“It’s your voice, actually.” When she looks at me questioningly, I point to the waves that run along the middle of the chain. “I listened to your recordings so many times, I think I have them memorized, so I took a couple of words and had the sound waves shaped in gold. The three small sections of lines show the words that I loved hearing from you the most.”

She looks at me with unshed tears in her eyes. “What does it say?”

“I love you.”

She throws herself into my arms, clinging to me. I cling to her just as fiercely, wanting her to know that what I say is true.

“I love you, too, Alex.”

I hold her close, kissing her and wiping away her tears. “I have loved you from the moment I heard your voice. Thank you for coming here, and being my Christmas miracle.”

Epilogue Noelle

Christmas Eve, five years later.

“But what if the power goes out?” Nicholas asks, a little fear in his eyes.

“Your dad is the greatest woodsman who ever lived. He won’t let anything happen to us. Besides, if the power goes out then we get to have Christmas dinner over the fire. It’s kind of fun.” His eyes brighten at the idea, and I kiss his forehead, tucking him into bed. “Goodnight, my love. Get some sleep. Santa will be here soon enough.”

“Goodnight, Mommy. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I close the door to his room and make my way downstairs. I find Alex in our bedroom, pulling out the train set ‘Santa’ got Nicholas for Christmas.

“Is he asleep?”

“Not even close. Better wait a bit before we set that out. Just in case.”

Alex puts the toy down, walking over to me with a seductive look in his eyes. “Hmm. I wonder what we could do while we wait. What could we possibly do with all this free time on our hands?”

I giggle and melt into him, loving the feel of him against me. We’ve been living here in our cabin for the past five years, and each day together is better than the last. I’m still head over heels madly in love with my husband, and if the way he can’t keep his hands off me is any indication, he feels the same.

We had our little boy, Nicholas, nine months exactly after our first Christmas together, and we decided to wait a while and see if we wanted any more. Alex and I are simple people and didn’t want a large family. A few years went by after having our son, and we agreed that our trio was perfect.

“I thought you were going to make me s’mores?” I moan as Alex’s tongue meets my collarbone.

“Tell you what. You let me eat your pussy, and then I’ll make you s’mores.”

“It’s like you’re not even trying to win anything here,” I laugh as I let him unbutton my jeans.

“Baby, I’ve got you. I’ve already won everything.”

My laugh turns into another moan as Alex kneels down in front of me, kissing me in all the right places.

He’s so good to me, I can’t believe it sometimes. Maybe I’ll read him that new Ruby Dixon book, Ice Planet Holiday, out loud tonight. He’s been waiting for the latest Barbarian story, and he loves it when I get to the sex scenes.

I close my eyes and smile, thinking this might be our best Christmas yet.

THE END