The Biker's Fate Chapter 78

Payton

"Santa came! Santa came!" a tiny little voice squealed and then the body attached to that voice jumped onto the bed.

"Shhh, baby girl," Alex grumbled. "Payton's still asleep."

"Payton," Lily whispered, and patted my face. "Santa came."

"That's awesome, honey." I forced my eyes open and wrapped my arm around her, pulling her between me and Alex. "How about you give me and daddy a minute to wake up and we'll come see what Santa brought you."

"Okay!" She jumped off the bed as quick as she'd come and rushed out the door.

I rolled back onto Alex and sighed. "What time is it?"

He grabbed his phone and then set it on the nightstand again. "Six."

"Going forward, we have to have a rule... no waking Mommy and Daddy before nine." Chalk it up to my exhaustion, but it took me a minute to realize what I'd said. "I mean—"

"Don't, baby," Alex interrupted. "Don't you dare backtrack on that one." He rolled me onto my back and smiled. "I love that. You have no idea how much I love that, but I love that."

I smiled and nodded. "'K."

"Come on. Let's get coffee."

We rolled out of bed and Alex pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. I had worn shorts and a T-shirt to bed, considering I was not in my own home and I didn't feel comfortable enough to wear a cami and undies like I normally did.

We arrived in the living room to find Kayla sitting in the chair by the fire, staring blankly at the tree while sipping a cup of coffee.

"Merry Christmas," I said brightly.

Kayla shook her head. "Gimme a minute."

"Mewwy Kissmas," Lily said, and rushed to sit in front of her stocking. "Can I open pwesents now?"

"We're gonna get coffee and then we can open, baby girl," Alex said.

We did our best to pour quickly, and then Alex finally let Lily just go for it. I had to give it to her; she was a lot more patient than I typically am on Christmas morning.

"Santa" had brought Lily a Princess Elsa doll, Kayla bought her a microphone, and Alex and I together bought her a full Elsa dress up costume. To say that her head nearly exploded with excitement was an understatement. Once she'd calmed down a bit, we exchanged gifts with each other and Kayla and I ended in a puddle of giggles to find we'd bought each other the same gift, only she'd bought me the understated pair of hoop earrings and I bought her the huge ass, hang to her neck ones.

Alex loved the black leather cuff watch I bought him and I was blown away by the really pretty diamond bracelet he bought me. It would go perfectly with the red, wrap dress I planned to wear to dinner. All in all, this Christmas was shaping up to be perfect.

Lily really wanted to wear her Elsa costume to my parents', so we dressed her up, I did her hair, and then we packed a change of clothes for her and piled into the truck. Kayla was driving separately because she had plans with friends the next day and we didn't know how late we'd be.

We were the last to arrive, so the kids were extremely glad to see us (they were forced to wait for us before opening gifts). Dallas and Macey had apparently arrived ten minutes before us, so I hugged them, exceedingly glad Dallas had Christmas off.

"Now Daddy?" Lily whispered (loudly) once everyone was done with gifts.

He grinned and rose to his feet, leaving me on the sofa sitting next to Macey. "What's going on?"

Alex and Lily pow-wowed in the corner and then Lily came to me, her hands behind her back. "I have a qwestin," she said.

I glanced at Alex and then back at her. "Okay."

"I want to know if you'll be my mommy."

Alex knelt in front of me, pulled Lily onto his extended knee, and then helped her open the ring box. "Will you marry us, Payton?"

I scanned the room and realized my entire family knew this was going to happen. My mom was sniffling, my dad looked like the cat that ate the canary, Macey was nearly sobbing, and everyone else just watched in delight.

I grinned back at Alex, forcing back my own tears. "I would be honored to marry you and be Lily's mommy."

Lily squealed and threw herself in my arms. "Can I caw you Mommy now?"

"Of course, you can, baby," I whispered, tears freely streaming down my face now.

"My turn, baby girl," Alex said, and pulled me to my feet once Lily had climbed off my lap. He slid the ring on my finger and pulled me into his arms, kissing me a little more chastely than normal, but it was still awesome.

I didn't even get a chance to study the ring before my family descended on us with congratulations and hugs. Just before dessert was served, Alex and I had a moment alone. We were sitting in front of the fire, the Christmas tree lights twinkling as we snuggled on the sofa, and I was transfixed by the glory that was my engagement ring. A one-and-a-half carat diamond sat in the center of an intricately woven white gold design. It made the center stone sparkle, while giving the ring a little more interest than a plain band. I realized that it matched the bracelet and I loved it.

"If you don't like the ring, we can return it," Alex offered.

"Are you high? It's like you climbed into my brain and picked my dream ring out of my head. I love it, honey," I said, and kissed him. "What I'm curious about is how you managed to keep this a surprise. I would have thought Lily would have said something."