Christmas Carol

“My beautiful Carol, I just put a down payment on a ten-acre farm with a beautiful house full of empty bedrooms. I just signed a five-year contract to play for the Montana Moose, for a hell of a lot less than I was offered to play in Arizona and I did that all because I found the place where I belong and the woman who owns my soul.”

“Cyrus…”

“Marry me, Carol. Marry me and live with me here in Mistletoe. Raise a family with me and make me the happiest man in the world, mi corazón. I love you.”

He reaches the ring up to me, taking my hand in his and slipping it on my finger.

“Cyrus!” I cry, falling down into his arms, hugging him and peppering his face with kisses. We tumble onto the sidewalk, snow falling down on us and I don’t even care.

“Is that a yes, Carol?” he asks, pulling my hair from my face, holding my neck and looking up at me.

“Yes! A million times, yes!” I cry and then he kisses me.

He kisses me, right there underneath the twinkling Christmas lights of Mistletoe, snow falling down on us and all of my friends singing, “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”, in the background and there’s never been anything more perfect.EpilogueCarolFive Years LaterI stare at the window with a sense of pride like I’ve never felt before.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Cyrus says, coming to stand beside me, our son up on his shoulders, a leg on each side of Cyrus’s neck, as his dad holds him.

Samuel Cyrus Martinez will soon be four years old and is definitely a force to be reckoned with. He keeps both his momma and his dad on their toes, but he brings so much joy that my heart is full every single day.

I reach up to my son’s leg, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Mommy! I got a toy dinosaur!”

“You did?” I laugh, looking at my husband. He just grins at me, because he knows I’m going to get after him for spoiling Sammy. He also knows that I’m just as bad. Besides what’s one more dinosaur? So, what if it’s just a couple of days until Christmas. So, what if our son will officially be four on Christmas morning and therefore get not only spoiled by Santa, but spoiled for his birthday too? I laugh at the thought, because the truth is, Sammy is spoiled period. But he’s also a good kid.

“I gots a T-Rex!” he says, holding up a dinosaur. “Rawr!!!!”

“Oh no! Don’t let it eat me,” I laugh, trying to act scared.

“It won’t eat you, Mommy!”

“It won’t?”

“Nope! It’s not real!” he giggles, and I swear there’s nothing better in the world than my son’s laughter. When Cyrus starts laughing with his son, I realize I was wrong.

There’s nothing better than my son and husband laughing together.

“Now, that’s the perfect name,” Cyrus says, leaning down to kiss me, which just makes our son giggle again.

“You like it? My brilliant husband came up with the name.”

“It’s perfect,” Cyrus laughs. We stare together at the window. Christmas Carol’s Catering is emblazoned on the window, replacing the Kringle’s Catering sign that had been there. It’s all mine now. My sister is married with kids of her own. She married the owner of the Holt’s Cookie Conglomerate and with the addition of her cookie recipe they’re wildly successful. I’ve been running the catering business alone and it has become really successful. I’ve been really proud of the growth the business has had since opening this shop, but there’s something about seeing my name on the window alone makes me it even more real.

“Cyrus?”

“Yeah, Bebé?” Cyrus answers as he brings Sammy down off his shoulders. When he puts him down, he runs around the shop talking to the customers and I see my assistant Freda taking his hand. She’s taking him to the counter to pick out a cookie—something that happens often.

“I love you,” I tell him as he turns and gathers me in his arms and pulls me to him.

“No regrets, mi corazón?”

“None whatsoever,” I reply with a grin.

“Despite how quick it happened?” he asks, and I shake my head.

I know that’s something he worries about. We met one day, almost had sex on day two and then had sex on day five and never looked back.