Page 38 of Daddy Christmas

"So, what now?" I asked, tracing patterns on his chest with my fingertips.

"Now?" he echoed. "Now, we figure out what kind of life we want to build together."

A smile crept onto my face. "A life together?"

Nicholas's green eyes held mine, filled with a tenderness I'd never seen before. "If that's what you want, pet."

My heart skipped a beat. "I do," I breathed. "I want that, Nicholas. More than anything."

He smiled, and it was like the dawn of a new day. "Then that's what we'll have."

As he lowered his lips to mine, sealing our future with a kiss, I knew that whatever life had in store for us, we'd face it together. And for the first time in my life, I wasn't afraid.

“I want to be Mrs. Claus.”

He smiled, kissed me, held me tight.

I deserved it. All of it.

I could feel it. New memories, good memories, taking away the pain of the past.