Luke's First Bride Page 10

Rosa gaped at him in amazement. "Twins? Beth Anne had twins? How did they not know!"

  "I guess she was hiding behind her sister when they did the ultrasound." Luke answered with a shrug.

  "So that's why she was so big! That's amazing! Oh, I'm so excited! I can't wait to see her, and hold the babies." Rosa jumped out of bed and began hunting for her clothes. Luke stayed on the bed watching her with amusement.

  "Rosa, sit down. Better yet, get back in bed. I know you want to see them, so do I. But we are not going anywhere tonight. There's a foot of snow on the ground. Ben said they barely made it to Everton before the storm hit. They will be home in a day or two, and you will have plenty of time then to get in all the baby cuddles you can handle."

  Her face fell as Luke's words sunk in. She had forgotten about the storm. They couldn't drive to Everton in this weather. She plopped back down on the bed, deflated. "Well, what am I supposed to do now?"

  Gathering her in his arms, Luke pulled her back under the covers.

  "I'm sure we can think of something."

  * * * * *

  Rosa bounced Eden Faith in her arms as she strolled around the community center. Beth Anne walked beside her carrying Esther Hope. The twins had been born a few weeks early, but despite everything, they were healthy and had each weighed in at just over five pounds. The community Christmas Party was well under way, and despite the debacle at the planning meeting, it had turned out to be a huge success.

  The community center, which was part of the church in an adjoining building, was where wedding receptions were usually held. It had a stage, and a dance floor and lots of seating. There was also a kitchen, where Rosa had spent most of the day, cooking ham, turkey, rolls, and lots of other goodies for the feast they would have tonight. Luke's mother had brought dozens of cookies, and pies, and homemade candies for the kids, and had closed down the bakery for the evening, kicking Rosa out of the kitchen upon her arrival. Not that Rosa minded.

  The stage had been set up with an eight foot Christmas tree and a Santa's workshop theme, and unbeknownst to the kids in the community, Bishop Miller would be playing Santa after the evening meal.

  The Christmas Feast, and the party that followed, had been a Green Valley tradition since before Rosa was born. With so many large families in the community, most people didn't have room in their homes for holiday celebrations with extended family. The way around that at Christmas time was to have one large Christmas Dinner all together as a community on Christmas Eve.

  It was something she looked forward to every year growing up, and it had been fun to get to play such a big part in orchestrating it this year. It had also been very stressful. She had ended up over Luke's knee more than once over the past few weeks because of it.

  But now that it was all said and done, Rosa could relax. She felt a sense of pride and accomplishment as the gazed around the room and took in the long buffet tables cloaked in red cloth that would soon be overflowing with delectable treats. The lush floral arrangements of red and white roses that graced the center of each table, and the thousands of twinkle lights suspended from the ceiling, all worked to capture the enchantment of the children in the room. There were buckets filled with candy canes, stockings hung by the stage, and… Carolyn Atwood?

  Okay, so it was almost perfect, she thought with a muffled groan. What was Carolyn doing here? Of course she must be home for the holidays, just as Rosa's sisters, Lauren and Margaret, were. But Lauren and Margaret had been home for weeks, so Carolyn must have been too. Thankfully, this was the first Rosa had seen of her. She had gotten so used to not having her around causing trouble that Rosa had almost forgotten she existed.

  Changing her course of direction to avoid Carolyn, Rosa vowed to stay away from her tonight. Carolyn brought out the worst in her, and Rosa was determined not to let her night be ruined by the snooty troublemaker. Carolyn was near the buffet tables, helping Nancy set up, so Rosa headed off to at a table by the Christmas tree with Beth Anne following,

  "Rosa, Rosa, darling! Wait up!"

  The high pitched southern drawl was instantly recognizable, and it set Rosa's teeth on edge. She couldn't believe Carolyn was going to force her into a confrontation here, at the Christmas Feast of all places.

  I will control my temper, I will control my temper, I will control my temper.

  She repeated the words over and over under her breath, determined to make them her mantra for the evening, no matter what Carolyn dished out. Deliberately, she handed baby Eden over to Ben, who had joined them at their table. Turning on her heel, she spun around to face Carolyn, with the biggest fake smile she could muster. Beyond Carolyn, she spotted Luke watching her from across the room and she made eye contact. His eyebrows were raised in warning, but it did nothing to calm her down, and only served to infuriate her further.

  Behind her glaring smile, Rosa bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood. At least she could count on the pain to help her remember the bottom blistering she would be in for later if this got out of control. Still smiling, she sized up Carolyn as she approached.

