On the twenty-fourth of December, I woke up at the crack of dawn. I had so much energy that I didn’t even need coffee.
Next to me, Dom was sleeping soundly. I chastely kissed his chest before getting out of the bed as slowly as possible. I’d left clothes in the bathroom last night, anticipating that I’d wake up super early today. I’d always done that on the twenty-fourth and the twenty-fifth.
Today was a big day in my book. My tree was arriving in approximately two hours—not that I was counting. Then I could start decorating it. I’d packed my smaller fake tree back in its box yesterday.
Kimberly asked me more than once over the years why I didn’t put up the big tree earlier. But Mom had always put up the tree on Christmas Eve,
and I wanted to follow her tradition. Although, I was cheating with the small tree.
I went into the kitchen, staring at the coffee machine before deciding I didn’t need any. I was going to have a hot cocoa instead. It fit the holiday spirit, and I had a special recipe that included a few drops of vanilla extract and powdered cinnamon. It was like Christmas in a cup.
I opened the fridge and grinned as I took out the cream. Oh yeah. It’s not Christmas without a few extra calories. I had zero regrets.
I stared at Chicago’s snow-covered streets through the floor-to-ceiling condo windows as I sipped my cocoa, planning how I was going to decorate my tree.
About twenty minutes later, I heard sounds from the bedroom. I guessed Dom was waking up. I drank my last drops of cocoa and headed that direction. He was sitting upright in the bed, looking like God’s gift to me. I liked seeing him first thing in the morning when his eyes were tired with sleep.
“Morning,’ he said, moving to the edge of the bed. ‘How long have you been up?’
‘Not that long. I’ve had a hot cocoa.’
He made a come-here motion with his finger, and I immediately stepped between his thighs, putting my hands on his shoulders. I loved mornings like this so much.
He kissed my belly over my top and then rested his head there, breathing in deeply before looking up at me.
‘Come on,” I urged. “Hurry up. The tree is going to be here in about an hour.’
‘Okay,’ Dom said, climbing out of bed and heading to the bathroom.
He showered quickly, and then I did the same.
Back in the living room, I made an inventory of my tree ornaments. I could probably decorate at least three trees. I never managed to use all of them on one.
‘I still can’t believe I didn’t get my tree,’ I said with a pout, remembering that I’d missed the lottery and had to settle with a different one.
Dom put an arm around my waist, kissing the back of my neck. ‘There’s always next year, babe.’
‘I know, but I had huge hopes.’ I fidgeted against him, happy to have him here at my place. Ever since I bought this condo, it never felt like a proper home, but now it did.
The doorbell rang, startling us both.
‘It’s here,’ I practically screeched.
Thankfully, Dom pretended I hadn’t just acted like a two-year-old. With a smile, he said, ‘Let’s go bring in your tree.’
I opened the door, smiling from ear to ear. A huge tree filled the corridor. There were four guys carrying it.
‘Miss Reese Maxwell?” the one in front asked.
‘Yeah, that’s me. Come on in.’
Every year, I was afraid the tree wouldn’t get through the door. But this year, I was extra suspicious because the girth of it was even wider than usual. They carried it inside slowly.
‘My, my,’ I murmured. I knew it had to be bigger than the one I ordered. ‘What size is this?’ I asked one of the men.
“Fourteen feet.”
I gasped. ‘But I thought mine was ten.’
What if they’d accidentally delivered the wrong one and someone else was waiting for this gorgeous tree? I wanted my big-ass fir, but I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s Christmas.
Dom looked at me with a knowing smile.
‘You did this?’ I whispered as the men proceeded to the tree stand in the living room.
‘Yes.’
‘But how?’
‘I spoke to the owners of the nursery after I saw how upset you were when you didn’t win the tree you wanted, and they put me in contact with a few other nurseries. One thing led to another, and you got your tree.”
‘Just so you know, if we were alone, I’d show my appreciation in all the ways possible.’ But we weren’t alone, so all I did was step closer and give him a kiss.
‘That is the best Christmas gift ever,’ I said.
We watched them put the tree up. It involved two huge ladders that the men brought from their truck and lots of strength.
‘All right, ma’am. You sign here,’ one of the guys said after they’d successfully installed it.
I couldn’t stop staring—it was absolutely gorgeous. I signed absentmindedly, and then Dom went with them to the door.
