Once Mark was downstairs, Oliver handed it back to him and said, “Is it me, or does it seem like there are way more gifts under the tree than there were last night?”
He was right. The tree seemed to have gained several more gifts than it had before we’d gone to bed.
“Merry Christmas!”
“Mom! Dad,” Jared said, breaking away from Murphy and grabbing Nadia up in a rib-cracking hug as Grant shook hands with Oliver.
Jared beckoned to Murphy. “She said she couldn’t live without me, so I finally caved in and said yes.”
The room erupted as Murphy turned several shades of red.
“I’m sure that’s exactly how it happened,” Nadia said, giving Murphy a hug. She stepped back to do one of those motherly sort of touches where she tucked a lock of Murphy’s hair behind her ear and said something to her that only the two of them could hear.
Grant didn’t give her time to absorb the words before he hugged her and then put his hand on her shoulder. “We’re officially passing the torch on. It’s up to you to keep him fully in line. Thank God.”
Nadia chuckled. “Seems like we can’t let any of them out of our sight, or else all sorts of things happen.”
Riley stiffened beside me. It was one thing telling our friends we were having a baby, but telling Nadia and Grant made my nerves ping off one another. She had to be feeling the same way.
“I should have known you’d come,” Oliver said.
“Too many nogs?” Grant asked, breaking into a laugh that startled us.
“About two too many,” Oliver admitted.
“I wondered when you didn’t come out of your room. I figured the only one who would bust us would be you. Never would have thought it would be Santa’s little helpers,” Grant said, beaming a secretive smile.
“It looks wonderful in here,” Nadia said, making her rounds to hug each of us.
“I’ll get the coffee going,” Josh said.
“I’ll turn on the music,” Paige chimed in.
Grant moved to stand by me, and then put his hand on my shoulder. “Merry Christmas, Jake.”
“Merry Christmas. Thanks for taking care of that thing I asked you to get for me. Still don’t know how you managed to get a prototype for next year’s mode, though.”
He slapped my back and laughed. “Friends in high places.”
I gave him a look that said I knew just who that friend was. No doubt Cole had his hand in it.
“Everyone grab your secret-list presents,” Riley said, her cheeks flushed with happiness.
“How are we supposed to do that when someone, or rather, two someones, rearranged everything under the tree? I’m afraid if I touch even one present, the whole pile will topple and bury me alive,” Jared said, catching Murphy’s hand in his when she went to swat him.
“Men,” Paige huffed as she moved to kneel on one side of the tree. “Murphy, you start on the other side.”
“Where should we put all the secret gifts?” Murphy asked.
“I’ll clear a spot on the coffee table,” Nadia said.
It took over ten minutes for them to sort through everything. When they were done, we all had piles of presents stacked on the floor by our feet like mini mountains.
“I thought we weren’t going to get carried away?” I said, looking around the room.
The rest of them laughed.
“Okay, let’s start on this side of the room,” Paige said, pointing to Riley. “You gave Josh his already, so Jake, you’re up first.”
I wove my way around the presents between Riley and me. Grabbing the shiny red package I’d wrapped, I handed it off to Ella.
“You got me?” she said, holding the package on her knees and splaying her hands on the top of the box. “Should we wait and open them once everyone has theirs?”
“One at a time, so everyone can see what each of us got for the other,” Riley said.
“Hurry up, Ella! The suspense is killing me,” Paige said, plopping down next to Mark.
Ella ripped the paper, and then came to a complete halt when she lifted the lid on the box. Her eyes rounded, and her jaw dropped.
“What is it?” Jared asked, leaning forward.
Ella pulled the pistol out of the box. “Ace, how the hell did you pull this off? It isn’t even on the market yet.”
I grinned, winked at Grant, and said, “Friends in high places.”
“You bought her a weapon for Christmas?” Josh groaned, scrubbing his hand over his face. “I’ll never live this one down. Thanks, bro.”
