Free New Beginnings by Lori Maguire Page B

the room.
    As the party came to a close, Xavier had the children gather around the one Christmas tree in anticipation of the arrival of Santa. The ear-to-ear grin on his beautiful face as he watched the children stare in awe as Santa arrived brought tears to my eyes. If he behaved like this with his employee’s children, how was he going to react with his own child?
    If I hadn’t already known that having a baby was a possibility for us, this scene would have torn me apart. I would have been in anguish over seeing the joy on his face knowing that I couldn’t give him the children he deserved. But that wasn’t the case, and I consciously had to avoid touching my abdomen in any way so as not to reveal my little secret. When he made eye contact with me, he blew me a kiss. I smiled widely and winked in response.
    Following the party, we climbed into the back of the limo. I kicked my heels off and collapsed into Xavier’s side. “That was a wonderful Christmas party. Everyone seemed to have a really good time especially the children.” I looked up at him. “Your Santa was quite convincing. The smiles on the children’s faces were priceless.”
    “If you think that was good, just wait. Some day, when we have our own children, I’m going to have Santa arrive in a sleigh pulled by real reindeer.” He gave me a glorious smile I couldn’t help but return. That day was going to come sooner than he realized.

 
     
    Sunday morning brought some unexpected news. Over breakfast, Xavier received a call from his security guy. Carline and Stephen had left for New York for the holidays and were not expected back until after the New Year.
    “Does this mean you’ll relax a little with Marissa?” I asked cautiously.
    “Is it really so horrible having her around?”
    “No, but I have this awesome new vehicle that this really cute rich guy gave me and I’ve hardly been able to drive it,” I said teasingly.
    Xavier shook his head and chuckled. “Really cute rich guy, huh?”
    “Mmm hmmm,” I replied looking at him intently.
    He was quiet for several seconds then let out a deep sigh. “Okay. I don’t feel entirely comfortable with it, but promise me you won’t go off anywhere alone. I haven’t been able to confirm yet if Stephen is still having you followed.”
    I beamed at him. “I promise, baby. Thank you.” I grabbed his face and kissed him.
    “We haven’t really discussed the holidays,” he said between sips of coffee. “Would you like to spend them with your parents?”
    I wouldn’t mind seeing my parents, but Gabriel was all the family Xavier had. “Do you really want to go to New Jersey? What about your brother?”
    “Gabe and Tiffany usually go to a warmer climate for the holidays,” he said without looking at me.
    “Oh. So what do you normally do?” Did I really want to know?
    Xavier was quiet for a few minutes. “It depends. Sometimes I go with my brother and other times I go to Mt. Baker,” he said quietly.
    “Alone?” I asked hesitantly.
    He paused for a moment. “No, Ella. Not alone,” he said quietly.
    “I’m sorry. Of course you weren’t alone.” I did my best to sound apologetic. I was surprised to notice that the flair of jealousy that usually accompanies thoughts of Xavier with other women didn’t happen.
    “I have friends who I usually go to Mt. Baker with that enjoy snowmobiling. There are other things to do like cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. It’s beautiful in the snow.”
    “Well, you just flew my parents out for Thanksgiving, but I’ll check with them and see if they would like to come out for Christmas as well. I really don’t want to go to New Jersey. Not now that we knew Stephen and Carline were there.” And I knew Xavier would definitely have me shadowed by Marissa.
    “What about Tom and Renatta? If your parents want to stay home, do you think they would be up to joining us at say Mt. Baker or somewhere like it?”
    “I don’t know, but I’ll check with