saw it. It was a heavy bracelet of gold links and on the back of each link there was a word engraved. All together it read “Happy First Christmas. I love you, N.” She liked the idea of it being their first Christmas. It suggested that there would be more. She hoped they would be lucky enough for that to be true.
“I love it.” He put it on her wrist, and she reached into her night table and handed him a box too. It was a sturdy stainless steel Rolex watch he could wear every day at work, with a chronograph, a stopwatch, and all the extra dials and features she knew he’d love. He put his gift on too, and looked like the proverbial kid at Christmas when he thanked her.
He slept naked and she pressed her body against him as they kissed. She loved feeling his body against her. He was powerfully built with broad shoulders and strong arms, and he loved the silk of her skin next to his. He could never get enough of her. He never wanted their lovemaking to end.
“I love you, Mel,” he said in a husky voice.
“I love you too.” It was the best Christmas she’d had in years. He started making love to her, and she arched her back as he entered her. Everything about their lovemaking was so sweet, and so sensual. They always seemed to be in tune with each other, as they were now. It lasted as long as they could bear it, and then their insatiable hunger and passion took over. They lay spent afterward and smiled at each other. As she looked at him, Melissa couldn’t think of a single thing she wanted. She had it all.
Chapter 14
By Christmas, Marla had finished shooting her most recent film. Post-production was winding down, and she only had to go into the sound studio a few times. She was already studying her next script. She was thoroughly professional, always prepared, and rarely went out or saw people when she was learning lines. She did research for months before every picture, and had set a strong example to Michaela for excellence and perfection. Michaela had developed a powerful work ethic like her adoptive mother, and admired Marla for her discipline.
Marla joined them for dinner on Christmas Eve, and after the children were put to bed, she sat and talked to Michaela and David. The tree was lit, and Andy and Alexandra had opened their grandmother’s gifts that night. She gave them books and practical things that they could learn from. She had definite ideas about how children should be raised and what they should be taught. She’d applied them to Michaela. She had taught her to read when she was three, and Marla had taken her on location with her, with a nanny, before she started school. After that, the long separations while she worked on movie after movie had begun. She regretted it now, but her career had come first. Michaela understood it and didn’t hold it against her, and she had loved her nannies. Marla had insisted on good manners, and the nannies she hired were British and well trained. Michaela had a more informal style with her own children, and she had less help. She liked taking care of them herself whenever she could. David helped on weekends. Michaela had missed having a father. Marla never introduced her to the men in her life. She kept that separate and never discussed it with her daughter.
“I have to admit,” she said, as they relaxed in front of the fire after dinner, “I was shocked when you told me you had met your birth mother. After they told you about the fire at Saint Blaise’s, I assumed that would never be possible.”
“So did I,” Michaela added. “I was shocked when her sister came to see me at the office. At first I thought it was some kind of scam.”
“I was afraid of that too,” Marla admitted. “But I was even more afraid that it might be real, and worried about why she wanted to meet you. It’s been such a long time. She wasn’t at all what I expected when I met her at Thanksgiving. I thought I’d be jealous and she’d try to ‘steal’ you. Instead she turns out to be this very nice, normal woman. She’s had a sad life, and I realize that she needs you, maybe more than you needed her. I don’t