The Accidental Christmas

Epilogue

Cameron

Two Years Later

The tree lot was full when they arrived, and in the back seat, nine-year-old Jeremy was excited. He was getting to pick the tree again this year like he did the year before, giving his mother the scare of her life when he pointed to a seven-foot Noble Fir tree that she knew wouldn't fit in the beach house they now called home. But then, with a mischievous grin, his hand drifted to the right, toward the six-foot Fraser fir beside it instead.

Almost got you, he'd signed to her and she nodded, laughing as Talon left her side to inspect the tree their son had picked out.

This year, Jeremy knew what he wanted. He knew where it would go, right by the bay window that faced the Boardwalk and beyond it, the ocean. He'd browse the rows of trees, looking for the perfect tree while Cameron and Talon would follow right behind him, never rushing him. Once decked with lights and ornaments, this tree would make it on all the Christmas cards they'd mail out the old-fashioned way to family and friends beyond the boundaries of Ocean City, New Jersey. It was their home now, had been for the last two years.

Ever since that first Christmas when she and Jeremy ran into Talon at the same tree lot, the three of them had become inseparable. Mother and son moved in with Talon a week later, and a month after that, Talon got the paternity test results. Jeremy was 99.999 percent his son. Not that there'd been any doubt about that, for he'd known it the moment he first laid eyes on the boy just as his sister had could tell the moment she saw a newspaper clipping. Jeremy looked exactly like his father with his bright blue eyes and broad grin, waves of dark hair peeking out from under his wool cap.

I like this one, Jeremy signed before pointing to a Noble fir that stood out on its own in the back row. Do you think it will fit?

Why don't we measure it? Talon pulled out a measuring tape from his jacket and handed it to him. With his Aunt Adele joining them for Christmas in a few days, Jeremy wanted a tree to rival all trees. He also couldn't wait to see what presents his aunt would bring him from New York City, where she now lived and worked. Lately, he'd been obsessed about the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and they'd all arranged to spend the New Year's break in the city and spend time seeing the sights together.

Cameron watched father and son walk toward the tree and measure it as best they could. While Talon held the tape above the boy's head to mark the top of the tree, Jeremy brought the end down to the ground, stepped on the metal tab as Talon looked at the numbers on the tape.

Seventy-two inches and a half, he signed.

Will it fit? Jeremy asked.

Talon nodded, pressing the button on the tape as it rolled back into its holder. It was a game they played as Jeremy learned about geometric shapes and surface areas, fractions, and decimals in school.

While Talon served as a scout sniper during numerous deployments, he returned home wanting nothing to do with guns. Instead, he learned all he could learn about carpentry while renovating his grandmother's beach house, his skills growing with each project he tackled until neighbors, primarily those who lived in Manhattan and came up to Ocean City only during the summer months, asked him to maintain their homes, too. Now it was a year-long venture, one that kept him busy and gave him a good income, allowing Cameron to stay home and be with Jeremy.

She volunteered at his school and got to know the teachers and other parents. No one asked about Edgar, and if they ever talked behind her back, it didn't last long for what was there to talk about? She didn't steal the money; Edgar did. She didn't know, and even if she did, it was none of their business.