“Hmphf,” Samuel smirked as he looked away. “I’m realizing that I’m a little lost without her, myself.” He turned his attention back to Brooke. “Thank you for letting me know where my true feelings lie.”

Unsure of what he meant, Brooke looked a little puzzled. “How did I do that?”

“You let me see what a wonderful woman she’s grown up into and the love that she has…” a smile came to his face, “…that is worth more to me than anything.”

“Mr. Moleson?”

“Yes, Brooke?”

“I…uh…I want you to know that I’m not trying to cause any trouble or drive a bigger wedge between your family and Sam but I…uh…” Brooke could feel the butterflies in her stomach coming to life and she took in a deep breath to calm them. “Well, you see…I was thinking and I uh…kind of…ah…already spoke to Sam’s Aunt Sandy about this…and well…I’m not quite sure how you feel about all this and I’m sure it must be hard on you but…” Brooke shook her head as she listened to her own words. God, I sound like some punk teenager asking someone out for the first time instead of the CEO of a company.

“What is it, Brooke?” Samuel asked, studying her intently. “I’m sure that anything that my sister agreed to would be fine with me. She only has Sam’s best interest at heart.”

The dark-haired woman swallowed the rising bile back down and cleared her throat, determined to present a more commanding appearance. “I want to propose to your daughter…if she’ll have me. I guess what I’m asking is…”

Samuel’s brow furrowed in thought. He brought his hand up to his chin and rubbed it. “Propose…eh?” He raised his gaze to meet hers.

“Yes, Sir. I want to spend the rest of my life and anytime after that making her happy, making her every wish come true.” Brooke stood completely serious to her cause. “I know you don’t really know me but… you are her father and she loves you very much.”

“Well, you don’t have to ask me, Brooke.” The man smiled, thinking of his very adult daughter. “She’s a grown woman, like yourself. I think it best if you ask her.” Samuel looked back to the house and the young woman coming out the door. “But if you’re still needing my approval… I’m for whatever is going to make my daughter happy. God knows, it’s not her mother.”

“I want to be the one to make her happy, Sir. She means everything to me.”

Sam’s father looked up to see Brooke’s more then serious face. “You don’t have to go on and on,” he chuckled. “Well, at least not with me.” He winked and motioned with his head to the woman standing at the door. “My answer is…” he paused, watching the suspense build in her blue eyes, “…yes, Brooke.”

“Really?” The uncharacteristic, high-pitched voice squeaked out, causing Samuel to smile all the more.

“Really,” he assured her. “You just treat my daughter with all the love that I’ve seen you give her already… and I’ll be more than happy.”

Brooke took her hand out of her jacket pocket and offered it to Sam’s father. “Thank you, thank you so much, Sir.” She shook his hand with a firm grip as they locked gazes. “I’ll treat her with nothing less. Thank you.”

“I’m counting on that.” Samuel relinquished his hold on her hand and started to walk back toward the house. After a few steps, he halted his motion and half turned, calling out over his shoulder. “You’re welcome. Now just make the rest of her dreams come true. I’d say that you’ve already got a good start on it.”

Taking another few steps, Samuel met his eldest daughter as she came down the walk. “Did you say good-bye to Sarah?” He looked into Sam’s eyes.

“Yeah, I did.” Sam nodded as she smiled, lunging herself into his arms. “Merry Christmas, Daddy. I love you.”

“Ready, Sweetheart?” Brooke stood a few feet away from the heart-warming embrace of father and daughter and waited for the answer.

Samuel watched as the loved-filled face of his daughter pulled back from his shoulder when she turned to look in Brooke’s direction.

“Yeah, I’m ready now.” She gave her father a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before whispering in his ear. “Thank you for understanding.” Sam stepped away from the man, then turned to look back at the house. “I love you too, Sarah,” she called out and waved, then turned back to her father. “Bye, Daddy.”

“I love you, Samantha. I’ll see you soon, Sweetheart.” He smiled at her, then motioned with his head toward the waiting woman. “Go on, she’s come to take you home.”

Sam’s eyes sparkled at the acknowledgement of Brooke by her father. It brought a warm feeling to her heart. She walked over to the older woman and reached out for her hand. Together, with hands clasped, they walked over to the truck. After giving one last wave to her father and sister, Sam climbed into the passenger seat of the truck.

Brooke pulled out of the driveway before saying anything. With a stolen glance or two, she tried to survey her lover’s state of mind. “You okay, Darlin’?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” There was silence for a moment as Sam stared out the window. “That… that was a very imaginative gift, Hon. Thank you.” Sam looked over to the driver and beamed a smile at her.

“Well, I knew how bad you wanted to see your father and Sarah. I’m just sorry that it didn’t go so great with your mother. I wanted to see you happy, Sam. I’m sorry.” Brooke reached over and laid her hand on Sam’s, squeezing it gently.

“I know that Mother will never change,” Sam’s voice was soft spoken, “but it sure felt good to be with Dad again.” She tried to keep the blossoming smile in check as she thought of her sister. “And Sarah, too,” she added. “I didn’t lose them, Brooke. It was just like it was with them before.”

Sam waited until the truck came to a halt at the stop sign before unbuckling her seatbelt and sliding over to give Brooke a hug. “Thanks so much, for giving me that gift of love.”

Brooke kissed her gently on the cheek. “You’re welcome, Darlin’.”

There was a moment of shared silence as both women became lost in the other’s eyes. Finally coming to their senses, each one started to speak at the same time.

“Now, how about we go home…”

“What do you say we go on home…”

They both laughed as Sam slid back to her seat and put her seatbelt back on.

Sam looked over to her lover. “I still have a present for you to open.”

