The Snuggle is Real (Christmas Falls: Season 2)

Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

Ford

“Santa Claus is comin’ to town!” Charlie wailed in the hallway at the top of her lungs.

I groaned and buried my head under the pillow. Beside me, Mason laughed.

“He’s making a list!” Charlie carried on. “And checking it twice!”

Mason sat up and belted out, “Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice!”

There was a shocked silence at Mason’s outburst, then our bedroom door banged open and Charlie rushed in. “You’re awake! Get up! Santa came. There’s presents!”

She jumped onto the bed. Luckily, Mason and I anticipated that move and we were dressed in underwear and T-shirts. Mason grabbed her up in a hug, then flopped her between us and tickled her tummy.

I joined in on the antics, making her squeal and wiggle.

“Get up, get up!” she exclaimed, squirming down the bed and to her feet. “It’s Christmastime.”

“Okay, give us a minute, Charlie girl. We need to get dressed, and your mom will want to come over.”

“Where did she go?” Charlie fidgeted with the edge of the comforter. “I thought maybe she left.”

“She’s at Dottie’s. She wouldn’t leave town without saying goodbye.”

Charlie nodded once. “I guess.”

“But hey,” Mason said in a bright voice, “your mom’s staying for the rest of your Christmas break. You won’t be leaving anytime soon, okay?”

She brightened. “Really?”

“Yep.” I rolled out of bed, scooped her up, and carried her over to the door. “She’s got to get a few things in order before she’s ready to leave. So let’s enjoy Christmas, okay?”

She grinned. “Okay.”

I set her down in the hall and gave her a little nudge. “Go get dressed, and I’ll call your mom and Grandma Dottie.”

Charlie ran back toward her room, and I shut the door. Mason grabbed his duffel and pulled out navy blue sweats and a charcoal college hoodie with the yellow Mizzou logo on it while I called Dottie’s place and invited the women over for coffee and presents.

I dressed in sweats and a T-shirt, then snuck up behind Mason while he was smoothing down his bedhead. I nuzzled into his neck and glanced at his reflection in the mirror on my bedroom door. “You look like a hot college boy in these clothes.”

“Naughty, Mr. Donnelly,” he teased. “I’d be much too young for you.”

I groped his firm ass. “Mm, but thankfully you only look the part and I can do this.”

“Dad!” Charlie called from the hallway. “Hurry up!”

With a defeated groan, I dropped my hands and we made our way to the living room. Charlie was beaming down at the dollhouse.

“Look what Santa brought!”

She dropped to her knees and immediately crammed her stuffed grinch dog into the living area, where he loomed like a gigantic monster.

I slung my arm around Mason’s shoulders, keeping him close. “Wow, Mase. Look at what Santa did.”

“Pretty amazing,” he agreed, meeting my eye. “Which reminds me…Santa also left us some morning treats.”

“Did he?”

“Mm-hmm.” Mason slipped into the kitchen and revealed a basket of cinnamon rolls, banana-nut muffins, and snickerdoodles. “We can have them with coffee.”

The front door opened, and Dottie called out, “Merry Christmas, boys!”

LuAnne stumbled in after her, looking bleary-eyed and half-asleep. “Coffee?” she croaked.

“Making it now,” I said, turning to measure grounds while Mason passed out breakfast rolls.

Charlie was vibrating with energy. “Can we eat and do presents at the same time? Please ?”

“Sure, sweetie.” I ran a hand over her hair. “Just let us get everything situated. You want a cinnamon roll or a muffin?”

“A cookie?”

I considered it, glancing toward LuAnne with my eyebrows raised. She shrugged. “Whatever, it’s not like a cinnamon roll is healthy either.”

“Fair point.”

I handed Charlie a snickerdoodle, finished brewing coffee for everyone, and we headed into the living room. Dottie took the recliner in the corner, and I sat on the couch with Mason on one side and LuAnne on the other.

There was only one stocking filled with little trinkets for Charlie. She went through that first while we all sipped our coffee and nibbled the baked goods.

Once that was done, she searched through the presents until she found one addressed to her. “This is from Mason.”

She tore off the paper and squealed with excitement. “It’s one of the puppy-dog paw ornaments like we saw at the Christmas Tree Festival!”

“It is,” Mason said with a grin. “That’s actually Peppermint Bark’s paw imprint, so you’ll never forget him. But there’s some other things in the box. Keep looking.”

“Peppermint Bark?” LuAnne said, confused.

Dottie leaned over. “Mason’s dog. Charlie fell in love with him. You’ll meet him later at Mason’s place.”

