Her Perfect Gift: A Christmas Romance Read online

  “Okay, so we will take a short break so I can have a chat with the camera guys, then we will get to it…”

  I nod and smile as I watch her walk away, also enjoying the slightly more laid back approach to this filming. They aren’t all like that of course, not even in New York, but Alice has a very different, enjoyable way of working. I am having a good time here, and every day makes me more excited than the last.

  “Hey there.” My co star, Valerie, joins me near the snacks table. “How are you feeling? Is Alice making changes again? She does that a lot, doesn’t she? That’s why some people find her hard to work with…”

  “Oh no, I don’t mind the changes. I like working with Alice. I think that she has a good eye.”

  “Me too.” Valerie smiles and perches on the edge of the table beside me. She grabs a few nibbles to bite on and gives me a curious look. Even though nothing has happened like the Winter drama here, I get a strange sensation in the pit of my stomach that she is going to say something inappropriate. I really hope that I am just paranoid because I can’t deal with that again. “I actually have something to ask you, Seth.”

  “You do?” I ask curiously while resisting the urge to step away from her. “And what’s that?”

  “Your girlfriend is Darcy McNeill, right?” My heart pounds, is this another actress about to tell me that I’m not happy in my relationship? There was a bit of truth to it in LA, but there definitely isn’t here.

  “Yes, Darcy is my girlfriend. Why do you ask?” I don’t want to know; I don’t want her to tell me.

  “Because she has that awesome makeup line, doesn’t she? I was wondering if it would be possible to have a meeting about a colab with her. I know that it’s a bit unprofessional to ask while we’re working together, but I don’t know how else to get a good “in” with her. I’m sure that it must be hard to get in touch with her…”

  I toss my head back and laugh hysterically. I can’t believe it, how big of an ego do I have? Of course it isn’t about me. Not in New York. Darcy is just as well known as I am now, maybe even more so. In a different way because it’s in the beauty business, but still… it’s nice for us to be on equal footing. So much so that my co star isn’t trying to split me and Darcy up, but to work with her instead. I am going to need to get used to this.

  “Trust me, Darcy will love to work with you. Don’t give me that look, Valerie, I know that she works with a lot of celebrities these days, but you are someone I know that she would love to work with… of course, it might not be right away because I’m trying to convince her to take it easy at the moment.”

  “Oh, of course.” Valerie claps her hand to her head in a face palm action. “The baby…”

  “That’s right.” I grin thinking of my gorgeous heavily pregnant girlfriend who isn’t enjoying having to rest as she waits for the birth. She can’t seem to stop herself from wanting to work. Her inspiration is crazy here. I know that she ignored my advice to stay in bed all day because she’ll want to get her orders done. It doesn’t matter that she has people working for her now, she still loves to do it herself. “Not long.”

  The closer we get to our baby being born, the more nervous I get. Not for Darcy, because she will boss being a mother just like she has being a business woman, but for me. I am scared that I won’t be able to do it. Having a baby is something that I have absolutely no experience with, and it doesn’t matter how many baby books I read, that won’t change until our child is here. Hopefully, it will all come naturally to me and I will be fine.

  “Okay!” Alice calls out loudly, stopping our conversation in its tracks. “Time to get going, guys.”

  I shoot Valerie a grateful smile before we head back on to set and we take our positions, ready to divert back to our characters. At least here I can be sure that this is where our characters will stay…

  * * *

  “Seth!” Jim screams as he bursts on to the closed set, ignoring all of the usual studio rules. “Seth, come on.”

  I give my new agent a look, wondering what the hell is going on with him. He’s usually so calm and level headed, he doesn’t do anything to make my life challenging, which is why I chose him to work with after I parted ways with Sierra. She was okay with me moving, she definitely didn’t want to come with me, she is an LA girl through and through. I think that I was becoming too laid back for her liking anyway, so we severed our contract. I knew that with a new career, I would need a different agent, and I was lucky enough to land Jim.

  I love his usual cool and collected manner, which makes this appearance of him all the more awkward.

  “What’s going on? I demand with my hands on my hips. “You do know that we will have to re shoot that all again, don’t you? And with smaller budgets and a stricter time scale…”

  “It’s Darcy,” he interjects, ignoring all of my points completely. “She has been trying to call you but can’t get through, which is why she contacted me because she knew that I am just around the corner…” He shakes his head and stops himself from getting more off track than he already is. “She’s at the hospital. In labor.”

  “Already?” My knees get weak and a dizziness captures me. “But I thought that we had a few more days.”

  Jim shrugs helplessly. “I guess not because I just spoke to her and that baby is definitely coming.”

  I stare at Valerie who nods encouragingly, before my eyes turn to Alice. I can’t hear what she’s saying because it seems like my ears have gone all fuzzy, but it seems like she is indicating for me to go. Alice knows that there are more important things in life than work, and the birth of my child is definitely one of them.

  “Jim,” I whisper as I stagger run towards him. “Can you take me? I don’t think that I can drive…”

  He shoves me towards the door. “I will get you there as soon as I can. No way I’m facing the wrath of your girlfriend while she is in labor. Wow, she is one scary chick.”