  For once, Carolyn's dress was almost modest, at least to say, she wasn't showing off her ample bosom, and the hemline almost covered her knees, which was also a first. She wore pearls around her neck and in her ears, and she had trimmed her hair so her trademark curls framed her face, pulled back with a brightly colored flower clip. Finally, she was standing in front of Rosa. For once, her smile actually seemed genuine.

  Rosa wasn't fooled, and she kept her guard up as she greeted her. "Merry Christmas, Carolyn," she said cautiously.

  "Merry Christmas, Rosa. I just wanted to congratulate you on your wedding, and tell you what a lovely job you did on this party tonight. Nancy said you cooked the dinner, and I have to tell you, it truly smells divine!"

  The smile left Rosa's face as she took in Carolyn's words. That was it? No snarky comments, no underhanded insults? What had just happened? She stood there blankly silent for so long, she must have made Carolyn uncomfortable, because Carolyn smiled, wished her a Merry Christmas once more, and with a little wave, bounced off to the other side of the room, leaving Rosa speechless.

  By the time she recovered enough to formulate a response, Carolyn was gone, and Luke was striding towards her purposefully.

  "Are you okay?" he asked when he reached her, taking her arm and leading her away from the crowd.

  "Yes, yes, Lucas I'm fine. She was…. nice," Rosa assured him, enunciating the word nice to emphasize the weirdness of the whole exchange.

  "She was nice?" Lucas repeated, unable to keep the shock from creeping into his voice. Quickly he recovered. "I mean, yes, of course she was nice. Carolyn is a nice person. I told you that you just needed to give her a chance. Obviously, she's growing up. Good." He nodded assuredly, as if that was truly a reasonable explanation, and he had expected she would somehow transformed into a sweet young lady overnight, and that she would stay that way.

  Rosa wasn't buying it. Not for a second. Carolyn may have caught a dose of holiday spirit or whatever, but Rosa didn't believe for a second that she had changed, or that she wouldn't be back to her menacing ways before long. But tonight, disaster had been averted, and for that, she, and her bottom, were very thankful.

  Just then, the dinner bell rang, signifying the start of the night's festivities. The all lined up and joined hands while Bishop Miller gave the Christmas Blessing.

  After that, the rest of the evening went off without a hitch, and they didn't see or hear from Carolyn Atwood again. It was a perfect Christmas Eve, and Rosa knew she had an even better Christmas to look forward to.

  * * * * *

  "Rosa, Rosa, Wake up Sleepyhead!"

  Rosa groaned as Luke shook her shoulder in an attempt to wake her. She had been having such a nice dream, too.

  "Rosa, wake up, it's Christmas!"

  That woke her up, and she smiled at Luke's evident excitement. He sounded like a child on Christmas morning, eager to see what goodies Santa had left.


  "Shh, I'm sleeping," she told him with an exaggerated whisper. She wasn't anymore, but there was no reason to be waking up at the crack of dawn. They weren't children anymore, and they didn't have children yet. They had celebrated with their families the night before at the Christmas feast. They would go to Ben and Beth Anne's for dessert and gifts, but that wasn't until later this evening. For now, they didn't have anywhere to be.

  Luke poked her again, and Rosa pulled the covers over her head. "Leave me alone! Lucas, let me sleep!" she yelled from under the blanket.

  Luke drew the blanket back, and tossed it to the floor, swatting her bottom through her nightgown.

  She scowled at him.

  "Get out of bed. I have a surprise for you," he told her sternly. "If you don't get out of bed and get dressed right now, young lady, you're going to end up with a Christmas spanking before you get to see your surprise. If you get to see it at all." His tone was threatening, but he needn't have bothered. She had perked right up at the word surprise, and was now rummaging around in the closet for warm clothes. It had been an unusually cold winter, and out the window she could see that it had snowed again over night, covering Green Valley with a fresh white coat of Christmas snow.

  She excitedly pulled on jeans and a sweater, and was confused when Luke instructed her to put on a coat and boots as well. While she was doing that, he disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a basket of muffins, undoubtedly made by his mother, and two steaming hot travel mugs full of hot chocolate.

  "Are we going somewhere?" she asked, quizzically, taking a bite of muffin.

  He didn't answer just pulled her into the kitchen, through the sliding glass door and into the small backyard. The view of trees and red, snow covered mountains was breathtaking, and at the moment that's all she could see.

  Behind her, Luke sat, and motioned for her to sit beside him. It wasn't until her butt made contact with the soft cushion did she realize she wasn't sitting on her usual crappy metal folding chair.

