Faith jumped to her feet. “Objection! Sergeant Gonzales is not on trial here.”

  “Sustained,” the judge said with a glare for the defense attorney.

  Obviously annoyed to have that line of questioning shut down, the defense attorney said, “Nothing further.”

  “You’re dismissed, Sergeant Gonzales, with the court’s thanks and sympathy for your loss.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor.”

  “We’ll take a ten-minute recess.”

  Gonzo left the witness stand and went straight to Christina, who wrapped her arms around him and held him as tightly as she could. “You did great, Tommy. You were so strong up there.”

  “Not really.”

  “No one would ever know that.”

  Holding his wife’s hand, Gonzo left the courtroom and waited outside for his squad and Arnold’s family. Everyone hugged him and told him he did great, including Arnold’s parents.

  “He’d be so proud of you, Tommy,” Mrs. Arnold said.

  Gonzo found that hard to hear, in light of the fact that he still blamed himself for walking Arnold into a slaughter. But he’d learned the hard way that he couldn’t change the facts of that night, as much as he might wish otherwise.

  “You were rock solid,” Sam said when everyone else had had their moment with him. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks. That means a lot. I just hope it was enough.” The thought of Androzzi somehow walking free was too much for Gonzo to bear.

  “Added to everything else they have on him, it’ll be enough. He’s going away for the rest of his life.”

  “I sure as hell hope so.”

  “You’ve done everything you can,” Sam said. “Now you have to let it go so you can enjoy Christmas with your family.”

  “Is it fair for me to enjoy Christmas with my family when Arnold can never again do that with his?”

  “What would he say to that?”

  “He’d tell me to quit saying stupid shit and go home with my wife and son to enjoy my life.”

  “Then maybe you ought to take his advice, huh?”

  Gonzo offered his longtime friend and boss a small smile and nodded. “I’d give just about anything to have him back.”

  “We all would.”

  Since there was nothing any of them could do to make that happen, Gonzo put his arm around Christina and led her to their car to go home to their son. For whatever reason, the universe had seen fit to take his partner and leave him to carry on without him. Gonzo was determined to live for both of them while ensuring that no one ever forgot the name of the earnest young officer who’d given his life in service to the District.

  * * *

  With one day to finish shopping for everyone, Sam hit the local stores on Wednesday with Vernon and Jimmy along for the ride. She let them drive her so she wouldn’t have to worry about parking and so she could pop in to surprise startled store owners, many of whom she’d known for years, having grown up in the District.

  Thankfully, people mostly left her alone to do what needed to be done, and by that afternoon, she felt somewhat ready. She’d struggled over what to get for Nick and had decided to surprise him with an “experience” rather than a gift. In January, they’d spend a weekend at a spa in Virginia with private accommodations that would keep them separate from the rest of the guests so they could enjoy the time away without intrusion. Their package included facials, a couples massage and a wine tasting, among other things. Now if only the rest of the world would cooperate to allow him to take an entire weekend off…

  With the help of online shopping, she’d gotten what she needed for the kids and Elijah as well as her sisters, nieces, nephews, Celia, Shelby, Noah, Freddie, Gonzo’s son… The list felt endless, but she was done. She stayed up late on Wednesday wrapping and drinking wine with Celia.

  “How’re you holding up?” Sam asked her stepmother as she refilled their glasses for the second—or was it the third?—time.

  “I’m surprisingly okay,” Celia said. “Thank you again for asking me to be here with you all. I think that’s made such a difference for me.”

  “You’re helping me more than I could ever help you.”

  “We’re helping each other equally, and I love being part of this exciting time in your lives.”

  “We love having you.”

  “If only we’d hear something from the judge,” Celia said.

  The wait was wearing on all of them. “I know. It’s ridiculous.”

  Sam was on the way to drunk by the time she crawled into bed with Nick shortly after two a.m., thrilled to have her gifts ready to go.