  I want to laugh, but I can’t seem to make it happen. I guess I’m too scared, but if Darcy is lashing out at Jim, then she must be even more afraid and she is the one who has to give birth. Since she has it much worse than me, I need to buck up here. I am about to be a dad.

  * * *

  “Oh my God.” Yep, I’m crying. Real tears are streaming down my face. “Our baby boy.”

  The nurse puts him in my arms and I nearly lose my damn mind. My fears don’t go away, if anything they intensify because I love this little bundle of joy so much. I need to be perfect for him, so my paternal instincts kick in and I know that I will try anything to make sure that his life is amazing.

  “He’s lovely, isn’t he?” Darcy agrees proudly. “What an amazing kid already.”

  “I am so proud of you. You kicked ass today. Even when it didn’t feel like it. You brought this little man into the world, happy and healthy. That is something to be proud of.”

  “Well, I feel like I have been run over,” she jokes. “But I know what you mean, and I appreciate it.”

  I lean down and kiss her softly before I perch on the bed beside her so that she can reach our son. I can see her yearning for him, her maternal side screaming out to be as close to her son as possible.

  “What do you want to call him?” I ask her quietly. “We never discussed names, did we? We didn’t know if we were having a boy or girl, but now you can look at him and make a decision.”

  Darcy rests her head on my shoulder and we both look at our baby together, pausing thoughtfully to decide what would be the best name. So many come to mind, but I don’t settle on any of them. None of them feel quite right. I know that his name is out there, I just need to settle on it.

  “What about Richard?” Darcy suddenly asks me.

  “Like my dad?” I look at her curiously, wondering if she is being serious.

  “Yeah. Don’t you think that suits him? And it’s a great way to honor his amazing grandfather, Richard Bishop, the rock and roll guy. Plus, your father will love having his grandson named after hi
m…”

  “Oh my God, he will. You have no idea. After the year that he has had…”

  “Well, baby Richard is a good way for us all to start fresh, don’t you think? A new beginning for all of us. I think that might be something that we all need. Especially your father.”

  “Then baby Richard it is,” I agree with a grin. “You know what? I think that it suits him.”

  We hug once more, all of us a family of our own now, and I am overcome with happiness. This is what life is all about. This is what I have always wanted, this is what’s important.

  Chapter Forty

  Darcy

  December 24th

  “Oh my God.” Ivy throws her arms around me and hugs me for what feels like a million years. “I have missed you so much. Pictures and phone calls just aren’t the same as seeing you in person.” She pulls back to examine me closely. “You look so great. Wow, and you only had a baby the other day…”

  “Three and a half months ago,” I laugh. “But yes, not that long, I suppose. Although I can’t remember what life was like without Richard around. He consumes all of me. It’s lucky that I got my business to a point where I had other people working for me before he was born, because it’s so hard to have my focus pulled.”

  “Where is your little man?” Ivy demands. “I have wanted to meet him face to face forever. I thought that you finally returning for the Christmas carnival would be my lucky day. But he’s nowhere to be found.”

  “Seth and his father have him at the moment. He is a proud grandad for sure. He lights up around Richard, it’s so adorable. I haven’t seen him this happy in a very long time…”

  “Well.” Ivy leans in and whispers while wiggling her eyebrows at me. “Rumor has it that it isn’t just the baby that has him happy these days. I heard that he might have a little romance on the side.”

  “No way!” I gasp in shock. This is the news that Seth has so desperately been wanting to hear. “Who? Oh my God, this is so exciting.”

  “He has been on a few dates with Adam’s mom’s best friend, Sue,” Ivy confirms. “And I think that it might be turning into something. You may even get an introduction while you are here…”

  “You think so?” I clasp my hand to my chest. “That would be amazing. He deserves some happiness after everything that he has been through with that woman.” The woman that broke his heart and Seth’s too. Thankfully, after that one connection, they haven’t heard anything from her since which is for the best.

  “I know. And they seem really happy together. You will love them…”

  Ivy’s voice trails off and I follow her eye line to see why. As I spot what she’s looking at, I can almost feel all of the color drain from my face. My mother. She is stalking towards me on a mission. My dad is behind her, trailing slowly, but I can’t see him right now. Only her, and what I’m sure is rage from the fact that I changed my number and ran off again, leaving her with absolutely no control over my life.

  “Darcy, you are here, thank goodness.” I’m shocked to hear a softness to her tone. “I was hoping that you would be… and I hear that you have a little baby boy in tow with you as well?” I can’t speak, I don’t know what has happened to my voice, so I simply nod instead. “Wow, you must be so happy.”

  I glance at my father for a split second to see him nodding encouragingly at me, reassuring me that this is going to be a surprisingly nice reunion which isn’t what I expected at all. When my eyes find my mother again, I see tears in her eyes. A look of regret for everything that she has done to me. Could this be real?

