Page 15 of A Christmas for Miracle

It’s our first Christmas together and Miracle and Gavin are tearing into their Christmas presents happily, shredding them and tossing the shiny paper left and right. Usually it would drive me crazy but it is a holiday so I let it slide.

Jess hands me a small, wrapped box and her smile means the world to me. The woman who couldn’t handle children and was afraid to get a hug is now my wife and the most confident, loving woman I’ve ever met.

“What’s this? I thought we weren’t doing presents?” I ask her.

“Are you telling me that you didn’t get me that little bracelet-sized box that I see peeking out from under the tree?” she laughs.

“Busted!” Gavin cries.

“Besides, this is just a little something that we’ve been wanting for awhile.”

“What is it?” I eye her skeptically, noticing the way her bright blue eyes won’t meet mine and her hands are fidgeting with her long, blond curls.

“Open it and you’ll find out,” she sasses me.

I eye the box and then carefully open the packaging, laughing when she rolls her eyes. “Don’t take all day. We’ve still got to go to Leslie’s for lunch today.”

“Fine. I tug at the wrapping paper and rip it off the box like I’m ripping a band-aid off only to find that it’s just a plain box. I open the lid and then even though I love the family I have, it feels like my heart grows two sizes bigger.

The big plus sign on the stick is the only evidence I need to know that I’ve just gotten the best surprise ever.

“You’re pregnant?” I whisper, emotion clogging my throat so bad it feels like it’s pushing against my nose, blinding me.

“I am. About eight weeks now. I didn’t find out until last week and I decided that this was the perfect way to tell you. Are you happy?”

“I’m so dang happy that it feels like I’m a balloon about to pop. We’re gonna have a baby!” I shout and pick my wife up, twirling her around, laughing.

“Put me down, crazy man!”

I drop her to the ground and put my hands on her stomach. “I didn’t make you sick did I? I can’t hurt the baby, right?”

She rolls her baby blues and smiles. “You’re a firefighter. You know the answer to that!”

“I know. I-I just want to make sure that everything is good.”

“Everything is so good. Good enough for two.”

Her words don’t even hit me for a minute but that saucy smile of hers does. “Wait, what?”

“We’re having twins.”

“Holy cow! Twins.” Both of the kids come dancing over and I hug my little family that’s about to get a lot bigger to my chest, grinning happily at Jess. I lean over and kiss her lips after I throw Gavin up in the air.

“We’re celebrating later. Just the two of us.”

“Merry Christmas to me!” she says and I throw back my head laughing.

“This has to be the best Christmas ever!” I laugh and hug them all. My family. I wasn’t sure I’d ever find her and had almost given up hope but thank heaven I didn’t. I’m the luckiest man on the planet and I come home every day happier than the last.

The love of a good woman and a great family to raise? That’s the dream. The one we all chase.

The one I found in my wife’s arms.