Chapter Seven

D errick woke up to a soft laugh beside him. “I asked the conductor on her last walkthrough. We just crossed into New York. We have one other stop at Binghamton, and then we hit the Pine Ridge station, which is what she called a ‘flying stop.’ I think that means she only expects a few minutes to get on and off, and knowing Pine Ridge’s station has literally two platforms, two benches, and a roof to keep the rain off, I get why she thinks that. Um... Oh, so about forty minutes, I guess, to account for the Binghamton stop. Can Dad come pick us up? No, he doesn’t need to borrow Julie’s minivan. I did have a ton of luggage, Mom, but it’s scattered across the US at this point. It’ll catch up, or I’ll be doing a lot of secondhand shopping at Chloe’s Curiosities.”

Derrick blinked a few times and turned his head. Reese was smiling as she looked out the window. The afternoon sky was gray, and flurries whipped past the window, streaks of white against the high speeds of the train.

“Hm? Yesss, put my baby girls on!” Reese suddenly sat up straighter and leaned forward, her tired face transformed with an ecstatic smile. In a second, she cooed, “Hi, Eva! Hi, Raylyn! It’s Aunt Reese. Yes, I’m on my way home, finally! Finally! Hm? You saved the presents I sent to open when I get there? Oh, you're sweetie pies. Tell you what, you give me a huge, big, rib-squasher of a hug when I get there, and then you won’t have to wait another second. Mommy told you I was bringing a what? An uncle? Oh, mommy is a goofy goose, isn’t she?” Reese turned to face him and jumped a little in her seat when she caught him looking at her. Her cheeks turned pink almost at once, and she awkwardly turned back toward the window to finish talking to her nieces about the dollhouse they'd gotten.

She’s gonna be an awesome mom.

The thought hit him so hard that his knee jerked, sending his glasses flying from the tray table into the aisle, and instinctively, as nearsighted people do, he rushed after them, knowing he’d be blind as a bat without them.

Reese turned with a gasp, watching him crawl down the aisle past other startled passengers. “I’ve gotta go, babies,” she whispered. “But I’ll be home in time for dinner!” She hung up and turned to him as he clumsily sat back in his seat, glasses in hand. “Leg cramp?” she whispered sympathetically.

“Something like that.”

No. A mental spasm. In thirty-six years, twenty of them spent in the dating pool, Derrick had never thought about a woman being his wife or a mother in an attractive way. But seeing Reese smiling at him with the ring he’d slid on her finger and her faux baby bump made his insides go gooey and his brain short-circuit. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her, couldn’t keep from pretending that the ring was truly one he’d picked for a proposal, that the bump was really the start of their family.

“Do I have something between my teeth? Are my lips cracking? I’m so dehydrated right now.” Reese rummaged in her bag for her water bottle. She shook it, and only a faint splash could be heard.

“I was thinking you’re gorgeous and you’re going to be a great mom. And that I’m so lucky they canceled our flight. If they hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met you.” Derrick leaned over and kissed the soft spot behind her ear that made her sigh.

“You’re sweet—and maybe a little delirious. Jeff said I could barely keep myself on a schedule and if I ever tried to be a mom, the kid would be a holy terror.” Her face went from amused to sad. “I love being the fun aunt, but I’m in my thirties. I was hoping he might change his mind before it was too late for me to try...”

“I think we’ve already established Jeff is an asshole. So what if you’re not great with schedules? I bet you meet your project deadlines.”

“Religiously.”

“And your plans might be unconventional, but they work, don’t they?”

“Yeah, but they work better with you,” she leaned to the side, and their foreheads bumped gently.

“What Jeff should have said was, ‘You’ll be the awesome, fun mom who always makes things okay in the end, and I’ll be the responsible, boring dad who keeps baby on a schedule and helps organize whatever needs to be organized.’ That’s what he should have said. That’s what the right guy would say.”

Reese’s eyes bloomed with light, looking into his. “Is that what you’d say?”

“Yep.”

He expected her to finish their sweet exchange with a big kiss or a bigger smile. Instead, she pulled back, a tight, worried look across her features.

Derrick groaned internally. I’m not that good of an actor. I tried to act brave and suave and smooth—and I sounded like a pushy creep. Reese looks miserable.

“I’m sorry. I never even asked if—if you were thinking about that these days. Of course, you wouldn’t be. With me. Right now.”

Reese suddenly slammed her fist down onto his knee.

“Ow! God, I’m sorry I put my foot in my mouth. No need for violence!” Derrick hissed, cradling his leg as he protectively pulled it to his chest.

“You’re not a dream,” Reese muttered, almost as if talking to herself.

“I know that!”

