Page 117 of Mad Love

“Oh…he’s using it to fall asleep under.”

We try not to laugh as we crawl toward him and move the workbench so Caleb’s not stuck under there. When Weston picks him up, his eyes open and then roll back.

“Is that enough Christmas cheer for you, little guy?” Weston asks. “I hear you. Let’s get you to bed.”

He holds Caleb in front of me and I kiss his cheeks.

“I love you,” I whisper.

I’m still sitting under the tree when Weston comes back a few minutes later. He moves me onto his lap again, but this time, both of us face the tree.

“Oh, wait. I think you forgot one thing,” he says. He looks back at the tree and nods. “Yeah, you definitely forgot something.”

He lifts me off of him and when he sets me on my feet, he says, “Warm.”

I laugh. “I’ve barely moved.”

He waves his hand likeget moving.

I inch closer to the tree.

“Warmer.”

I take a step to the left.

“Cold.”

I take a step to the right.

“Hot!”

I look at the floor and bend down to see if I missed anything.

“Cold.”

I stand back up.

“Hot.”

I giggle. I look at the ornaments and notice something new tucked in the tree. I pull out the envelope and wave it.

“You’re so hot,” he says, with his sexiest voice.

I grin and open the envelope and squeal when I see the tickets for Turks and Caicos, leaving when his football season is over. I look at the departure date again and then up at him, my eyes filling with tears.

“If it’s not the way you want to spend those days, we don’t have to go. And if you want your parents there with you, they’ll be on the same flight,” he says.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

Losing my sister will always hurt, but as with everything else in my life with Weston, the anniversary of her leaving this earth is tempered with something good too, even if it didn’t seem like it at the time.

It’s the day I met Weston, and the day Weston met his son.

Sometimes lately, I’ve wondered if I gained a guardian angel who’s been watching over me since the day I lost Sasha, giving me extra doses of happiness. I like to think so.

“I think this is a perfect way to spend the anniversary,” I tell him. “You sure did change my life, Shaw.”

He grins. “Not as much as you changed mine, Chapman. You turned me upside down and I don’t think I’m right side up yet. I’m exactly where I want to be.”