His Christmas List: – Naughty Stories For Your Stocking
His Christmas List: YOU WISH: Chapter 8

“Come on, Trev.” I lead my trusty best friend out of the car. “It’s time for your checkup.” We are back at the vet for Trevor to get his annual heartworm injection.

I’m not excited to be here today. In fact, I haven’t been excited about much at all lately. I spend my days dreaming about Aaron and spend my nights fantasizing about him.

It’s exhausting and downright detrimental. All it’s going to achieve is the confirmation that I am, in fact, an idiot.

“Hello, I’m here for Trevor’s checkup.”

“Yes, come in.”

She leads me into the office and an older woman is there. She turns and smiles at me over the top of her glasses. “Hello, dear. I’m Helen. I own this practice, and I’ll be looking after you today.”

“Hi, Helen.” I take a seat in the corner as she goes over his file.

“Must be quiet around here without Aaron,” I try to make conversation.

“Yes, a real loss, that one.” She checks Trevor over. “Although it was expected.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, with a talent like him, you expect them to be headhunted.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize vets were so competitive.”

“Yes, it’s very hard to get cutting-edge talent. I stole him from Marcy, and he even had a company car there. I could only expect him to be stolen from me.”

“Wait, what?”

I hear my heartbeat in my ears.

“Did you meet him at a conference?” I ask.

“Yes, that’s where you always meet the best staff. Took a lot of convincing to get him to move over, but I eventually did it.”

Marcy was a vet.

He was telling the truth.

“He’s going to be happy now, though. His family has a huge farm on Haggerty Lane in Sonora His father is a vet, too, and I’ve been to their property before for an event.”

“They do?”

She continues talking, but my mind is miles away in Haggerty Lane.

What have I done?

I pace back and forth in my living room as I go over my life choices.

Let’s be honest, they aren’t great. I’ve wasted time on players and found the nice ones boring. I’ve dated idiots and chased after emotionally unavailable fuckwits.

But Aaron… he was different.

I have no idea what I should be doing right now, but it feels like I’m damned if I don’t and maybe damned if I do… but at least I’ll know.

I march upstairs and grab my suitcase.

“Road trip, Trev.”

Seven hours later, I pull into Haggerty Lane and drive down it slowly. The houses are big old farmhouses, the kind you see in movies.

“How the hell am I going to know what house it is?”

My god, this was a stupid idea.

Maybe I should call.

No, I wanted to surprise him. I drive past a place with a big white tent. There are fairy lights in the trees, and a small crowd seems to be having a party.

That’s probably it.

What do I do now?

I park out on the road and get out of the car. I put Trevor’s lead on him and walk around while he goes to the bathroom.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. Aaron.

“Hello.” I smile as I answer.

“Hi.”

My heart swells at the sound of his voice.

“It’s good to hear your voice,” I whisper as I slowly walk up the big drive.

“I missed you too.”

I smile at his ability to read between the lines. “Where are you?” I ask.

“Standing out the front of my parents’.”

“What’s it like?” I keep walking up the drive.

“Huge-ass tent with all the trimmings.”

It’s then I see him standing alone in the dark on the phone. “I’ve been thinking,” he says.

“Yeah.”

“If you don’t want to come out here… maybe I can move back.” He turns as he speaks, and his back is now to me.

His silhouette blurs. “You’d do that for me?”

“I can’t stop thinking about you. Yes. I would.”

I tap him on the shoulder. He spins, and when he sees me, his face drops, the phone still to his ear.

“I’d do it for you too,” I whisper.

He gives me a breathtaking smile and hangs up the phone as he takes me into his arms. “Well, Emma You Wish”—he kisses me softly—“my wish came true.”

“Merry Christmas, Aaron.”

“It is now.”

Three years later.

I stand at the sink, washing the dishes, and Aaron’s hands come around my round stomach as he kisses my neck from behind.

We live in Sonora and I am seven months pregnant with our first baby.

Happily married, and life is perfect.

We are renovating our own home, and I have all the family and friends I could have ever dreamed of. It’s the weirdest thing, I never saw myself as a country girl, but now that I’m here with a sense of community and belonging, I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

The doorbell chimes, and Aaron disappears to answer it as I keep washing up.

“Emma,” he calls. “You have a visitor.”

I dry my hands and walk to the front door to see a face I have only ever seen in photographs.

“Hello, Emma.” Her eyes search mine. “My name is Magdalene.”

“Hi, Magdalene.” I smile as I take her hand. “Would you like to come inside?”

“I would,” she whispers through tears. “I would like that very much.”