One Year Later
Carmen and Beast planned to spend the week before their anniversary—and Christmas—in North Carolina so he could surf, but Carmen had caught a nasty cold, so home they stayed. She was feeling mostly better, but maybe still contagious, so they’d also decided not to go to Dana and Joaquin’s on Christmas Eve—they would FaceTime in the morning instead. Dana had given birth the previous January, and Carmen hated the idea of passing along her sniffles to sweet little Lola, or any of the other little ones.
Ana was also fragile, health-wise. She was a few weeks pregnant again, and Carmen didn’t want to make her sicker than she already was. Supposedly, this pregnancy would be her sister’s last, but Carmen had her doubts. Babies were the only thing that Ana seemed more obsessed with than literally baking buns in the oven.
Carmen and Beast’s two black cats—Westley, and the Dread Pirate Roberts, or Rob for short—were the only ones who hadn’t seemed disappointed by their low-key Christmas plans. They were happy now, but Carmen wondered how long the animals would be mad at her when they grasped the fact that they were going to have a sister. Westley and Rob thought they were the pinnacle of perfection, but Beast had been hankering to expand the family. Her stinky boys would get over it. Eventually.
It was hard to believe a year had gone by since their quickie wedding in Vegas. They had a lovely after-party/reception in Southern California with Beast’s parents, and the time had really flown since then. Her husband fit seamlessly into her life—she, closing the cupboards he left open, and he, wordlessly accommodating quirks she hadn’t realized she had, so as not to give her the willies. She still went to bed thankful each night—that he was next to her, instead of across the country.
Although he hadn’t complained, she wondered if he was as happy as he could be, so far away from the ocean—they’d only made it out to the condo in Wilmington a handful of times that year. At least Beast seemed to love his job, so that was good. He and Ellie made an excellent team, and she had a solid group of artists on her label now. Carmen often tagged along when he went to the studio, and she and Ellie still wrote songs together.
For the past few months, Carmen had been working on an album of her own, although she wasn’t planning to promote it at all, and she’d made Ellie promise not to give it a shout out. With Carmen’s songwriting income—with credits on multiple hits from two of the world’s most popular female acts (Ellie in the Americas and her mother in Europe)—she was certainly not hurting for money. She’d decided that a life of celebrity was not for her, but Beast had pleaded with her to keep some of her songs for herself, so she had finally acquiesced. Her album of love songs (and a few covers) would drop in March, quietly and with zero fanfare, and she hoped that it would utterly flop so her husband would continue to be her biggest fan.
She probably didn’t have to worry about that. Beast texted her from the kitchen:
Want some soup?
She sent back a GIF of Snape from Harry Potter, saying, Always.
*sigh* Whenever you’re ready to stop watching
those movies over and over, I’m 100% on board…
Willing to watch Alan Rickman in another
franchise this evening…
Die Hard???
Lol. Oh, you poor Beast.
Perhaps Carmen had become something of a TV-remote-hog in her sickness, but their movie club would go back to being a democracy as soon as she was better. Although they’d planned to watch It’s A Wonderful Life every year, there was no way her sinuses could handle it at the moment.
When she wrapped herself in her fluffy robe and made her way downstairs, Love Actually was already queued up on the TV. There was a fire roaring in the fireplace, and the Christmas tree was lit. A few candles on the mantle probably made the room smell nice and spicy, but with dulled olfactory senses, Carmen would have to imagine that part. The table by the couch was stocked with a tissue box, cold water, and hot ginger tea, and painkillers sat next to them in a little bottle, as romantic as any decanter of champagne.
Beast saw her in the doorway and said, “Wait!”
Her husband wore a new black t-shirt that was almost as soft as his ancient one, and his hair had grown a little long, but in a cute way. In his gray sweats, the man looked even better than the ibuprofen.
He disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with a tray, which he also set by the couch. Then he reclined against the cushions and patted his leg, and she happily climbed into his lap. He pulled a light cotton throw over them, and moved the food tray closer so she could eat her soup. Joining in on the perfect family act, the cats curled up by her feet and purred in contentment.
Carmen didn’t even bother to watch the first few minutes of the movie, but silently cried in the comfiest spot in the world until Beast noticed that she was using a lot of tissues for someone who wasn’t blowing her nose.
He paused the movie and set the soup aside.
“What’s wrong, Pita? Need more medicine?”
“No!” she cried. “I’m just so happy!”
His laugh rumbled through her back, and he combed through her hair, over and over, until she closed her eyes.
“Thank you for taking care of me.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“I’m sorry for ruining Christmas.”
“You haven’t.”
“Yeah, I have.”
He sighed. “Walk me through that.”
“You had to miss surfing last week.”
“I’ll live,” he said. “Next.”
“I know how much you love to see the kids on Christmas morning. Being Uncle Beast is your favorite.”
“It’s nice to have you to myself sometimes, and we see them at least once a week, Carmen. I’ll be okay. Is that all you’ve got?”
“No!” She covered her face with her hands. “I got you a puppy, but then I was too sick to pick her up, and now she has to spend Christmas without us, and the boys are going to freak out, and I know you’re so tired from taking care of me—”
He took a hold of her shoulders and turned her around. “A puppy?”
She nodded and tried to flip through her emails to show him a picture, but he hugged her before she could find it.
“You said a puppy would chew on your guitars and pee in the pool. You said you didn’t want to deal with one.”
She waved a careless hand. “That was a strategic lie, although I wish those scenarios sounded more far-fetched.”
Beast laughed and pulled back to look at her. “So much for total honesty.”
“All’s fair in surprises and presents. Everyone knows that.”
She finally found the email chain from the breeder, and they both oohed and aahed over the adorable puppies.
“A Golden Retriever!” Beast said.
Carmen studied his expression. “Like Flanders. Is that okay?”
“I love her already.” They watched her trip over a hose, then replayed the video clip about twenty times.
“What are you going to name her?” Carmen asked.
“How about Buttercup? But don’t start calling her Butt for short.”
Carmen laughed and closed her eyes. With a name like Buttercup, farm-boy Westley and the Dread Pirate Roberts were sure to love their not-so-little sister. Eventually.
Beast kissed the top of her head, and Carmen snuggled into his neck, secure in his arms. She was happy, her husband was happy, Wes and Rob were (currently) happy. Maybe she hadn’t ruined Christmas, after all.
She yawned.
Alan Rickman would have to wait, because there was a long winter’s nap with her name on it.
Thank you so much for reading! Want to review? We would love that! Review on Amazon, GoodReads, BookBub, or wherever your heart desires! We appreciate your support!
Want to see the other Blue Jade News subscriber perks? (Like Carmen’s song, The Beast Goes On.) Visit the perk page. (pw: PERKS)
Don’t miss the other books in The Ortiz Family Series here.