Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

QUINN

Much to my mother's chagrin, Hayes and I decide to spend Christmas with just us this year. I had to assure her no less than fifty times it had nothing to do with how awful Thanksgiving went and we truly just wanted to be alone and get Flora acquainted with a holiday she's never really experienced before. Now, sitting in the middle of the living room surrounded by so much wrapping paper I swear we could cover the Space Needle, I know it was the right choice.

I look at Flora, who is currently organizing the new paperbacks she got—all thirty of them—in stacks by genre, author, then title. I think we might have a future librarian in our midst. She wasn't feral this morning like you typically see kids act on Christmas. No, she opened each present nice and neat, so careful not to damage the paper. It was sweet, but it also took three hours to get through everything.

Hayes smiled the whole time. He's smiling even now, watching her. Feeling my gaze, he shifts the silver stare I love so much over to me.

What? his eyes say.

I love you , mine say back.

A whole conversation with just one look.

I went back home with him and Flora after he found me eating my weight in cookies at George's. After cleaning up the mess of macaroni and cheese in the kitchen—don't even want to know what happened there—we ordered Chinese and sat around the living room, answering any and all questions Flora had about us being together.

She had two.

Does this mean Hayes and I are getting married?

Are we going to kiss in front of her now?

She was really grossed out by the thought of our answer to that second question being yes. I wasn't. The fact that I can kiss Hayes freely now is so…well, freeing. I won't lie and say a part of me didn't love the secret aspect of our relationship. It was fun sneaking ar ound, but loving him in the light? It's so much better than loving him in the dark.

"So, Flora, did you have a good Christmas?"

She nods. "It was the best Christmas." She grabs her cat, who is always by her side, and holds her up. The poor kitten looks absolutely miserable wearing the bow on top of her head. "Pickles loves her new headband."

Hayes laughs. "Pickles looks like she's plotting world domination."

"She is," Flora says with a shrug.

"Well, before she gets too far into her plans, do you want to open your last present?" I ask her.

She whips her head to me. "I have another present?"

"Yep." I grab the box I've been keeping hidden behind me, then hold it her way. "Here."

She eyes it warily before grabbing it with lightning-fast speed. Like the others, she takes her time peeling up the edges, and I sit on pins and needles the whole time. When she finally pulls it out, she looks confused.

"But I already have a Serpents jersey."

"I know. Look at the back."

She flips it around, and I hear her gasp before I can see the look on her face.

"Just Quinn! This is amazing!" She spins it back around to show me. "Look! I'm Little Flower! "

I grin at her. "You are Little Flower, and now you have two different jerseys to choose from when you go to Serpents games."

"I'm going as Little Flower all the time."

"Hey! What am I? Nothing to you?"

She rolls her baby-blue eyes. "You already know you're my favorite Serpents player."

"I am, huh?" He grins smugly. "Wait until Lawson hears about this."

I laugh, shaking my head at him as I rise from the floor and begin picking up the trash. With the amount of paper and boxes stacked everywhere, you'd think we had ten kids living in this place, but nope. It's just Flora. Hayes even worried if he bought her enough at one point. I pinched his nipple for being so silly.

We've been searching—together this time—for someone to come in and help with Flora while I'm in school, and we have it narrowed down to two candidates. It's crazy to think I'm looking for a replacement for my old job, but I'm okay handing off the torch. Besides, I'd rather be their someone special instead of just their nanny.

"Hang on," Hayes says. "Looks like we missed something under the tree."

"There's no way. I checked three times."

But when I glance over there, yep—there's a box sitting right in the middle. I look at Hayes, who just shrugs, a small smile playing on his lips.

I walk over to the tree and grab the box. It's addressed to me.

Unlike Flora, I do not have the patience to carefully unwrap the present. I practically shred it, paper landing all over the newly cleaned floors, but I don't care. When I pull it from the box, I'm surprised to find another Serpents jersey sitting inside.

I turn it around to read the back. It's so over the top and so ridiculous I can't help but laugh.

"What does it say? What does it say?" Flora asks, practically bouncing on her knees.

"It says Honey."

"Honey?" She scrunches her nose up. "But your name isn't honey."

Oh, but it is.

Hayes winks at me, and my cheeks get so hot I have to hide my face in the jersey. When I look back up, he's right there in front of me, grinning down at me wickedly.

"Do you like it?"

I shake my head, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I love it. I love you ."

"I love you too. Merry Christmas, Quinny."

"Merry Christmas, Adam."

I press up on my tiptoes and slant my mouth against his in a chaste kiss when what I really want is to wrap my legs around him and beg him to take me back to our room and make love to me.

"Yeah, yeah. You love Uncle Adam. I love Uncle Adam. We all love each other. Get a room," Flora gripes, her attention back to her books.

Mine hasn't shifted. No. I'm too busy watching Hayes, and he's too busy watching her. She just said she loves him—a first.

"Breathe," I remind him softly, and he sucks in a stuttered breath.

When he looks back over at me, his eyes are glassy and red, and he's barely able to blink away the tears.

"You okay?" I whisper, and he shakes his head.

"I don't know. That was… I wasn't expecting that."

"I could tell. She does, you know? She doesn't say it, but I know she does."

He nods. "Yeah. I know. It's just…I've waited my whole life to be loved, and now I am. By the two best girls in the world, and I can't believe it."

"Well, believe it because it's true. We love you."

"I love you too. Both of you. Thank you."

"For what?"

"For giving me the best Christmas gift of all time—you."

"Oh, Hayes, this isn't your Christmas gift."

"No? "

I shake my head, then put my lips to his ear. "You remember the boots from my Halloween costume? The ones you loved so much?"

He nods.

"I kept them."

He groans, burying his face in my neck as he holds me close, and I laugh. Becoming a nanny might not have been on my radar, but it's the best job I've ever had. Because in the end, I got Flora, and I got Hayes.

And it's the happiest I've ever been.