“He didn’t,” Simon agreed. “But he figured out a way to do what he thought was right. He doesn’t want anything for himself. He just wants to be with us.”
Kara swallowed the lump in her throat. Lifting her head, she looked into Simon’s eyes. “I want him to be with us, too. I love him, Simon. I love him just like he was my own child. I really would like to look into adopting him. You said you didn’t want another child, but I really—”
He put his fingers to her lips to stop her. “I want that too, baby. More than anything. You know why I didn’t want another child. It was all about you. But now that we have Tim, I don’t want to let him go,” he said hoarsely. “I want him to be able to live a normal life. I want him to be ours. He’s damn easy to love.”
She leaned down and kissed her husband tenderly before telling him, “You’re an amazing man, Simon Hudson. I don’t know why I never thought about adopting. I don’t need to have a child with my DNA to love him like he was my own. There are so many kids out there who need a good home. I almost feel selfish for not thinking about it before.”
“You. Are. Not. Selfish.” Simon annunciated each word irritably. “It takes a special woman to adopt a child with special needs.”
“Not really,” she denied. “He’s bringing me more happiness than problems. I know that he could become unstable at any time, that he could have complications, but I’m willing to be there for him. I want to be there.”
Simon hugged her tighter. “Me, too, baby. Me, too.”
Kara felt her eyes well up with tears, and they started plopping freely onto Simon’s chest.
“Hey. Don’t cry.” He tilted her head up to look into her eyes. “I don’t like it.”
“They’re happy tears,” she sniffled.
“I don’t care. I hate to see you cry,” he grumbled.
“I know,” she admitted, wiping the tears from her face. “I love you so much, Simon. That’s why I’m crying.”
Brushing the hair back from her face, he commented dryly, “Hell, if I was in love with somebody like me, I’d cry, too.”
Kara giggled and punched him playfully in the biceps. “Loving you, having you as a husband makes me ecstatically happy,” she answered fervently.
“Thank Christ,” he retorted in a relieved, graveled voice, grabbing the sheets and comforter to cover their nude, entwined bodies.
Kara smiled against his chest, her heart light. After so many years of being alone, she didn’t take having a wonderful family lightly.
After everything Simon had been through in his life, he was damn easy to love. Behind his gruff, intimidating exterior, he had a tender heart, One that she should have known was true from the minute he rescued her from homelessness a few years ago.
I’m lucky, so very fortunate to have Simon, Ginny, and now Timmy.
Christmas was coming, but Kara knew she already had everything she needed. She had Simon and the family they’d made together.
Still grinning and with Simon running a comforting hand up and down her bare back, she slept.
Maddie Hudson plopped onto her couch late on Christmas Eve with a relieved sigh. “I’m exhausted, and I didn’t even have to clean up the mess.”
Sitting on the other end of the couch, the two women finally alone after the wonderful Christmas party Sam had arranged, Kara admitted, “Sometimes it’s nice to have catering. Being married to a billionaire does have its advantages at times.”
Maddie’s eyes narrowed as she watched Kara consume another Christmas cookie, and then reached for the plate herself, taking a green frosted sugar cookie with a grimace. “Oh hell, I’ll diet after the holidays.”
“I’m stuffed,” Kara admitted. “The food was fantastic and I’m beyond full, but I just keep eating.”
“Too much temptation around,” Maddie mumbled as she consumed her cookie.
The Christmas party had been wonderful. It hadn’t been large, and had included only family, but Sam had made it extravagant and magical. Kara stared at the enormous Christmas tree that towered at least fifteen feet tall, and was entirely decorated with white lights, making all the bows and ornaments look absolutely beautiful. Luckily, Sam and Maddie could accommodate the tree, their house really a mansion with towering cathedral ceilings. Even though their guests had already exchanged and opened all their presents for each other earlier in the evening, the space underneath the tree was still bursting with more to be opened in the morning, presents Maddie and Sam had bought for each other and the twins. “Your pile doesn’t look any smaller than ours at the penthouse,” Kara mentioned humorously, taking a big swig of her hot chocolate.
“Mostly from Sam,” Maddie replied, her voice vibrating with amusement. “After our little shopping trip, I only left a few under the tree for him.”
Both of the women had changed into comfortable clothes, jeans and festive Christmas sweatshirts. Sam and Simon had gone upstairs to check on all of the kids. The twins, Ginny and Timmy had all nodded off after the presents had been opened and they’d all eaten.
The caterers had cleaned up the party mess, and everyone had gone home, but Maddie’s house was still splendidly decorated and very Christmassy. Kara had decorated the penthouse with Timmy a few days ago, pinning up mistletoe, and putting up greenery, bows and ornaments all over the house to go with the Christmas tree. Timmy even had a tiny tree in his room, one he swore he didn’t ever want to take down. Unfortunately, since the small tree was real, it would have to come down, and he’d understand once the needles started to drop. But she’d wait until after Christmas to break the bad news to him. He was so delighted and so happy.
“Are we ready for the show? It’s almost time,” Kara reminded Maddie.
“I’m ready. We must be mad,” Maddie giggled.
“Simon never even asked about the charges, and they were enormous,” Kara told Maddie excitedly.
Maddie shrugged. “Sam didn’t either. He never does.”
“Why did we never think about doing this before? Our guys take care of us all the time, but we never go overboard for them,” Kara mused. “And they really do deserve it.”
“Because it wasn’t that long ago that we were poor,” Maddie answered. “And our husbands are billionaires who need or want for nothing.”
“Now,” Kara added quietly. “But there were so many Christmases when that wasn’t the case. Neither one of them really had a childhood. Yet, Simon still tries to convince Timmy that Santa really exists.”