:: Emma’s POV ::

Christmas seemed to be edging closer and closer and each year I always vow to be more prepared than the year before, however that never seems to work out for me. There are always a million things that come up, between work and decorating and baking cookies and holiday parties, the time just slips away and there’s no getting it back. I did have my shopping completely done for Noah which was a huge accomplishment in itself, and honestly it was the most important thing that was on my to do list. I was still struggling with what to get JJ. I mean, what do you get a guy that has everything? I knew I was going to have to enlist my DIY skills and Noah to make him a gift that held far more personal meaning than anything else; I knew he would love that. JJ is a big softy and people don’t always see that side of him, but I love that I get to.

“Did we put in an order for more of those Texans scarves? I just sold our last one.” Tonya’s voice drew me away from the clothes I was tagging and I looked up to see her redressing a mannequin the scarf had once resided on.

“I ordered more but they were on backorder, I’m not sure if they’re going to be in before Christmas.” I answered as I reached for my binder containing all of my order forms with their expected arrival dates, “We’ve been selling them like crazy.”

“They’re cute. I think people are glad to see fan wear for girls.” She repositioned the mannequin and smiled at customers looking through our new arrivals before making her way to the counter, the corners of her lips pulling up into a playful smirk before addressing me, “Not all of us girls are lucky enough to have a JJ Watt of our own you know? We do have to show our hometown team spirit in other ways.”

“Don’t be a hater.” I teased as I laughed at her comment, she was right though, I was definitely lucky to have a JJ Watt of my own, “Besides having JJ only puts more pressure on me to look cute when supporting the team. So, I certainly appreciate the girly fan wear that’s been coming out.”

“I’m happy for you.” Tonya’s voice was filled with sincerity as the tone of our conversation changed; she rested her arms on the counter and watched as I fussed with getting a shirt to stay on its hanger.

“What do you mean?” A gentle laugh escaped me as I placed the shirt on the rack and moved on to the next one.

“I’m just happy you found JJ. I haven’t seen you this happy in so long Em.” She smiled at me as she gave a slight shrug of her shoulder, “No one deserves happiness more than you and Noah.”

“Thanks.” I smiled back at her, her kind words really warming my heart, she was my best friend and I was blessed to have someone like her watching my back, “We’re definitely lucky to have J in our lives. He’s been so good to us.”

I was starting to get used to people telling me how happy they were for Noah and I; but what I didn’t realize is how incomplete our lives really were before JJ came along. Well, after being in a relationship with someone like my ex, being single was definitely more enjoyable. There was no one to argue with, no one to give me orders or demand things from me, no one to answer to, no one to let us down; it was just me and my little man and we were happy. Then JJ came along; while I was hesitant about getting into a relationship with anyone, he proved to me that not all guys had to be like my ex and I was thankful for that. He made me feel so safe and secure and I loved it. I was always at peace and it was just a good feeling.

“Well look who’s here.” Tonya’s voice drew my attention towards the door to see who she was speaking to. Sure enough JJ and Noah had come walking in.

“Hey guys.” I was more than thrilled to see their smiling faces as I walked out from behind the counter, “What are you guys doing here?”

“Mommy!” Noah came sprinting towards me and I crouched to his level to accept his hug, “We want to go get a Christmas tree!”

“A Christmas tree?” I smiled at the way he jumped up and down at the thought of picking out a tree, he loved it and I couldn’t blame him. I did too; maybe that’s where he got it from.

“Can we? Can we?” His little voice was so hopeful as I stood and looked at JJ, his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face.

“He’s been dying to get a Christmas tree all day.” JJ shrugged, “We just went for pizza and I thought we’d come talk to you. I know you’ve wanted to go for a tree and I didn’t want to just go without you.”

“What time is it?” I asked, not sure what hour it had gotten to be. I was so engrossed in my work.

“A little after six.” He checked his watch before looking back at me.

“Okay. Well, I can get out of here by six thirty and then I can go with you guys.” I shrugged my shoulders as I pushed my hair behind my hair, “Unless you guys don’t want to wait, you can just go get a tree and I’ll meet you at home.

“Emma.” JJ laughed as he took a few steps towards me, “We can wait for you babe. We both want you to go that’s why we’re here. We just wanted to check with you first.”

“Alright. Let me just get picked up and then I’ll be ready to get out of here.” I looked at the small mess that awaited me as I walked back behind the counter to quickly finish what I was doing.

“Take your time baby, don’t stress. We’ll wait.” He adjusted his hat as Noah rejoined his side; those two were two peas in a pod. Sometimes I even felt left out, as silly as it sounds.

