Chapter 27 Kelly Kaplan

Canceled

Christmas Eve

I stare at the word flashing on the board beside my flight number.

Canceled.

It flashes again and again as if to mock me. Canceled. Canceled. Canceled. Canceled.

I walk over toward the window where my plane should be parking any minute and instead watch the snow as it falls like a blanket over the city.

I decided to book the redeye. I figured I’d deal with Mia. This is too important to miss, and so I need to get to him for Christmas.

Mia is asleep in a little umbrella stroller, so at least she doesn’t have to listen to me sniffling the way she would if I was holding her in my arms as I call my mom.

“My flight was canceled,” I wail when she answers.

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. This storm is wicked, so it’s probably for the best. We’ll get you out in a couple days once it clears up.”

The hope for a desert Christmas is squashed by the actual white Christmas I apparently was meant to have.

“Dad is about a half hour away from you, so I’ll call him and let him know to turn around and get to you. Give him a little bit of time to get to you, okay?”

“Thanks,” I mutter, and then I try to figure out what the hell I'm going to do for the next half hour.

I slide onto one of the chairs and watch some planes move down the runway. Some flights are still going out tonight, and I don't understand why the chosen few can come and go, but I can't get out tonight.

A plane lands and pulls into the gate that was supposed to be the one I took off from. That should be my plane, the one carrying Mia and me toward Austin so we could celebrate our first family Christmas together.

I stare at that damn plane and watch it park. The door opens, and the first passengers start to disembark.

I'm not really sure what to do with myself. I don’t really want to wait for my dad to come pick me up sitting at this gate for my canceled flight, and I need to go track down my suitcase anyway. With that in mind, I stand. I’ll find my suitcase and then wait near the arrivals pickup area since I know that’s where my dad will be.

I sling the diaper bag on my shoulder and grab the handles of the stroller. I turn away from the gate to start walking in that direction, and that's when I hear it.

“Kelly?”

I freeze at the sound of my name, and then I whip around…and I see Austin Graham standing there.

He's wearing a baseball cap pulled down low over his eyes and the gingerbread man sweater paired with jeans…and I'm pretty sure I'm hallucinating because there's no way Austin Graham is standing in front of me in the airport calling my name.

We stare at each other across a span of about ten feet, both of us frozen for a few beats except for my heart, which is beating practically out of my chest.

And then he strides toward me, closing the gap between us.

I feel his arms as they come around me, telling me this is real—I’m not hallucinating.

He’s really here. He’s really, actually here.

He came for me.

I wrap one of my arms around his neck, the other protectively still on the stroller handle, and I stare up into his eyes.

At the exact same time, we both ask, “What are you doing here?” And then we both start to laugh.

“I booked a flight because I had to see you, but it was canceled,” I say at the same time he says, “I had to get here to spend Christmas with my girls.”

I cling to his neck as his lips crash down to mine, and we kiss right there at the gate at the airport, both of us feeling the beautiful wonder of being together again.

I pull back. “I had to tell you in person that I believe you, Austin. Whatever happens, if you say you didn’t do it, I don’t doubt that for a second. I want you to know that you come first for Mia and me, and I never should’ve gone to Chicago without you when all I want is to spend her first Christmas together as a family.”

“That’s why I’m here,” he says, and he leans down to kiss me again in between sentences. “I had to be with you. Coach had us practice yesterday, and we have tomorrow off, and even if we didn’t, I would’ve skipped practice and paid the fine to get here to you.”

My jaw slackens at that. “You would’ve paid the fine?”

He nods. “Oh, and one more thing. I was cleared.” His lips tip up.

“What?” I breathe.

“I was cleared. Turns out my sample was switched with someone else’s. I retested, and then the lab admitted the mistake. My retest came back negative. But I have to tell you, Kaplan, it means everything to me that you believed in me before you knew. I wanted to call you and tell you, but I just knew if I did, I’d blow the surprise that I was planning to come here.”

“ That’s why you haven’t called me?” I ask stupidly.

He laughs. “The first night when you called, I was at a bar, and it was too loud to answer. I thought about calling you back once I was home, but I didn’t want to wake you.” He kisses me again. “Thank you, Kelly,” he says, his voice low and raspy.

“For what?”

“For believing me. For believing in me. For waiting for me.”

Tears pinch behind my eyes. “Thank you, Austin.”

“For what?”

“For showing me how we come first to you.”

We share another kiss that starts to turn heated, and I pull back when my phone starts to ring. It’s my dad.

I pick up. “Dad?”

“I’m about ten minutes away,” he says.

“Okay, I still need to grab my suitcase. I’ll text you once I have it.”

“Sounds good. Sorry about the cancellation.”

“Thanks, Dad. I’ll see you soon.” I end the call before I ruin the surprise, and we turn to head toward baggage claim with Austin pushing the stroller.

I keep glancing over at him in a bit of shock.

He’s here. He’s really here.

It feels like it’s shaping up to be the merriest Christmas I’ve ever had.