New Love for Christmas

The next day, it was Christmas. Holly was curled up in bed, staring out the window.

She couldn’t make herself get out of bed. She knew she had to think about the baby she was carrying, but how could she raise it without him?

Nathan would never know fatherhood. The baby would never know its father.

She heard the door open to her room.

“Holly?” Nick asked.

“Hey,” Holly said.

“Want some breakfast?” Nick asked.

“I’m not hungry,” she said.

“Holly, you need to eat for the baby,” he said.

“Toast is fine,” she said.

“All right,” he said before going downstairs.

Holly got out her phone and saw a text message from her partner at the law firm telling her about a letter Nathan left for her in the event of his death. He said he would be bringing it over.

She got up, changed, and went downstairs.

“Hey! I would have brought it up to you,” Nick said.

“I had to get up. My law partner said there was a letter from Nathan that I had to read in the event of his death,” she said.

“Okay, Holly. I’m going to move in here with you to be here for you and my grandchild. You will not do this alone; I know my son wouldn’t want that for you,” he said.

“What about your job?” Holly asked.

“You forget that I own my own business and work from home,” Nick said.

“Nick, your house?” she asked.

“Holly, I can sell it or rent it out, okay? It’s no big deal. I want to be here for you and the baby. I can’t let you go through this alone. I lost him too. I lost my only son,” he said.

“I know. I’m sorry, thank you, Nick,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” Nick said.

The doorbell rang. It was her law partner Adam and his husband Jeff.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Adam said.

“Hey, sweetie,” Jeff said.

“Hey, guys,” Holly said.

“How are you holding up?” Adam asked.

“I’m trying my best to hang in there, but it’s hard,” she said.

“We understand that, sweetie,” Jeff said. They came in and saw Nick.

“Hey, Nick, we are sorry about Nathan,” Adam said.

“He was a great guy, and you did great raising him,” Jeff said.

“Thanks, guys. I made breakfast enough for four people if you want some. Holly only wanted toast,” Nick said.

“We ate before we came. Thanks anyways,” Adam said.

“I have a letter right here for you, Holly,” Jeff said.

“And there is one for you, Nick,” Adam said. Jeff gave her the letter as Adam gave Nick his.

Holly opened hers and began reading it.

My love, if you are reading this letter, I must have been in an accident and passed away, I wish that didn’t happen. I wish you weren’t going to suffer the loss of me from your life.

I love you more than life itself. I want to tell you that I know about your crush on my father. I’ve noticed how you look at him when he’s around. It’s how you looked at me.

I know something else. Baby, my dad is secretly in love with you. He doesn’t remember it, but he drank too much one night and confessed to me.

Baby, as much as you are hurting from losing me, I want you to keep living. I don’t want you to mourn forever. I want you to explore things with my dad. I know he will take care of you, baby.

I love you so much. Think about what I’ve said, okay?

I love you, my love, my life.

Nathan

Holly sat down and read it over and over again. Nick sat there reading his.

Hey, Dad. If you got this, I must have passed away for some reason. Remember the night we had drinks at the house when you came to stay while Holly was out of town on a case?

We had a lot of drinks, but you had more than me. You confessed you were secretly in love with my wife. I wasn’t angry because I knew you wouldn’t betray me like that by going after my wife behind my back.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. My wife has had a crush on you since she first met you, but she loved me more.

I want you to be there for her and take care of her, and maybe you both can take care of each other in every way possible.

I love you, Dad, and I want you to be happy and I want you to protect and love my wife since I can’t do that anymore. Tell Bryan to take care of Ellie and Luke and to stay safe. All of you. Explore things with Holly. See where it goes and take things slow if she wants to. Love you, Dad. Your son, Nathan

Nick looked up at Holly and saw her sitting there, staring at her own letter.