Sadie

The snow sparkles in the sun as we pull up to the driveway. Doni turns the ignition off and twists to face me.

"Are you ready?" Those dang dimples get me every time.

"Ready as I'll ever be.." I hop out of the car when I'm suddenly ambushed by strong arms.

"Jesus." Feels like the wind was knocked out of me.

"It's a Christmas miracle!" Ash kisses both of my cheeks.

"Dude. Put her down," Doni says coolly at Ash while grabbing our suitcases.

"I'll put her down whenever I want. Right, Shorty?" He continues to bounce me up and down.

"Ok. Put me down, Ash, or I'll knee you in the balls."

"Yes, ma'am. I need my balls." Ash laughs as he sets me down on my feet.

"Are you going to come out of the cold?" A man's deep voice catches my attention.

"Hey, Dad.," Doni responds.

Ash grabs one of the suitcases and walks ahead of us, while Doni walks beside me with one hand on my lower back and carrying a suitcase in the other.

"You doing ok?" he asks. Always worrying about me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't' worry so much." I playfully nudge him in the side.

"I will always worry." He kisses my forehead. .

"Come on in. It's freezing out." His dad opens the doors, gesturing for us to come in.

Doni helps take my coat off, placing it in the closet next to the front door. If feels like I was last here yesterday. Looks the same minus the Halloween decorations.

"Dad, this is Sadie." Doni gently shoves me forward.

"It is so nice to finally meet the girl who melts my boys' hearts." He wraps his hand over mine and holds it for a few seconds.

"Dad," Ash and Doni groan at the same time.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Du Pont."

"Please. Call me Charles. We are so happy you were able to join us." He ushers us into the living room.

"I'll be back. I'm going to put our bags away." Doni kisses my temple before he disappears up the stairs.

"Ash, can you please get your mother?" Ash nods and winks at me before he leaves.

I follow Charles to the living room and sit on the brown leather couch in front of the warm fire. The Christmas tree must be at least twelve feet high.

The white lights and white and gold ornaments fit the cabin décor perfectly.

Charles sits on the end of the accent chair in front of the tree. "I hope my sons have been treating you well."

"Yes, they have. They've always had even at six years old." I chuckle.

"Yes, I can only imagine." He laughs as he crosses his leg over his knee. "I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to you and your family. I hope you know you are safe here and are welcome at our home anytime."

"Thank you, sir."

"Charles, please. Sir makes me sound too old and I'm not ready to climb that ladder to heaven just yet."

We both laugh as Doni and Ash walk in. Doni sits closely next to me with his arm around the back of the couch. Ash sits on the opposite side of me,

nudging my knee with his. Meanwhile, Charles looks at his boys with pride and affection with a huge smile on his face.

"Oh my god," a woman gasp behind me.

Slowly, I stand and turn around to see Jaqueline, Doni's, and Ash's mom. She hasn't changed at all. Tall and slender physique with short wavy coffee brown hair and bright blue eyes just like Doni's. Her style of clothing has changed. Doni says she has her own clothing line now. She's wearing a cream cashmere sweater, light tan dress pants, light cream ankle boots with a gold heel, and long gold teardrop earrings. She is just as beautiful as I remembered.

"Oh my god, Sadie." She puts her arms out but hesitates when she looks over at Doni, as if not sure if she should hug me. I make it easier for her and walk right into her arms. She hugs me tight while she rubs my hair. I straightened it today since the moisture in the air causes it to frizz out.

"I am so sorry, sweetheart."

Pulling away, she holds both of my hands and spreads my arms to get a good look at me. "Look at you. So beautiful. You are gorgeous, Sadie." She tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Just like when you were a little girl."

"It's so good to see you again."

She pulls me in for another hug and whispers, "I love you so much, my little brown eyed girl."

"Ok, enough of this sappiness." Ash jumps up from the couch and claps his hands once.

"Ash," Charles scolds him.

"How about some hot cocoa? You still like marshmallows and whipped topping?" she asks me while rubbing her hands up and down my arms.

"Yes, it is,." She looks at Doni and Ash with a smile of relief. She walks away to the kitchen. Doni pulls me into his arms "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine. It feels good to be here with all of you." He leans down and places a kiss on my lips. It's simple but sweet.

"Yeah, no PDA please," Ash mutters. We all laugh and sit around the warm fire drinking our hot cocoa.

Later we have grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade tomato soup. Ash and Doni took me out on the snowmobiles most of the day. We ended the evening with homemade pizza for dinner and watched Fred Clause and Home Alone part one. Home Alone is Jacquie's favorite holiday movie.

I must've fallen asleep because I open my sleepy eyes, laying against Doni's chest. He looks down at me and smiles.

"Hey, sleepyhead. You fell asleep during the second movie." He lightly kicks the door open and sets me on the bed.

"This is the guest room. You have your own bathroom. There are towels in the cupboards. Wait here." He jogs out of the room and returns with an extra plush blanket.

"Here. It gets cold in here sometimes."

"Thank you." Grabbing it from his hands, our fingers make contact and electricity bursts throughout my body.

Doni stands at the end of the bed, casually places his hands in his pockets. My heart beats faster the longer he stares. A warm tingling sensation swirls in my stomach. I wonder what's going on in his head.

He clears his throat. "Let me know if you need anything, ok?" I nod when he leans down, flips his hat backwards and kisses my lips, not once, but three times. "Night," he says against my lips.

"Night," my voice is but a whisper, trying to control my need to pull him in closer.

Instead, I let him walk out, closing the door behind him.