Frosty, Inc

by Trinity Blacio

  “It’s easy. His mom and dad named him Para and then as a nickname called him Frosty because they said he was cold. But I mean it, Daddy, no threatening,” Holly said and went to grab the bags.

  “No, don’t you lift anything.” Frosty said and the bags disappeared as he sent them to their room. “They’re on the bed.”

  She rolled her eyes, but climbed up the open staircase, all the while watching her father. “I mean it, Daddy,” Holly mumbled and Frosty couldn’t help but smile.

  Chapter Nine

  Holly stood there stunned at the site before her. Not only did the room downstairs blow her away with its view, but the view from this one was amazing. Holly swore she could touch the stars from where she stood, staring out the window in the master bedroom.

  “We’ll that settles that. We’ll be staying here,” she said, turning to take in the room, but growled seeing a teddy on the bed. At once it was gone as were the sheets and blankets, replaced by new ones and a single rose lay on a pillow, with a card that read “sorry” on it.

  Yes, her man was special, but if Holly kept seeing these reminders of his previous life…she didn’t know how long she’d go without clobbering the handsome man.

  She picked up the rose, noticing all the thorns were gone and took a deep breath, loving the scent off roses. Holly glanced at the door, wondering what her father had to speak to her man about in private.

  But her thoughts were interrupted when she heard her phone going off in one of the bags. Holly ran to the bag and searched for her phone, hoping it was the court system letting her know about Dylan.

  “Hello,” she answered right away hoping whoever it was hadn’t hung up.

  “Ms. Berry?” the man asked.

  “Yes,” she frowned. “Can I help you with something?” she growled and spun around in a different room with three men she didn’t recognize. “Okay, this is so not good. Who the hell are you and where am I?”

  “Relax daughter, you will not be hurt,” A man with black hair and the same eyes as Keane stepped forward and pointed to a chair. “Please, have a seat. We need to speak.”

  “You’re Keane’s father, aren’t you?” she asked, staying right where she was, wishing she’d learned the flashing out of the area thing already.

  The man frowned. “If you mean Frosty, then yes. Why do you call him Keane?” he asked.

  Holly growled. “Yes, Frosty was your cruel name for your son. Really, you name him Para, and then you nickname him Frosty because he’s cold. Well guess what You’re going to see cold when he finds out you took me from his home. And let alone how my father will respond.” Holly was furious, but she did notice that each of the men stepped back, including her mate’s father.

  She glanced over her shoulder to see Keane and her father had followed her. “Let’s not start a war, shall we? Because you know Grandpa is watching.” Holly reached out and took Keane’s clenched fist into her hand. “Keane?”

  His gaze dropped down to hers and she swore his bottom lip was twitching. “You read my father the riot act?”

  “Of course. First, he brings me here without asking for God knows what reason, but when he said that ridiculous nickname, I wanted to deck the man. So, he is really lucky.” Holly said.

  Her father reached over and touched her cheek, smiling. “You do have my temper, don’t you?” he said.

  “Yes, and I see yours is at its boiling point. Take a deep breath and let it out. He is going to be family, no?” she asked.

  Her father’s gaze jumped to Keane’s. “My father knew the risk when he took you out of our home,” her handsome mate said, before sweeping her up in his arms. “Let’s go home. Your food should be ready soon.”

  “Remember what happens to your father…” She was saying but he shook his head.

  “No, my parents are not soras, like us,” Keane said, and she heard the gasp from behind them.

  “She is your soras? I did not know,” the man said.

  “And that would have made a difference?” her father growled.

  “Of course, I wouldn’t kill my own son. I would have found another way to get at you,” Keane’s father snapped.

  Before Holly could say a word, she and Keane were back in his kitchen and he placed her on the seat she had been sitting on before. “Do not move,” he growled and kissed the top of her head.

  “Why is your father out to hurt my father? And I thought that we all were going to meet at my brother’s for Christmas dinner?” Holly asked. “Our parents should be happy. Your sister is with my brother and now you are with me. Our families are one now.” She shook her head. “Something more is going on here.”