“You seem like a dream come true, my dream man, everything I wished for. But it could be just... circumstances. I guess that’s what I’m afraid of. In thirty-two years—”

“It’s never clicked like this? So fast, so hard, so perfectly imperfect? Like you find yourself staring at her thinking she’s going to be a great mom, and that turns you on instead of freaks you out?” Derrick hazarded.

A smile returned to her face, slow and shy. “Yeah. That. Except you see him building cribs and taking the cat to the vet with you.”

“Hmm. Just because something starts fast doesn’t mean it has to end fast. I’m not going anywhere. I know tonight we’ve got to be with our families. What’s tomorrow look like for you?”

“Jet lag, emotional upheaval, and pigging out?”

“Same, probably. Want to share some post-traumatic Christmas cookies and mindless movies tomorrow night at my place?”

Reese smiled. “Okay...and on Saturday, do you want to go to Manny’s Automotive and help me look at cars? Mine was a three-year lease that’s up at the end of the month, so I’m not only luggageless, boyfriend-less, and homeless, I’m also car-less.” She ended with a rueful laugh.

Derrick shook his head. “Car shopping, and then hitting the mall for sales. Your luggage will arrive eventually. You can stay with your mom and dad—or even crash at my place. I can help with all of those things, but there’s one issue I can actually fix, Reese Brittijn.” He grabbed her hand—and pulled the ring off of it.

“Derrick!”

“That was Jeff’s promise ring. He broke his promises.” Derrick wriggled his way down to the floor in front of his seat, squished in the narrow amount of space provided for legroom and secretly glad they were in the bigger, better business class seats. “Reese Brittijn, will you be my girlfriend? I promise to take you with me to adopt my next cat from the shelter. I promise to go with you to look at cars, clothes, or whatever else you need. I promise to go along with whatever plans you throw at me. I promise to haul your crazy ass back to safety if you go too far off the rails. I don’t have a ring for you right now, but I promise that by next Christmas—I’ll put a different kind of ring on your finger if you still want me.”

Reese put her hand to her mouth, covering her smile, but he could see it in her eyes. They were sparkling, shining, and welling up as she pulled him back to his seat.

“I accept—and I’ll hold you to it, boyfriend.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“DADDY! MOM!” REESE bolted from Derrick’s side and into the arms of her parents as they stood on the side of the platform. No one else got off the train, and no one else got on it.

“Oh, thank God you’re home! And this must be Derrick, the nice young man who helped you get here,” Mrs. Brittijn hugged Derrick as he came closer.

“It was my pleasure. I would say no trouble—”

“But he’s the nice, honest type,” Reese supplied with a laugh.

“Thank you for giving me a lift.”

“It’s nothing! You know, Derrick’s parents actually live at the end of Pinecrest Avenue, so it’s not out of the way,” Reese’s mother addressed her.

“And Derrick lives in Pine Point development. We’re going to hang out together tomorrow night.”

“Hopefully more often than that,” Derrick smiled and nodded as he shook Mr. Brittijn’s hand.

“Everyone, into the car!” Mr. Brittijn said briskly. “I have mulled wine waiting, and you have several meals’ worth of leftovers to get through, young lady.”

“I can’t wait. Derrick, do you want to come to the house for a while?”

“I do, but my parents are probably about to hyperventilate. Tomorrow night, though, I’m whisking you away for Christmas cookies and comedies.”

“Ohhh. Sounds like you two have certainly hit it off,” Reese’s mother said in a smug voice, one eyebrow arching.

Reese hesitated. She and Derrick had shared one long, lingering kiss as the train slowed into the station. It felt like an end—and the promise of a new beginning. She was afraid if she admitted just how close they’d gotten, her parents would classify him as another of her impetuous decisions, maybe even as one of her numerous mistakes. As if sensing her trepidation, Derrick had hung back and was acting like a cordial companion and nothing more, charming her parents with politeness and respect.

He’s a good guy. A wonderful guy—and I’m proud that he wants to be with me. I’m proud that I get to be with him.

She boldly slipped her arm through his, hugging her now un-padded torso against his side. “This is going to sound crazy, but this started off as my worst Christmas ever—with a break-up and planes, trains, and way too many candy canes—but it turned out to be the best one.”

“Why is that, honey?” Mrs. Brittijn asked as she led the way to the car.

Reese didn’t answer. She was too busy kissing Derrick.

“Ahhh,” Mr. Brittijn sighed knowingly. “I thought that might be the case. Okay, lovebirds. You can either walk home in the snow or ride in the nice warm car. What’s it going to be?”

“Car!” Reese and Derrick shouted as one, laughing as they finally made it home.