“Oh, I don’t know if I’m going. I don’t want to intrude.”

“Please come,” Mason said. “I have some family in from out of town, and they don’t know anyone else here. My mother is making a big meal, and she’ll love having you.”

LuAnne hesitated. “Really? I mean, I’m Ford’s ex-wife. You can’t really want me around.”

“You’re Charlie’s mom,” he said. “Of course I want you to spend Christmas with her.”

My heart swelled. Was it any wonder I loved this guy? I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

LuAnne watched me, brow furrowed. “I guess…if you really don’t mind, I could come by for a little while.”

“We’d love that,” I said, knowing it was true. Mason wanted to include her because he loved Charlie.

Charlie pulled a little stuffed dog out of the box from Mason. It had Pepper’s coloring, and she hugged it to her chest. “Oooh, he can be friends with my grinchy dog!”

“Good idea,” Mason said with a pleased smile.

Next, Charlie found the note he’d included, which she read aloud: “A donation has been made to the Santa’s Helpers Animal Shelter in Charlie Snow’s name. Wow! So cool!”

It was just like Mason to do some extra good with his gifts.

She hopped up and came over to hug him. “Thank you, Mason! I’m so glad we’re helping the other cats and dogs at the shelter too. Maybe they’ll get a Christmas treat with that money?”

“Maybe they will,” he said with a chuckle.

“There’s a bag there with some gifts from me and your mom too, honey,” Dottie said.

Charlie carefully hung her paw ornament on the tree, then dug through the bag from Dottie, pulling out knitted scarves, mittens, and even a lap blanket—all clearly made by Dottie, but one with a tag from LuAnne.

LuAnne shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t have much I could give her, coming straight from…”

“She looks happy to me,” Mason said.

“Yeah,” LuAnne said, sounding bemused. “She really does. You two sure spoil her.”

“Nah,” Mason said. “She’s such a good kid. She deserves it.”

LuAnne bit her bottom lip, looking conflicted. I could almost read her thoughts. If this was what Charlie deserved, then had LuAnne been failing all these years?

Mason didn’t mean it that way. He would never even think something so hurtful. But I thought maybe LuAnne needed to hear it, anyway.

Because Charlie wasn’t happy about the amount or price of the gifts given. Heck, she’d loved that paw ornament as much as she’d loved the dollhouse that had taken me all season to save for—and maybe that was a lesson to me and LuAnne both.

Charlie’s happiness didn’t come down to money at all, but care and attention. She loved our gifts because we cared enough to give them—and wasn’t that the point of Christmas, after all?

It was late that night before I had the chance to give Mason his gift. This morning had been all about Charlie—and this afternoon we’d spent hours stuffing ourselves with delicious food and playing board games, then stuffing ourselves again.

Dottie and Vera had taken LuAnne under their wings, making her feel welcome as they sat at the table sipping coffee and nibbling on pie, moaning about all the holiday pounds they were putting on while shoving more calories into their mouths.

All day, I’d watched LuAnne’s face, searching for a sign of whether she’d ever agree to let Charlie stay, but I just couldn’t tell. She’d smiled a lot more than I remembered, though, like maybe she enjoyed the day as much as we did.

But now, I just wanted some alone time with the man who’d stolen my heart for Christmas.

I dug in my closet and came out with the present I’d stashed there a couple of days ago.

“It’s not much,” I said, handing over my gift. “I, uh, was saving for that dollhouse, so…”

He tore into it with a grin, then exclaimed with excitement. “Ford, this is too much.”

“Nah, it’s barely anything.”

Mason gazed down at the magnetic marker board he’d just opened. Across the top, I’d written Honey-Do List in red erase marker.

Below that I’d added:

Refinish bedroom floors

Strip wallpaper in second guestroom

Clean out gutters

There were a few lines where he could add extra items, too.

“I can’t offer you much, but I can do this,” I said. “Anytime you need help around the house, just write it on the list. You can erase and add new things whenever you like. Those were just a few things I thought I could start with.”

“Ford…” He stared at me hard, then lunged forward to kiss me.

He drew back, then grabbed the marker and wrote something on the list.

“This is what I really want.”

I bent to read it, and my heart jumped into my throat. In cute, bubbly handwriting, he’d written: Move in with me.

“It doesn’t have to be tomorrow or anything,” he said quickly. “But if you’re going to fix the whole place up, then it should be your place too.”

I met his gaze. “You’re serious? You’re not just asking because you think I’ve earned it by refinishing your floors or something?”