  Not surprisingly, he was still awake and wrapped an arm around her to tuck her in close to him.

  “You’ll be glad to hear that this won’t be the year without a Santa Claus.”

  “Mom for the win,” he said.

  “I had to get four more stockings for this Christmas, including one for Skippy.”

  “What a year, huh? We got three more kids and a dog out of it.”

  “In some ways, the best and worst year of my life.”

  “I know, babe.”

  “I can’t wait for tomorrow night.”

  “It’ll be fun. Everyone is so excited.”

  “And you’ve got it locked down so it’s entirely private, right?” she asked.

  They were concerned about sending the wrong message after the tragedy in Des Moines.

  “We did everything we could, and we’ll be confiscating cell phones until everyone is in their rooms. Even though we can totally trust everyone who’s coming, people get excited about being at the White House and forget they’re not supposed to post anything.”

  Sam yawned. “Yeah, that’s a good call.” The next thing she knew, sunlight was streaming into the room, and through the monitor on the bedside table, she could hear Elijah talking to the twins as he got them up and dressed for a Christmas visit with their former nanny. They’d invited Milagros, who remained faithfully devoted to the children, to the White House for lunch with the kids.

  She checked her phone for messages and found nothing from Andy, the one person she most wanted to hear from. The only thing she and Nick wanted for Christmas was confirmation that the twins would remain in their custody. Yawning, she put through a call to Gonzo to check in at work.

  “Morning,” he said. “Merry Christmas.”

  “Same to you. How’re you doing?”

  “I’m better now that it’s over and done with.”

  “I remember that feeling from after I testified against Stahl. It’s such a huge relief to know you never again have to lay eyes on the son of a bitch.”

  “For sure. That was the worst part. Having to actually look at him.”

  “You were great up there. You did everything you could for Arnold and his family. We’re all so proud of you.”

  “I still feel like I don’t deserve that, but I’m doing better at accepting that it was his time to go, not mine.”

  “I’m glad to hear you say that. How’s everything going there?”

  “All good. We’ve got the reports finished for the Thorn and Tappen investigations, and everyone has been arraigned. Josie Ouellette is still raising hell and threatening lawsuits, but there’s nothing she can do. We’ve got the evidence we need that this was all Grace’s idea and that she pressured Lucas relentlessly to hold up his end of the bargain they made. Grace threatened to come for him and the rest of his family if he didn’t do his part."

  “If only he’d come to us rather than kill Mark,” Sam said with a sigh.

  “We’ve all been saying that,” Gonzo said. “Why not just come clean to us rather than make it worse by killing Mark?”

  “I’ll never believe a couple of high school kids were behind this.”

  “Charity is asking for a psych eval for Grace. She seems almost devoid of emotion and doesn’t seem to understand the magnitude of the charges she’s facing. Jeannie thinks that’s an act, that she knows exactly what she did and would do it again if she had it to do over.”

  “I tend to side with Jeannie on that, but the psych eval will be telling. Thanks for taking this one over the finish line.”

  “No problem. I’ll see you tonight.”

  “Can’t wait.”

  Sam ended the call, pleased to hear that everything at work was covered in her absence. Before she’d had a family of her own, she would’ve wanted to be smack in the middle of it all, but now she had other things she wanted to do, such as spending the rest of the day with her kids. That was her idea of a perfect day now.

  Much later, she was putting the finishing touches on the outfit Marcus had put together for their Christmas Eve party when Nick came into the bedroom and stopped short at the sight of her standing before a full-length mirror, marveling at the miracle brought about by the White House glam squad, as she called the in-house hair, nail and makeup team. Having them at her disposal was another major perk of being the first lady—as well as sharing them with her mother, stepmother, sisters, nieces and Aubrey, who’d loved the mani-pedi she’d received earlier.

  “Holy bombshell.” Nick made a spinning gesture with his finger. “Let me see the rest.”

