Home for Christmas: A Heartwarming, Feel Good Christmas Romance by Mika Jolie

Author:Mika Jolie [Jolie, Mika]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Dear Santa, I really did try

Holly

Why does he always incite such a strong reaction from me?

I stalk into my old bedroom, slamming the door behind me like a moody teenager. Why is everything suddenly so topsy-turvy?

I’m not a crier. I never have been. My emotions come out through my actions, not on my face. I know that can sometimes make me seem cold, but I prefer not to wear my heart on my sleeve all the time. It makes things easier, less subjective. So why is it that now, seeing Ethan again, a conversation can go from lighthearted banter to tears all at the drop of a hat?

What is wrong with me?

The shape of the pregnancy test on the dresser looks almost ominous, like it’s taunting me. Now that Grace has put the idea in my head, a new blanket of stress has fallen over me. Could it be?

The answer is easy. It could. I know that for sure. It might not be likely, but it’s possible. Letting out a despairing groan, I pull the test out of its box, march over to the connecting bathroom, and squat over the toilet forcing my eyes closed while I pee and cursing myself for getting so emotional. The cookies were my idea, and I couldn’t even make it through without lashing out at him.

Maybe that’s my problem. Maybe I’m not as stoic as I think I am.

The results won’t be ready for five minutes, which I soon discover is ample time to freak out when you’re waiting to find out if you’re pregnant. Terrified, and slightly queasy, I retreat back to the bedroom in desperate search of something to distract myself.

Almost unbidden, my feet carry me to the cabinet under my nightstand, where Grandma kept all her old photo albums after I moved out. Scrapbooking was one of her favorite hobbies, second only to cooking, and during her time in this house, she filled up enough albums to have a veritable library of memories.

I open the cabinet door and grab one at random, this one from when I was around ten years old. In it are faded Polaroids of me in elementary school: first day of fourth grade, the bean plants I grew for that one science project, the Easter egg hunt they put on in the park. Ethan and I at all our first dances. There are also holiday photos, so many that they take up a third of the whole album—snow-covered Weston streets, Christmas Eve dinner with the whole family, Grandma showing me how to make the cookies Ethan and I just made. She was always there for me, a benevolent force full of laughter and sound advice, ready to help me take on whatever challenges came my way.

I sit on the edge of the bed. Exhaustion seeps into my muscles.

If the test is positive, if I really am pregnant, what am I supposed to do?

Nerves dance in my stomach. I don’t have what Grams had or what my mother has, for that matter.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.