“Ella likes weapons, bloodthirsty woman that she is, so that’s what I got for her,” I said, shrugging.
Ella handed the pistol over to Josh. She worked her way to the back of the couches until she was close enough to give me a hug. “I love it. Thank you,” she said, squeezing me really hard before letting go.
“Okay, Mark, you’re next,” Riley said.
He squinted at her, shrugged, and then lifted a bag with cartoon penguins on it. When he sat down, he flicked a quick glance at me before his eyes moved to Riley.
She yanked several handfuls of tissue paper out, uncovering two boxes, each labeled in the order she should open them. Inside the first box was a handful of various gift cards that Riley hugged to her chest. “Best gift ever.”
“You still have another one,” I said, collecting the torn paper and discarded tissue.
“I know,” she said, dropping the gift cards into the bag before tearing open the other box.
She lifted the lid and pushed aside the glittery paper folded over the other present. Her hand shook, and she jerked as if someone had taken a pin to her.
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Murphy joked.
“Before you do that,” Nadia said, holding a stack of boxes and going behind each of our friends to hand one over their shoulder.
Grant walked over with a larger unwrapped box and set it on the coffee table in front of us.
“Okay, open those first.” Nadia gestured to everyone holding boxes. “But the catch is, you have to do it with your eyes closed. No peeking, and you’re not allowed to talk. That means you, too, Jared.”
We laughed when he protested about being singled out.
“Okay… eyes closed. Now, open your gifts. Don’t open your eyes until I tell you to,” Nadia said.
It was comical to see them fumbling with their packages. Once they had them open, Grant nabbed Mark’s camera.
“Grant, Oliver, and I will be coming up to each of you to help you with your gift. Keep your eyes closed,” she said.
Riley caught my attention by tapping my arm. Her eyebrows pulled together, but before she could speak, Grant moved to stand in front of us. He put his finger to his lips and beckoned us to stand. Once on our feet, he turned us toward the tree.
We could hear Nadia and Oliver working their way from opposite sides of the room, apparently helping everyone up from the couch and guiding them to a clear spot with a stern warning to keep still and keep their eyes closed.
None of us had a clue what was going on, but it was clear they’d had it all planned out.
“Eyes closed,” Nadia said firmly, and then gestured for us to do the same.
I felt Riley turn when her shoulder bumped mine, and then Grant’s hand was on my shoulder, putting pressure on it to get me to turn as well. Once in place, my hand was lifted and the corner of something was set in my palm. Grant’s hand rested on my shoulder long enough to keep me in place.
“On the count of three, I want you to open your eyes, look straight ahead, and smile,” Nadia said.
“Ready? One… two… three. Smile!”
“You guys are the weirdest parents ever,” Jared said as the rest of us chuckled. “Can we look at our shirts now?”
“Not yet. Now, on the count of three again, I want all of you to turn toward the Christmas tree. Oliver, if you would,” Nadia said, gesturing for him to go to the other side of the room.
“Did I tell you
that you’re weird?” Jared asked, shaking his head.
“Ready?” Nadia asked when Riley and I turned to look at one another with questioning glances.
“Eyes closed before you turn,” Nadia said, getting mine and Riley’s attention. She pointed at her eyes and then at us.
I closed my eyes as she counted down again.
“Holy shit!” Jared exclaimed, but then slapped his hand over his mouth.
Riley gasped, and I felt sucker punched. The guys were wearing The Godfather T-shirts, and the girls had on Disney fairy godmother ones.
Riley turned to me. “They knew. How the hell did they know?”
I shook my head, unable to form a complete thought, let alone speak.
“Is this real?” Josh said, coming toward us and pointing to the thing Riley and I held clutched in our hands.
I looked down at it when Riley let go of her side and moved to stand in front of it. “Will you be my godparents?”
Her hand slapped over her mouth as tears ran down her cheeks.
