Mommy, Please Marry Our Daddy

Chapter 5 A Christmas Eve Contract

Emma

"Your nose is turning red," Lottie announced, reaching up to tap my nose with her mittened hand. The four of us still stood by the crooked snowman, winter darkness settling around us like a soft blanket.

"Then maybe we should continue this conversation somewhere warmer?" Dominic suggested, brushing snow from Noah's hat. "My car's just around the corner."

I hesitated. Getting into a car with a man I barely knew seemed reckless. But then again, I'd just agreed to marry him, so maybe normal rules didn't apply anymore.

"Can we have hot chocolate when we get home?" Lottie asked, skipping through the snow. "Miss Emma makes the best hot chocolate!"

"Actually," Dominic said gently, "Miss Emma needs to go home tonight. We have a lot to talk about first."

Noah's face fell. "But she's going to be our mommy now, right?"

My heart squeezed. "We need to figure out all the grown-up details first, sweetheart."

Dominic's car turned out to be a modest sedan, clean but clearly well-used. He helped the twins into their booster seats with practiced ease while I brushed snow from my coat.

"Sorry about the mess," he said as I slid into the passenger seat. "The twins' art projects tend to take over."

True enough, the back seat was scattered with colorful drawings and craft supplies. A sparkly pen rolled across the floor as we pulled away from the curb.

"I love drawing!" Lottie announced from the back. "Miss Emma, do you want to see my pictures?"

"Maybe later, honey," Dominic said. "Right now, Miss Emma and I need to talk about some important things."

"Grown-up stuff?" Noah asked sleepily.

"Very grown-up stuff."

I watched the twins' reflection in the side mirror as they slowly dozed off, lulled by the car's movement and the day's excitement. Christmas lights twinkled through the falling snow, casting colorful shadows across their peaceful faces.

"They'll be out for a while," Dominic said softly. "Good thing, because we have a lot to discuss."

"We should probably write everything down," I suggested. "Make it official."

He glanced around the car, then chuckled. "I don't suppose you have paper and pen?"

"Wait!" I reached into the back seat, carefully retrieving Lottie's fallen sparkly pen and what looked like a unicorn-covered notebook. "Will these work?"

Dominic's laugh was warm and rich. "My daughter's princess stationery. Perfect for planning a marriage of convenience."

"Hey, unicorns are very serious business."

"Oh, I know. Lottie gave me a thirty-minute presentation on their importance last week."

I smiled, picturing that scene. "She's quite persuasive."

"You have no idea." He pulled into a quiet spot overlooking the park. "Last month she convinced her teacher to let her do show-and-tell three times in one day."

The car's heating created a cozy bubble against the winter night. I opened the notebook to a blank page, past Lottie's colorful doodles.

"Okay," I said, trying to sound businesslike despite the sparkly pink pen. "Let's figure this out."

"First thing – timing." Dominic drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "When does the competition registration close?"

"January 2nd." I twisted the pen between my fingers. "But we don't have to do it tomorrow. I know it's Christmas and—"

"Actually, with the holidays, the courthouse will be closed until after New Year's." He seemed to know an awful lot about legal procedures for a driver. "We should file the paperwork next week, once everything reopens."

"A courthouse wedding?" The words felt strange in my mouth. Yesterday, I'd been planning a cathedral ceremony with imported flowers. Now I was discussing paperwork with a man I barely knew.

"Unless you'd prefer something else?"

I thought about Harrison's elaborate plans. All that show, hiding such ugly truth underneath.

"No," I said firmly. "Simple is better. Just us, the twins, and my mom."

He nodded, seeming relieved. "Now, living arrangements..."

"I can stay in my apartment—"

"The twins would be heartbroken," he said quietly. "They'll expect their new mommy to live with us."

The word 'mommy' hit me like a physical force. "Are we sure this is fair to them? Letting them get attached when this is just temporary?"

Dominic was quiet for a moment, watching the snow fall. "They're already attached, Emma. Have been since you first smiled at them over hot chocolate. The question is, can you handle that responsibility? Even knowing it has an expiration date?"

I thought about Noah's careful counting of marshmallows. About Lottie's bright smile when she saw me. About the way something in my heart seemed to click into place every time I was near them.

