The mattress trembled when Jake jumped up and down, and the warmth she had felt on her back disappeared, leaving a cool spot in its wake.

“Baby, it’s barely six,” Sherry groaned.

Madison looked over her shoulder.

Sherry—very close to her back—had turned onto her belly and was now covering her face with her pillow. “Just give us a few more minutes. I promise the presents won’t go away.” Her muffled voice came from under the pillow.

Jake kept jumping up and down. “But I want to open them now.”

Sherry moaned and peeked at him from under the pillow. “Please, Jake. You can lie down with us if you like and sleep some more.”

The jumping stopped. “But I’m not tired anymore.”

Even though they had gone to bed shortly after putting the presents under the tree, Madison had been awake much longer afterward because she’d kept thinking about Grandmother Eileen’s words after church when they’d been alone.

She had taken Madison aside to tell her again that she should end her relationship with Sherry.

But she didn’t want to think about that right now. She would ignore it, along with the fluttering in her belly at the thought of waking up holding Sherry. It obviously hadn’t been a dream. “Jake, if you go back to bed now, I’ll buy you a huge peperoni pizza.”

“Madison!”

Sherry’s faux shocked voice made Madison smile. She rolled onto her back and grinned at Sherry, who had put the pillow aside. “Yeah?”

“Stop bribing him.”

“I don’t want pizza,” Jake said. “I want presents.”

Her cheeks hurt from grinning so strongly at their playfulness. “Sherry, your son isn’t bribable.”

“So I’ve heard. Usually, it’s grasshopper, and now he’s my son, huh?”

“Can we go now? Please?”

Madison ignored Jake’s plea. “He is your son, or do you want to deny it?”

Sherry turned on her back and held up both hands in defeat. “I give up. Jake, brush your teeth. Then we’ll open the presents.”

“Yippee!” Jake jumped down from the bed and raced out of the bedroom.

“And don’t forget to tell Rita Mae,” Sherry shouted after him before facing Madison. “I’ll sell him to you for a buck.”

Madison giggled like a schoolgirl. “That’s daylight robbery.” Nudging Sherry’s shoulder, she added, “Let’s go. Your son is waiting.”

Sherry was still so close to her that Madison became aware of her body heat again. Memories of minutes ago made her hesitate, but then she gave in to what she wanted so badly and opened her arms.

Sherry looked at her strangely for a second before snuggling into her. “Merry Christmas.”