"Mommy!"
Rain looked up from what she was doing and saw Alexander sprinting into her bedroom.
"I see you're ready for dinner," Rain said with a smile, opening her arms to give him a hug.
He nodded quickly, trying to catch his breath. "Jonathan won't wear his pajamas," Alexander said, once he had collected himself.
"Well that just won't do," Rain said with a frown. "Let's go see if we can convince him."
They raced each other through the manor down to the nursery to find Jonathan putting on his pajamas begrudgingly.
"What's going on?" Rain inquired breathlessly, glancing at Sunny who was sitting on the bed with a smug smile on her face.
"Sunny threatened to cry if I didn't wear them," Jonathan muttered angrily.
"Because I know the surprise! And you'll ruin it if you don't wear them!" Sunny clambered down from the bed pouting.
Jonathan's expression softened and he patted Sunny on the top of her head. "Don't be sad, Sunny. I'm wearing them. But only for you."
She beamed up at him and it took everything in Rain's power not to burst out laughing. "Okay, if you guys are ready, let's go see the surprise!"
Adam was waiting outside the nursery sporting the same irritated expression Jonathan had been wearing a few minutes earlier. This time Rain couldn't help herself and she dissolved into a fit of uncontrollable giggles.
"What's so funny?" Adam asked through his teeth.
"You...can't be so...hostile while you're wearing...reindeer pajamas," she managed to choke out between laughs.
"That's it. I'm changing," he announced and turned on his heel.
"Wait! Wait. I'm just teasing. I'm sorry."
He hesitated.
"I'm wearing the same thing so at least I look equally ridiculous."
"Rain, why are we even wearing these pajamas?"
"It's a surprise!" Sunny shouted, leaping into his arms. "Please don't be sad at mommy." She batted her long eyelashes at him and he relented, planting a kiss on her forehead.
Rain rolled her eyes. These Canmore men were so easily manipulated.
Dinner went by quickly and soon Noah came to get them.
"Miss Dae? Everything is ready."
"Alright!" Rain said clasping her hands together with a grin. "We're going down to the drawing room where many surprises await you. Last one there is a rotten tomato!"
A few minutes later, the happy group arrived at their destination and Sunny squealed in delight as she pushed open the double doors.
"Surprise!"
Emily and Grace were standing by a fifteen-foot tall Christmas tree surrounded by decorations. There was a table in the corner with hot chocolate and something called vin brule that Noah had insisted upon.
Adam, Jonathan, and Alexander were confused.
"What's going on?" Adam queried.
Emily was the one to answer. "We're decorating for Christmas!" She and her mother were also dressed in the reindeer pajamas.
Alexander and Sunny were beside themselves with excitement, talking over each other about how to start decorating. Jonathan quietly followed them over to the tree and greeted his grandmother and aunt.
"Well?" Rain nudged Adam. "What do you think?"
His expression was neutral and difficult to read. He took a deep breath and smiled. "It's very nice, although I wish you would have discussed it with me before you decided to invite my mother and sister."
She scoffed. "If I had discussed it with you, you would have said no."
Adam leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Precisely. Don't worry though, you can make it up to me later."
Rain turned toward him with a scowl. "Make it up to you? How?"
"Oh, I'm sure you can think of plenty of ways," he replied, his eyes raking over her body in a way that made her shiver with glee and anticipation. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I have to greet my family."
********************
"So it isn't Santa who comes down the chimney here?" Sunny asked, cuddling into Grace's side, almost knocking over her mug of hot chocolate in the process.
"No, sweet one," Grace replied with a twinkle in her eye. "Legend has it that one of his elves named Antoni does the hard work for him."
"And we don't leave out milk and cookies?"
"No, we leave out hot chocolate and biscotti. It's an old Andalian tradition."
Rain smiled wistfully watching her daughter with Adam's mother. It made her miss her own mother and father. She glanced over to the other side of the room where Adam and Emily were whispering in rapid Italian. Emily must have sensed Rain watching them because she looked over and made eye contact with a smile before joining Grace and the children in front of the fireplace.
Adam beckoned for Rain to follow him into the hall.
"What was that all about?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Okay," Rain replied, rolling her eyes. Obviously it wasn't "nothing" but she wasn't going to push him.
"Thank you for putting that together," he said quietly. "The children...and I really enjoyed it."
Rain blushed and tucked a loose hair behind her ear. "It was no problem. I was feeling a bit homesick and this helped."
"Christmas is important in your family?"
