us all the ways this is the best Christmas ever.

“We didn’t even see the tree lighting or get presents yet,” Kat says with a chuckle, wiping the corner of her mouth affectionately as she smiles down at her.

“I don’t know, I think I’m with Addy. This Christmas is definitely the best one so far,” I say and get a chorus of agreement from the others.

I stand, scooping Nico out of her arms now that she’s finished feeding him so that she can eat. But not before I press a quick kiss to her cheek.

“I already have everything I want.”

Her lips pull up in a shy smile that I love before she darts her eyes down to her plate, but not before I see her cheeks heat.

We go down to Rockefeller Center to see the tree-lighting ceremony, but we don’t stay for anything extra. We wanted to take Kat since she’d never been and it was Nico’s first Christmas, but we’d be back later to skate and all the other stuff.

Which is just as well, because it was freezing, the wind trying to cut through us.

The kids were all bundled up, thanks to Kat, but she was shivering after a few minutes even with her hat and gloves. She’s so small and already runs cold, so it wasn’t surprising.

Hopefully, the weather will be a little less intense the night we go to skate and propose; I’d like for that to be the perfect night for her.

“Hey.” Kat’s voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I blink away the memories my mind brought up at the thought of Kat and that damn tree.

I swear I’d been hard the whole time we stood and watched. She’d pressed in close, her back to my front for warmth, but there’s no way she’d missed what she does to me.

“You okay?” she asks, cocking her head to the side, eyes full of concern, and it takes me a second to realize why.