Chapter Ten

Christmas Eve – Friday, December 24, 2004

Kayleigh's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she stared at the sight in front of her.

“Wooooooow,” she said. “Daddy, that's a big tree.”

He chuckled as he adjusted the last branch.

“You act like you've never seen a Christmas tree before, goofball,” he said.

“Mommy never had a tree this big,” she responded. “This tree is bigger than me!”

He paused. “Your last Christmas tree wasn't bigger than you?”

“No,” she said. “It sat on our table. Daddy, it was pathetic.”

As sad as it made him, he couldn't help but laugh at her tone and the way she dramatically shook her head as she jumped off the couch and walked away.

“Kayleigh, can you bring me those Christmas lights?” he asked.

She walked over to the box where the coiled rope of lights sat.

“Daddy, Uncle Justin isn't coming over for Christmas, is he?” she asked.

“Justin went home to Memphis for Christmas, to see his mom and brothers,” he said. “He won't be back for a couple of weeks. Why?”

She sighed, and he noticed that she rolled her eyes.

“Thank goodness,” she said. “Because Daddy – Uncle Justin is weird.”

He broke out into laughter as she grabbed the coil of heavy lights in one spot and lifted, making a heaving sound.

“Come on, use those muscles girl,” he said.

“I can't,” she said, her voice strained as she tried to lift the coil onto her shoulder. “It's...too heavy...”

He smiled, walking over to her and lifted the coil out of her arms with ease.

“That better?”

“Better,” she said, taking a breath. “How about you do the heavy stuff, Daddy? I need a chocolate milk break.”

He laughed to himself and shook his head as she smoothed down her dress and leggings and made her way toward the kitchen without even looking at him. Just as he had walked back over to where the tree stood and thrown the coil of lights down on the floor next to it, he heard a knock on the door.

“I'm coming,” he said.

He walked slowly to the door, glancing back to admire the handiwork on his tree before he opened the knob, surprised to see Rayne behind the door.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.”

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“The daycare closed down early today, and I figured that you could use a little help doing the decorations,” she said. “And...I wanted to see you.”

He smiled.

“Where's Kayleigh?” she asked.

“Decorated out,” he said, leaning against the door frame. “She insisted she needed a chocolate milk break, stat.”

She chuckled. “Good.”

Taking a step into the door, she moved toward him, smiling before she put her lips on his. His hand immediately moved to her cheek, brushing his thumb against the apple.

“Mmm,” she mumbled as she pulled away. “I've been looking forward to that all day.”

“You know, we'll have to tell her eventually,” he said, closing the door behind her as she stepped inside. “That girl of mine – she's smart. I'd be surprised if she hasn't already figured it out.”

“Yeah, but it has to be on her terms,” she said. “All of this...it's too new. If she gets too attached...”

“Rayne, she's four,” he said. “She's attached to a stuffed puppy and a favorite pair of pajamas. She'll get attached no matter what – or when – we tell her.”

“I just don't want this to end badly for her if things end badly for us,” she said.

“She's already attached to you,” he said. “And you won't admit it but you're attached to her, too. You're stuck with her. Unfortunately for you, that means you're stuck with me, too – no matter how you end up feeling about me in the end.”

She smiled. “I hate it when you're right.”

“Yeah, most people do,” he said with a grin.

“Miss Rayne!”

She looked over as Kayleigh appeared in the doorway, her chocolate milk and a frosted Christmas cookie in her hand.

“Kayleigh. Spoiling your dinner, I see.”

“Kayleigh, what did I tell you about the cookies?” Lance asked, as he had started trying to uncoil and untangle the string of lights.

With a guilty glance toward Rayne, Kayleigh broke into a smile.

“That they were for Santa Clause,” she said shyly.

“And?” Lance asked.

“And...not for me?”

“Oh, so you do listen,” Lance said.

Kayleigh giggled shyly, lowering her head.

“How can you be mad at a face like that?” Rayne said, smiling at him next to her.

“That's the problem,” he said. “I can't.”

Rayne chuckled.

“You're crafty, kid, you know that?” Lance asked, looking straight down at Kayleigh.

She only smiled, a smear of fresh, warm pink frosting covering the corners of her mouth.

“Go eat your loot and then clean up, you little thief,” Lance said.

Kayleigh put the cookie to her mouth and took another bite, skipping away towards the kitchen.

