13. Avery

Chapter 13

Avery

I woke to the gentle glow of Christmas lights twinkling through the window. The scent of cinnamon and sugar beckoned me out of bed, even though I was so warm and cozy in Daddy’s big shirt. Then I remembered it was Christmas and bounded down to find Daddy and the rest of my presents.

Daddy was just putting French toast dusted with powdered sugar on a plate as he looked up and saw me. “Good morning, sweet boy. Are you hungry?”

“Morning.” I skipped to his side and stood with puckered lips until he bent down and kissed me. "You know how much I love cinnamon."

“I think I recall hearing something like that before.” He shrugged and handed me the plate before reaching for a frying pan full of scrambled eggs.

"You're the best Daddy ever." I took the plate to the table and sat down, excited to load up a piece of French toast with a mountain of butter and syrup.

“Well, I want you to have a good breakfast before we open the rest of the presents."

"Presents!” My spine straightened, and I positioned myself to run straight toward the tree. “Can we open them now? Please?"

He cocked his eyebrow, silently scolding me. “Avery, we already opened one early. We’ll eat first and then finish presents. Deal?”

I blew out a loud breath through puffy cheeks and relaxed back into the chair. “Deal.”

Daddy tried not to smile, but I could see that he was loving every minute of my dramatics. And even when he had to remind me to slow down so I didn’t get a tummy ache, his eyes sparkled with love.

Because he loved me. And I loved him. We were in love.

Thinking about our amazing declarations from the night before distracted me long enough to clean my plate, and before I knew it, Daddy was taking our dishes to the sink.

"Well, let’s go, slowpoke. These presents aren’t gonna open themselves." He tugged me by the hand into the living room, where our tree twinkled merrily.

I found the most important present and handed it to Daddy. I couldn’t wait any longer for him to open it. "This one's for you, Daddy. Open it first!"

“Okay, baby.” He carefully removed the paper and his breath hitched when he saw the small box, as if he knew what was inside. When he finally lifted the lid and saw the shiny new key I’d put on a keychain that said Daddy on it, his eyes even got a little watery..

I took a deep breath for bravery and smiled at him. "It's to my house. So you can come over anytime." I shrugged and met his gaze. “Or live here. With me. All the time.”

Daddy curled his fist around the key and caught my gaze. “Avery, this is a big step for us. Are you sure?”

"So sure. Like, super sure. I wasn't sure if it was too soon, but I want you here all the time." I wrapped my hands around his closed fist. “You don’t have to do anything now. There’s no pressure. I just want you here every second so whenever you have some free seconds, you can come.”

Daddy chuckled. “Well, I like the sound of that.” He kissed me softly and held the key over his heart. “I love it and would be honored to stay here as much as you’ll have me.”

“I’ll have all of you, all the time, please and thank you!”

He laughed harder this time. “Okay, smarty-pants. Now for the rest of your presents.” He watched with a huge smile on his face as I tore into my gifts. He brought me a few board games, some stuffies, and even footie pajamas with little angel wings on them. "It’s like me. Your snow angel! I'm putting it on right now."

I pulled off Daddy’s shirt and stepped into my jammies. I got a little tangled up, so Daddy had to steady me until I was ready to be zipped up in the front and the back, but when I was all dressed, he looked so happy with what he saw.

"You look absolutely adorable."

I wrapped my arms around myself and swayed on my feet. "I feel like a toasty marshmallow. C'mere and snuggle me."

“Always and forever.” He held open his arms, and I stepped right into them.

"Daddy, I love you." The words slipped out naturally, as if I'd been saying them forever.

"I love you too, baby. So much."

I’d always loved Christmas, but I had no idea how great Christmas morning could truly be until I had a Daddy holding me and telling me how much he loved me. It was really my best Christmas ever.