Christmas Surprises Read Online Free PDF Page B

that day... but because Chris had echoed her very thoughts, saying, with awed reverence in his voice, "Praise God, she is perfect ." 
     
    She had been.  And Natalie had been so overcome, learning that love didn't have to be spread thin to include more children. 
     
    It just multiplied.
     
    The same was true for Brian, who didn't take away from Chris's memory or the happiness she'd had with him.  He only added to it, bringing his own past with him as well, both of them confirming, even in their grief and their new happiness... well, that Lisa would have liked Natalie and Chris would have been Brian's friend.
     
    It had been easy to love him.  There was no guilt in the way it had progressed from that night on, as Brian had done it right, treating her like a real lady when she'd all but forgotten that she was a normal woman, needing affirmation that she was beautiful, that she could be appreciated for who she was, and that she could be desirable.  Dates the likes of which she and Chris had never had as poor college students and quiet nights at home between two grownups who were comfortable in their own skin, having had a lifetime each to become who they were. 
     
    She knew him.  Really knew him, even after such a short while.  So, there had been no second guessing when he'd gotten down on one knee, told her that she'd been a happiness he hadn't expected, and asked her to marry him.
     
    No second guessing until now as they drove towards Micah's house that afternoon.  Not for her decision and her life but for how she was sharing it with her kids.
     
    "Whoa," Brian breathed, the house in view now.  "Your son's house is huge."
     
    "He and Rachel have enough room for Joy and Taylor to live with them," she said, thinking about this part of Micah, this generous, protective side of him.  Surely he would be just as gracious and benevolent with her guest, right?  "And he does really well with his practice.  New patients all the time.  Do you need a dentist?"
     
    Brian grinned over at her.  "Let me meet him first and feel out the mood before I sign myself up for that, okay?"
     
    She grinned at this as well.  "He's a good guy," she murmured.  "Loves Jesus.  Loves his family."
     
    "Loves his mother," Brian said.  "Loved his father, too."
     
    Yes.  This is what she was worried about.  Brian understood it, though.
     
    He understood it all.
     
    Which is why he continued smiling, even as she slipped the engagement ring off her finger, put it back in the box it had come in, and tucked it away in her purse. 
     
    One thing at a time.  But she resolved that her kids would know it all by the time she left today.
     
    "You ready?," Brian asked.
     
    And even though they were in view of the house, she couldn't stop herself from leaning over, kissing him again, and saying, "Sure am."
     
     
     
    Madison
     
     
     
    Micah and Rachel's house was beautiful, of course.
     
    Even as Maddie sat on the floor next to the Christmas tree and played another round of Candyland with her nieces, she glanced around, marveling at how exquisite this home was.  It was a lot like the home she'd owned back before when she'd been making a living on her writing, selling books that she'd be ashamed for her nieces to ever read.  The house that she'd lived in then had vaulted ceilings like this house, wide open rooms just like it, and so much space. 
     
    But her home hadn't really felt like home.  Cold, unfeeling, and lonely.  That's what it had been.  That's what all of her life had been like before Grant, before his friendship, before God changed everything and brought her back to where she was meant to be.  She'd sold the house and traded the life for God's best, and Grant had been part of the deal, a ring on her finger, purer fiction to write, a tiny apartment above Grant's restaurant to live in, and now, a child in her womb.
     
    She thought about space the more she grew with life.  And she was appreciative of Rachel's house