Here Comes Santa Paws (Christmas Falls: Season 2)

Epilogue

ELIAS

The next Christmas Falls Festival season

“Do you think we should put the giant candy canes in front of the porch pillars or angle them toward each other to make a heart in front of the tree?” I pointed to the tree in question at the far corner of the yard of the house we’d moved into over the summer.

We’d begun sleeping in the same place most nights after Christmas last year but had decided to hold off on making any official moves for a while. Both of us were nervous that Roman would get antsy—me more than him—and we wanted to hold out to find a place that would be big enough for our furry family.

We kept communicating, and miraculously, Roman was thriving in Christmas Falls. He’d made friends—some of mine, but also a group of his own—and managed to work with his supervisor to create a new dream position that gave him even more time to visit patients in their homes. He’d helped Gramps fully recover from his hip replacement and supported Nancy through a fractured foot after she accidentally tumbled down a couple of steps while chasing the puppy she’d adopted from Carol’s litter—the little bonded bestie to the puppy Gramps had adopted.

They’d moved into our old duplex and lived in Roman’s half while using my old place as Nancy’s quilting and crafting retreat. The woman had an entire bedroom full of fabric.

Roman, bless him, studied the front porch pillars and then the tree. I knew he’d let me decorate however I wanted, but his opinion mattered to me. As long as it wasn’t his Scroogey “no Christmas decorations” bullshit. Fortunately, he’d left that attitude behind last year.

When we’d driven up to the house to tour it over the summer, Roman’s first comment had been, “The yard’s big enough for the inflatable army of your dreams.”

Roman hummed, pulling me back to the moment. “The pillars. Then you can hang those giant peppermint candy ornaments from the awning.”

“You’re a genius!”

I stretched up to kiss him. His cheeks were red from the November chill, but he’d bundled up and spent the last hour helping me figure out where to put all the new decorations I’d bought. I had a full house to decorate now, not half of one.

Two hours later, after my indecisiveness and Roman’s patience, we stood on the sidewalk to study our accomplishments. There was so much to take in, like the red bows hanging above each window, blinking snowflake lights dangling from tree branches, and Santa’s legs jutting up from the chimney with his reindeer and sleigh to the side. It was everything I’d envisioned when we first set eyes on the ranch-style home a few blocks from our old duplex.

“What do you think?”

Roman wrapped his arm around my shoulders as Tinsel and Nutcracker chased Carol around the inflatable gingerbread house. “About whether they can see our house from the space station? I bet they can.”

I pinched his ass and laughed. “Scrooge.”

“Remind me to send a picture to Warren of the setup when it gets dark. He’ll love this.”

I was so glad that Roman had found his childhood bestie on Facebook earlier this year. They’d quickly resumed their friendship and made up for lost time. We’d had enough video chats with Warren and his partner that we’d decided to fly out to visit them in Dahlia Springs this summer. I couldn’t wait. I’d always wanted to visit Oregon.

“Though as we’re seeing it all together, it feels like something is missing.”

I looked between Roman and our house, which might actually be visible from space. “Missing? Like what? Santa and Mrs. Claus themselves?”

“I know just what we need.” Roman jogged over to his truck and lifted a tarp, pulling something from the bed, but I couldn’t see what it was.

“Need help?”

“Nah. Keep your cute butt over there. Nutcracker, quit provoking Carol. Carol, be nice.”

I snorted and watched the dogs ignore him. Our little blended family had its quirks, but the dogs napped on or around Carol more often than not. If it wasn’t for Roman’s logical arguments, our menagerie would’ve doubled in size from me keeping most of her puppies. He’d pointed out that I didn’t need to run a shelter at home too.

Fair enough.

“Close your eyes.”

It was an excruciating several minutes, but I didn’t want to ruin whatever the surprise was. I heard the familiar hum of an inflatable motor, but I wouldn’t let myself speculate beyond that.

“Okay. Open.”

It took a moment for the blur in my vision to go away. When it did, I took in the inflatable snow globe that had to be nearly ten feet tall. It had a backdrop inside with a snowy scene of Santa and a snowperson in front of a cozy cottage.

“You didn’t! Is that the one you can go inside of?”

Roman pulled away the backdrop and stepped into the globe to answer my question. “Evidence shows that I, in fact, did.” His voice was muffled through the plastic.

I ran over to him, slipped inside, hopped onto the inflatable base, and wrapped my arms around his neck. “You’re the best! Thank you!” I planted an enthusiastic kiss on him that inched toward NSFN—Not Safe For Neighbors—territory.

The sound was muffled inside the globe, but I heard a car approach. I was too distracted by Roman to worry about giving the passing neighbor a teensy show. Who could blame me?

A car door closed. Then, a second.

“Richard, snap a photo. You’re faster with your phone than me.”

Roman froze, broke the kiss, and gripped my arms.

Oh. Right. It was about time for my surprise.

I opened my eyes and found Roman staring at me.

“Surprise?” I bit my lips.

He looked through the plastic globe at his approaching parents. “Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?”

He gave me a bewildered smile before racing out of the inflatable and pulling his mom into a hug that lifted her petite frame off the ground. His dad clapped Roman on the back and Roman turned to hug him too.

“We’re spending the holidays with you and Elias.” Richard winked at me.

Roman turned his wide eyes toward me. “Thanksgiving and Christmas? Really?” He sounded like a giddy child.

“I’m so excited for you to take me to all the festival events. It starts on Friday, right?” His mom hugged him once more.

“Elias will make sure you see it all, I’m sure.” Roman’s smile was endearing.

I approached and pulled Ginny into a hug. We’d had a lot of secret conversations over the past couple of months while trying to plan this surprise. Once Roman and I moved, we had the space to host them, and it worked out that Richard was between jobs.

After I shook Richard’s hand, Roman pulled me close and kissed me. Fortunately, he cut it off before it got too awkward in front of my hopefully someday in-laws.

“Thank you. This is incredible.”

“You’re welcome. Now, let’s get them set up in their room.” I turned toward them. “You’re probably exhausted from the drive.”

“Is this why you’ve been frantically cleaning the guestroom?”

I nodded. “And why I wanted the decorations up today. Now we have room to put their stuff in the garage until they move to their next destination.” I gestured toward the U-Haul trailer attached to their SUV. Roman had been right. They traveled light when they moved.

Ginny hooked her arm through mine and followed me into the house. “Did you see his face?”

“He’s so happy. Thanks for doing this.”

She patted my hand. “Thanks for asking. It’s been far too long since we’ve gotten quality time with him. You don’t know what this means to us.”

“I’m sure it means the world to him too.”

We stepped inside and shed our winter gear.

“You’re good for him.”

My cheeks burned. “He’s good for me too.”

Ginny crouched when the dogs came rushing in to greet the newcomers. She cooed over each one—already familiar with them through our many video chats this year.

I looked back at Roman and heard Richard tell Roman how proud he was of him. I pressed my palm to my chest to try and hold the happy emotions there forever.

Ginny smiled at me, and in that moment, I could see that Roman had her nose and Richard’s smile.

Roman nuzzled my ear while his parents played fetch with my social dogs. Carol was already over it.

“When I agreed to foster Carol, I never expected to end up adopting four of you.”

A wide smile spread across my face. “Bet you’re missing your quiet life now.”

He shook his head. “Nah. Quiet is overrated. I’ve come to appreciate the light pollution, dogs barking incessantly, and my boyfriend singing Christmas carols before I’ve had coffee.”

I grabbed his hand, smiling at the love I could hear beneath his snark. When it came to Roman, I was fluent in Grinch.