“Hmm…” Brooke arched an eyebrow in her direction, holding it for a few seconds before giving her a wink, then saying, “And I believe that I have some presents with your name all over them, too.” Brooke tapped eight fingers on the steering wheel as she let go with a seductive purr.

Surprise filled Brooke’s face as she reached for the doorknob and it wasn’t there. The door seemed to be opening on its own, only to reveal Mable, beaming in all her glory.

“Ah…Hi, Mom.” Brooke held the door, waiting for Sam to enter before her. “Sorry it’s so late.”

“Hi, Mom.” Sam passed by the matriarch, dropping a soft kiss on her cheek and giving her a quick one-armed hug.

“Hey,” Mable cast an eye toward Brooke and offered the other cheek to her as she grabbed her sleeve. “Did the present go alright?” The woman’s brown eyes studied her daughter’s face for a sign.

“The present,” Sam interjected with a smile as she looked up to Brooke, “…was very well received.”

The tall woman shook her head slightly and gave a little frown. “Well, two-thirds of it did, Sam’s Dad and Sister were great.”

Mable held onto Brooke’s sleeve, letting Sam move further into the room. “It’s the thought that counts, Brooke. And that was a very thoughtful gift.” She watched her daughter give a little shrug to one shoulder and sigh.

Seeing that Brooke was not directly behind her, Sam took several steps back and tugged at the other sleeve of her leather jacket. “Come on, I think I see a stray box with your name on it under the tree.”

Brooke could feel the blush running up her neck and across her face as she lifted her eyes to the heavens, rolling them in embarrassment as she allowed herself to be led by Sam.

Mable took great enjoyment in seeing her often-headstrong child reduced to mush at the hands of one small blonde. “You’d better go with her, Brooke, or she might have to give it to someone else,” the matriarch teased.

“Excuse me… pardon me…” Sam made her way across the room of set up raceways and sleepy headed children in their mother’s arms, over to the small flat box on the edge of the tree skirt facing the fireplace. She stooped over and picked it up, then stood up as she turned back toward her tall lover. Puzzled by her absence from sight, Sam started to scour the pieces of furniture for the woman.

Brooke waited until she saw Sam’s brow begin to furrow before reaching out and tugging playfully on her pant leg. She held out until the green eyes looked down at her, sitting Indian style on the floor, before she smiled sweetly and gave a little wave of her hand. “Missed me, didn’t cha?”

The blonde shook her head at first then quickly changed it to a nod as she looked down at Brooke with a beaming smile. “Yes.” She held out the small, flat box, offering to her. “Here, Brooke, I…I picked this out special for you.” Sam watched as her lover took the box from her, then brought it up to her ear and gave it a shake. “It’s a two part present, so even if you guess the first part, there’s still more to come,” Sam ended her hint with a wink.

Bringing the box back to her ear, Brooke gave it another little shake, only this time she noticed that the weight of it moved with the tilting of the box. “Hmm…I…I…” she drew out her guess, “I have…no clue.” The woman smiled as she looked around to the rest of her family who gathered eagerly to see what it could be.

“Come on, Brooke.” Terri encouraged her. “We want to see while we still can without the help of bifocals.”

“Yeah,” Randi joined in the heckling. “You know they’re heading my way with all the fine print I have to deal with.”

“Just be quiet over there, Ter.” She shot a glance over to her older sister, “You, too, Randi or I’ll just wait until you have to squint.” Brooke looked over to Sam, then started slowly ripping at the decorative gift wrap on package.

“Jeez, Brooke. My three year old could have already been playing with that.” Brian teased her.

Sam took in a deep breath and watched with anticipation as Brooke started to open the box. She could feel her heart pounding harder and faster with each scrap of paper that was discarded.

With nimble fingers, Brook tore at the paper and soon all the wrappings were removed. Slowly, she took the lid from the box and peered down at the gift. Slightly puzzled, she studied it for a moment. “It’s a…a…”

The blonde spoke softly, afraid that her gift would be misconstrued. “It’s an ornament for the tree…your tree,” she corrected herself, then reached over and took it from the box, showing the front of the ornament to Brooke. “I mean…our tree.” Green eyes searched the woman’s face as blue eyes took in the words that were written across the front of the ornament. “It says, ‘Our first Christmas’,” she said aloud for everyone’s appreciation. Her voice softened as she turned back to Brooke. “I thought that you might like it.”

“Like it…I love it.” Brooke grinned from ear to ear, then asked eagerly, “Does that mean we get a new one every year? You know, our second Christmas…our third Christmas,” she gave examples, then looked up to Sam and winked, “…our fiftieth Christmas?” Brooke watched as the blonde blushed.

Randi couldn’t resist a chance to tease. “And you expect to live that long with your driving. No way Sis, remember, I’m the one who takes care of your traffic tickets,” the lawyer chuckled as she received a dirty look from Brooke, causing the whole family to add to the laughter of the moment.

“Yuk, yuk, yuk.” Brooke smiled at Sam, then stretched up to kiss her. “Thank you, Darlin’. I love it.” She took the ornament from Sam’s hand and hung it on one of the lower branches of the tree directly behind them. “There, it looks great.” A satisfied smile graced Brooke’s face.

“Now, for the other part.” Sam carefully stepped over Brooke’s legs as she made her way out of the jumble of Gordon family members who had gathered around them. Once clear, she then headed quickly for the stairs.

“Hey, where are you going?” Brooke called out after her.

“I’ve got to go get it. I’ll be right back.”

The curious woman sat there, watching as Sam disappeared into the hall. There was a moment of silence before Brooke threw out an admiring observation. “Doesn’t Sam look great in that new jacket?”