I caught Ryan’s eye as Landon pulled him into our hug. My husband had gone with me on my travels, supporting me and helping me achieve my dreams. Maybe it was time that the two of us looked into what other adventures we’d like to take together. Perhaps even starting a family of our own. Ryan’s eyes widened as if he’d read my thoughts and the pure happiness in his eyes made my heart stutter.
Mom had made sandwiches and her homemade broccoli cheddar soup and we all talked as we ate, catching up on everything that had been going on with each other. When we were finished, we helped clear the dishes and then we pulled on our coats and shoes, so we could help Dad hang the lights outside.
“How many strands of lights are we putting up this year?” Landon asked.
“Just a few more than last year,” he answered noncommittally.
“How many more, Dad?” Caleb asked suspiciously.
“I bought twenty more,” he said with a sheepish grin and we all groaned. Ryan gave me a questioning look.
“Dad increases the number of lights on the house every Christmas. Last year, I think he used seventy-five strands. Planes were circling our house, looking for a place to land,” I explained dramatically.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Mom said with a laugh. “Besides, we have grandbabies now and they deserve to have a bright and colorful Christmas.” Ryan’s head popped up at her words and he looked at me. I nodded at him and he turned to my brothers and their partners in crime.
“That reminds me, thank you so much for the warm welcome home gift you left in our living room.” I watched as Landon, Micah, Caleb, and Giovanni busted out laughing, obviously pleased with themselves.
“The jokes on you though, because we already enjoyed several of the ornaments,” I added. I laughed as Caleb and Landon scrunched up their noses at the thought of their brother using the sex toys they’d purchased.
“What are you boys talking about?” Dad asked suspiciously.
“Nothing,” we all said in unison, feigning innocence. Dad narrowed his eyes at us, but then turned and headed outside. I reached up and playfully messed up Landon’s hair and he tossed his arm around my shoulder as we made our way out to help our father.
With all of us working together, we were able to get the lights hung in just under two hours. It probably would’ve gone faster, but we were too busy laughing and having a good time to get it done any quicker. I caught Giovanni wearing a broad smile and I grinned at him.
“You look awfully happy,” I said.
“I love this,” he told me with a shrug.
“You love freezing your balls off?” I teased.
“No, that I could do without,” he responded with a chuckle. “I meant all the rest of it. The closeness, the inside jokes that only members of a family would get. I haven’t had that in a long time. When my parents died, and Julianna left, I thought I’d never have that again, that I’d be alone for the rest of my life.” My heart hurt at the thought of the pain he’d been through.
“I’m glad you’re part of our family.” I spoke honestly. “You’ve given so much love to Caleb, but you’ve also brought more love and happiness to the rest of us too. You’re a great guy, Giovanni, and I’m happy to have you as a brother.” We spent a few more minutes talking and when I stepped away, Caleb grabbed me and pulled me into a fierce hug.
“What’s that for?” I asked with a laugh.
“For being you,” Caleb said with a shrug.
It was getting dark by the time we finished, and we bundled up the kids and brought them and Mom out to see our handiwork. Dad turned the lights on and we all oohed and aahed over the festive display. I had to admit, it looked amazing and we all took turns telling Dad that. Ryan stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, kissing the side of my face.
“This is going to be the best Christmas yet,” he said, and I smiled, leaning my head back on his chest.
We stood out there until our teeth started chattering and then we went inside to warm up with cups of hot chocolate, talking the whole way about what kind of competitions we should have and what price those who didn’t win should have to pay. My parents had always made Christmas very special for us kids, but now with each of us having found our soulmates, I had to agree with Ryan. This Christmas was going to be the biggest and best.
“Okay, hold still, we’re almost done,” I said.
