Novel by the Numbers - Epilogue

Broken Souls ... by Annay Dawson

Epilogue...

The Christmas tree sat in the corner of the living room covered with an array of ornaments, half of them hand made ones from Mia.  Holden bent over to plug in the lights and the tree burst into color.  He had yet to start a fire in the fireplace but that was fine.  He sat down on the couch and picked up the hot cup of cocoa from the side table feeling very content.  He had made particularly good time today getting into Baltimore and back.  The weather had been perfect.   
He had taken an extra trip to see Freddy and his family.  Holden had purchased some gifts for the whole family and had taken them the presents.  He had also been asked by Freddy to pick up some special things for his wife.  It had been nearly impossible for Freddy to get out of her reach from the moment they had released him and he had arrived home.  She had been shocked when he started carting in the gifts and she had been thankful.  It had been a really hard year, and he could tell that she was holding back tears.  Just what the tears were about he was sure was mixed.  He had stayed and had lunch with them, a wonderful baked ziti and a bowl of hot soup.  Domestic bliss.  As he took a sip of his cocoa he smiled.  These days he found himself always smiling; domestic bliss was good.  The sounds and smells that wafted from the kitchen made his stomach growl.
"Are you sure you don't want my help in there?" he was hoping to get in and do some picking before the meal.
"Nope, had a really good day today at work and was able to get off early so it is my turn to cook," seemed like that had been a rarity this cold and flu season, "This is my treat today."  Not wanting to wait Holden got up and slipped into the kitchen.  His smile grew when he saw Kari bent over and placing a dish in the oven.  All thoughts of hunger, at least for food, were gone.
"How long is that going to be in there?" he leaned up against the door frame and folded his arms in front of him.
"About twenty five minutes.  Why are you hungry?" and with that she turned around and looked into his eyes.  He was hungry, she could tell, but not for food at this moment.

"Twenty five is pushing it, but let's see if we can make it work," and with two strides he walked over, picked her up and carried her up to their bedroom in the cozy little house that they had moved into just about a month ago.  And as he carried her up the stairs he knew he had had all his Christmas' wishes granted.