"Yes," I whispered. "I can."

"But I'd need my own room," I added quickly.

"Of course." Was it my imagination, or did his cheeks color slightly? "Completely separate spaces. Just... sharing breakfast sometimes. Maybe dinner. If you want."

"I'd like that," I said softly. "I make pretty good pancakes."

"Better than my burned ones?"

"Noah mentioned those. He said you set off the smoke alarm last Sunday."

Dominic groaned. "He would remember that. Lottie told everyone at school her daddy tried to poison them with breakfast."

I laughed, picturing it.

And then I started writing in Lottie's notebook. "Rule one: this arrangement lasts until the competition ends."

"Rule two," he added. "We present a united front for the twins. No arguing in front of them, no confusing messages."

I wrote it down in sparkly pink ink. "Rule three: we're honest with each other. No secrets."

His hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel. "Agreed."

Something in his tone made me look up, but his face was unreadable in the dim light.

"Rule four," I continued. "If either of us develops... feelings... we tell the other immediately. End things before anyone gets hurt."

"Agreed." His voice was softer now. "Though that seems unlikely."

"Completely unlikely," I echoed, ignoring the way my pulse jumped when he smiled.

We added more practical rules – sharing household expenses, maintaining our separate lives outside the home, how to handle questions from outsiders. By the time we finished, Lottie's unicorn notebook was filled with pink, glittery wedding plans.

"Right." He signed the bottom of the page with a flourish, then handed me the pen. "Your turn, future Mrs. Sterling."

I took the pen, trying to ignore how natural that name felt. The glitter ink sparkled as I signed, adding a tiny heart dot over the 'i' without thinking.

"Done," I said, staring at our names together on Lottie's princess paper. "I guess we're really doing this."

"I guess we are." He carefully tore out the page and folded it. "I'll get the court paperwork started tomorrow."

"On Christmas?"

"Some things are worth working through holidays for."

A comfortable silence fell, broken only by the twins' soft breathing and the gentle pat of snow on the windshield. Christmas lights twinkled in the distance, and somewhere a church bell chimed midnight.

"Merry Christmas Eve," Dominic said softly.

"Merry Christmas Eve." I closed Lottie's notebook, trying not to think about how I'd be preparing to move in with my new husband and his children in a few days.

"Time to get you home," he said, starting the car. "Big changes coming."

As we drove through the quiet streets, I watched snowflakes dance in the headlights. My entire life had transformed in less than twenty-four hours. I'd lost a fiancé, gained a different one, and somehow acquired two adorable stepchildren-to-be.

"Miss Emma?" Noah's sleepy voice came from the back seat. "Are you really going to be our mommy?"

My throat tightened. "Yes, sweetheart. If that's okay with you."

"Great," he mumbled, already drifting back to sleep. "Looks like I don't need to make that wish to Santa this year..."

I caught Dominic's eye in the rearview mirror. He smiled, and something warm unfurled in my chest.

Maybe this crazy plan wasn't the worst idea after all. Maybe sometimes the best Christmas presents came with sparkly pink contracts and sleeping children and snow falling like stars in the December night.

The easy banter carried us through the snowy streets until we reached my apartment building. It wasn't much – definitely a far cry from my family's old Upper East Side home – but someone had strung Christmas lights around the entrance, making the worn brick glow warmly in the darkness.

Dominic got out of the car and opened the door for me, offering me his hand. I put my hand in his and walked with him to my house.

Then snow started falling again as we walked. Fat, lazy flakes that caught in his dark hair and on his eyelashes. He looked younger in the streetlight, less guarded.

"Emma?" He asked suddenly.

"Hmm?"

He hesitated, then turned to face me fully. "Are you sure about this? It's not too late to change your mind."

I looked down at the marriage contract we'd drafted in Lottie's notebook, the terms written in alternating pink and purple crayon because those were the only colors we had. It should have felt ridiculous. Instead, it felt more honest than anything.

"I'm sure," I said, meeting his gaze. "Are you?"

His blue eyes held mine for a long moment. "Yes."

The simple answer somehow meant more than all of Harrison's flowery proposals.