His Sunshine | ✓

Bonus Chapter - A Carter Christmas

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Nine Months After Chapter Forty-Five

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Layla's POV

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"Do you have your coat?" I ask Bella, hurriedly shoving my own long brown winter coat over my outfit for the day. A red sweater tucked into some black jeans paired with my boots is what I finally decided on this morning. With minimal makeup and my blonde hair cut to my shoulders and curled, I felt pretty. And so unbelievably happy.

"I'll run and grab it now," She mutters, clearly having forgotten. I look up to catch her rushing out of the kitchen as a blur of green and brown. She's wearing brown jeans and the green sweater I bought her for Christmas. When she opened her present this morning, she was over the moon, claiming she just had to wear it straight away.

Dad ambles into the kitchen just after Bella leaves, looking cool, calm, and collected, unlike my slightly flustered state. He raises his brows at me. "You alright, love?"

I blow out a breath and nod, looking down at the bags on the ground at my feet. "Yeah, I think I have everything. All the presents, the salad, desert..." I trail off, racking my brain for anything else I'm supposed to be bringing. "Am I forgetting anything?"

He just smiles, walking over to wrap me up in a warm hug. "You're stressing too much, honey."

I sigh, relaxing into my father's hug. "But this is my first Christmas with him, Dad."

He pulls back with his brows furrowed. "He spent Christmas with you in New York last year."

I huff, rolling my eyes, "We weren't together then. And it wasn't with his whole family. This is different."

Dad shakes his head at me. "You're stressing too much. They love you. Today will be great."

I nod, relaxing once more, "You're right. I'm overthinking it. We should just go."

"I can't find my coat!" Bella calls out from upstairs.

My head tilts back with a small groan before I call back, "It's on your desk chair!"

It's silent for a moment before she shouts, "Thank you!"

The three of us hurry out of the house and into the car with all the gifts and food we'll need for the evening. Bella and I already called my mother this morning to have a long chat with her, wishing her a Merry Christmas. She's happy there on her own, with her new pet cat, Ruby.

The drive to the Carter household is short and I feel familiar butterflies building in my stomach once we pull into the driveway. A smile gets the better of me as we clamber out of the car with all of our things.

I reach the front door first and knock a few times before taking a step back and waiting. I'm not left waiting long before the door is thrown open and I'm tackled in a hug. Macy and Sophie hold onto me tightly, giggling away as they stare up at me.

"Merry Christmas!" They exclaim at the same time, making me laugh. I bend down to kiss both their heads.

"Merry Christmas, Princesses. Has Santa been to visit you?" I ask as they peel away from me so I can step inside. I understand why they're so excited, so I don't mind the long hugs and babbling. Not only is it Christmas, but I haven't been around as much because of college. I'm at the Carters most weekends, but I don't spend as much time with them as I used to.