Love Conquers All

Chapter Sixty-Eight

*** Hey Ya'll!! So sorry to have been MIA for a while. A lot of things have happened and we needed some time off. BUT we are back and I hope that you want to continue this adventure with us! ***

Ellie's POV

I skipped down the stairs and kissed Henry on the cheek. He had no idea what my surprise plans were either but he still loved me and was making four travel cups of hot chocolate as I asked him to.

"Ivy and JJ should be here soon," I tell him with a soft smile and he smiles back at me. He kisses my lips softly and I wrap my arms around him on the inside of his coat. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest. There were two weeks left until Christmas and I couldn't wait to spend my first holiday season with Henry. We were going to do actual Christmas here but then spend a couple of days with his family for New Years. I let go of Henry and skipped over to the door when there was a knock. Ivy smiles brightly at me.

"Hey. You guys ready to go?" She asks me and I nod my head. I handed them both a hot chocolate cup and take Jase from JJ. I check my watch and then walk downstairs with the two of them. Outside the apartment building was a horse-drawn carriage waiting for us.

"We're going to go look at Christmas lights and then come here, decorate sugar cookies, and watch Christmas movies," I tell them and Henry gets into the carriage and helps me in as well. I put Jase in my lap and he looked at the horse and giggled, clapping his hands as well. JJ helped Ivy into the carriage and it took off slowly. I rested my head on Henry's shoulder and sigh happily. I had been trying to get this together for two weeks and now it was finally happening. I thought I was going to explode from keeping the secret in. I hand Jase his binky when he starts to get a little squirmy. We go around mine and Henry's neighborhood, the park, and even Ivy and JJ's neighborhood. Jase fell asleep on my lap as we looked at all of the pretty houses with the Christmas lights. Henry had his hand on my knee the whole time and I expected it to be asleep when we got back to the apartment building but he took Jase from me with ease when we got out of the carriage.

"Thank you so much," Ivy tells the driver and he tips his hat at us and then trots off into the evening. "Let's go inside, I'm starving." She tells us and we go into the building. Once we were inside, I take the cookies I had baked the day before out of the cabinet along with the frosting tubes I had gotten. Henry gets the fireplace going and then takes Jase upstairs so that he could sleep in the crib.

"Do you guys want some tea?" I ask softly and Ivy nods her head at the same time that JJ shakes his. I put the kettle on and Henry comes back downstairs. He kisses my cheek and helps me finish setting up the tray of cookies. I lean against him and he wraps his arms around me. "We could take this into the living room." Henry takes the tray for me and I got the tea ready. "JJ do you want something else to drink?" I ask him softly and he sighs a bit.

"Do you guys have wine or beer or anything?" He asks me softly and I grab a couple of beers out of the fridge and take them into the living room, handing one to JJ and the other to Henry. I sat on his lap after handing Ivy her tea.

"Do you guys have any plans for Christmas Eve?" Ivy asks softly as I pick up a cookie to decorate. Henry rubs my back softly with his fingertips as I try and focus on what I was doing.

"Nope. We're staying in town. We're going out to England for New Years though. Going to spend some time with Henry's family." I tell her softly and put the cookie down, tucking some hair behind my ear. Henry had been super thrilled when I agreed to go to England with him for New Years. He had originally planned on going alone but he didn't want to leave me alone during the holiday season, even if it was after Christmas. I had been super excited when he invited me too.

"We were thinking about having a little get together at our house on Christmas Eve and even having like a slumber party thing with my parents and you guys if you want to come. We could open presents and stuff on Christmas morning and do that huge waffle bar like your dads used to do when we were kids." Ivy seemed really excited about it and I smiled a little. I looked at Henry and he half smiles at me and nods his head once.

"Yeah, we'd love to come." I smile and grab another cookie to decorate and take a small bite out of it. It was such a good night with the people I loved most.

Ivy's POV

I pull Jase out of his crib and he yawned widely. He rested his head in the nook of my neck and I headed downstairs. JJ was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. It was odd to see him doing normal things but I was grateful that he took the rest of the season off to be with me and Jase. There was less than a month left of the season but it was still so nice.

"Good morning my love." JJ smiles when he sees me and I put Jase down in his highchair. He fusses and squirms for a moment but then gets excited when he sees the mashed strawberries out of the fridge. I had made them for him last night so they would be ready for this morning. So far, they had been one of his favorites.

"Good morning," I tell him softly and sit across from Jase. Jase dances a little in his chair and I smile a little. I loved seeing him so happy. I started feeding him and he bounced a little and watched JJ. I fed him the whole bowl of strawberries and took it over to the sink to wash it. Jase rubs his face and starts sucking his thumb. I put it on the drying rack and ran my hand through my hair.

"Are you hungry babe? I can make you something to eat." JJ tells me softly as he wipes around Jase's mouth with a napkin. Jase hated napkins and always tried to fight me when I tried to clean his face but JJ was stronger than me and didn't mind making Jase a little upset to get his face clean.

"I can make my own breakfast babe. Thank you though." I smile a little and take the orange juice out of the fridge and JJ takes Jase out of his highchair. Jase fusses a little and tries to lean out of JJ's arms. I think he was just in a little mood this morning. I think he was still tired. "Ellie should be on her way over. I was thinking once she was here me and you could go for a walk around the neighborhood. Walks are good for pregnant women." I smile a little and rub my stomach. JJ walks over to me and plants a sweet kiss on my lips.

"We can walk to Jamba Juice and get some smoothies." He tucks some hair behind my ear and then goes to get the door when there was a soft knock.

"Hey JJ, hey Jase." I hear Ellie's soft voice and JJ comes back into the kitchen without Jase in his arms. Ellie soon follows, bouncing Jase carefully.

"So not to be a helicopter mom but I kind of typed and printed out Jase's overall day to day schedule for you." I hand it to her and she looks it over and balances Jase on one of her hips.

"This looks pretty general and normal to me." She smiles a little and takes Jase upstairs to give him a bath. I make myself some scrambled eggs and sit at the island to eat. JJ rubs my shoulders gently and I lean against him as I eat my breakfast. He really was the best husband in the whole world.