New Beginnings {ACM}

Chapter 76

Song of the chapter: All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey

Emily's POV

"Ems. Hey, Emily. Emily?" I heard a whisper close to my ear. "Emily!"

"What?" I exclaimed, turning over and punching my fist in the air. It came in contact with something which, based on the grunt and swear word that followed, turned out to be Austin's stomach.

"Damn it, Emily, that hurt," he said.

I yawned and squinted my eyes up at him. "Sorry, you scared me."

"Well, you have to get up!"

"And why must I do that at-" I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. "Seven o'clock in the morning on a Saturday?"

"Because it's Christmas!" Austin exclaimed happily, jumping on the bed. "Get up, get up, get up!"

I laughed despite myself at his behaviour. "I'm sorry, how old are you again?"

"Twenty one."

"More like a five year old in a twenty one year old guy's body," I told him.

He flopped down on top of me. "You love me anyway."

"Of course," I smiled, accepting his deep kiss. "Mmm," I moaned into it. His effect on me was so...annoying.

"Oh, yeah," he grinned after he pulled away. "Quick Christmas sex before we get the kid?"

"Are you kidding? I'd be done in ten seconds; I'm already tired as it is," I giggled, smacking him so he'd get off of me.

"I could put you in like five different positions in ten seconds."

"Oh my god, Austin," I burst into laughter. "Later, alright?"

"Okay!" He said, getting off the bed. "Come on, I want to get Lucy so we can go open PRESENTS!"

"Alright, go get her, then," I said, shaking my head as he ran off. I put on my slippers and Victoria's Secret housecoat, and he walked back into the room with her a few seconds later.

"Hey, baby," I smiled, stroking her head.

"Mommy," she yawned, putting her head on Austin's shoulder. "Daddy."

"I swear she was awake when I went into her room," Austin said. "Like wide awake." He kissed Lucy's head. "Come on, kid, let's go rip the crap out of wrapping paper."

I rolled my eyes as the two of them led the way down the stairs. Pancakes greeted us at the bottom of the stairs, where she had on a set of reindeer antlers. I laughed and bent to give her an ear scratch. "Where'd those come from, Pancakes?"

"I may or may not have come down here at like, four in the morning to put those on her," Austin said.

"Of course you did," I sighed.

There were a lot of presents under the tree from our friends and family members, and Lucy had a few more from Santa. Austin set her down on the ground, and she crawled over to the tree, grabbing a present. "Cake!"

"No, sweetie, that's not for Pancakes," Austin said, taking it from her. "That's for mommy." He handed it to me before bending to grab another small bag from under the tree. "This is for Pancakes. Here, give her one."

Lucy took a bone from Austin's hand and threw it in front of Pancakes, who happily started munching on it, her reindeer antlers bobbing as she chewed. She was perfectly content in her own little bubble of bone.

I opened the present Austin had handed me. It was a new dish set from my mom and dad. "Jesus, this looks like it cost a fortune," I gasped, holding the box up.

"Wow, that's fancy," he commented. "That's so fancy. You already know! The dishes are in the fast lane. From the store to our own house. That's so-"

I slapped a hand over his mouth to stop him from singing. Yes, he had a beautiful voice, but there was a limit. "We get it, Iggy Azalea."

He grinned and grabbed a box that had Lucy's name on it. "Here, sweetie, this one is for you. It's from your Auntie Taylor and Uncle Alex."

I watched as he sat on the floor with her in his lap and helped her open it. It was a stuffed Stitch half her size, along with $400.

I gasped. "Ugh, Taylor!"

Austin laughed. "Emily, relax, it's Christmas. And it's Taylor; what did you expect?"

"Lucy is one year old, Austin."

"So we can put it away for her when she's older. I'm sure that was the idea," he replied, taking the money. "Look, Lucy, it's Stitch, your favorite Disney guy!"

"Yes," she giggled happily. "Yes! Yes!" She grabbed the animal and showed it to me. "Mommy, Stitch."

"He's so big, baby," I smiled. "He's your new cuddle buddy."

Austin pointedly looked at our daughter. "And it's the only guy you're allowed to like because he's inanimate. Understood?" I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he said, "What? I'm not kidding."

Lucy nodded, even though she didn't know what she was nodding to. Austin grinned. "Perfect."

"You realize at some point she's going to be a teenage girl, right? Teenage girls tend to like boys. Whether the father likes it or not."

"And at some point, that's not going to happen."

I scoffed. "Okay, back to presents."