His Texas Christmas Bride

As Isabel herded the others into the dining room or at least within earshot, Nick glanced around the table.

Working in the emergency room, he was used to dealing with blood and guts and some of the strangest and typically scary things a layperson could imagine. Nothing much fazed him.

Except for the Flannigans.

He found the lot of them terrifying.

This was some serious family togetherness. They were a unit. A clan. They were in each other’s business, and the elders definitely ran the show, dictating when everyone should jump and exactly how high.

Comparatively, Nick was a lone wolf. He preferred to ride a motorcycle, and no one gave him the hairy eyeball. If he wanted a tattoo, he didn’t need to ask permission. If he chose to, he could eat a plateful of candy corn for his Thanksgiving dinner. Although, he had to admit that the dinner was delicious. It was perfect. Like a Norman Rockwell scene or a cover of the Saturday Evening Post.

Now it was suddenly crystal clear why Becca had hesitated to tell her family about the pregnancy. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to announce this rather personal piece of news to the family.

“Is everyone here?” Isabel hollered. “Nick and Becca have an announcement for the entire family.”

“You’re getting married, aren’t you?” Don said. “I knew it. I called it.”

“No, Uncle Don,” Becca said. “We’re going to have a baby. Twins, actually.”

* * *

Virtual crickets chirped in the dining room.

Everyone had been stunned.

Stunned silent.

Becca couldn’t remember this ever happening. Not even when Rosanna had gotten pregnant. Of course, Becca had been eleven years old at the time and she couldn’t recall her parents making such a cavalier announcement. But she figured everyone would know sooner or later. At least this way they seemed supportive.

Becca tried to avoid looking at Rosanna, but guilt must’ve made her glance over. Her sister was sitting there with a smug smirk on her face. Becca was holding her breath, hoping against hope that Rosanna would not bring up running into her and Nick in the baby department.

Aunt Millie was the first to speak. “So this means you’re getting married, right?”

Becca could feel Nick withdrawing under all the pressure.

“Actually, we have no plans for that, right now.”

It surprised Becca how much it hurt to say those words, more than she’d expected. And she had to admit that she was disappointed when Nick didn’t speak up and say something that vaguely hinted that marriage wasn’t out of the question.

Just because she was falling in love with him didn’t mean the feeling was mutual. And the only thing worse than not being married to the father of your child was to be married to a man who didn’t love you.

One person could not bring all the love to a marriage. She’d learned that through her parents.

“We’re working on that,” Isabel said without a trace of teasing in her tone. “We’ll have them walking down the aisle before next Thanksgiving. Just watch.”

Obviously, she wasn’t joking. Becca wanted to melt into a puddle and disappear through the fine cracks in the mahogany floorboards.

Suddenly, Nick stood. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said to no one in particular. “Thank you for letting me share your Thanksgiving, but I really should be going.”

“You haven’t had your pie yet,” said Aunt Millie.

Nick smiled at her, but Becca could see the weariness in his eyes and around the corners of his mouth. “Everything was so delicious, I’m stuffed. I couldn’t eat another bite, but thank you.”

Meeting the entire family like this, under these circumstances, had been a lot to swallow. She didn’t blame him for wanting to leave.

“Get yourself a piece to take home with you,” Aunt Mille said. “Your bride-to-be made all those pies. You don’t want to miss out.”

In the time that it took Nick to say his thank-yous and good-nights, someone had wrapped up an entire pie, and Aunt Millie was thrusting it at him. Resigned, he graciously accepted it.

Becca walked with him outside to his car. The temperatures felt as if they’d dipped down below the freezing mark. The weathercasters had warned they would experience the first freezing temperatures of the season tonight. So the chill in the air wasn’t solely emanating from Nick.

“That must’ve been overwhelming for you,” she said.

“Just a little bit.” He unlocked the car and placed the pie in the backseat.