JJ and Noah sat off to the side entertaining Tonya as I finished my tasks. After clearing the counter of my clutter I walked back to my office to put away some paper work and shut down my computer. With it being the beginning of the weekend I would be out of the office for the next few days and I just wanted to be sure everything was lined up for me when I returned. I was really looking forward to spending some time picking out a Christmas tree with my two favorite boys, it meant a lot that JJ wanted to be involved in the whole process, and especially with the pressure he was feeling to help the Texans become possible playoff contenders. I found it to be really sweet.

………………..

:: Emma’s POV ::

We had been walking around the Christmas tree farm for what seemed like ages. There were more trees and more options than you can imagine, but when you add in a busy Friday night crowd and JJ Watt, things take much longer than expected. Everyone was hustling around to get their favorite trees picked out and we were on the same track, however we were constantly being stopped by fans that recognized JJ and wanted some kind of exchange. Pictures or autographs and JJ being the sweet guy he is always obliged. Sometimes I wished he’d just ask them to grant him a little bit of privacy while he was out and about but what do I know.

Noah and I had wandered off while JJ interacted and entertained some of his fans, we had wanted to hit the hot chocolate stand and find the reindeer barn we always loved to visit. It’s not that we were trying to be rude by any means but you can’t expect a five year old to stand still for very long, I had to try to grab his attention with other things or the family tree hunt would turn into a family nightmare. It was the perfect opportunity to enlist the help of two things kids love, sweets and animals.

“I found the reindeer mommy!” Noah grabbed a hold of my coat as he pulled me into a wooden stable. My mommy skills were suddenly put to test as I successfully survived his tugging without spilling the steaming cups of hot chocolate I held in each hand.

“Oh wow, that’s so cool babe.” I joined Noah in his excitement, also a mother thing, matching their excitement was always important, or at least I believe so.

“Look at him, he’s so cool.” Noah’s face was practically right against the fence that separated him from the creature he believed was so magical, “Which one is he?”

“I don’t know… let me see.” I walked up to the fence beside Noah and squatted down pretending to inspect the large antlered reindeer that stood in front of us, “I think that’s Prancer.”

“Hi Prancer.” Noah was beaming as he wrapped his little fingers around the metal links of the fence; my heart was melting as I reached for my phone to take a picture. It was too sweet. “Where’s JJ momma, I wanna tell him I found Prancer.”

“I don’t know bud. He was talking to some fans.” My mood shifted quickly, I was feeling bad for Noah. The main reason he had been so excited about getting a tree and coming here was to share all of this with JJ.

“Can we wait in here for him?” I nodded and Noah smiled in satisfaction as he moved down the line to the next reindeer pen.

I watched Noah as he interacted with the deer and I listened on as he promised them big meals of carrots and peanut butter on Christmas Eve. I had to chuckle, he was a kid after my own heart; he really lived for the magic of it all. I have always been that way, even before I was blessed with the gift of Noah so sharing all of this with him meant a lot.

I looked up to see JJ had finally come to find us and as much as I didn’t want to feel annoyed, I was. We had walked away from him over twenty minutes ago; we had put our evening on hold so we could share him with others. I just felt a little let down, maybe I’m crazy and maybe I’m over reacting but what was so wrong with him cutting things short and just saying he was enjoying time out with us? I didn’t mind so much when it’s just me, I can suck it up, but Noah was involved and five year olds don’t have the same patience us adults do.

“Hey. Sorry about that.” He walked up to me and placed his hand on my waist, wanting to make eye contact with me but I avoided it. I wasn’t too happy and I wasn’t going to pretend to be. There had to be some way for us to compromise on these situations, “What’s wrong?”

“Just upset.” I knew there was no avoiding that, he knows me too well. He knows when something is wrong no matter how much I try to hide it. It was a blessing and a curse all at the same time.

“With me?” His voice seemed surprised and almost defensive and I could feel his eyes on me.

“Let’s not do this here. We can talk later. Let’s go get a tree.” I began walking away from him, “Noah has waited long enough.”

I heard him sigh as he followed behind me to get Noah from his place at the reindeer pens. He was so excited to see JJ had returned and insisted on showing him all of the deer before we continued on our journey to find our tree. Noah seemed to forgive him for taking away from time with us so why was it bothering me so much? Maybe I’m just being difficult or maybe I’m being too protective of Noah, fearing the worse. I don’t know but I know that it still bugged me, regardless. I almost hated the idea of bringing it up, sometimes I feel like football could be a touchy subject and we’ve never really discussed it before other than the normal talking about his games and practice. But, we’ve never needed to discuss it before now, I guess I’m worried about addressing what’s bothering me, the last thing I need is to push him away from us completely; but I had a hard time believing JJ was like that, I wanted to believe he would understand where I was coming from. I guess I would soon find out.