  She made a slow, sultry turn so he could see the back, which featured more skin than red silk.

  “My first lady is one hot mama.” He came up behind her, put his arms around her and placed a kiss on the base of her neck that made her shiver in anticipation of being alone with him later.

  “You know what the very best part of a night like this is?” she asked, gazing at him in the mirror.

  “Time with our closest friends and family?”

  “That’s going to be great, but the very best part is at the end of the night when I get to go to bed with you.”

  “I’m already counting the hours.”

  “Me, too. Everything all right in the free world?”

  “For the moment.”

  “And no word from the judge?”

  “Not yet,” he said, sounding as dejected as she’d felt all day hoping for news.

  “Since we can’t do anything about that, what do you say we have some fun?”

  “Let’s do it.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  He was simply devastating in a tuxedo. Sam knew it was uncouth to gawk at her own husband, but she couldn’t resist the temptation to let her gaze follow him as he made the rounds, greeting friends and family. The White House photographer was hot on his trail and got an adorable photo of him with his dad, stepmother and two half brothers, who were also decked out in tuxedos.

  They’d debated whether to make the party formal, and Sam was glad now that they had. The kids were crazy excited about their fancy outfits, and everyone looked stunning.

  Tracy and Angela came up to Sam and linked their arms with hers.

  “Most fabulous Christmas Eve party ever,” Tracy said. She’d worn a black gown with one shoulder bare and her hair up in an elaborate style.

  “The kids are so cute.” Angela, whose abdomen was round with the pregnancy of her third child, pointed to her son, Jack, who was following Scotty around the way he always did, and her daughter, Ella, in a fancy green velvet dress, in the arms of her dad, Spencer.

  Tracy’s kids, Brooke, Abby and Ethan, were taking a tour of all the decorations with Celia and her sisters, who were possibly the most excited members of the group tonight. Sam had taken all the kids to see the famous White House gingerbread house that the twins were obsessed with. They wanted to know when they’d be allowed to eat it.

  “Jack was so excited about sleeping at the White House that I was afraid he’d wet himself on the way over here,” Angela added.

  Sam laughed. “Jack is way past the point where that would happen.”

  “The White House might be the exception.”

  “Are the kids okay with Santa coming here?” Sam asked.

  “We had a lot of questions from Jack,” Angela said, “but I think he understands that Santa will find him and Ella wherever they are.”

  “Gideon was terrific about coordinating all the gifts so everything is ready for an epic Christmas morning,” Tracy said as she accepted another glass of champagne from the waitstaff that circulated through the East Room. They’d be dining shortly in the State Dining Room and then back to the East Room for dancing.

  “He’s the best,” Sam said of the chief usher, who’d been so integral to pulling off this evening.

  Shelby, Avery and Noah approached them.

  Sam took Noah from Shelby and gave him a tight squeeze. “How’s my big boy doing?”

  “Santa,” he said.

  “That’s his only word these days,” Shelby said, glowing with excitement.

  “Only you could pull off the sexiest pink maternity gown in history, Tinker Bell,” Sam said, in genuine awe of how Shelby managed to rock pink for every occasion.

  “I do what I can for the people,” Shelby said with a saucy wink.

  “Hey, that’s trademarked,” Sam said, laughing.

  Everyone they loved was there—Freddie and Elin; Freddie’s parents; Gonzo, Christina and Alex as well as Gonzo’s parents; Joe and Marnie Farnsworth; Jake Malone and his wife; Lindsey and Terry; Harry and Lilia; Graham and Laine O’Connor; Scotty’s former guardian, Mrs. Littlefield; Derek, his parents and daughter, Maeve; Andy and his wife, Elsa; Darren Tabor and his girlfriend; Jeannie and Michael; Archie, Cameron, Gigi, Dani and Matt.

  Sam and Nick had invited the Reverend Canon William Swain, the childhood friend of Skip’s who’d presided over his funeral, to say a blessing before dinner.