“I hope Santa decided to go on a diet,” Lance said as Rayne laughed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Those lights look uneven.”

Lance glanced over at Rayne.

“They're not uneven,” he responded. “Your head's uneven.”

He laughed as she used the back of her hand to slap him on the arm. The two of them had spent the past five hours at least working on the decorations throughout the entire house. Rayne had strung the garland around the winding staircase and hung the red velvet bows off the railing in intervals. Lance had finished setting up the tree and precariously twisted the strings of lights around the whole thing, forgetting to leave enough room for him to move without knocking over the whole setup, which provided some entertaining moments for Rayne and Kayleigh while watching him.

They had foregone twinkle lights outside the house due to the time constraints, but Rayne had added a pre-lit wreath to the door to add a bit of outside festivity and a string of lights inside around the windows. She had even taken it upon herself to grab a spray can of fake snow and artistically added it to the inside of his front windows, making it look “frosted” - which is something he never would have thought of himself. When he stood back to look at it all, he was surprised that even though he had gone so low-scale for decorations, being Christmas Eve already, that the house looked so nice and festive.

Rayne was pulling the stockings out of the box as he was preparing to light a fire, feeling a chill in the Orlando night air.

“They're not much,” he said to her as he watched her pull out each stocking. “I didn't have time to order any special, personalized, handmade crap.”

“I think they look nice,” she said as she looked at the white velvet flocked stockings, noticing the light scroll pattern in them. “There'll be plenty of time to order special, personalized, handmade 'crap',” she said, narrowing her eyes at him, “as you so eloquently put it.”

“The important thing is, at least we have stockings to fill,” he said, throwing another log into the fireplace.

He arranged the firewood carefully and picked up the long lighter, but before he flicked it to light the flame, he looked over at her, seeing her stare at the stockings.

“What's wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “Just...there's three stockings here.”

He paused. “Yeah, because there's three people here. Me, Kayleigh, and you.”

He saw her take in a breath.

“That is okay, right?” he asked. “I mean, I just figured...you and I...I guess I figured you might be here with us, for at least part of Christmas.” He paused again. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” she said. “No, you didn't do anything wrong, Lance. I just...I didn't expect it. It's all moving so fast, you know, and we just started seeing each other a couple of days ago. And I'm not even sure we're really seeing each other, you know? I mean I see you when you drop Kayleigh off, and when you pick her up, and we've kissed a few times, and we shopped for Christmas presents together but that was only once...”

“Rayne,” he said, smiling, “calm down. It's a Christmas stocking, not a marriage proposal.”

“I just keep thinking about Kayleigh,” she said. She sat the stockings back down in the box. “She's been through so much. She's just lost her mother, Lance. Her mother died. And now she's had two weeks to get to know her father. And here, I come along, and I'm just the teacher, but I'm around all the time, like...like...”

“Like a mother?”

She was surprised to hear him finish her sentence.

“Yeah,” she said. “Like a mother. I can't live up to that, Lance. I can't live up to being a replacement mother.”

“Rayne, nobody's asking you to,” he said. “No offense to you, but you could never replace Kayleigh's mother. Even if you wanted to; even if you tried.”

“I don't want her to get hurt,” she said. “I don't want to fall for you like this. Inevitably, it starts out hot and heavy. Then it cools. Then we get to know each other better and we find all kind of flaws in each other that we hate. Then the arguing starts, and we're bound to break up...”

“Whoa,” he said. “Give me a little credit here. A minute ago you weren't even sure we were together. Now we're arguing and talking about breaking up?”

“You have a reputation,” she said softly.

“And I'm not denying that,” he said, grabbing the stockings from the top of the box in front of her. “I've never denied to you that I have a reputation, and I've never tried to make myself look good, either.”

He walked over to the fireplace, arranging the stocking holders on the mantle as perfectly as he could.

“I've never denied having my fair share of one-night-stands,” he said, placing the stockings on each hook. “But unfortunately, it caught up with me in a big way. It was a wake-up call. It made me realize that I was living a completely unfulfilling life, and that I wasn't happy. I could have spent the past four years putting up three stockings for Christmas.”

He stepped back, admiring his handiwork, then looked at her.

“I'm done with that,” he said. “I'm actually ready to grow up, and have three stockings up, instead of one.”

“I just don't want any of us to get hurt,” she said softly.

