I watched from the kitchen as Shelby and Lanie pulled out some Christmas decorations that Alicia had sent over from Florida. “Mommy?” Lanie questioned as she cradled the ornament I had slyly given her and smirked to see how it would all play out.
“Yeah, baby?” Shelby mumbled as she unwrapped another delicate ornament from the box of ornaments.
“Daddy said we can go see Liberty for Christmas,” Lanie beamed and held up the ornament for Shelby to see, only Shelby didn’t catch on. A frown creased her brow and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Who’s Liberty, honey?” Shelby asked, now more focused on Lanie and her question rather than the decorations.
“Liberty!” Lanie held up the ornament higher to try and get Shelby’s attention. This time Shelby caught on and took the ornament from our daughter. Her eyes got much wider and she glanced over at me.
“L-Liberty?” Shelby stood up and walked over to me, holding the ornament in her hand. “As in, the statue of Liberty in New York City?!” She exclaimed. I chuckled and nodded, lifting Lanie up into my arms as she entered the room.
“Yeah, Lanie was telling me just how much she’d like to see that big Christmas tree at Rocketfeller Center…so I couldn’t resist. I already talked with the doctors and they said it wouldn’t be a problem whatsoever,” I shrugged and kissed the side of Lanie’s head. “Besides, we didn’t really have many Christmas plans at all. We can celebrate somewhere nice and cold this year.” He shrugged.
Shelby bit her bottom lip and looked back and forth between Lanie and I. She grinned and took Lanie from me, kissing the side of her face. “Baby, it looks like we’ll be going to New York for Christmas this year.” She smirked as Lanie giggled.
“Well, you girls might wanna go start packing…” I beamed. “Because we leave tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?!” Shelby gasped and placed Lanie gently back on the floor so she could hurry off back to the tree. “But Nick, it’s only December 17th…” she muttered and ran her fingers through her hair. “Lanie and I have lived in Florida all our lives…we don’t have any winter clothes.” She hurried into the master bedroom to start going through the closet to try and find anything. “See? All we have are tank tops, shorts, maybe a few pairs of jeans. But nothing that we can put on for a winter in New York.” She sighed. I bit my bottom lip to try and hide the excitement. I tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around. “What?” she asked me. I reached around her and grabbed a Macy’s bag I had hidden behind a few boxes and suitcases. She cocked an eyebrow and folded her arms in front of her chest.
“Here are two outfits. One for you and one for Lanie for the trip going to New York tomorrow,” I explained, then pulled out an envelope from my pocket. “This is for when we get to New York. Tomorrow will be a shopping day. I figured neither of you had ever been before and the shopping there according to all the girls I’ve talked to is amazing…” I shrugged. She pulled the credit card from the envelope, her eyes widening at the thought of buying whatever.
“Nick, I can’t use this,” she shook her head. “These outfits are perfect, but I don’t need some amazing store in the city. Lanie and I are perfectly content with just hitting up a Wal-Mart either on the way to the airport or once we get to New York.” She shrugged, handing me the card back. “Really, we’re fine.”
I shook my head and handed it back to her, catching her hand in mine. “Shelby, I know you hate it whenever I put money out there. But think of it as a Christmas present.” I kissed her softly. “I want to do this. You both deserve it.”
She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and sighed. “Nick, these past few weeks have added up to a fairly large Christmas present. You’ve paid for everything. I don’t know how I’m ever going to pay you back for all of this.” She muttered and played with the platinum card in her hand.
“Come with me to New York. That’s my present,” I kissed her cheek softly and left the room to find Lanie playing with some of the ornaments. “Baby girl, you wanna help me decorate this tree so we can have it decorated before we leave?”
“Okay daddy,” Lanie smiled as I lifted her up so she could hang an ornament up high.
“So, why are we decorating the tree if we’re not even going to be here for Christmas?” Shelby asked as she came back into the room to help us. She had a smile on her face and I was pretty sure she was okay with the situation now.
“Well, I figured it’d be nice to still have a family Christmas tree. We haven’t ever decorated one all together,” I shrugged. “Aaron and Angel are going to take turns watering it and checking up on the place while we’re away.” I explained. “We’ll be gone until January 3rd.”
“New Years!” Lanie exclaimed and looked over at Shelby with big eyes. Shelby laughed and nodded.
“One of Lanie’s favorite parts about Christmas time is watching the ball drop on TV for New Year’s,” Shelby explained. “Last year was the first year she was able to stay up the whole time and watch.”
I chuckled and kissed Lanie’s cheek. “Baby girl, we’ll be in the city where the ball drops every year. In fact, if you’re up for it, I might have somewhere special where we can watch.” I winked. Shelby looked nervous, thinking I meant somewhere outside.
“We’ll see,” she quickly butted in, not wanting to get Lanie’s hopes up.
“It’d be a private location,” I shrugged with a grin. “Just you, me and Lanie.”
Shelby cocked her eyebrow once more and shook her head. “What’s up with you and all these secrets, Mr. Carter?” She chuckled and helped Lanie with another ornament.
I shrugged. If only she knew I had a couple more up my sleeve.
Author's Chapter Notes:
So, this chapter's a bit shorter. I apologize. I just kinda came to a good ending point. Next one will be longer! Please review =] Thanks!!