I finished brushing the paint onto Sarah’s hand and then pressed it gently onto the smooth surface of the cup. Once it was completely dry, I’d let her use markers to write her name on it then I’d coat the entire thing in glaze to keep it from peeling. I’d been trying to think of something special that Sarah could give to Giovanni for Christmas and Michelle had suggested a coffee mug with Sarah’s handprint. I loved the idea and I knew Gio would too. Anything that had to do with our daughter tended to turn us into piles of goo.
“What a beautiful handprint. Daddy’s going to be so surprised,” I told her, and Sarah grinned up at me proudly. I grabbed her step stool and placed it in front of the sink then helped keep her steady as she climbed up to wash her hands.
“Sweetheart, have you seen Sarah?” I heard Gio call from down the hall. His voice sounded like it was getting closer and Sarah and I gave each other a wide-eyed look.
“We’re in the kitchen, but you can’t come in here yet,” I hollered back.
“Why not? What are you two up to?” he asked, sounding amused. I could tell he was right outside the door, but I trusted him to not come in.
“We have surprises, Daddy,” Sarah yelled and we both giggled.
“We’ll be out in just a minute,” I told him.
I washed out the brush and put it and the paint away and then Sarah helped me find a place to hide the mug where Gio wouldn’t find it as it dried. When we were finished, we gave each other a high five and then went into the living room where we could hear the TV playing some old black-and-white Christmas movie. Gio was there, sitting on the couch and he smiled as we walked in. He opened up his arms and Sarah climbed up onto his lap.
“So, are you going to tell me what you and Dad were doing in the kitchen?” Gio asked her.
“No, Daddy. It’s a surprise,” she said with a giggle.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Quit trying to coerce our daughter,” I said with a laugh as I plopped down on the couch beside them. “You’ll have to wait until Christmas morning to get your surprise.”
Gio stuck out his bottom lip in an adorable pout and I couldn’t resist leaning over to kiss it. He kissed me back then gave Sarah a kiss on the cheek before blowing into her neck and making her squeal in delight as it tickled her. My phone rang as he began to tickle her ribs and I dug it out of my back pocket to answer it.
“Hello?” I answered with a laugh.
“What in the world is going on there?” Michelle asked, obviously hearing the loud noises through the phone.
“Tickle war,” I told her.
“Oh, sounds like fun! Tell my niece to fight dirty,” she said with a laugh.
“I’ll come to her defense if I need to,” I assured her with a chuckle.
“Good. Now, I’m calling for a reason. We need you guys to get over to Mom and Dad’s place as soon as possible,” she informed me.
“Why? What’s up?” I asked.
“It’s competition time,” she said deviously.
“Ugh! Seriously? My legs are still sore from climbing that hill over and over in the sled-riding competition and I’m just starting to feel my feet after being outside for four hours yesterday for the snowman-building competition,” I teasingly complained. The truth was, Gio and I had both had a blast, even if we’d lost both challenges.
“Oh, quit your whining. You and Carter are younger than me and I’m not complaining,” Michelle pointed out.
“Are you even going to tell me what the competition is?” I asked.
“Nope. You’ll find out along with everyone else when they get here,” she teased.
/> “Fine, we’ll be there soon,” I said.
“Another competition?” Gio asked as I hung up.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I can call her back if you’d rather just stay in tonight,” I offered.
“No way! We took it easy on them the last couple of times. It’s time we kick some Greene as…” I cut him off with a loud cough and nodded my head at our daughter who was still on his lap, watching the TV. “Bootay,” Gio finished with a smile. I laughed and grabbed him by the back of the neck, so I could pull him forward for a kiss.
Thirty minutes later, we opened the door to my parents’ house and stepped into a room full of chaos and noise. More chaos and noise than was typical when my family would get together. A quick look around explained why. Joining my siblings and their spouses was also Akio and Morgan, Rylie and Lachlan, and Hudson, Isaac, and Matt.
“Finally, everybody’s here. Now we can get this thing started,” Emma said.
“What thing? You still haven’t told us what we’re doing,” Landon said, looking at our sister suspiciously.
“If you’ll all take a seat, we’ll explain,” Michelle told him, stepping forward to stand beside Emma.
