Love, hate and everything in between

~Chapter 26~

On Christmas morning, Gabby was up bright and early. Only it wasn't so bright. It was 6:30 a.m and too early to wake up.

"Can't you wait just like 3 more hours?" James mumbled groggily as Gabby shook us both from sleep.

"No, daddy! Santa might take away the presents!" She whined.

"I think Santa's too tired to do that."

I hit him in the arm and pulled the covers away from both of us. Gabby sprung up and hopped off the bed, hopping up and down.

"Go ahead and head down sweetie. Daddy and I will be there in a sec." I said.

Gabby skipped off down the hall and down the stairs. James groaned and looked at me with his big, hazel eyes crying out for more time to sleep.

"Hey get used to it, babe. You got another coming along in 3 months." I threatened.

"And I'm so excited." He said, hopping up and coming over to me.

He laid a quick kiss on my lips before pulling me down the stairs with him.
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After Gabby had unwrapped all her presents, she fell asleep with wrapping paper scattered all around her. I went to the kitchen to pour myself some coffee when James came and took my hand and pulled me back.

"What?" I whined, trying to pull.

"Oh shush." He said.

He pulled me over to the fireplace and turned me to him. He looked me in the eyes and ran his thumb over my bottom lip.

"Merry Christmas, beautiful." He whispered as he planted a deep kiss on my lips.

When we both pulled away, he took the stockings down off the chimney and handed mine to me. I took it from him and reached inside. I pulled out a black velvet box and carefully opened it up. Sitting inside was a gorgeous diamond ring. I removed it from the box and held it up to eyesight, examining it with wonder. As I held it up I saw a line of writing inside the diamond. It read: "I still love you, like I will forever."

I looked over at him with tears in my eyes. I quickly embraced him in a hug and kissed the side of his cheek. I handed him the ring and looked up at him.

"Put it on me?" I asked, holding out my hand.

"Of course." He smiled, slipping the ring on my finger.

"Thank you. I still love you too."
He chuckled, "I'm glad, baby."
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"Mommy, can we get Gold Fish?" Gabby asked, holding up a box of Gold Fish.

"Didn't I just buy you some?" I asked her.

"I ate 'em all"

I chuckled, "Put them in the cart."

I pushed my cart around the corner and suddenly bumped into someone else. We both exchanged apologetic sorries and then saw who it was.

"Brooke?"

"Vanessa!"

We laughed and exchanged a quick hug. Not soon after did I see a man approaching. Blonde hair, dark eyes, tall. He was carrying a baby that didn't seem to look older than a month old. That's when I realized that Vanessa didn't have her baby bump anymore and the man wasn't Mark.

"Oh my goodness. You had your baby!" I exclaimed."

"I sure did. His name is Nick." She smiled, as the man handed her the child.

"And who's this?"

"This is Jackson. He's my boyfriend. I left Mark a couple weeks after you left. Then Troy kicked me out. So I met Jackson and had Nick."