Every December [Soon to be Self Published]

Chapter 29

Lydia

"I look like a snow globe," I say to Austin. He's busy fiddling with the bowtie at his neck. The tuxedo jacket is hanging up in the doorway.

He turns to me and gives me a shit-eating grin. "Just shake your belly. See if any snow comes out."

"I'm pretty sure more than snow would come out." I smooth over the sparkly silver dress that had looked beautiful online but now makes me feel like a female Frosty with a chest that will never fill out up top so spectacularly again. "Can't we just stay home? It's New Year's Eve."

"Nope. Not this year. Lydian Hutton, this is your first New Year's Eve married to me." He runs his hands through his hair and grins. "You need an excuse to show me off. Show those other ladies what they missed out on."

"Your ego, for one."

A.J. walks over to me and my heart stirs. I still think of him as someone I simply rescued and not the professional athlete that he is. His hair is curled slightly around the ears, a gaze that makes me think of the warmth that his body gives off when we're in bed and all that height which towers over me, even now. He rests both hands on my belly, his gaze is on mine. "Do you want me to get out the snow mobile and pretend to need rescuing? That could get you out of going tonight."

A laugh escapes my mouth. "You're lucky I didn't let you freeze the first time."

His grin softens, reminding me how much he loves me. No matter his status as a professional golfer, he still gets this boyish look in his eyes when he's excited, like there's something forever innocent in him that his fame hasn't robbed him of, even if it's a side of him the press never sees. I see it. He turns and walks towards the bedroom door. "I got you something."

The bedroom looks different now. No longer the I'm-sulking-and-hiding-from-the-world A.J. but a space for both of us. Colors that are masculine and feminine and come together beautifully with soft ruffles and bold dark colors. We are at our house in New Hampshire on isolated acres outside of a small town. Everything from treetops to the ground is covered in snow and Christmas lights softly glow from the window.

The gala tonight is to raise money for underprivileged athletes, but we're told by his publicist, Kayla, that over two hundred guests are attending.

"Close your eyes," A.J. calls out. "No cheating."

Smiling, I cover my eyes, not having a clue what he would get me. We just had Christmas. Thump-thump-thump. Footsteps. A.J. adjusting something. "Okay, Hobs, open your eyes."

I drop my hand, my gaze finding a golf bag with clubs and a big white bow. "You got me my own clubs!" I walk over and run my hand over the graphite-colored bag. I'm still not a huge lover of the sport, and the pregnancy has made it impossible to play, but it's so much a part of A.J.'s life that I told him recently that if I had my own clubs I would put my heart into it.

"There's too much height difference between us for you to keep using mine." He takes out the driver and gives it an appreciative glance. "And I don't like to share, if you remember."

I hold his gaze, feeling the heat from how we first met and all those special moments that I will keep tucked away for rainy days. There is nothing sweeter than falling in love, but I when I realize how close we cut it to getting to this point I hold onto to those memories a little harder. "I remember. And now, if you're done admiring that club, we should get going." I slip into flats and give my hair one more run-through with my fingers as A.J. shrugs on his tuxedo jacket.

The house is still decked out for Christmas. Tomorrow A.J. and I will put our decorations away as we stay here a few weeks longer until our new home is finished. I turn the lights off as I walk down the hall and come down the stairs, taking in the entryway with the wreaths and garland that sparkle in the low lights. This place has gone from being an igloo to a home, and my heart pulls at all that time A.J. spent here alone with the walls and the roof and no real life going on inside except for his lonely heart--because A.J. was alone and now he's not. He taught me that loneliness is never forever, even if he thought it was.