Gio finished helping Sarah out of her coat and boots and then released her to go to my mom who took her by the hand and led her into the kitchen. The rest of us took a seat as instructed and looked up at my sisters expectantly. They were nearly vibrating with excitement as they stood in front of us and my interest was piqued. If my sisters had cooked up a plan together, it was bound to be good.
“I’ve already explained to the new recruits that it’s a tradition for us to hold competitions each year over the holidays and they’ve agreed to join us,” Emma explained, holding a clipboard in her hands. I glanced around the room and saw our friends shaking their heads and smiling. They probably thought we were crazy, but then again, they fit right in with us, so I guess the same could be said about them.
“Emma and I were talking one day and decided that we needed to step things up this year. So, we put our heads together and came up with a new competition that we think will be a lot of fun,” Michelle said. The devious grin she and Emma exchanged had me wondering exactly what we were getting ourselves into.
“Why do I have the feeling I’m going to regret this?” Ryan teased.
“Don’t worry, Superman. I’ll protect you,” Carter told his husband.
I chuckled when I saw the blush that crept up Ryan’s neck. He’d never gotten used to the nickname my brother gave him after rescuing him when our restaurant caught fire with Carter inside, but Carter insisted that Ryan was his hero and the nickname had stuck. Ryan opened his mouth to say something, but Carter leaned over and gave him a kiss, effectively cutting off his response. A wave of happiness washed over me, and I knew I was experiencing Carter’s feelings as he kissed his husband.
“Okay, you two. Let’s find out what we have to do,” I said gruffly, wanting to stop them before I experienced more…heated feelings my brother would start having for his husband. Carter turned and gave me a smug look, knowing exactly why I’d stopped them.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get even,” Gio whispered in my ear and my laugh made Carter narrow his eyes at me.
“Anyway, back to the competition,” Emma said, and I turned my attention back on my sisters, giving them an apologetic look. She glanced around to make sure she had everyone’s attention. Satisfied, she announced, “We’re heading into the city for a scavenger hunt.” We all looked around at each other, some of us sitting up as we waited to hear more.
“Michelle and I are the captains and we’ve divided everyone into two teams. Team One will be me and Mark, Caleb and Giovanni, Morgan and Akio, Hudson, Isaac, and Matt,” Emma told us, reading the names off the list in her hand. We all grinned at each other and Matt and I bumped fists.
“Team Two consists of me and Jason, Carter and Ryan, Landon and Micah, and Rylie and Lachlan.” Michelle had just finished reading off the names when Landon spoke up.
“That’s not fair, they have an extra person,” he complained. “Plus, we have Carter. That’s an automatic handicap,” he added with a smirk.
“Hey now! I can win this thing with my hands tied behind my back,” Carter informed him pompously.
“Let’s keep what you do in the bedroom out of this,” Rylie teased. We all started laughing when Carter flipped his middle finger up at him.
“I’d like to say that I’m sorry that my falling in love with two men instead of one is causing problems, but I’m just not,” Isaac added with a playful shrug. Hudson and Matt sat on either side of him, grinning like fools. It was obvious that none of them were sorry in the least, not that they had any reason to be. They knew our teasing was all done in good fun.
“We already took into account the added person advantage and Team Two has already been awarded a five-point start,” Michelle informed us all.
“How this works is simple. Each team will be provided a matching list of items that are to be found. It’s a long list and impossible to find every item in the time allotted. That said, you should choose wisely which items are worth your time because as you will see, every item is worth a different amount of points,” Emma said as she passed a copy of the list to each person.
“You must work as a team to gather each item, no dividing up the list. And, purchasing any item is strictly forbidden. You’re going to have to get creative to obtain your goods. Each team will have three hours to gather as many things from the list as you can and bring them back here, where we will tally the points and declare a winner,” Michelle added.