‘I think I’ll actually be able to use all my decorations this year. Where to begin?’ I wondered as Dom returned. He was standing next to a pile of tree decorations, smiling at me. I had separate sets for the small and the big tree.
I put my hands on my hips. ‘Hey, don’t look at me like that. This takes a lot of strategy. I had a plan in mind, but that one’s no good anymore because the tree is larger.’
‘Only you could call decorating a tree a strategy. You want some pen and paper to make a sketch?’
‘You’re mocking me.’
He grinned. ‘No, not at all. Just want to make things easier for you.’
‘I’ll start with the red globes. I can’t go wrong with that. I’ll put all of them on the tree, then fill in the space with the golden ones.’
‘Sounds good.’
I blinked at him, batting my eyelashes. ‘Want to be my helper? I promise to be extra feisty later on.’
He chuckled. ‘I would have helped you anyway, but I won’t say no to that.’
I started putting on the biggest of the round ornaments. Dom was in charge of moving the huge ladder around the tree.
‘All right. This looks good,’ I said after the first round. ‘Let’s see what’s next.’
Dom cleared his throat. ‘I have one for you. It’s special.’
‘You bought an ornament?’ I was a bit stunned.
He nodded, handing me a beautiful box.
Oh, I was so excited. It had to be special if it was packed like this.
I carefully removed the lid, and my heart sighed. It was a hand-painted globe. I took it out of the box, carefully setting it on my palm. It had a pattern of red, gold, and white sprinkles that mimicked the snow. It was the strangest ornament ever, because it had a bit of a gap in the middle.
‘It opens,’ Dom said, correctly interpreting my confusion.
‘Why would it open?’
‘Let’s find out.’
I was curious and nervous now. I carefully unclasped it, taking off the upper half.
‘Oh my God,’ I breathed.
There was something inside—a ring with a gorgeous red stone in the shape of a rhombus diamond. It was absolutely amazing.
I opened my mouth, but my throat wasn’t working.
Dom took the lower part of the ornament from my hand and then lowered himself onto one knee.
‘Reese Maxwell, I can’t imagine my life without you.’ He took the ring out, setting the ornament on the floor. I was still clinging to the upper half, barely able to contain my immense happiness.
‘You have my love, Reese. My heart, body, and soul. You have every part of me, forever. On this day of the year that means so much to you, I want to ask you to give yourself to me forever. To trust me to make you the happiest woman for the rest of our days. To trust me to love you and take care of you.’
‘I do,’ I murmured, worried that no sound came out of my throat because it was so full of emotion. But Dom heard me. His eyes widened, just a bit, and his lips tilted up a lot more. ‘I love you so much, Dom. I’d love to be your wife.’
With a wide smile, Dom pushed the ring onto my finger. It looked even better there than it had inside the globe.
Instead of getting up, Dom pulled me down with a yelp, and we both lay on the floor. I grinned as he held me against him, then kissed him, deep and dirty.
I touched my ring finger with my thumb, feeling the band. I was so giddy and happy.
‘I’ll always remember this day,’ I told him, pulling back a bit. ‘When you gave me a huge-ass tree and this gorgeous ring.’
‘I see. So you value those equally.’ There was a glint in his eyes.
‘No, I didn’t say that. Just that I’ll remember both things with love.’
We both rose to our feet at the same time. Dom picked up the bottom half of the globe from the floor and gave it to me. I put it back together, then set it on the end table by the tree.
‘I can’t believe you proposed like this,’ I whispered, looking up at him. ‘You go out of your way to make everything special for me.’
‘I do, Reese. And I promise I’ll do it for the rest of our lives.’
I beamed, looking at the tree, then at the globe.
‘Where are you going to put it?’ he asked me.
‘I’m thinking right here, in the center. That way you can see it from almost everywhere in the room. What do you think?’
‘You’re the decorating boss.’
I nodded, smiling. ‘That’s right.’
I hung the globe, then took a step back ‘Well, I think this is it. This is the place for it.’ Turning to the rest of my decorations, I tapped my chin, considering my options. ‘Now, let’s see. Let’s go on with the golden ones.’ I spoke more to myself than to him, but he moved the ladder in the direction I pointed.
I had a flash of us doing this together with two, maybe even three little ones, and I smiled at the image as I went up a few steps on the ladder. I could see our future crystal clear, and I couldn’t wait to experience it alongside this amazing man.