  The doorbell rang and Holly snarled. “Damn it, my Keane if that is another woman, I’m going to kick your ass and her’s,” Holly hopped down, getting ready to answer the door.

  “You will not. Get back up there in your seat. It’s not another woman. It’s your brother and my sister. Eat,” he said, placing the pot of Easy Lamb Hotpot in front of their plates. “You do not answer the door. We’re going to have to make sure Dylan does not either.”

  “Crap, my father did something to their father,” she mumbled as her soras let her brother and his mate in the house.

  “Are you okay?” her brother asked, coming around the corner and pulling her up into his arms, hugging her tight.

  “Other than you squishing me, I’m fine. Put me down, you big lug,” she said, smacking his back.

  Between hugs, getting her family drinks and all of them sitting down at the dining room table, Holly was starving.

  “There is plenty of food here for all of us if you would like some, but Holly needs to eat.” Keane said piling on the food in front of her.

  “Stop Keane, I can’t eat all that,” she laughed.

  “What did you call my brother?” Beth asked, frowning.

  “Keane is his new name and the both of you better use it or there is going to be World War Three,” she said, stuffing a bite of food in her mouth and moaning. “Oh yea, you dear sir have made up for the teddy…”

  “Wait, I don’t understand,” Beth said.

  “Do you know what your stupid parents named him at birth?” Holly asked.

  Beth frowned.” Actually, no. I’ve only known him as Frosty.”

  Holly pointed her fork at Keane. “Don’t. This needs to be said,” she told him. “At birth your mother and father named him Para. If that wasn’t bad enough, you know why they started calling him Frosty? Because they said he was cold.” Holly leaned forward. “Your brother is far from cold. So, I gave him the name Keane, it means tall and handsome.”

  Her brother moaned and Beth smiled. “I like the name.” Beth reached over and squeezed Keane’s arm. “You should have told me.”

  “There is nothing to be said, it is what it is. I can’t change my name Beth, but if it makes you happy, you can use the name Holly uses,” Keane said, leaning over and kissing the top of her head.

  “I don’t know about the handsome part,” her brother snipped, and she kicked him under the table.

  “Watch it big brother, or I’ll tell Daddy,” she smiled and he rolled his eyes, rubbing his leg.

  “Like that is going to work now. I’m an adult brat,” her brother said.

  “No name calling Chris,” her father showed up with their mother.

  “Please tell me you didn’t kill him?” Holly asked.

  “No, but your grandfather has him and his men. He will judge him, but I can’t promise anything. You know how protective your grandfather is of you,” Her father said and she snorted.

  “And you’re not, please? What about their mother?” Holly asked.

  “She is with her mate, but nothing will happen to her. She knew nothing from what my father can tell. But I do have some good news. Keane and Beth. It seems your grandparents are waking and have requested to join us for Christmas dinner,” her mother told them, shocking all of them.

  “Aren’t they supposed to be resting or something
?” Beth said and Keane nodded.

  “They left our world over a thousand years ago,” Keane informed them.

  “From what my father said, they contacted him as soon as your father was taken by my father. That could mean two things.”

  “That they are taking over since our father can’t handle being the family leader or they are out for blood, my soras.”

  Chapter Ten

  Holly was full and tired. She sat on the couch staring out at the city with her feet in Keane’s lap. “I still wish my father would have told me why there is such dark blood between your folks and mine.” Her family and his had left, each promising that if they heard anything, they’d contact each other.

  “I can remember as a child my father ranting and going on about your dad, but he never said why. It is one of the reasons your brother and I chose Earth, but I had no idea my father was here. Even though I should have thought of that, since he considered my friendship with your brother a betrayal. He was really mad when Chris and Beth announced that they were soras.” He rubbed the inside of her foot and she moaned.

  “Do you think I’ll hear tomorrow about Dylan? I miss him so much. I always went every day to visit him and then they told me I had to stop till the process was over. It makes me nervous not to have contact with him.” Holly looked over at him.

