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Aiden. He could beat the life
right out of him in a minute flat if he wanted to. The desire was certainly
there, but as he sat there thinking, he replayed his life with Vivianne. He
thought about all the pain he had inflicted upon her in the recent past. He
loved her, too, and tried his hardest to make her happy, but yet he had failed
miserably in some ways. To be honest, it really wasn’t Vivianne’s fault that
she had turned to another man for support. Aiden took the blame for his part in
making her unhappy.
    As for Travis, he was—emphasis on was —Aiden’s friend.
What was he doing coming on to Vivianne?! It sounded like Travis had come
looking to replace him, knowing that Vivianne was vulnerable. Damn Travis!
    The email didn’t say if she’d seen Travis since the
attempted kiss. Aiden couldn’t help but wonder if his so-called friend was
still attempting to “check on” his wife on a regular basis.
     
     
     
     

Chapter Nine
     
     
    Vivianne slowly awoke on Christmas morning as the dim light
streaked through the curtains, thinking that maybe she should have gone to her
parents’ house. They’d invited her to come over last night and wake up with
everyone to open presents. Her sister would be there, her nieces, and even
Uncle Phil. She just…couldn’t.  
    It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see them. She just didn’t
want them to see her in such an emotional state. Her mom had believed her when
she explained horrible she felt in the mornings, which was actually true, and
that was why she didn’t want to come over. They all expected her later,
however.
    Vivianne was dreading it a bit. She knew her mom was sharing
the news about the baby, maybe this very minute. Tears stung her eyes. She used
to daydream how she would tell Aiden once they were finally pregnant. It’d just
taken longer than she had expected, and now Vivianne wasn’t sure if this would
be happy news, if he knew.
    The morning sickness sometimes didn’t set in until she got
up, so Vivianne stayed right where she was, nestled under the covers. Her only
movement was to stretch over and pull her phone into bed.
    There was a voicemail from Aiden.
    “Merry Christmas Eve, baby. I love you. Miss you. Need you.
That stuff with Travis, let’s forget about it.  Let’s just look forward. Talk
to you soon.”
    He sounded so excited, and he wasn’t angry! Sharing that,
being honest, had made her feel so much better. Strangely, it had also helped
to clear the hard feelings she had held onto about Aiden’s flirty thing with
Cindy. Maybe they really could move past all of this.
     I love you. Miss you. Need you. She replayed the
voicemail several times. Too bad the team wasn’t able to come home for
Christmas; she’d give anything to see him.
    She dozed off, holding the phone, thinking about Aiden,
until a light tapping sound woke her again. She wasn’t dreaming. Someone was
knocking on the front door, tap, tap, tap. Her family must have decided to come
over and cheer her up.
    It made her smile—she did love all of them. Maybe she could
not to be the Grinch this Christmas and instead forget her personal struggles
for a day. She slid out of bed, happy to find she didn’t feel sick yet. Maybe
even her morning sickness would give her a break today. Her mom had said she
should be getting past the sickness stage. She prayed that were true.
    Her family was still tapping on the door. Vivianne didn’t
see anyone through the small window next to her front door, though. What kind
of surprise were they planning? She pictured some kind of package on the porch
and the bunch of them standing in the yard, grinning in the chilly morning air.
    She opened the door… and found Aiden!
    On his knees.
    “Aiden,” she breathed. She was still groggy and half asleep,
so at first she couldn’t be sure she wasn’t dreaming until he spoke.
    “Vivianne Rose O’Riley, will you still be my bride? Will you
let me keep you to have and to hold, forever?”
    She was