He gave her a squeeze and kissed her hair as the kids shouted, “Thank you!”
She turned to him. “He was a pretty cool dog, wasn’t he.”
“He was.” This morning had made him imagine more than once the two of them sharing a life together and having a dog just like Biscuit. And kids. He really wanted to have kids. They thanked the driver when he dropped them off at the hospital before he left to go help other people in the snow.
When they got inside, Mr. Allred met them and walked them to the labor and delivery wing. “She had the baby not too long ago,” Mr. Allred said. “Elizabeth is in there with them right now. They’re about to move her to her room, and after seeing the crowd of us, they said they’d get her the biggest one they could. We should be able to see them and the new baby soon after that.”
At labor and delivery, they found Katie’s entire family, along with Rachel, Nick, Aiden, and Holly. They all hugged Katie and Connor and said, “Merry Christmas!” and they all shared with each other their stories about Christmas morning and the crazy snowstorm. Everyone treated him just like they did every other member of the family. This big family had all welcomed him with open arms from the very start. He’d never felt a part of another family so quickly before.
It hit him that maybe he didn’t need to feel so bad that he was far from family. He had family here now, too.
Elizabeth came into the waiting room and said, “Okay, she’s in her own room and ready for you now. You won’t be able to hold the baby or get too close, but you can come in and see.”
They followed her down the hall and filed into Noelle’s room. Noelle was lying in the bed, the swaddled baby in her arms, and Jack was seated in the chair right next to Noelle, the baby’s little fingers wrapped around one of his. Both parents looked tired but were beaming.
Everyone talked over one another as they told Jack and Noelle how beautiful their baby was, and he really was. Seeing their little family just made Connor yearn for the same. Katie looked up at him and smiled in a way that told him that maybe she was thinking the same thing.
“What are you going to name him?” Holly asked.
“Since it’s Christmas,” Nick said, “I vote for Nick.”
“I think you should name him Dasher,” Aiden said. “There’s a kid in our class named Dasher.”
“You can name a kid Dasher,” Katie’s brother-in-law, Corbin said, “but I’m not sure you can name a kid who was born on Christmas Day ‘Dasher,’ or people will only think of the reindeer playing games.”
“How about Joseph?” Julianne offered.
“You can’t name him Jesus’s dad’s name,” Holly said, “he’sthe baby!”
Then everyone started giving their helpful suggestions.
“How about Cole?”
“Like what you get in your stocking if you’re naughty?”
“Oh, Douglas! Because Douglas Firs are Christmas trees.”
“Name him Winter because he was born in a snowstorm!”
“Winter Meadows? That’s kind of a weird mental image.”
“No, it’s not. Meadows get snowed on, too.”
Noelle, who was gazing down at her baby, said, “We’ve decided to name him Gabriel.”
Katie looked up at Connor and smiled, and he pulled her into a hug. “Isn’t he the sweetest?”
“He really is.”
Katie turned back to look at the baby and her hands fluttered like she was having a hard time not going over to Noelle. “Oh, I can’t wait until I can hold him!”
And he couldn’t wait until she could hold one of their own.
epilogue
KATIE
One Year Later
