Chapter 112

Liam’s POV

Aria loved Christmas. She didn’t always show it, sometimes complaining about the crowds and the traffic and the hassle of fixing all the broken lights on the string. But after the work is done, when the lights are twinkling and the cookies are baked, when the gifts are wrapped under the tree, that was when you could catch her contented expression.

She also loved to give. So it wasn’t shocking for me when, on the last day of work before Christmas break, everyone in the office all seemed to be carrying around the same colorful red and green pen with a tiny red ball ornament on top, complete with a bow.

Everyone but me.

“Where’d you get that?” I asked my assistant as she was looking over the sparkly pen, smiling. I already had a pretty good suspicion, but I wanted it confirmed before I said or did anything.

“Aria gave them out to everyone,” she replied.

Everyone but me.

I returned to work, focusing until lunch break. Then, I sauntered down to Aria’s office, hoping I could catch her before she ventured down to the track as she usually did in the afternoons.

Sitting on her desk was a box of those same ugly pens. Aria leaned over her desk, counting them.

I hunched my shoulder against the doorframe for a long moment, watching her. I didn’t want to interrupt her count when she was concentrating so fiercely. When she seemed to be finished, I spoke up.

“Did you bring one for me?”

She rolled her eyes at me, not surprised by my sudden words. She must have clocked me the moment I darkened her doorway.

“These are for my co-workers,” she said.

“Am I not a co-worker?” I replied.

“You are my boss.”

“Ah. So my gift is more thoughtful.”

She rolled her eyes a second time. “You don’t need a pen. You have a real gift, ready and waiting at home.”

“Ah.”

“You just have to wait until later.”

I liked the sound of that, in every context. I was sure she meant it innocently though. Just as well. Any gift she had picked out for me was a gift I would appreciate, knowing she had bought it with me in mind.

“Now, get out of here, Liam. You are making it difficult to concentrate.”

I grinned, liking the sound of that too. I wondered why I was distracting, as I wasn’t saying much and only standing here. I could only come up with things that inflated my ego: I was too handsome. She liked me too much.

Not wanting to hear a different reason, I took my victories where I could get them and saw myself out of her office. I practically skipped on the way back to mine.

I couldn’t wait until Christmas.

Aria’s POV

On Christmas Eve, Liam, the kids, and I decided to exchange the gifts we had purchased for each other. This way, our thoughtful family gifts wouldn’t be overshadowed by anything Santa might bring.

So, with Christmas music blaring in the background, we exchanged our gifts and watched each other open them.

The kids went first. To be fair, they played rock, paper, scissors to decide who would be the first among them. William chose rock and Joe paper, so Joe went first.

He loved his science kit and baseball glove.

William went next. His book on random facts was a hit, as well as a new batch of small toy cars.

“You go next,” Liam said to me, just as I said to him, “Your turn.”

“Should we play rock, paper, scissors?” I asked, mostly kidding. But then Liam held up his hand. Of course, he would actually want to.

“If I win, you have to open your gifts next,” Liam said.

“Fine,” I said, “And if I win, you have to open yours.”

“Agreed,” Liam said.

We shook our fists three times, then moved our fingers.

Liam picked scissors. But I had anticipated that and selected rock.

I won the game. This meant that Liam had to open his gifts next.

“Fine, fine. Fair is fair.”

The kids got Liam a nice lapel pin and a matching pair of cufflinks, all in the shape of a racecar. He opened my present last: a leather satchel bag with his old car number embossed onto the side.

He smiled at all the gifts, though the bag gave him a faraway look, like he was in a memory for a while. He traced his fingers over the numbers.

“Do you like it?” I asked, calling him back to this present moment.

He blinked and returned. “Yes,” he said. “I just hadn’t seen this number like this in a while.”

I’d made sure that the numbers type face matched that of what had been painted on the side of his car. It had been meticulous, comparing font after font, looking for the right one. I finally managed to find it, with the help of an internet forum specializing in that sort of thing.

“This is a very thoughtful gift. Thank you, Aria.” He turned his attention to the kids. “And I can’t wait to wear this lapel pin and cuffs, guys. What a great Christmas. It might be the best one yet.”

“It’s your turn, Mom!” Joe announced.

I opened Joe’s gift first, a beautiful snow globe with a perfect little snow family inside. Immediately it reminded me of Liam and his two sons.

“This one’s me,” Joe said, pointing.

William’s gift came next, a beautiful hand-crafted plush bear. I hugged it at once. It was so soft!

“It reminded me of your hugs,” William said. I pulled him into one then, to test the theory. “See?” he said, laughing.

Liam’s gift was last. It was larger than the rest in a box that looked like it fit a fancy gown or outfit. What could have been in here?

Untying the bow, I removed the ribbon and then lifted the top of the box. Then I folded back the tissue paper and gasped.

Inside the box was a beautiful white wedding dress, in exactly my size.

“I know you always wanted a proper wedding,” Liam said. “I regret that I couldn’t give that to you. I just wanted you to have this, as a gesture, that… well… Maybe it’s not too late.”

It was a very sweet-hearted gesture, and at once I felt some of the chill I had felt toward him since talking with Sophia thaw away. Lifting the wedding dress, I cradled it against my chest.

It wasn’t just a wedding dress. It was acknowledgement over past regrets and a hint of promise that those mistakes of the past could be fixed.

We didn’t have a wedding, but we could this time.

That promise warmed me from the inside out. Liam really did know me better than I thought he did.

I hadn’t mentioned that regret in years, yet he must have listened and held onto it for years, if he wanted to try to correct it now.

“Liam…” I began, not sure what to say. Just as I looked over at him, I saw Joe standing over me, holding the mistletoe.

“Now’s your chance, Dad!” he said excitedly.