The room exploded with questions, exclamations, and more than a few tears of happiness. There was no way to process any of it, or answer anyone at that moment. Riley moved close. I put my arm around her, tucking her against my side as a piercing whistle brought the room to silence.
“I know you all have a lot of questions. I promise, we’ll talk about it. But first, Riley should probably open her other gift from Mark,” Nadia said, handing the other small package to her.
Her hand shook when she took it.
Nadia gave her a warm smile, squeezing her hand before stepping back.
“Hurry up, Riles, before next Christmas rolls around,” Jared said, putting Riley in motion.
She fumbled the small clothing box, so I took it from her. I held it while she pulled out the smallest shirt I’d ever seen. “What is that?”
Riley busted out laughing, and then shook it out. It wasn’t a shirt after all. It was—
“It’s a onesie,” she said, turning it around and holding it up for me to see.
“Sixlet? I don’t—” And then it clicked. I busted out laughing and pulled Riley against me. The tension of keeping such a huge secret drained away with each shake of our shoulders.
“Hold it up so we can see,” Paige demanded.
I let go of Riley as she held it up and said, “So, Ace and I have something to tell you.”
“A little late for that, don’t you think?” Aiden snickered as huge grin stole over his face.
“What I want to know is how Mark knew?” Eli asked, turning a quizzical look in his direction.
“And you call yourself a doctor,” Mark said, making a fizzing sound when Eli rolled his eyes at him.
“Mark saw me just after Riley told me. He’d already put it together by then,” I answered.
“And Paige demanded I tell her what was going on with me. She’s pushy that way,” Riley said.
“So both of you knew? How long did you know?” Josh asked.
“Not long,” Paige answered.
“Okay, I can understand a few of us finding out since we’re always together, but how did you know?” Jared asked, turning to his mom.
It was a very reasonable question. One I wanted the answer to as well.
Grant came to stand behind Nadia as she drew in a deep breath. “It all started when Ace’s helicopter went down…”
The dynamic of our team was unlike anything Cole Enterprise had dealt with before. The close-knit relationship meant that more security measures had to be put into place, especially since our tie to Jared was so close. Cole, seeing it, had begun work on a nano-chip. One that would be able to locate us anywhere in the world, no matter where we were, but also be able to diagnose and treat anything from infections to injuries. An all-in-one recovery system, Nadia called it.
“After Jared was kidnapped, and then Aiden was taken, Cole worked night and day to fine tune everything. It’s how we found Eli so fast,” she explained.
“Are you saying that we’ve all been chipped? How?” Ella asked.
“You were. We did it on your last checkups. Remember the inoculations and B12 you were given?” Nadia asked.
“Who could forget that? That B12 felt like more like a B52 bomber going in,” Josh said, rubbing his arm in the same spot we’d all gotten the shot.
“Why not tell us, though? I don’t think we would have been against it. I know I wouldn’t. You found me in Mongolia because of it,” Eli added.
Grant put his hand on Nadia’s shoulder. “The only two who knew about it were Cole and Nadia. It was important that it stay between the two of them. And would have stayed that way, only—”
“Only Riley got pregnant. It flagged in Cole’s system, right?” I asked.
Nadia nodded. “Riley, you thought you had a virus, correct?”
“I was really sick for a couple of days,” she answered.
“When the virus showed up in Cole’s system, he sent out the signal to counteract it. Only he hadn’t planned on certain contingencies. I’ll spare you the finer points, but what it all boils down to was there was a reaction that did a number of things. Had he done the same to any of the guys, the virus would be gone, and none of you would be the wiser.
“It’s a lot of science. Science even I don’t understand, but the end result was eliminating the virus, but it also negated any sort of birth control. Anything foreign in one of your bodies was programmed to be handled by the nano-chip. Cole hadn’t thought about differentiating between the male and female compositions. His focus had been on location and elimination of viruses, or diseases.” Nadia clasped her hands in front of her, waiting for all of us to take in what she said.
