25. Ivy

25

ivy

christmas day

M erry Christmas, sweetheart.” Teddy’s smiling face was there when I woke up, holding a mug of delicious, steaming coffee.

“Merry Christmas, Teddy,” I responded back, yawning in the process. “What time is it?”

His eyes sparkled with amusement. “Seven.”

“Seven?” I groaned. “Why do you hate me?”

Placing the mug on the nightstand next to me, he leaned over me, one of his hands resting on the mattress, caging me in. “I can assure you, Ivy, hate is the last thing I feel for you.”

I hummed in response, and he leaned down to kiss me softly. “Good morning.”

“It’s better now,” I agreed.

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” Sitting up, I reached over for the mug and took a sip. “Because you brought me coffee.”

He chuckled, moving off me so I could drink the mocha he’d made me.

“Spoil a girl this much, and she’s never going to want to leave.”

“That’s the idea,” Teddy agreed. “Come on. It’s present time.”

“Presents?” I perked up.

“Now I’ve got her attention,” he said with a laugh. “Come on, Poison Ivy.” He held out his hand, and I took it, interlacing our fingers together as I slid out of bed.

Grabbing my mug, I walked with him towards the living room. We were both wearing the ridiculous matching reindeer pajamas we’d gotten at the market.

Like a couple. Which we were, now, I supposed. Officially . He was mine, and I was his.

Teddy was my boyfriend. A smile curved over my face. The words had never filled me with so much rightness before.

A surprisingly large stack of presents was piled under the tree, but my favorite part of the room was the two stockings that hung over the fireplace, our embroidered names looking so right side by side.

Putting my mug on the side table, I turned to him, my heart feeling so full I thought it might burst. “You know, I don’t need any of that,” I said, gesturing to the presents.

“I know.” He grinned. “Most of them aren’t even from me.”

“Really? Who?—”

“My parents. Scarlett and Jack. Ruby and her husband. Your grandmother. They all wanted to make your first Christmas here special.”

“Oh.” My eyes filled with tears. Dammit, I needed to get it under control so I wasn’t crying all day. “I don’t know what to say. ”

“Say ‘thank you, Teddy, for bringing me here and giving me the best Christmas ever.’”

“Thank you, Teddy,” I said, repeating his words as I rested my hands on his shoulders. “Thank you for asking me to come home with you for Christmas and making this the most memorable Christmas of my life.” I meant every word.

“Not quite the wording, but I’ll take it.”

“Shut up,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Gladly,” he responded, dropping a kiss to my lips. “Now, want to open your gifts, sweetheart?”

I did. I really, really did.

Two hours later, we sat curled up on the couch, our bodies completely pressed together. All the boxes were gone, the wrapping paper cleaned up off the floor, and I had a stack of beautiful presents from the people who were quickly becoming my family. It was strange to think about.

“I have something else, too.” Teddy stood up, pressing a kiss to my forehead as he got off the couch.

“You do?” I looked up at him in surprise.

He nodded. “Wait here. I’ll go get her.”

“ Her ?” I repeated, but Teddy didn’t answer, already gone.

A few minutes later, he came back with a basket in his arms, holding the world’s smallest bundle in them. My eyes widened.

“Teddy?”

“I know how much you’ve always wanted one,” he said, placing the basket onto the floor in front of me and lifting the puppy into my arms. He’d even tied a big red bow around her neck, just like I’d always dreamed of.

The puppy barked happily, jumping on me to lick at my face. He’d listened to every word I’d ever said, hadn’t he?

“But…” My eyes filled with tears. Damn him, but this really was the perfect Christmas present. How was I ever go ing to top this? “How did you even do this?” I looked down at my lap, stroking the dog’s soft fur.

She was mostly black, with little brown markings over her eyes that looked like eyebrows and white that went down the middle of her body, accented with more brown spots. Beautiful. The cutest puppy I’d ever seen in my life.

A little smirk made one corner of his lips tilt up. “I had help.”

I snorted. “You’re ridiculous.”

He hummed, leaning down to drop a kiss against my lips. “I know.”

The baby girl in my lap gave a little yip as I tilted my head up to kiss Teddy deeper—obviously, I was not allowed to ignore her.

“Sorry, sweetheart.” I rubbed my nose against her cold, wet one. “I promise mommy won’t ignore you again.”

Teddy cleared his throat. “At least, not most of the time.” He winked, and I rolled my eyes.

“You’re insatiable.”

We both were. We could barely keep our hands off each other since we’d said those three little words. Since we’d confessed our feelings. The bond between us was new, but I could feel it. Like whatever magic I had was growing inside of me, strengthening the pull I felt to him. I hoped it never dulled.

“You like it.”

