Doctor Holliday (Doctors of Eastport General)

Chapter 20

Christmas Night

Keaton

“You’re sure?”

Lucy squatted down to plug the tree lights in.

“I’m sure.” She straightened slowly. “Callie stays with my folks a lot.”

“I’m sure she did when she was five.”

Lucy laughed softly. They had left Marty and Deanna’s a while ago to head home. Callie had stayed. She and her cousins were planning to go to Lucy’s parents’ house for a Christmas sleepover.

“They all did this a few years ago. Maybe when Cal turned sixteen. They wore footed pajamas. Slept on the living floor in sleeping bags. Mom made them breakfast the next morning.”

“You didn’t ask?—”

“I did not ask Callie to leave the house so you could stay over tonight.”

“Okay.”

“What about Ruby? Have you talked to her?”

“Earlier. When you were in the kitchen with your sister.”

“Do you want to call her?”

“Yeah.” He nodded.

Lucy gestured to the sofa where Keaton sat to make himself comfortable.

“I’ll be right back.”

Keaton nodded again and pulled his phone from his pocket. He dialed Alyssa’s number, chuckling to himself at Ruby’s suggestion that she should get her own phone.

“Hey,” Alyssa answered around a yawn. “Sorry. How’s it going? How was your Christmas?”

“Good.”

Lucy reappeared with an open bottle of wine and two stemmed glasses. With care, she set everything on the coffee table and looked at him in askance. When he nodded and patted the sofa, she sat beside him, curling one leg under her, and turned to look at him.

“Did you meet Lucy’s family?”

Lucy’s eyes lit up at Alyssa’s question.

“I did. Lucy’s here right now. Can I talk to Rube for a minute?”

“Sure. Hang on.”

“You told her you had Christmas with my family?” Lucy asked with a small smile.

“I did.”

“Good.”

“Hey, Dad.”

Keaton grinned. He missed the days when Ruby called him daddy, but he loved to hear her voice.

“Hey, Rube. How was it? What’d you get for Christmas?”

“Dad.” His daughter sounded exasperated. “It’s not all about getting presents.”

“Oh. It’s not, huh?” He quirked an eyebrow at Lucy. She leaned forward and scooted over to sit closer to him.

“No. We had cupcakes.”

“Oh.” He nodded. “Okay. Cupcakes do rank right up there with presents.”

“I got a new game console.”

Keaton didn’t love the idea, but Alyssa had told him she and her husband were getting the new game console for the kids.

“Sounds fun.”

“I got new jeans, too.”

“Cool.” Keaton put his arm around Lucy, breathing her scent in when she rested her head on his shoulder. “We still on for tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

“You’re helping me cook, right?”

Ruby’s robust laugh filled him with joy.

“Yep.”

“Okay.”

“Dad?”

“What?”

“Mom said you went to Lucy’s family Christmas.”

“I did.” Keaton held his breath, wondering if Ruby was going to have an issue with that.

“Well, is she going to come to our Christmas tomorrow?”

Lucy sat up suddenly and shook her head. Keaton frowned.

“I’ll invite her.”

“Okay! Love you.”

“Love you, too, Rube.”

He ended the call and tossed the phone on the sofa cushion.

“I can’t be part of your Christmas dinner.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s special. It’s just you two?—”

“I was at your family dinner.”

“Keaton, Ruby’s only ten. She doesn’t want to share her dad with…”

“With whom?” he asked softly.

Lucy worked her mouth as if she was trying to conjure up words, but she said nothing for a moment. When she finally spoke, she sounded uncertain.

“With the woman you’ve been dating. That’s not fair?—”

“Really? That’s all you are?”

“I’m the woman you’ve been seeing for a couple of weeks. Hardly family, Keaton.”

“That’s not fair,” he repeated her words back to her.

“What?”

“You shared your family with me, Luce.” He shrugged. “Let me share mine with you.”

“Ruby deserves all of your attention tomorrow.”

“And she’ll get it. But maybe.” He kissed her forehead. “She would love to spend some time with you, too.”

“Don’t force me on your daughter,” she warned.

“Lucy, you heard Ruby ask me if you would be joining us. I’m not forcing anything.”

Keaton cupped her face in his hand and rested his forehead against hers. A pain ripped through his chest when she squeezed her eyes closed.

“Do you not want to spend time with her?” he asked quietly. “Am I forcing you into something you don’t want?” She blinked her eyes open.

“Of course not,” Lucy answered sincerely.

“I know you don’t want more kids.”

“Keaton, I don’t want to have another child of my own,” she corrected him. “I would love to get to know Ruby better. I’m just scared.”

“Of what?”

“This.” She shrugged.

“This? Ruby?”

“Falling,” she whispered. “Falling so fast and so out of control.”

“I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“I just don’t want your daughter to get hurt.”

“Then join us for dinner tomorrow.”

She laughed softly.

“It was a Christmas miracle, you know.”

“What?”

Keaton pulled her into his lap. The wine bottle and glasses stayed forgotten on the coffee table.

“You delivering that baby.”

“The baby was the miracle,” she argued. “Me delivering her was my job.”

“Maybe.” He looked up at her as she straddled him. “But if it hadn’t been for the baby, for Logan demanding I not call 911, for you coming to help, we wouldn’t have met.”

“And that’s your Christmas miracle?” she asked with a smirk.

“Qualifies.”

“Ruby’s lucky to have a dad like you.”

“She is.” He grinned.

“What will you do for dinner tomorrow?”

“Hot dogs.”

“Seriously?”

“Dead serious. Hot dogs. Chili sauce. Homemade French fries. Rube salts the fries when they come out of the fryer.”

“You’re for real?”

“Absolutely.”

“Know what I’m hearing?” She quirked an eyebrow and sank her teeth into her lip.

“Tell me.”

“You won’t have to work that hard tomorrow.” She leaned over to press a kiss to his forehead. “Therefore, you don’t need all that much sleep tonight.”

“Sounds like you have something in mind.”

“Oh, I do, Keaton Thatcher. I have a lot of somethings in mind.”

Keaton tipped his head up to meet her lips with his. They shared a deep, slow kiss before Lucy pulled away from him to meet his eyes.

“Interested?”

“Only if we can start right here by the Christmas tree.”

“Funny. That was one of the somethings I had in mind.”