Chapter 10 - The True Miracle
Christmas morning in Chicago arrived under clear, brilliant blue skies.
The penthouse on Lake Shore Drive was no longer a cold, sterile fortress. A ten-foot balsam fir tree stood in the living room, glittering with hundreds of colorful ornaments, handmade paper snowflakes, and strings of popcorn that Hannah and Noah had spent all Christmas Eve stringing together.
Noah, dressed in red flannel pajamas, was tearing open boxes near the fireplace, shouting with joy as he unwrapped an electric train set and a mountain of art supplies.
"Look, Dad! Look what Santa brought!" Noah cheered, his voice filling every corner of the house with music.
Gabriel stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, wearing a comfortable cashmere sweater, a cup of coffee in his hands, watching his son with tears glistening in his dark eyes.
Hannah walked up beside him, resting her hand gently on his arm. "Told you he had a lot to say."
Gabriel set his coffee mug down on the console. He turned to Hannah, his expression filled with an emotion so profound it took her breath away.
"He's not the only one who has something to say," Gabriel whispered.
He reached into his pocket and slowly sank down onto one knee on the Persian rug.
Hannah gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
Gabriel opened a velvet box, revealing a flawless, brilliant-cut emerald surrounded by a halo of diamonds—the color of the elf costume she had worn the day she changed his destiny.
"Hannah Brooks," Gabriel said, his voice rich and trembling with raw sincerity. "A year ago, I was lost in the dark. My son was locked behind a door I couldn't open. You brought light into this house. You taught my boy how to speak, and you taught me how to live again. Noah asked Santa for a new mom... but I am asking you to be my wife. Will you marry us?"
Noah abandoned his new train set and dashed across the rug, skidding on his knees right beside his father, looking up at Hannah with shining brown eyes.
"Say yes, Mama," Noah beamed. "Please say yes."
Hannah laughed through her tears, wiping her cheeks as she looked down at the two men who owned her entire heart.
"Yes," Hannah cried softly, falling to her knees between them. "A thousand times yes!"
May you like
Gabriel pulled her into his arms, kissing her with all the passion and devotion of a man who had finally found home. Noah threw his arms around both of their necks, squishing Dasher between them.
Outside, the snow fell softly over the city of Chicago, but inside the Moretti home, winter was finally over—and their true life had just begun.