  “I owe you an apology, Darcy.” Oh, it seems so. “In fact, I owe you more than one apology, I owe you a lot. In my attempt to do what I thought was right for you, I ended up doing the wrong thing, over and over again. I pushed you away when you made choices that didn’t seem right to me, and I can see now that I was stupid. Even if you were going to make mistakes, they were yours to make. Nothing to do with me. I should have been there to pick you back up, not putting my own fears on you. And now…” God, the emotion is really getting to her now, which of course shoots it through me as well. My hormones still haven’t exactly settled. “And now you have a baby boy. I have a grandson that I don’t know. Your father as well. He is losing out, and it is all my fault. It isn’t fair, all I want to do is make it right and I can’t…”

  It’s instinctive for me to take a step closer to her and hug her. It feels strange, I will admit that, but I meant what I said when Richard was born. I am happy to put the past behind me, for him. I can forgive and try to fix our relationship.

  “I would like you to be in Richard’s life,” I whisper to her seriously. “Both of you.”

  “You do? Because I know I don’t deserve it, so that makes me really happy.”

  “Mom, look, let’s just forget about everything that’s happened. Clean slate, okay?”

  She’s all choked up, but instead of discussing it further with me, she points behind me and indicates that I need to turn around. I don’t know what the hell is going on now, but since this Christmas carnival has already been filled with positive surprises, I guess I am down for whatever…

  “Oh my God.” I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a crowd of people circled around me, including Richard and my baby. To be fair, it isn’t just me that they are circled around, it’s Seth too. And he is the most shocking sight of all, because he is on one knee with a ring box in his hand. “What is this?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” he chuckles. “I’m making the Christmas carnival even more special.”

  People ‘ooh’ and ‘aw’ us, which brings tears to my eyes. I can’t believe that this is happening. Of course, I have imagined it in a hypothetical way, but this is so much better.

  “Darcy McNeill, I love you,” Seth starts, already hardly able to get out his words because he’s so emotional. We are never going to get through this. “I have loved you for a long time. I loved you when you were the dorky teenage girl next door, when you were my best friend, when you became a beautiful woman… it wasn’t easy for us to make it together, merging our very different lives was wild, but by doing that, and overcoming all those hurdles, I now know for sure that we can get through anything. I have experienced a magical life with you, and it makes me never want to experience it without you again. Especially now that you are the mother of my child. So, it’s time for us to make this love official, don’t you think?”

  I glance around and see everyone looking at us, all the people that have always been there in our hometown, our families, friends, all of us wanting to make this work. We don’t need their support, but it’s so lovely to have it, especially when I know that this is it, the real deal, this is forever. That’s why I’m glad that it’s happening at a place so important to us, and not a place where there will be cameras and interest from all the wrong people. I have had enough of that to last me a lifetime.

  “So, what do you say, Darcy?” Seth continues, actually sounding a little nervous which makes me yearn to hold him. “Will you make me the happiest man alive and agree to be my wife?”

  “Of course I will.” I don’t even need to think about it. “Yes, yes, yes.”

  As he slides the ring on my finger, he leaps up to envelop me in a hug with kisses raining all over me. Here in this moment, I know that everything we have been through has been worth it, all the fighting to be together, all the times when it felt impossible… none of that was worthless because it brought us to the most incredible conclusion of the best love story of my whole life. And the best part is, this isn’t even the end of my love story. It’s just the beginning. Me and Seth have so much more waiting for us and I can’t wait.

  “I love you,” I whisper to him as his forehead rests against mine and we look into one another’s eyes.

  “I love you too,” he reassures me. “Future Mrs. Bishop.”

  Excerpt

  She’s my sister’s Best Friend

  And I want to give her someth
ing…BIG!

  I am a billionaire businessman with an empire to run

  Women were just an after thought in my life

  Until that hot Christmas Eve

  When I fell for those amazing curves of hers

  It was supposed to be just for one night

  After a long gap I see her again at my sister’s wedding

  She’s still HOT as ever but avoiding me

  I guess she is hiding something

  Don’t worry son! Daddy’s gonna win back your Mommy!

  Dex

  As the small symmetrical icy crystals floated gingerly from the sky and landed on the lawns of Central Park, I felt a sadness swell inside my chest. It was Christmas Eve, a time I relished when I was growing up. My parents always decorated the house to match the festive nature of the city with garlands, lights, and the smell of cinnamon and pine. They threw big lavish parties at their sky-high penthouse in Canton Commons. The wealthiest families in New York would put aside their high natured snobbery to bring gifts, food, and merry greetings to share with everyone else. As children, my sister Natalie and I would run around the house with the other children, playing with our toys and soaking up the feeling of Christmas. It had always been my favorite time of the year.

  Years later, I found myself staring at the lights twinkling in the park, people walking hand in hand through the Christmas Eve snow, and carolers wishing people well, all the while feeling nothing but the silence of a now mostly empty home. After my parents died, the holidays stopped feeling like a magical time. There were no more parties, no more crackling fires, and the decorations sat in storage boxes, hoping one day to be picked up and used again. My sister loved Christmas and tried to keep the spirit alive but it was too much for one person. With me running the company now, I didn’t have time for such frivolous things as holiday parties. It almost felt like my parents took the holidays with them when they passed.