We’re both breathing heavily as he hovers over me, his arms holding his weight. “I love you.”
My hand rests against his cheek. “I love you too.”
“When you’re ready, you tell me, and we’ll stop using them.”
There’s the sweet man I know and love. “I’m telling you now. We don’t need them.”
“If it weren’t Christmas and if we didn’t have a little girl to spoil, we’d stay in this bed all day long.”
“We have lots of presents to open,” I remind him.
“Nah, not too many.”
“Have you seen our living room? It looks like five kids live here. Not one little girl who’s not going to remember this day.”
“Oh, but she’s going to see pictures. What would she think if we only got her a few things? Besides, she needs all those things.” He rolls off me, resting on his side.
“No. She doesn’t need all those things. She’s one little girl. How can she play with all of them?”
“She has lots of cousins that can come and play with her.”
“You’re impossible,” I tell him, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
“But you love me.” He grins.
I nod because I do love him. I’ve never known the kind of connection that we have. It’s scary and overwhelming and intense, but it’s us, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.
I stand and offer him my hand. “Come on, slowpoke. We have to open ten million presents for a little girl who will be more interested in the wrapping paper, and then shower before going to your mom and dad’s.”
“Where are we going?” I ask a few hours later. “I thought we were going to your mom and dad’s?”
“We are, but we don’t have to be there until one.”
“Then why did you rush me out of the house? I had at least another hour of lounging in my jammies.” I’m not mad, but I am confused as to where else we would be going today.
“I made a promise and I intend to keep it,” he says cryptically.
I don’t bother to try and get it out of him. I know him well enough to know that if he doesn’t want me to know until we get there, he’s not going to give in and tell me early. It’s not until we make the next turn that I realize where we are. “Are we going to the cemetery?” I ask, surprised.
“Yeah. I promised you that I would love you and Maddie for both of us. I thought we should come and tell him Merry Christmas. It’s our first Christmas together, and I thought we could make it a tradition.”
Beat.
Beat.
Beat.
This isn’t the first time this man has made me feel as though my heart could tumble out of my chest. Beat by beat, he’s healed parts of me I thought would forever be broken. I try to speak, but there is a lump in my throat the size of the state of Tennessee.
Marshall stops the car and turns to look at me. “If you don’t want to get out, we don’t have to. I just—” He pauses. “I sometimes feel guilty that he lost his life. I feel guilty that you and Maddie lost him, but at the same time, if that hadn’t happened, I never would have found you. The thought of you and that precious little girl not being a part of my life tears me in two. Just the thought of losing either of you causes my heart to race and panic to set in.”
“He would have liked you,” I whisper. My heart squeezes in my chest, and I know with everything in me that I’m right. Travis would have loved Marshall. “In fact, I think he might have sent you to me. I don’t know how else to explain our meeting that evening at the pharmacy. The same pharmacy he used to work for.”
“Then I need to thank him.” He smiles before leaning over the console and pressing his lips to mine.
“Okay.”
Together we climb out of my SUV, and he grabs Madeline and an extra blanket. He holds her close, with the blanket thrown over her to ward off the cold. I lead us to his grave, something I think I could do in my sleep. It’s been months since I’ve been here. I think the last time was when Madeline was three months old. The cab ride there and back was just too expensive.
I stop in front of his grave as I read the engraving on his headstone.
Travis Wheeler
Loving Father and Husband
“Hey, Travis,” Marshall says before clearing his throat. “My name is Marshall Riggins. I want to thank you for sending me to our girls. I promise you they’re in good hands,” he says. “I’m sure you already know this, but I’ve asked Wren to marry me. She said yes. I know that her love is a gift, and it’s one I will treasure for the rest of my life.”