“No one's going to get hurt,” he said, taking a step towards her. “I'm not stupid enough to let Kayleigh get hurt by my personal life. And I won't hurt you.”

“How do I know that?” she asked. “How do you know that?”

“I guess you don't,” he said. “But a few days ago, when I walked into my lawyer's office and walked out with a child I didn't know I had, I didn't know whether I would be a good dad; I had no idea whether I would work this out for myself or whether it would explode and crash on me in a pile of flaming embers. I'd have bet money on flaming embers, truthfully.”

She chuckled.

“But, I don't know,” he said, turning his head to survey the entire room, which was now dimly lit up by the color and sparkle of the twinkle lights on the windows, the fireplace, on the tree, and sparsely coiled around the railing of the staircase along with the garland. “It hasn't been so bad, and to give myself a little credit, I think I've done pretty good so far.”

“You really have,” she said softly with a nod. “I mean, at least nothing's exploded – yet.”

He smiled at her. “Faith. You don't know how things will turn out until you give it your best shot and put a little faith into it.”

“Faith,” she repeated.

The house went silent. She looked away from him and scanned her eyes over the sight in front of her. His house was nice to begin with; small and quaint surprisingly, considering his social and financial statuses, but cute, charming, and family-like despite his reputation as a bachelor. But with the house lights dimmed low and the glow of the Christmas lights and all the decorations put together, she couldn't help but feel warmed by the holiday feel.

“Well, everything's put together,” he said finally. “We've got about two hours before Kay's bedtime. What do you say to a Christmas movie, a book, a mug of cocoa for the little people, and maybe a glass of wine for the grown-up people?”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Be quiet!” Rayne harshly whispered. “You're going to get us caught!”

Lance looked down at her from the top of the staircase, peeking past the large boxes in his hands.

“I don't see you carrying any of these big, heavy boxes, boss lady,” he said. With the boxes he carried, he was precociously attempting to maneuver the staircase without tripping or dropping anything.

“I'm carrying my fair share,” she said, maneuvering herself the same way, with far smaller boxes. “One wrong step, one box falls, one big bang and Kayleigh is sure to wake up and catch us wrapping the presents.”

“I don't think I'm the one who needs to worry about tripping.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Maybe someone shouldn't have poured that second glass of wine,” he said, looking past the boxes to her.

She stepped aside to let him pass her on the stairs as he walked down to the safety of the floor, while she stood against the wall on the staircase, mouth widened.

“Are you saying I'm drunk?” she asked. “By the way, I didn't pour that second glass of wine – you did.”

“I didn't say you were drunk,” he said. “And by the way, I didn't say I minded if you were drunk.”

She scoffed when he looked up at her with a smile on his face as he set the boxes he had carried on the floor, next to the Christmas tree.

“Let's get started wrapping these presents,” he said, reaching up to take the boxes from her and set them with the others. “It's midnight already and you probably want to get to bed soon.”

She was hit with the sudden realization – she'd have to go home. It wasn't as if she didn't know it before, but after spending the entire day with Lance and his daughter transform the house into a winter wonderland, and then enjoying a movie, a book, and a glass of wine with the three of them before she helped Lance tuck Kayleigh into bed for the night...something about going home, to an empty house, didn't seem appealing.

“Um...yeah, I probably should head home after we wrap presents,” she said.

He smiled. “You don't want to go home, do you?”

She smiled back shyly. “No, I really don't.”

He turned and walked toward the entertainment center, opening the glass doors that held a stereo, and pulled a CD out of the holder it was filed in.

“Do you know what Dean Martin says?” he asked as he opened the case and popped the CD in.

“'I've been dead for almost ten years'?” she asked.

He glanced around, shooting her a look. “No, smartass.” He turned back around long enough to push a button on the player before he shut the glass doors.

Within a few seconds, an old-timey upbeat tune came from the speakers, and immediately recognizing it, she smiled and gently moved her hips to the beat.

“Baby, it's cold outside,” Lance said.

“I really can't stay,” she responded, flirting.

“Beautiful, what's your hurry?” he asked.

“My mother will start to worry...”

“Put some records on while I pour,” Lance half-sung as he reached down to the coffee table, pouring the last of the wine into their glasses to refill them.

“The neighbors might think,” she responded sing-song as she welcomed the glass he handed her.

“But baby, it's cold outside,” he said, gently clinking his glass against hers.