  “Let us please join hands and bow our heads to ask for God’s mercy,” Swain said when the group was gathered around a large square table that took up most of the gorgeous State Dining Room.

  Sam reached for Nick on her left and Scotty on her right, closed her eyes and bowed her head.

  “In this season of Christmas, let us give thanks for this meal, the devoted White House staff who prepared it for us and the company of the loved ones gathered around this table as well as those who couldn’t be here tonight. Let us pray for our new president, first lady and first family. May they find comfort in each other as they lead the country and the world through these turbulent times. Let us pray for the families of those lost in Des Moines last week and ask the Lord to provide them with peace and comfort in their time of grief. Let us pray for those we’ve lost this year, especially our beloved Skip Holland and AJ Arnold. And let us pray for all who suffer from poverty, loneliness, illness and despair this holiday season and ask the Lord to care for them in their time of need. May God bless and keep this family and protect you all in the coming year so that we may gather again next Christmas Eve to once again give thanks for His many blessings. Amen.”

  “Amen,” Sam said as she continued to fight the wave of sorrow for her dad that had been tugging at her all day. More than anything, she wished he could be with them at the White House for their first Christmas. He’d have enjoyed it more than anyone.

  “He’s here,” Nick whispered. “I feel him all around us.”

  Sam could barely breathe at the way he read her mind. “Thank you for that. I hope he’s here.”

  “He is. I’m sure of it. I’ve been hearing his voice so much in the weeks since I took the oath. He’s very much a part of me, too.”

  Sam contended with the huge lump that landed in her throat and blinked back tears. “That’s so nice to hear.”

  They’d requested a traditional turkey dinner in Skip’s honor, since it was his favorite, and the White House staff had gone all out with every possible side dish.

  Sam helped Aubrey cut up her turkey while Eli helped Alden. Elijah had been quiet all day as the stress of waiting to hear from the judge had him as tense as Sam had ever seen him.

  As dessert was being served, Nick stood and picked up the wireless microphone the staff had set at his place, per his request. “Sam and I want to thank you all for being with us to celebrate our first Christmas at the White House. We still can’t believe that sentence is real, but here we are in the historic State Dining Room with the amazing White House staff taking such beautiful care of us, and we’re deeply thankful to them for taking time away from their own families on Christmas Eve to be with us.” He led a round of applause for the staff.

  “I can’t say enough about how incredible the staff is or how grateful we are to them for helping us to make this transition as smoothly as possible. We’re also incredibly thankful to all of you for the love and support you’ve provided us at home and at work as we processed this tremendous change in our lives. A very special thanks to our wonderful Shelby and Celia for all their help with making sure that Scotty, Alden and Aubrey are incredibly well loved. We couldn’t do this without you two, and we’re so blessed to have you both in our lives.” The entire group cheered for Shelby and Celia, whose faces turned bright red.

  Nick smiled as he looked over at the kids. “A very special thanks to Scotty, Elijah, Alden and Aubrey for coming on this journey with us. You guys make every day fun and special. You’re the family I always dreamed of having, and I love you all so much. And to my beautiful first lady, Samantha… You certainly didn’t sign up for the White House, but you’ve been there for me every step of the way over this last surreal month, and I’ll never have the words to tell you how much I love and appreciate you.” He raised his glass of champagne. “To the first lady!”

  The others cheered for her until Sam was completely mortified. “Thank you,” she said to Nick and the others.

  With a delighted smile, Nick said, “This is for you, babe.”

  Jon Bon Jovi came strolling into the room like he lived there, and Sam let out a very un-first-lady-like squeal of excitement that only intensified when another man sat at a piano she hadn’t even noticed earlier. When the opening notes of “Hallelujah” played, tears filled her eyes when she recalled how much her dad had loved that song.

  Sam took hold of Nick’s hand. “Best Christmas present ever.”

  “It was a little hard to shop this year.”