Page 65 of Falling for the Unexpected

Chapter 16

Kyle

Things with Simone continued to be amazing. We had come out as a couple a week ago and had spent almost every night together since then, either at her apartment or my condo.

I decided that this afternoon, we were going to go out and find a Christmas tree for her apartment. I’d had a late client meeting last night so we had spent the night apart. I realized I no longer slept well if she wasn’t in my arms.

I was considering asking her to move in with me even though we hadn’t been together for that long. I knew it was a big step for both of us. I had never had a relationship where I had considered living together as an option. Simone had been married before, and still had scars that ran deep from that relationship. This wasn’t a decision she would make lightly.

And it didn’t just involve the two of us. She had to think about what was best for Stella as well. It would also be welcoming Brad back into my life. I had to accept the fact that while he may not have an interest in being a father right now… that could change. If it did, I would need to be prepared to deal with him.

All of those details didn’t dissuade my decision, and I knew we had a lot to talk about before taking that step. I loved Simone with my entire being and I loved Stella, too. There was nothing I wanted more than to have them with me every day. If things continued to move in the direction that they were, I was going to ask her after Christmas in hopes of starting the New Year together inourhome.

I drove over to her house to pick her and Stella up. I ran up to her door feeling the excitement of doing something that felt like a real family outing. I missed out on so much of this growing up and I was happy to share it with these two. I knocked on the door with a big, cheesy grin on my face.

“Hey, babe,” Simone greeted, after opening the door giving me a quick peck on the lips.

I walked into the apartment. “You ready to go?” I asked.

“We sure are!” She shut the door behind me. “Stella, Kyle’s here,” she called out, toward her daughter’s room.

“Ky!” Stella shouted, running toward me with her arms in the air and waiting for me to pick her up.

Never wanting to disappoint the little bundle of energy, I picked her up and spun her around a couple times. Her squeals of delight made me laugh.

“Are you ready to go, sweetheart?” I asked her.

“Yes!” she exclaimed, sounding just as excited as I was.

Making sure Simone grabbed everything she needed for our outing, I led the way downstairs to my car. It still amazed me how long it took to get going with a toddler in tow. Who knew someone so little required so much extra stuff?

Once we were in the car, I turned on some Christmas music to help get us in the spirit for the day’s activities. “I thought we could check out the tree lot down on Jefferson Street. Is that okay?” I asked.

Her eyes lit up. “I love that idea!” she exclaimed, grinning.

“You seem happy this morning,” I said, reaching across the center console to grab her hand. She immediately reciprocated and we continued to hold hands as I drove through the busy traffic.

“Iamhappy,” she said without hesitation. “I’ve never gone shopping for a Christmas tree before and I’m excited to this year, especially for Stella.”

It made me sad to think about the things she missed out on moving between foster homes for so long. In many ways, we had the same sort of baggage from our childhoods. I could only hope that we were helping each other heal from those times.

We arrived at the tree lot and started looking around for the perfect tree. According to Stella, they were all perfect. She pointed at every tree we passed and said, “This one.”

After walking down each aisle we finally settled on a six-foot Douglas fir. It took some work getting it strapped down on my car, but the joy on both my girls’ faces was well worth it. Once we were back at her apartment, I carried the tree upstairs while she followed behind with Stella.

It took some time to get the tree straight in the stand, but once we were happy with the placement, I ran down to my car to retrieve a surprise I had for Simone.

“What’s in the boxes?” she asked when I returned.

“I wasn’t sure if you had any ornaments for the tree so I brought over what I had. It’s not much, but I thought it would get us started.”

“Oh, that’s perfect!” she said, taking the smaller box off the other one I was holding. “I have a few decorations but not much. It’s really just some lights I want to put up later and a couple knick-knacks. All of that stuff’s out in the storage closet on the balcony so I’ll probably need your help getting them down.”

We spent the next hour placing ornaments on the tree and spacing out the ones that Stella kept putting in the one spot she could reach. At one point I took a step back to just observe the two of them. Something so simple as decorating a tree made my heart full.

We took a break from decorating to have some lunch and then Simone put Stella down for a nap. Deciding the lights could wait a bit longer, we engaged in a pretty heavy make-out session on the couch.

“I should buy you a tree everyday if this is the kind of thanks I get,” I said jokingly between kisses.