She smiled. “Well, maybe just half a drink more,” she said with a wink as she lifted it to her lips.

He took a drink and sat the wine glass back down on the table, reaching for a remote next to it. He turned the remote towards the stereo and pressed a button, and the volume of the song gently went down.

“I know Christmas is tomorrow--”

“Actually,” she said, glancing at the clock, “it's five after.” She smiled. “It is Christmas.”

“So then, it won't be cheating if I give you your gift now.”

She watched as he walked over to the tree, reaching for a small box on the very top of the stack, and picked it up.

“Lance, you--”

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “You don't need anything, you didn't get me anything, I shouldn't have, blah blah blah.” He smiled. “But nobody needs anything, I don't care if you didn't get me anything, and I did – so deal with it and just be quiet and open it.”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled as she set her wine glass back on the table and took the box from his hand. It was the only present that was wrapped, carefully in metallic silver paper with pink accents, and adorned with a silky pink ribbon and shiny pink Christmas bow on top.

She carefully unwrapped it as he watched. Once the box was free of its beautiful wrapping, she opened the top of the box and gasped when she saw what set on top of the fluffy white cotton – two bracelets, both pearls, one with a rhinestone-encrusted cross in the center, the other a charm that spelled out “love” in script, embedded with more rhinestones that caught the different colors of the Christmas lights as they hit it.

“Oh, Lance,” she said as she pulled them out of their packaging carefully. “Oh...they're beautiful.”

“Now don't get freaked out, because we've only known each other a few days and here I am, giving you jewelry,” he said. “Because they're not from some mall store that sells engagement rings and stuff like that. But I've seen you wear different pieces of jewelry, so I knew you would like it. I have a friend that sells jewelry online, and I've seen her make some beautiful things, so I went and asked her if she could make you something that was just for you, something special.”

“They're perfect,” she said as she let him place the bracelets gently on her wrist. “They're gorgeous.”

She held her wrist up and twisted it slowly, watching the colors from the twinkle lights hit the rhinestones in the bracelets, creating multicolored sparkles in front of her eyes.

Suddenly, having a stocking at his house didn't feel so awkward. As quickly as things seemed to be moving, even with both of them resisting getting so serious so quickly, it only seemed natural compared to a few days ago.

She knew she was falling in love with him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christmas Morning

“Daddy! Daddy! It's Christmas!”

Lance's eyes flew open when his bedroom door opened, banging against the wall behind it and Kayleigh came running to his side of the bed.

“Wake up, Daddy!”

He jumped up at about the same time that Rayne jumped up, pulling the sheets tight to her chest.

“Kayleigh, you're supposed to knock,” he said.

“What's Miss Rayne doing here?” Kayleigh asked.

Both adults looked at each other, trying to come up with an answer on the fly.

“Rayne and I just had...a sleepover, Kay,” he said.

“A sleepover?” Rayne whispered, and he shrugged.

“It's Christmas, Daddy!” Kayleigh yelled. “Come on! Get out of bed!”

She grasped the edge of the sheets tightly and pulled so hard that Lance and Rayne felt them move.

“Kayleigh! No!” he said, grabbing her arm before she could pull them off the bed. “Go downstairs and get a juice and a muffin. Give us five minutes and we'll be down so you can open presents, okay?”

“Can I have a cookie instead?” she said, smiling.

“Fine, just go downstairs,” he said, waving her off as she ran toward the door. “But don't you touch those presents yet, Kayleigh Jane!”

“Okay, Daddy!”

They held a breath as they listened to feet lightly pound down the stairs, releasing it when they heard the fridge door open.

“Caught red-handed,” Lance said with a smile.

“I shouldn't be here,” Rayne said.

“Don't leave just because of that,” Lance said. “Kayleigh is going to want you here, you know that.”

“Yeah, but it's not good for her – seeing you to have women in and out of your life like this,” she said.

“Who said you were on your way out?” he said, smiling as he leaned in and grabbed the back of her head, pulling her towards him.

When he placed an intimate kiss on her lips, she sighed in satisfaction.

“Kayleigh is just downstairs,” she said.

“She's my kid. She'll eat all those cookies before she ever stops at just one. We've got a good fifteen minutes,” he said as she laughed.

She let her head fall back onto the pillow as he kissed her, moving to the corner of her lips, then to her jawline, before burying into her neck.