I hummed in response. There was no denying that I did. “I love you,” I whispered the words against his mouth.

“I love you too.” He kissed me again and then kissed our puppy’s forehead. “What are you going to name her?”

I looked down at the darling puppy in my lap. After making fun of him for naming his reindeer Buddy, I knew our puppy needed a good name.

Ours. The word settled into my heart, and it felt right. I’d meant what I told him yesterday—that anywhere with him was home.

This was home. I couldn’t imagine saying goodbye. I loved his cozy little house. The tree we’d decorated soon after we’d first arrived still sat in the corner, our stockings hanging from the mantle like they were meant to be there. Like I’d always been meant to be here, with him.

Snuggling my head on his chest, I ran my hands over the puppy’s soft ears. She was beautiful. What was a name worthy of that?

I wanted her to have a name that reminded me of this Christmas and all our wonderful memories. There was one thing that kept popping up in all of them. I smiled.

“Coco.”

Teddy chuckled. “Coco?”

How many cups of hot chocolate had we shared as I’d fallen in love with him? The puppy in my lap gave a yip of agreement.

“Mhm.” I nodded, holding her up so her nose was pressed against his. “She looks like one, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah.” He smoothed a hand over her head. “She does.”

And then, snuggled up with the man I loved with the dog of my dreams, I felt like my heart was so full it was going to burst. Because I knew I’d never been this happy. So deliriously happy.

Merry Christmas, indeed.

Part of me couldn’t believe I was doing this. Leaving my entire life behind to be with Teddy. But also, I couldn’t imagine anything else.

I stood staring at my empty apartment. All the decorations had come off the walls, and all of my stuff was currently piled in boxes, ready to be shipped to my new home via express delivery.

That delivery was, of course, in Santa’s sleigh. Unreal.

How was this my life?

Part of me felt like I should be sad. I was closing a chapter in my life. Saying goodbye to Florida and the first apartment of my own. Except I couldn’t bring myself to feel anything other than joy. I was opening a new chapter of my life, one full of love. Of a family who’d accepted me with open arms. I’d found exactly what I was looking for.

Who knew all it would take was going home with Teddy and coming to the North Pole?

I turned around and finding Teddy leaning on the doorframe, watching me. He looked absolutely delectable in his dark green henley. God, he was handsome. And he was all mine.

I snuggled Coco to my chest, burying my face in her scruff. I hadn’t been able to leave her at home earlier, not wanting to be parted from the best Christmas present ever.

The only better gift was the man who’d come with me.

“You don’t have to move, you know. You can still work at the park, we could live here…” He gave me a hesitant smile.

“No.” It was time for a new adventure. An adventure with Teddy. Wherever that took us. “I want to see the world with you.” It sounded amazing, and I couldn’t wait for everything. “But… I do want to come back and visit.” Of course I did.

Maybe one day, we’d be bringing kids of our own here, just like his parents had with him. And until then, whenever I was homesick for candy cane forests or the best gingerbread muffin on the planet, I knew exactly who could bring me back.

“We can come back as much as you want,” Teddy promised, as if he could read my thoughts. Maybe he could. There was so much I still didn’t know about the golden string that tied us together. I couldn’t wait to explore that. “I still have to finish my development projects, after all.”

“Good.” I smiled, giving my apartment one last look.

“Well, are you ready to go?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. The action made his biceps flex under his shirt, and damn, he knew what he was doing to me.

“Yes,” I agreed. I’d never been more ready.

He stalked over to me and pulled me into his arms, our puppy in between us.

Home. Home was being wrapped in Teddy Claus’s arms. I knew that like I knew it was the air I was breathing and that Christmas magic was real.

“Take me home, Teddy,” I whispered, wrapping my hands around his neck.

“With pleasure, my Poison Ivy.”

A few hours later, the sun had set, and the interior of our house was lit up by the glow of the fireplace and the Christmas lights strung around the room. My stuff now joined Teddy’s in the house, and my craft stuff now had its own space in the loft. It was perfect. I was home.

“What do you think?”

I hummed, nuzzling my face into his shoulder. “About what?”

Coco was asleep in her bed at our feet, her brand new collar sporting a red bow.

“Look at the time,” he whispered, and when I did, I realized that the clock had crept over to midnight. Christmas was over. “Did I succeed in giving you the perfect Christmas?”

“More than,” I said. “The best one ever. We even managed to check everything off our list.” The list, framed on the kitchen wall, each item brings us closer together.

I’d been falling in love with him the whole time through each of them. Every item, every experience he’d given me… They were all firsts that I couldn’t imagine having given anyone else.

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “That’s good.”

“Why?” I raised an eyebrow, confused.

“Because I have one last gift for you.”

