A Cross-Country Christmas(67)

“Will?”

Will took a step back, eyes wide at Lauren.

It was Spencer.

They both knew it was, and Lauren had no idea how he was going to feel about any of this. Lauren pressed her lips together to try and hide her smile because the truth was, she loved her brother, and she was going to be a better sister to him than she had been. But she was a grown-up, and he had no say in who she dated.

And she wasn’t going to give Will up for anything.

Slowly, Will turned around to face the several pairs of eyes turned in their direction. He lifted a hand in a lame wave. “Hey, Spence.”

They stepped out of the elevator, and the doors closed behind them.

Spencer had been standing at the desk talking to one of the nurses, and Lauren only just now realized how tired he looked.

“Spencer,” she said. “Is everything okay?”

He looked at her with tears in his eyes and smiled. “Lo, I have a daughter.”

Tears sprang to her eyes as her brother pulled her into a tight hug.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” Then, he reached for Will. “Thanks for getting her home.”

“My pleasure,” Will said, joining their hug.

“Yeah, you made that obvious.” Spencer pulled away, one hand on each of their arms. “I’m happy to see my plan worked.” He grinned.

Lauren and Will exchanged confused glances.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Spencer started down the hall, motioning for them to follow. “You don’t think this was a coincidence, do you?”

Will took her hand as they followed Spencer.

“Lauren had a crush on you forever,” Spencer looked at Will.

“You knew about that?” Lauren thought she hid it so well.

“Lauren, please. You wrote ‘Mrs. Will Sinclair’ all over your diary, and you know I was reading that on the regular.” He stopped in front of a hospital room.

“You read my diary?” She crossed her arms and glared at him.

“And Will asked me once, a long time ago, what I’d think if he dated you,” Spencer said.

Lauren looked at Will, who, for the first time she could remember, actually blushed. “You did?”

He shrugged. “Spencer said no, so I dropped it.”

“You said no!?” Lauren gave her brother a shove.

“He wasn’t ready for you, Lo,” Spencer said. “He had some growing up to do. But he really turned things around, and I don’t know, I started to think maybe you two might finally be ready for each other.”

“Spencer Michael Richmond.” Lauren said. “I never would’ve pegged you for a matchmaker.”

He shrugged. “What can I say—I have a sixth sense about these things.”

“Well, thanks,” Will said. “You were right then, and you were right now.”

“Good,” Spencer said. “Now that we all agree I’m a genius—do you want to meet your niece?”

Lauren beamed. “More than anything.”

Inside the room, they found an absolutely radiant Helen, cradling the sweetest baby with a full head of dark hair. Lauren was unprepared for the wave of emotion that washed over her at the sight of Spencer’s little girl.

“Do you want to hold her?” Helen asked.

Lauren nodded. “Yes, please! What’s her name?”

“Noel Joy,” Spencer said.

Lauren took the baby from her sister-in-law as a tear streamed down her cheek. “She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Will slipped his arm around her, peering down at her niece, and for the first time since she was ten-years-old, Lauren felt like she had a family again.

What a gift.

The best Christmas gift she could’ve imagined.

She looked up at Will, whose eyes had filled with tenderness as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Do you want to hold her?” she asked.

Will nodded and moved away, reaching for the baby, but Lauren held her just out of his reach. “Before I can hand her over, you have to sing your favorite Christmas carol.”

His jaw went slack. “No. No, you aren’t throwing this back at me right now—”

She shrugged. “It’s just I have something here that smells like heaven and makes you feel like you’re the luckiest human in the world, and I really want to share it with you, but you have to pay the price.”

“I think we will be the ones paying the price, Lauren, have you heard this guy sing?” Spencer laughed.

She narrowed her eyes. “Unfortunately, I have.”

“All right,” Will said. “You asked for it. In honor of this beautiful child—” he bowed. “There is really only one appropriate Christmas carol.” He drew in a breath, then started the heartiest, most horrible, off-key version of “The First Noel” any of them had ever heard.

They all joined in the chorus, even Helen, who laughed the whole way through.

Will took a step back and snapped a photo on his phone—yet another memory of the Christmas Lauren Richmond came back to life.

And as she looked around the room, she couldn’t help but count her many, many blessings, and she knew in her heart her days of ignoring Christmas were over.