“Awe . . .” Margot muses. “Do you still go wild with the tinsel?”
I shake my head, sadly. “Donovan and I don’t really do the whole decorating thing. We’re both so busy with work all the time.”
“Quality time with the one you love is still important though,” Margot says, softly. “For instance, we have a very special Price tradition with our Christmas trees. We have a wish tree.”
“A wish tree?” Stacy echoes, arching an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
Margot’s hazel eyes gleam. “It’s exactly what it sounds like. You write a wish and hang it on the tree. I dub you all honorary Prices. Want to give it a go?”
“Yes!” I say, the word slipping from my lips before I have a chance to think twice about it. When Margot and Stacy both look at me curiously, I shrug. “What can I say? Sometimes a girl needs a Christmas wish.”
Stacy Davis
I stare at the small piece of paper in front of me, biting the end of my pencil. While Chloe had a wish ready to go, I'm a little less certain about what I want to write down. After all, I only get one Christmas wish, and I want to make it count.
Eventually, smiling to myself, I press the tip of my pencil against the paper, leaving swirly, swooping letters perfectly aligned from my experience writing on whiteboards.
When I'm done, I inspect it one last time.
Please let me be a good parent.
PS - don’t let my baby have Jake’s giant NFL genes!
I’d finished the wish with a desperate, oversized exclamation just so that Santa or whoever checks these wishes knows how important it is. If Jake wants me birthing a whole football team, I was gonna need all the help I could get.
Chloe, who’d retreated to a nearby coffee table to write her wish, moves past me toward the wish tree where she delicately hangs her ornament. She stands for a moment, staring at it as though she could imbue it with extra power. As I glance over my shoulder, watching her, I suddenly feel very silly about my own wish.
I came out here to focus on anything but my pregnancy and the fears of the future, but I still haven’t been able to shake them—especially when Jake is suddenly talking about having lots more babies. I know he was joking about having enough kids to have our own football team—or at least, I hope he was joking—but it’s terrifying, nonetheless.
I still can’t believe he’s thinking about more kids. We’d never even talked about having one, let alone more than that. And if one baby is making him want to move out of the city, what’s a football team of little rascals going to mean? Moving to Ohio?
I take a deep breath and close my eyes until this little spell of dizziness dissipates. Panicking accomplishes nothing, I remind myself. I feel calmer after some deep breaths. I guess it’s a good thing this pregnancy just happened, or I have a feeling I never would’ve been ready to take the leap.
Like Margot implied, there’s never a good time to have a baby, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be a much-loved surprise.
I guess I just kind of assumed between Ryan and this new baby we’d be done.
Having one NFL-sized baby is scary enough—let alone multiples!
But it’s too late to worry about that now, I suppose.
I take one last deep breath and finally roll up my wish, slipping the paper into a clear ornament. As I head toward the wish tree, I catch sight of Ryan and Ava standing back to admire the decorations they’d added to the already dazzling trees. Ryan is smiling, though looking a little sad now that all the ornaments have been put up.
Poor kid. I didn't realize not decorating a tree would be so rough on him. I’ll have to talk to Jake about it. How hadn't we realized that would mean something to him? Ugh, is this foreshadowing our future parenting?
Leaning forward to hang my wish, my eyes catch on familiar handwriting on a wish just below the spot I’d been eyeing.
It’s Chloe’s handwriting. I recognize the small, meticulous print. Intrigued, and maybe a bit nosy, I lean closer to get a peek at it. Maybe I can help Santa make my best friend’s wish come true if I know what it is.
However, what I see makes my whole body tense.
I wish to set a wedding date.
The writing is simple and flat. And she hasn’t even bothered to coil up her paper. It’s like she wants me to see it. Or maybe she wants Donovan to see it.
But what does she mean?
She and Donovan are already engaged. Obviously they’re getting married at some point, right?
Biting the inside of my cheek, I hang my own wish in place and glance over my shoulder at Chloe. She’s chatting with Margot in the lobby as they wait for the cookies to come out of the oven.
The whole lodge smells wonderful thanks to our baking, but suddenly I'm entirely disinterested in the cookies. I think back to Chloe’s strange behavior since we caught up at Club Thorn. Her wish explains so much!
I hadn't realized Chloe was even stressing about her wedding, but there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s Donovan holding up the show—not that he probably realizes it.
He’s usually more focused on the immediate future than Chloe tends to be.
I’ll have to talk to Morgan about it. Maybe somehow, she and I can come up with a plan to get through Donovan’s thick business-focused head.
Besides, helping my friend’s love life will be just the thing to keep me from stressing about birthing a football team for the love of my life.
Laughter drifts in from outside the lodge, pulling my attention toward the front door just before it’s thrown open.
“Greet your snowmobile Christmas queen!” Morgan announces, enthusiastically. She inhales deeply. “Are
