Page 93 of His Secret Wish

Claudia nodded and handed over the paper. Four crayon people, two adults and two kids, stood in front of a big Christmas tree. Isabella’s hand trembled. Owen’s arms tightened on her waist.

She turned the picture around so Claudia could see it. “Who’s this?” Her voice was wobbly, a little watery. She pointed to the first little girl.

“That’s me.” Claudia jabbed her thumb into her chest.

Isabella pointed to the next little girl. “And this one?”

“That’s Rissa.” Claudia pointed at her sister, who was scribbling in one of her coloring books. She hadn’t quite grasped the keeping it between the lines concept yet.

Isabella swallowed hard, a lump the size of one of the Christmas ornaments burning her throat. “And this one?” She pointed at the one she thought might be a woman.

Claudia bounced up and down on her toes. “That’s you. That’s the mommy.”

Tears burned the back of Isabella’s eyes, but she blinked hard because crying would only confuse the little sweetheart. Owen’s grip on her waist tightened further. She swore she could feel his heart beating against her back. She cleared her throat. “And this one?” Her voice was cracked. She pointed to the last person.

Claudia sighed, clearly done with the game. “That’s the daddy. The Owen daddy.” Finished with the conversation, she spun and bounded back to the table.

Isabella spun in his arms, staring up at him. There was a glassiness in his gaze, along with a great deal of amazement. Not to mention love. “Did that just happen?” He kept his voice low, but awe coated the words.

She nodded, the lump in her throat making it hard to talk. She blew out a breath, a tear rolling down her cheek. “It definitely did, daddy.”

The grin that spread across his face was the kind that could easily be seen from the moon. “So, when’s dinner going to be ready, mommy?”

The warmth that washed through her at the word made her feel giddy. She pushed up onto her toes to kiss him again. He tightened his hold on her, pulling her tighter against him. His tongue swept against the seam of her lips, and she opened for him.

A crash sounded from the living room, followed by a very loud curse word.

Owen pulled away from the kiss and balanced his forehead against hers. “I’d better go and see what happened.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” She pressed her lips to his in another quick kiss and then stepped away.

He reached around and gave her butt cheek a squeeze. She squealed and jumped, making Claudia and Marissa look in their direction. When they didn’t see anything exciting, they went back to their coloring.

Isabella swung the dish towel she had on her shoulder at him. He dodged the swing with a laugh. “Go, go,” she said, making a shooing motion. “Make sure my tree is still standing. And that your brother hasn’t left. I promised him dinner.”

He gave her a cocky look, one that promised retribution later that night. Her skin tingled with anticipation. She couldn’t wait.

Another loud swear word came from the direction of the living room.

“I’d better go see.” Owen pointed in that direction and then spun and disappeared down the hallway.

She sighed, contentment wrapping around her. Like one of Yaya’s handmade ponchos. She glanced at the ceiling. “Thank you, Yaya, for showing me the way. I miss you.” Her cheek tingled, and she lifted her hand to it. Her bisabuela was here with her, she knew it in her heart.

Glancing over at the girls, she smiled. Who would have thought this was where she would end up when she came here to the ranch to ask Owen a favor? Definitely not her.

She walked over to the fridge and hung Claudia’s drawing on the front of it with a magnet. Their first family portrait. And it was more beautiful than she’d ever imagined.

Another crash and a more cursing sounded from the living room. She winced. Owen was going to be so annoyed when this was all done. But that was okay, because she’d make sure to make it up to him, as many times as he wanted.

She pulled the garlic bread out of the oven and sliced it, placing the pieces in a towel lined basket. “Okay, girls, time to clean up. Dinner’s almost ready.”

They both hurried to put their crayons away, and then grabbed their coloring books and raced down the hallway to the shelf that had been allotted to them for their craft supplies.

Isabella set the table, and placed the bread and a big bowl of chili in the center. The girls hadn’t come back, so she wandered into the living room to see where they’d disappeared to.

The tree was lit, the colored lights sparkling. Owen and the girls stood in front of it. Their backs were to Isabella, but she was almost sure the girls were staring in awe at the massive Christmas tree. Marissa tugged on Owen’s pant leg, and he reached down and hauled her into his arms, balancing her on his hip. He placed his free hand on Claudia’s shoulder. It was so stinking sweet, she thought she might cry again.

“Here, let me get a picture of you guys.” Declan bumped his shoulder against hers, nudging her forward.

She tossed him a smile and then walked over to her brand new family. Owen and Claudia turned around to face her. Claudia’s face was a mixture of wonder and excitement. Isabella picked her up and balanced her on the opposite hip of where Mason held Marissa. She moved in next to him. His arm came around her, pulling her against his side.

“Say cheese.” Declan held up his phone.

“Cheeze.” Marissa shouted the word, her sweet little face breaking into a smile.

Owen and Isabella laughed. He pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Marissa’s head.

“Okay, everyone get ready.” Declan, who’d also chuckled at Marissa’s outburst, held the camera up again. “One, two, three.”

The flash flashed, temporarily blinding in its intensity. Isabella blinked, trying to chase the white spots out of her gaze. Declan came over, handing her the phone so she could look at the photo.

The four of them stood in front of the tree, everyone smiling, everyone looking happy. Her gaze roamed over the photo, memorizing every pixel. Owen leaned over and pressed a kiss to her temple.

She smiled up at him. “Our family.” Her bottom lip quivered, her eyes filling with tears again. But this time, they were happy tears, and after so much sadness, she welcomed the change.

“Our family,” he said, his voice ragged around the edges.

Their second family portrait. And this one was definitely going on the fridge.