  With a start she looked down and noticed that instead of her and Luke sitting on two separate chairs side by side as they usually did, they were sitting together on a beautiful wooden bench. The dark oak had been stained a honey color, and their last name was etched across the high back, surrounded by a beautiful carved design of roses and hearts. She looked down and laughed as she noticed the cushion was made of the same floral fabric that she had used for the ring design on the quilt she had made. Beth Anne must have made the cushion, Rosa had given her the leftover fabric, but she hadn't known what Beth Anne had wanted it for. Now she knew, and she was amazed at Luke's thoughtfulness.

  "Lucas!" she exclaimed, "I thought we weren't exchanging gifts! You said we couldn't!"

  "No," Luke corrected her, his eyes sparkling. "I said no buying gifts. But I made this for you."

  "I have something for you too," she admitted, sheepishly. "Don't worry, I also made you something," she giggled at the stern look Luke had given her, thinking that she might have gone behind his back and bought him something.

  "Wait right here," she told him, rushing into the house and returning with a small red gift box.

  Luke opened the lid, and looked up at her, his brow wrinkled in amusement. "They're lovely, babe, but I don't think they'll fit me. They look a little… small."

  Rosa couldn't tell if he was joking with her or just completely clueless. "Lucas!" she yelled, unable to take the suspense. "They're not actually for you to wear! They're for… our baby."

  Luke must have been serious before, because he looked downright stunned. Wordlessly, he lifted the box off his lap and set it beside him on the bench. Grabbing Rosa's hands, he searched her eyes with his.

  "Our baby?" he asked slowly, face filled with disbelief. "I… you're… we're… we're having a baby?" Luke stammered.

  Rosa had never seen him like this. Was he happy? She couldn't tell. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe it was too soon, and he didn't want to start a family right away. They had never talked about it, it had just happened. Luke was still staring at her, wordlessly, and she blanched. Within a minute, Rosa was lost in her own little panic filled world.

  Then she was flying through the air as Luke lifted her off the ground in a giant bear hug and twirled her around the yard screaming like a crazy person.

  "Yes! Best Christmas ever! We're going to have a baby!" Luke's grin was wide and contagious and the momentary panic she had felt lifted, being replaced with pure joy.

  She was married to the man of her dreams, and they were having a baby. It truly was the best Christmas ever.

  Epilogue

  Luke was still walking on air a week later when he walked into his office on his first official day as Bishop of Green Valley. He did a double take when he saw his dad sitting behind the desk in his usual spot.

  "Uh, hey Dad, you know you're not the bishop anymore, right?" Luke leaned up against his desk, looking amused. "You're supposed to be retired, now, remember?"

  "Right… er, about that," his dad hedged, looking nervous.

  Luke was nonplussed, leaning forward to grab the day planner from its spot on the desk.

  "It's okay, Dad. I can do this. I've had plenty of practice, and I'm ready for this." Luke was humoring him, assuming that his dad was just nervous about retiring, and doing something different with his life. Or, that he was just nervous about Luke doing this all on his own now.

  His dad frowned, and got up from his seat. "Son, sit down." He said gesturing to the now unoccupied chair.

  "Okay… I would have been sitting, but you were in my spot." Luke was still smiling and joking as he took his seat.

  His dad was not.

  Luke's smile disappeared when he saw his dad's face. "Dad! What is it, what's wrong?"

  "Lucas, you've been chosen to take a second wife."

  Luke frowned. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, with him and Rosa still being newlyweds, but surely it wasn't as dire as his dad was making it out to be.

  "Okay, well, I thought you said all marriages were blessed unions and being chosen for plural marriage was the highest honor God could bestow upon us as men, besides having children. Seriously, Dad, why are you acting so weird? You're starting to scare me! Lighten up."

  "Well, Lucas, the thing is," his dad started fidgeting with a paperweight as he paced around the room. "The thing is, son, sometimes we don't always understand God's plans for us, especially in regards to plural marriage. Sometimes, we just have to move forward trusting him, even if we aren't completely convinced that the woman he has chosen for us is the right woman, no matter what are initial reaction is."

  "I understand," Luke's voice was flat. He guessed he wasn't much going to like what was coming. Maybe he had been chosen by a woman much older than him, or someone he didn't know. It would be a little weird, for sure, but he could live with that. It wouldn't be the end of the world. At least he had his Rosa, and their unborn child. With them by his side, he could take on anything that might come his way.

  "See, now, when this woman came to me a few weeks ago, I thought for sure that it was an error. I confess that the thought crossed my mind that she might have made it up. But, I have spent weeks in prayer over this, and I can only come to one conclusion. It is meant to be." The elder man paused. "It is surely meant to be, Lucas, but you're not going to like it."

  "Dad!" Lucas yelled, slamming his hand on the desk, in frustration. "Who is it?"

  His dad, sighed, and cast his gaze heavenward, as if in silent prayer before leveling his gaze on Lucas and answering.

  "Carolyn Atwood."

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