Worth the Risk (Carolina Rebels 5)

“Why do you keep smiling like that, Raelynn?” he finally asks, amusement coloring his tone.

I laugh and say, “You pushing the stroller.” He glances down, clearly not seeing why that would make me smile. “Here.” My fingers graze his hip as I push him aside. “I look mostly normal with it in front of me. I probably look too small for it, but whatever. My point is that when you push it,” I grab his hand and pull him back behind it, “the proportions don’t add up. You look too big for it.”

He laughs and shakes his head. “Let’s pick Jackson up. We have one more thing to do today.”

“What are we doing?”

“Picking out a Christmas tree.”

“A real one? Shouldn’t that be done without us?”

Elias gives me a look that shuts up the rest of my protests. “Yes, a real one, and no. You’ll be enjoying the tree, too. Don’t you think Jackson will enjoy it?”

Well, darn. He has me there. Jackson might have fun picking out a live tree. We leave the mall and pick up my little boy, who talks all about his day as Elias drives to a tree farm. I decide to carry Bree while we walk around and Jackson holds onto Elias’s hand. The wind bites into my skin and I double check that Bree is covered well enough.

But that causes me to lose the boys.

“Where is DaDa and Jackson, Bree?” I ask her. She rests her head on my shoulder with a yawn. She missed her afternoon nap with our shopping. I weave in and out of the trees until I hear Jackson’s voice.

“These are all so big. Our tree isn’t this big. It fits in a box.”

“Trees come in all different sizes, J-man. And some you can buy at the store in the box or here on the tree farm. Which one do you think we should get?”

“One as tall as you!”

Elias laughs. “Okay. We can do that.”

I peer around the tree to see him holding Jackson now. They examine the branches on one of the trees. Elias glances around, but doesn’t see me.

“Hey, Jackson,” Elias says. “Would you like to get your mom a present this year?”

What is he talking about? What is he doing?

“I’m her present,” Jackson automatically responds.

Elias smiles. “Yeah, I know. A good one, too. But if you could get her something as like a bonus present, would you want to do that?”

Jackson seems to think about this. His legs swing on either side of Elias’s body. “I could get her a present?”

“Yeah. I’d help you find it or make it. We could wrap it up and put it under the tree, so she’d have something to unwrap on Christmas morning, too.”

“Okay.”

Elias grins. “Okay. But it’s a surprise.” Jackson nods. “Let’s find us a tree then.”

Before they can step away, I come out of my hiding place and Elias glances over, his eyes softening a little when he sees Bree asleep in my arms.

“Hey, there you are.”

Here I am. And I have no idea how to feel about him helping Jackson find a present for me. Other than a warm fuzzy, gooey mess because that is seriously too sweet.

Jackson doesn’t know what to do with himself. He is absolutely thrilled about having a big, living tree. I hold both him and the lights, and we walk around the tree, laying the lights between the branches. He wants to help, like he does with his tree, and I don’t care how the tree looks, so I’m pretty much letting him do most of the work.

Raelynn and Bree sit on the couch. Raelynn claps Bree’s hands togethers and each time, she says, “DaDa. Let’s say it, Bree. DaDa.” Bree either giggles, mumbles some nonsense, or says, “Ja-Ja.” If Bree says DaDa anytime soon, it’ll be because Raelynn has been relentless.

“Momma, maybe she just likes me better,” Jackson tells her, causing me to laugh.

“Maybe you’re her best friend,” I say.