Free A Christmas Family Wish by Helen Scott Taylor Page B

little ones upstairs. She intended to tap on Ian's door and
wake him gently, but Toby and Ella reached there first and burst into the room.
    "Daddy, Daddy, it's Christmas," Ella shouted.
    "It's Christmas," Toby chimed in, bouncing around
on the mattress on his knees, holding Ella's hands. Even Max had made it up the
stairs to join them. He waggled his way around the bed, tail going like mad,
and licked Ian's face.
    The poor man spluttered, raising a hand to protect himself.
"Enough, already. I'm awake."
    "Merry Christmas. Sorry about the rude awakening. I
tried to let you sleep late." Rachel put his cup of tea on the nightstand
and slipped the photo frame back in place at the same time.
    Ian grabbed her hand and slid over, making room for her.
"Come here and give me a Christmas cuddle."
    With a girlish giggle, she let him pull her underneath the
covers. Sensation zinged along her nerves as she snuggled against his warm
body.
    He kissed her and leaned back, a smile on his face.
"Merry Christmas, my darling. Sorry I didn't get a chance to ask how your
day at the zoo went."
    "We had fun, but we missed you."
    "I'm glad you missed me. I wanted to be there."
    "Snowman, snowman," Ella and Toby chanted
together.
    "Okay, okay." Ian pushed up on an elbow and both
children jumped on him for a hug and kiss. "You two scoot off out of here
and let me get dressed. As soon as I come down, we'll go and build this
snowman."
    "Yay." The children both cheered before dashing
out the door.
    Ian flopped back on the pillow. When Rachel tried to move,
his arm tightened around her. "I want you to myself for a few
seconds." He kissed her again, stroking a hand over her hair and trailing
his fingertips across her cheek. "I keep thinking I've imagined how
beautiful you are, but my memory didn't play tricks. You really are as
beautiful as in my dreams."'
    Pleasure rushed through Rachel at his words. She wasn't used
to compliments. "Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. Harper?"
    "There's nothing I'd enjoy more than spending Christmas
Day in bed with you, but I guess we'd better get up before the kids come
back." With a wry grin, he released her.
    After Ian came down and had a quick slice of toast, they all
bundled up in coats, scarves, hats, gloves, and rubber boots. Ian opened the
back door and Max leaped around in the snow, scattering ice crystals over
everyone, making them laugh.
    They gathered buckets of snow and built a huge pile in the
middle of the yard, then rolled a snowball around until it was head-sized. Ian
lifted it on top of the body and wrapped his scarf around the snowman's neck.
    The children dug through the snow on the driveway to find
pebbles to use as eyes, while Rachel fetched a carrot for his nose.
    "All right, you three, stand beside your creation so I
can take a photo." She held up her phone and gestured for them to take
their positions.
    Happiness bubbled inside her as Ian crouched in front of the
snowman with Toby under one arm and Ella under the other. They all grinned, snowflakes
clinging to their coats and gloves, their cheeks flushed with excitement and
cold.
    Before they went inside, Ian lifted the children on his
shoulders one after the other, and they took turns pretending to be giraffes.
    After Christmas dinner they settled in front of the log fire
in the sitting room, the Christmas tree lights twinkling. With a Christmas
cartoon showing on the television, they unwrapped the presents from beneath the
tree.
    Rachel snapped photos of the children ripping the paper off their
gifts, while she and Ian sipped mulled wine, laughing at their antics.
    She called her parents to wish them Merry Christmas and
texted them some Christmas photographs of the children with the snowman, and
one of all four of them by the Christmas tree. Her mum texted her a photograph
of the sun gleaming off the azure blue Mediterranean Sea, the view from their
conservatory where they were eating Christmas dinner.
    With a sigh of longing, Rachel angled her phone