I blinked at him as he got off the couch. “You didn’t have to do that. You already gave me everything I could have ever wanted.” A home. A family. Love. A puppy. Not to mention the other things I’d already unwrapped. A new coat and boots. A gorgeous red velvet dress I couldn’t wait to wear. Little snowflake earrings that matched my necklace.

Kneeling, he brandished a small gift box from behind his back, sliding it into my hand.

“Just open it,” he said, grinning at me.

Raising an eyebrow at him, I turned my attention to the box, slowly pulling the red ribbon off the top and sliding the lid off.

It was an absolutely gorgeous ornament, gilded red and gold. And somehow, without even having to ask, I knew that he’d made it in the workshop. Because what couldn’t this man do with his hands?

“Oh.” My eyes felt wet. “Teddy, it’s beautiful.”

“The first one for our tree. I’m sure there will be many more in the future.” He wiped a finger under my eye. “Take it out and look at what it says on it.”

“Huh?” I said, doing as he instructed. Pulling it out of the box, I spun it around to read the writing. “What…”

Will you marry me? Was etched above the hinge, and I had a feeling I knew what I would find when I opened it up.

“Teddy, I—” Looking at him, I found him down on one knee in front of the couch. He gently took the ornament from my hands, opening it up to reveal a beautiful diamond ring nestled among the red velvet.

The smile on his face was dazzling. He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen, and knowing he was mine made him even more so.

“Ivy Winters, you have to know by now that you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Part of me knew when I found you that day, red in the face from arguing with an ungrateful park guest, that I was in love with you. And thank god I found you. Because you are my everything , my Poison Ivy. I know it’s soon, but I couldn’t wait another moment without asking you to be my wife.”

Tears were streaming down my face, but I supposed what they said was true: when you know, you know . And I definitely knew with him.

I’d known it since the first moment he asked me to come home with him, and I’d said yes. Had there ever been another choice for me? He was it. The man I was meant to be with. My fated soulmate. And I wanted this, too. This life with him. Being his wife, starting a family of our own. The future was brighter than ever with him in it.

Looking up, I found a bundle of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling, and his face was transformed in the most dazzling smile I’d ever seen in my life.

“Will you marry me, Ivy? Make me the luckiest man in the North Pole and be my wife?” His deep green eyes held mine, and I could see the love in them. I never wanted to look away.

“Yes,” I said, nodding, even as tears filled my eyes. “Yes, Teddy. I’ll marry you.”

He slid the diamond onto my finger before I was in his arms, kissing him senseless.

It might have been soon, but I’d never felt more sure about a decision in my life. I admired the ring on my finger, the beautiful princess cut ring with a band that almost looked like ivy decorated with stones. It was perfect. I’d never have picked it for myself, and yet I couldn’t imagine anything else.

“Thank fuck,” he said against my lips. “Otherwise, buttering you up with Coco so you’d say yes would have been really awkward.”

I laughed, smacking his shoulder. He didn’t need to butter me up, and he knew it. Teddy slid his fingers into my hair, bringing our lips back together. We kissed for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes, lost in each other. In the world we’d created. His tongue tangled with mine, tasting me, and I straddled his thighs, taking his face in between my hands.

“Are you sure you want to marry me?” I asked when we pulled apart, breathing rough. “I’m not too stubborn, am I?”

“Sweetheart.” He grinned. “You’re the most stubborn woman in the world. It’s one of the things I love most about you.” He ran his thumb over my bottom lip, swollen and tender from his kisses.

I rocked my hips against him, brushing my overly sensitive core over his jean-clad erection, aware that there were too many layers between us.

“What else do you love about me?”

He placed a kiss to my neck, sucking lightly, and I let out a small gasp. “How responsive you are for me.” Teddy brushed his fingers over my nipples, already hard for him, even through my bra. “How beautiful you are.” He kissed my collarbone. “Inside and out, you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Ivy.”

I was all too aware that I was dry humping him on the couch, but I couldn’t move. Not when he was touching me like this. Dropping my head back against the couch, I let out a low moan as he rocked against my core .

“Take me to bed, Teddy,” I breathed, “I need you. Please.”

“You never have to ask, my love.”

It was a promise I knew he’d never break. That he’d love me with all his heart. That no matter what happened, no matter what trials we faced or fights we fought, we’d always come out of them together.

He swept me into his arms, and I tightened my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck, finding his mouth once again as he carried me into the bedroom—our bedroom—and showed me just how much he loved me all over again, with his fingers, his tongue, and his cock.

Teddy made love to me in the quiet of our house, with only the fireplace and the lights to illuminate our bodies, and nothing had ever been better.

Merry Christmas to me . It was definitely one I’d never forget.