He grinned. “I’m serious. I want you to live there. Charlie too, of course. If, uh, if…”

“If she keeps living with me,” I said. “With us, that is. Because my answer is yes, of course. I’ll have to check in with Dottie, still. She doesn’t have anyone else, and she doesn’t get out enough on her own.”

“Of course you should,” Mason said quickly.

“And I’ll be able to cover my share of the bills,” I said quickly. “Griff told me old Mr. Jones is officially retiring next year. He offered me the handyman position if I want it.”

Mason’s eyes softened. “I wasn’t worried about that. You’re too determined to ever do anything else.” He smiled. “That’s great news, though.”

I pulled him into a kiss. “Thank you for asking me, sweetheart. I couldn’t ask for a better gift.”

Before I could properly show my appreciation, he pulled away and dug through his duffel. “Actually, I’ve got a real gift for you too.”

“You shouldn’t have.”

He handed it to me. “It’s just something I thought you might enjoy.”

I tore open his much neater wrapping paper, revealing a photo album. Family Memories was embossed on the leather cover and surrounded by red flowers.

I opened the cover to see a photo of Charlie with Santa from that day in the park. Then onto the next, where there was a snapshot of me crouched down next to the tree we’d cut down at the Milton Falls Christmas Tree Farm. Photo after photo of me, Charlie, or the two of us together around town. Us drinking cocoa. Charlie wrestling with the dog. Me hugging her tight.

“This is…” I turned to the last page, where there was a copy of the selfie of the three of us with our snowman. “Sweetheart, this is…”

I couldn’t seem to get the words out.

“Too much?” he asked. “I shouldn’t have put myself into your family memories. I just?—”

I grabbed his chin and kissed him hard. “You are my family now, aren’t you? You asked me to move in.”

“Yes,” Mason whispered, cheeks pink but eyes full of an unmistakable affection. “But if it’s too soon for you, it’s okay. I just, I feel so much. I can’t help it. I’ve never been able to help it when it comes to you.”

I set aside the gifts, then pushed him back onto the bed, laying my body overtop his. I linked our hands above his head. His breath quickened as I pinned him with a searing look.

“You’re my real gift, sweetheart. You’re mine, and I’m going to hold on to you. I love you.”

I kissed those lush lips, and he sighed and melted into the bed beneath me.

“I love you too,” he murmured.

Suddenly, there were too many clothes between us. I levered up so I could shove up his shirt, pressing open-mouthed kisses up his stomach to his chest. He struggled out of his shirt while I worked his pants and underwear off until he was naked beneath me, his rosy cock curving up, already moist at the tip.

Ready for me.

I licked his cockhead, making him jolt, then sucked him deeper into my mouth, just holding him there, absorbing the taste and weight of him on my tongue.

Mason buried his hands in my hair.

I glanced up, our eyes meeting above his naked body, and I sucked him slowly, savoring every squirm, every whimper and whispered curse, smugly satisfied to watch the blush spread across his skin as he unraveled beneath me.

“Ford,” he gasped. “Please.”

I knew what he wanted. What he needed. I pulled away to shuck my clothes and grab supplies, and then I was pressing inside him. First with two fingers, but soon with my cock, sliding into his body, heat and pressure overwhelming my senses as his body wrapped around me, holding me tightly as if he never wanted me to be anywhere else.

I stroked in and out of him slowly, taking my time, kissing every inch of skin I could reach. His beautiful mouth, the tip of his nose, his collar bone, his shoulder, his nipple.

Mason rolled his hips, taking me as deep as he could, mewling softly in his attempts to remain quiet in our smaller house. I loved that he couldn’t stay silent, that he sounded so needy as I pressed as deep as I could inside him, as I caressed his thighs and ass with my hands, reveling in his strong but soft body.

“Please, Ford,” he begged. “Please.”

“Please what, sweetheart?”

“Touch me. Make me come. I can’t wait. I need—” He cut off with a choked gurgle as I took his dick in hand and jerked him in time with my thrusts. He moved his hips faster, panting, desperate, and suddenly I was right there with him.

My hips moved of their own volition, speeding up, starting to pound him hard as I jerked his dick frantically, my climax bearing down on me.

“Now,” I muttered. “Come with me.”

“Yes, yes.” He gasped and arched, cock shooting over my knuckles, and I came with a long, drawn-out groan.

We held each other, quivering with aftershocks as our bodies calmed down. Eventually I raised my head enough to look at his flushed face, glazed eyes, and messy hair.

“Merry Christmas, sweetheart. I really liked my gift.”

He grinned, those beautiful lips stretching wide. “Me too.”