We all began scanning the pages as soon as we got them, except for Micah who got up to make a phone call. I could hear laughter and murmuring as we saw a range of things, from the innocent child’s teddy bear, to the not-so-innocent woman’s thong. My eyebrows raised at that one and I glanced up at my sisters who looked quite pleased with themselves. I had to admit, they’d come up with a great challenge and I was sure we’d all have fun doing it.
“One other thing,” Emma said and we all settled down so we could listen. “The losing team will be required to carol around the neighborhood tonight wearing special costumes.” Michelle walked to the hall closet and brought back a bag. From it, she pulled green hats, ridiculous green shoes and red and white striped tights in an assortment of sizes. There was also green shorts and shirts and floppy ears attached to a headband.
“Elves? We have to dress as elves and go door to door singing Christmas carols?” Carter groaned, his face turning pale. I knew he was picturing all the videos of him that would be posted all over social media.
“As your team captain and someone who would have to do it right along with you, I suggest you don’t lose,” Michelle said, clapping him on the shoulder. Carter rolled his eyes as she walked away and I chuckled.
“Okay, you have about ten minutes to split up into your teams and strategize,” Emma announced and we all stood up, huddling in separate corners of the living room as each team developed a game plan.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” I whispered to Gio. He gave me a nod before giving his attention to our teammates.
I headed into the kitchen in search of my daughter. Dad smiled as I walked in. He was wearing an apron and was just pulling a batch of sugar cookies out of the oven. Mom and Sarah were at the table and when they looked at me, I saw that Sarah was wearing a red smile across her face from the iced cookie she’d been eating.
“It looks like you guys are having fun in here,” I said, bending down and stealing a bite of cookie. Sarah giggled as she pulled the cookie away.
“We are. We’re making cookies for Santa and then we thought we’d take the kids to see him at the mall,” Mom said.
“Are you sure you don’t mind keeping Sarah with you while we do this?” I asked. Dad barked out a laugh.
“Are you kidding? We live for this. If you hadn’t come by with our granddaughter, we were going to come and steal her anyway,” he joked. I lo
oked to my mother who nodded her head in confirmation.
“Okay, if you’re sure,” I said with a laugh.
“We’re sure, honey. Go, have fun,” Mom said. I hugged all three of them and then hurried back out to the living room where everyone was putting on their coats.
“Everything alright with Sarah?” Gio asked, handing me my coat and gloves.
“Yeah, she’s on her way to a sugar rush right now and then she and my parents and the babies are going to see Santa.” Gio laughed at my description then wrapped my scarf around me and gave me a kiss.
“Alright, when I say go, we’ll have three hours. Good luck, everyone, and may the best team, in other words, my team, win,” Michelle joked. “Aaaaand Go!”
We all rushed out the door and scrambled into our cars. Hudson, Isaac, and Matt jumped into the back of our car while Morgan and Akio shared a ride with Emma and Mark. Our team made it out of the driveway first, but the other team was right on our heels as we all headed back to the city.
“Hey, Emma.” I turned in my seat to see Matt on his phone. He held it away from him and put it on speaker so we all could hear. “I was wondering, is there a rule about how many items you can get from one place?”
“No, we never made that a rule, so I guess you can get as much as you want. What have you got in mind?” she asked.
“Let’s head to Agape House,” he said with a mischievous grin.
A broad smile spread across my face and I reached back to bump fists with my friend as Isaac got on his phone and called Allison, who was working at Agape House that day, to explain to her what was going on.
By the time we got there, she had already gathered the teens into a group. They were talking excitedly as we walked in, all of them eager to help. Emma read the list out loud, carefully omitting the more adult items and the kids rushed off to their rooms to retrieve the things they wanted to contribute.
Ten minutes later we had over twenty items crossed off our list, which we promised to return as soon as the competition was over. The kids helped us to our cars with our loot and gave us hugs, cheering for us as we pulled out of the parking lot. With everything we’d already collected, we were feeling pretty confident that we’d win this competition.
Ever-Greene Page 6