"Absolutely! Every year on Thanksgiving, I would wait impatiently for everyone to finish dinner so my dad and I could put up the tree. I always got to sit on his shoulders to put the angel on the top of the tree. Then we'd put on silly pajamas and take family photos before watching The Santa Clause."
Adam took her hand and led her toward the gardens. He nodded with a frown, seemingly deep in thought.
"What's wrong?" Rain asked after a long silence.
"What? Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about the Christmases of my childhood. They certainly weren't anything like yours."
Rain took a seat by the fountain and gestured for him to join her. "What were they like?"
"The servants did all of the decorating for one thing. On Christmas Eve, Emily and I would sneak down to the kitchens to help with the biscotti for Santa Claus. At least we did until I was about 13 years old."
"What happened then?" Rain probed gently.
"My father caught us and punished me. He told me that I was too old for such childish things." He ran his fingers through his dark locks with a sigh. "I haven't celebrated Christmas since then."
Rain gasped. "You haven't celebrated Christmas since you were 13? What about the rest of your family?"
Adam shrugged. "They still gathered on Christmas Day to exchange gifts but I never joined them. I stayed in my room reading."
"And what about since you've had the boys?"
"Mrs. Schmidt and Rebecca usually do something with them," he replied quietly.
Rain didn't know how to reply to that. So she didn't. Instead, she rested her head on his shoulder, and they in comfortable silence, listening to the quiet trickle of the fountain.
After a while, Adam turned to Rain and tipped her chin toward him, pulling her in for a gentle kiss. "I really...love spending time with you, Rain," he said, kissing her again. Unlike their previous encounters, this kiss was slow and sweet.
Rain felt her heartbeat quicken and that familiar tug in her navel as she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Though this time there was another sensation that she had never felt before. She couldn't quite name it but she knew that she was afraid of it, whatever it was.
Later that night, she lay awake long after they had finished making love. Like the kiss they had shared earlier, this time was different. When they had finished, Adam had brushed her sweaty hair out of her face and gently whispered, "I love you." Rain had promptly pretended to be asleep so that she wouldn't have to answer him back.
She rolled over with a sigh and stared at her lover as he slept peacefully beside her. Rain could still feel the scorch of his kiss on her collarbone, and in other places for that matter. Why did he have to ruin everything with those three little words?!
What did she know about love? She had only had two relationships and the last one had ended in heartbreak. She quietly slid out of bed and tiptoed into her bathroom with her phone.
Liza answered on the third ring.
"Rain? What's wrong?"
"Why does something have to be wrong for me to call you?"
"Uh, maybe because it's..." she paused and Rain heard her shuffling on the other side of the phone. "Like 3 am where you are? So, I ask again, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong!" Rain knew Liza could hear right through her bullshit.
"Okay. Nothing's wrong. But hypothetically, let's say something was wrong. What would it be about?"
"Hypothetically?"
"Hypothetically."
"Well, what if I was sleeping with Adam and he told me that he loved me, what should I do? Hypothetically, of course."
Liza gasped. "Rain you didn't!"
"I've been sleeping with him for months," Rain confessed.
"Wow...I can't believe you're just now telling me this."
"I guess I was a bit ashamed and scared of how you would react."
"You were right to be scared! Rain! He is your boss!" Liza admonished.
"Don't you think I know that!" Rain whisper-yelled back. "Why do you think I called you? What do I do?"
"Do you love him?"
"I don't know!"
"Well, I guess you'd better find out! What did you say when he told you?"
"I pretended to be asleep."
Liza burst out laughing.
"I'm so glad that you find this amusing," Rain said dryly.
"You would too if you were me!"
"Whatever, I shouldn't have told you. I have to go."
"Wait! I'm sorry. Do you really want my advice?"
"Yes!"
"Let him love you. Enjoy the feeling. You deserve it. You'll discover your own feelings soon enough and you'll know what to do when the time comes."
"What if I never figure it out?"
"You will."
"But--"
"No 'buts'. You'll know."
Rain heard Adam stirring and sighed. "I really do have to go."
"Okay. Don't beat yourself up too much. I love you."
"Love you too, Liza. I'll call you soon."
Rain slid back into Adam's warm embrace as quietly as she could manage, reflecting on her conversation with her best friend who she suddenly missed so bad that her chest hurt. Liza was usually right about everything and so Rain drifted off into a peaceful slumber with the hope that this time would be the same.
A/N I am so sorry it took this long to update! I finally graduated from optometry school, moved across the country TWICE, and started residency so it has been crazy busy. Hopefully my schedule is a bit more regular now and I'll be able to write more. Hope everyone is safe and healthy during these COVID times! <3