His Texas Christmas Bride

“Nothing in the world would make me happier than if you’d be my wife. You and the babies and I, we could be a family.”

He looked as if he was holding his breath as he untied the ribbon that held the ring.

As the cymbal monkey started up in her chest, she hadn’t realized that she’d been holding her breath, too.

“Yes!” she said breathlessly. “Yes, Nick, there’s nothing that I’d rather do than be your wife.”

As he slipped the traditional round diamond on her finger, it winked and glittered in the afternoon light streaming in through the large, leaded glass windows, and everyone at the tables around them broke into applause.

Epilogue

On Christmas Eve, Becca’s father walked her down the aisle of the Celebration Chapel. On her journey, she took a moment to look at everyone who had gathered for the happiest day of her life.

When her gaze landed on Nick, who was standing amid the red and white poinsettias that decorated the altar, smiling at her with so much love in his eyes, she knew without a doubt that she was the luckiest woman in the world.

And when the minister asked, “Who gives this woman in marriage?” her father said a resolute, “Her mother and I do.”

The words made Becca’s breath hitch.

Then her father lifted the blusher on her veil and planted a kiss on her cheek before placing her hand in Nick’s.

Her sister, Rosanna, was her maid of honor. She looked stunning in her close-fitting red velvet dress. She gently took Becca’s bouquet of red roses, while Kate, who was her bridesmaid, straightened the train of Becca’s dress so that it lay perfectly, showing off the traditional line of the silk-and-lace ball-gown-style dress.

Since they’d planned the wedding in short order, Becca had allowed Rosanna and Kate to choose their own dresses. The only mandates Becca gave were the dresses had to complement each other, and they had to be in the same color family as the ruby necklace that Nick had given her. Becca was wearing it as her something new.

The wedding dress was her something old. It was her mother’s. A seamstress had worked her magic to alter the dress to accommodate Becca’s growing baby bump, and even if Becca had had years to plan and have a dress custom made, it would’ve been exactly like the shimmering lace-and-silk ball gown her mother had worn when she’d married Becca’s father.

Isabel had a lot of quirks, but she also had impeccable, timeless taste.

Kate had lent her a pair of diamond earrings that were the perfect understated complement to the more ornate ruby necklace. And her something blue? It was her garter, hidden beneath the yards and yards of material that made up her voluminous skirt.

Nick’s father was his best man. He’d been able to get additional time off from work, and he stood next to Nick looking handsome in a traditional black tux. Liam served as a groomsman.

Becca heard a sniffle in the front row and turned to see her mother brushing away a tear. Isabel had been remarkably cooperative over the past two weeks as they’d planned the wedding in warp speed. Her mother mouthed a silent I love you. Becca blew her a kiss, and with that, she turned to her husband-to-be.

As Nick reached out and took her hands, she looked into his dark brown eyes and saw her future: they would love each other for better or worse, richer or poorer; in good times and in bad.

They’d already been through so much and had found love on the other side. She couldn’t wait to start their life together.

Her heart beat an anxious staccato, but it was a far cry from the frantic cymbal monkey who seemed to have gotten lost shortly after Nick had proposed. The eager excitement made her breath catch, and it was the best feeling Becca could imagine.

Nick was the love of her life. She had a feeling he would always give her butterflies. That’s how much she loved this man.

Together, they would be a family.

A family.

The only place she wanted to be was in the arms of the handsome man standing in front of her.

She’d loved him from the moment she’d first set eyes on him. In fact, in some form or another, she’d been searching for him her entire life. Now she’d finally found him.

She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that there was no place in the world that she would rather be than right here, proclaiming her love for him in front of God and the entire world. And when a single tear rolled out of the corner of Nick’s eye as he said his vows, she knew that they both had found their happily-ever-after.