The Twin's Christmas Gift: Reuniting Mom & Dad

Close Encounter

Ryan

I watched her speed walk out of the living room, chuckling under my breath at how cute she was for trying to hide her blush.

How could I not have noticed the flash of colour across her cheek and her neck when even something as little as a bat of her thick lashes catches my attention?

I could stare at her all day, every day, and still wouldn't get over how beautiful she was. Seeing her in person after so long, I wondered how I'd managed to keep myself away from her for so long. Now that she was near, I knew I couldn't bear the thought of leaving ever again.

Grabbing my briefcase off the coffee table, I followed after her a few minutes later, trudging up the familiar stairs as my large fingers skimmed over the bannister.

I hated that it took threatening to take custody of the twins for her to agree to my proposition. I could never take the children away from her; I'd rather die than do that to the mother of my children and the love of my life, but she didn't need to know that.

I stopped in front of what I suspected was the twins's bedroom. My eyes glued to the doorknob as my fingers itched to turn the knob and walk in.

We'd started decorating the twins's room into a nursery when we first found out about the pregnancy. Julia had been so thrilled to become a mother, but I was nervous as hell. I was afraid I'd make the same mistakes as my father with our child, but Julia helped me realise I was a different man from my father.

She believed in me, that I could be a better father to our child than my father ever was to me, and that was all I needed, but when we found out it were twins, it was Julia who panicked.

I was there to reassure her, making sure I was her support system and was present throughout all of it. Until that Christmas when our whole plan came to a screeching halt.

I sighed, shaking my head to get rid of those dark thoughts before backing away from the door and walking down the hallway quietly.

There were three other doors in the hallway; one used to be our bedroom, which I deduced was hers now, while the other was a conjoined room and then the spare bedroom.

The architecture of the house was Victorian, which was why the master bedroom had a conjoined room attached to it specifically designed for couples. I turned the knob and walked in when the door gave way.

The room was tidy, the walls a bland grey with only a single painting of a field of yellow sunflowers hanging on the wall.

The windows were closed shut, keeping the cold out while the white drapes were undrawn. I walked around the queen-sized bed, plopping down on the edge as I stared out the window, watching a tree branch sway gently in the wind.

Forcing my eyes away from the window, I kicked off my boots, hooking my fingers on the edge of a sock before yanking it off my foot. I did the same for my other foot and sighed in utter contentment when my feet made contact with the warm hardwood floors.

Unbuckling the black belt around my stomach, I shrugged off the red Santa costume top, leaving me with just the pants on.

Slowly I walked the short distance to the door separating my room from Julia's. Gripping the knob, I hesitated for a moment before pushing any hesitation to the back of my mind and turning the knob only to find it locked.

I scoffed, turning away from the door. Of course it was locked; why had I hoped that it wouldn't be?

***

I awoke with a start, blinking in confusion at the unfamiliar room before my brain pieced everything together. I sighed, sitting up from the bed to look out the window, noting it was still snowing out before picking up my phone I'd kept on the bedside table.

There were a few missed calls from my assistant and Damon, my friend. They were the only two, except Kathryn, who knew I was back in town, and I wanted to keep it that way for the meantime, at least until I started putting my plans in motion.

I made a mental note to return Damon's calls later before pulling back the covers of my bed and walking into the ensuite bathroom to freshen up.

When I was done with my morning routine, I walked back in with a white towel wrapped loosely around my hip bone and a smaller one in hand. A sudden shriek had my eyes snapping to the woman standing by my bedroom.

She slapped her hands over her eyes and quickly turned away, but not before I noticed the delicious scarlet blush creeping down her neck from her cheeks.

“For goodness sake, cover up, will you?” She admonished with her back still turned to me, and I chuckled deeply, smirking when I noticed her clench her thighs together in reaction.

“This is my bedroom, love, that you walked into without knocking, remember?” I teased her, tilting my head to the side as I watched her fidget on her feet.

“I knocked, but you didn't answer,” she countered quickly, her voice small, a stark contrast to her tone the night before, and I shrugged, using the small towel in my right hand to dry my hair as I leisurely walked towards her.

She squeaked when she felt the warmth of my close proximity and attempted to reach for the doorknob, but I was faster. I quickly turned her around to face me, and before she could realise what was going on, I had her back flat against the door.

She stared up at me with wide doe eyes that made me want to slam my lips against hers in a searing kiss until we both forgot what it was to breathe.

“W—what are you doing?” She stuttered, and I smirked.

“I wanted to get a closer look,” I murmured, my gaze glued to her plump lips; it seemed as though they were begging to be kissed so much so that I could almost taste her lips.

“What are you doing here?” I breathed, my gaze flitting back to her hooded ones and then back to her lips. She swallowed, the movement of her throat tempting as I fought the urge to bite and press kisses to the column of her neck until I left my mark for the whole world to see that she was mine.

“You. Breakfast,” she muttered in a broken sentence, her tone dazed, and I smirked, snaking a hand around her waist as I leaned down, noting how her breath hitched as my lips hovered dangerously above hers.

Moving past her lips, I pressed my lips softly to the shell of her ear, hearing her sigh and shiver in my arms.

“I'll be down in five,” I murmured, pulling away from her completely and taking a step back to watch the colour drain from her face when she realised what had just happened.

Almost immediately, her cheeks erupted in a shade of red, and she quickly turned, hightailing out of my bedroom and slamming the door shut behind her.

“Red is my new favourite colour,” I muttered to myself.

I chuckled, running my fingers through my wet hair as I turned away to walk towards the walk-in closet.

The next two months were going to be interesting; I just knew it.