“So it’s Cole’s fault. What about the rest of us girls?” Paige asked as the color leeched from her face. “If a virus shows up, and the nano-chip goes into attack mode, are we subject to this happening as well?”
Nadia shook her head. “After Riley’s results came to light, Cole locked himself in his lab. I didn’t see him until he sought me out and told me about all of it. He’s made adjustments for you ladies. He also sends his apologies, and congratulations, to the two of you,” Nadia said, tipping her head to Riley and me.
“What sort of adjustments?” Murphy asked.
“Only to the way the nano-chip will detect viruses, or diseases. Cole will be alerted if something pops up. If it does happen, you’ll be alerted as well. Knowing what you do now, and what the potential outcome could be, we ask that you take it into consideration when he tells you he’s activating the chip to deal with whatever is going on inside of your body,” Nadia said.
“I know it’s a shock,” Grant added as he moved to put his hand on Nadia’s shoulder. “But you have all of us, and we’ll be here for you. Now, it’s Christmas, and I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to open some gifts.”
Chapter 12
Riley
It took a minute before we got back to exchanging gifts. Especially with so many people to hug while congratulations were thrown around like confetti.
“My turn,” Paige said, bringing everyone’s focus back.
We all moved back to our seats, and I curled into the corner of the couch. Ace draped his arm over my legs as Paige handed Eli his gift.
“This is great,” Eli said, holding up a leather bag with his initials stamped in it. “Heavy, too. Did you stuff it with rocks?”
She rolled her eyes. “Open it, dork.”
“Honey buns!” He clutched the bag to his chest. “Thank you, Paige.”
Josh moved to the table. He handed Aiden a gift bag straining at the handles.
“Does anyone else smell meat?” Jared asked, sniffing at the air.
Aiden inhaled over the bag. His eyes widened as he dumped the bag in his lap. “Holy crap. Did you buy the whole store? Thanks, man!”
Ella smirked and handed Paige her gift.
“Oooh, smelly stuff! Lots of smelly stuff. Thank you, Ella!”
Aiden sat for
ward. “Nova, your present is coming in about an hour. Think you can wait that long?”
She gave him a confused look, but nodded. “Of course, but you didn’t have to do anything special for me.”
He gave her a goofy smile.
“Hey, where’s Oliver?” Ella asked.
“Probably too much holiday cheer for him,” Jared scoffed, getting an elbow in the ribs from Murphy.
“Be nice, or I’ll take yer gift back, aye?” Airen said, handing Jared his present.
Jared opened his gift and covered his mouth. I wasn’t sure if it was shock or humor that put such a look on his face. His hand dropped. “I’m a Laird!”
“A what?” Murphy asked.
“Wait… there’s more,” Jared said, pulling out a stack of papers. One by one, he handed them out to everyone.
“Aye, now we’re all kinsmen,” Airen said, “but ye have one more, Jared.”
“Aye?” he said, grinning when she laughed at him.
“Dafty. Here,” she said, handing him a rather large box.
He ripped the paper and tore into the box. “A kilt?”
“And sporran, and plaid… Aye, it’s all there,” she said.
“This is freaking awesome! You know we have to go back to Scotland now, so I can wear my kilt while we check out our land.”
“I’m not doing that flight again any time soon. Next year, maybe,” Murphy said.
Jared didn’t miss a beat. “Good thing that’s right around the corner.”
Eli was next. His gift was handed to Mark while we bantered with Jared about his fuzzy knees, and him having to learn how to play the bagpipe before we’d all commit to going.
Mark opened his gift and shot off the couch. “No way!”
“Way!” Eli said.
“What? What did you get?” Paige asked, standing to peer over his shoulder.
Her lips moved as she read whatever it was in Mark’s hand. She cringed. “You’re on your own with that.”
“Are you going to fill us in, or should we start guessing?” I asked.
“Eli got me an underwater photography package, so I can take pictures of—”
A Very Merry Sixmas (The Six Series Book 7) Page 12