  “I’m sure he is fine, but if we haven’t heard anything by tomorrow, we’ll go there personally. We’ll have to hustle to get his room ready here if we are staying here?” he asked and she smiled.

  “We have a lot to do, dear sir. I want my Christmas tree,” she stopped and laughed when he brought her tree over with all the presents below it. “Nice, but I think it would look better…hm, nope you are right. The middle of the window is best. So, how do you feel about pets?” she asked.

  “What kind of pets?” he asked.

  “Well, Dylan had a dog before his family was killed. Of course, they took the dog from him. From what I could figure out it wasn’t certified as a service dog, but it acted like one for Dylan.” Holly glanced at him. “Dylan has a small handicap.”

  Frosty knew Holly was watching him. “And?”

  Holly sighed. “Dylan has Downs Syndrome. I had been volunteering at the home for over a year when Dylan came in. He was withdrawn and scared out of his mind, but for some reason, every time I visited, he was there waiting for me.” Holly smiled. “He can give some of the best hugs and he’s smart.”

  He could sit here all night just listening to her talk, but Frosty could see she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. He lifted her feet up, got up and scooped Holly in his arms. “Come, you are falling asleep. Time for bed for you,” Frosty said.

  She rested her head against his. “I am really tired. I think this day has caught up with me. I’m sorry to be a party pooped.”

  He smiled. “Pooper not pooped.”

  She waved her hand. “Who cares?” and before he had her PJs on that she loved, Holly was out cold. He tucked her in, staring at the beauty in his bed.

  He moved out into the hallway, stopping and glancing over his shoulder at her. It was time to see what his grandfather was up to.

  It didn’t take his grandfather, Louis, long. Frosty was waiting in his great room, sipping a brandy.

  “Why are you here, Grandfather?” he asked, before he turned to see his grandfather staring at him.

  “You have become everything I knew you would be and you have a beautiful soras too. Your grandmother and I can’t wait to meet our new granddaughter and her son, but first I will know what is going on with my son?” he asked.

  “You’ve already taken what you needed from my head, why ask this question?”

  “How could you and your father drift so apart? When we departed you were close, doing many things together?”

  Frosty shook his head. “We maybe did two to three things together, but that was for show. As soon as you were gone, things changed. Go talk to him yourself, you’ll see the shell of a man he has become. He would have killed my soras if we hadn’t shown up. I can’t and won’t forgive him this time. Beth’s soras has told me if my father shows up there ever again after he hurt her, he won’t hesitate to kill him. No, I’m sorry grandfather, but our father is gone to all of us.”

  His grandfather spun around and stared at the tree. “If only he could have found his soras. All of my children were strong, but your father, ever since his third birth, I knew something was not right. I had hoped when your mother and he met, but no they weren’t soras.” With those final words he disappeared from the room.

  “Such sadness in his heart. I have to say to lose a son or any child would be hard on any parent.” Holly said from the stairs where she sat, staring down at him.

  “I thought I put a sleeping woman to bed?” he asked, turning everything off before moving to the stairs and his woman.

  “You did, but as soon as your grandfather appeared here in the house, his despair and hurt filled me and I woke. I guess no matter what age, if a child is in trouble, the parents will do anything to help, at least I hope to a point. Does that make sense?” she asked, as Frosty bent down and lifted her up into his arms.

  “Yes, it makes perfect sense. You stand behind your child, helping when you can, but also allowing that child to make his or own choices, hoping that they’ll make the right ones. We can guide them with our knowledge, our experiences, but what they do with that is up to them.” Frosty placed her back on the bed. “Stay,” he said and stripped out of his clothes, before climbing into the bed.

  When he went to pull Holly closer, she glanced at him and he sighed. “It happened long ago Holly, there is nothing that can be done.” He said, but already she was climbing up onto his body, tracing the scars on his back with her fingers.

  “Your father?” she growled. “And don’t you dare make excuses for him. No man has a right to do this to a child, Keane.”

  “I wasn’t a child, Holly,” he laid down on his back, looking up at Holly. She was furious.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “He thinks I betrayed him, has for over the past 200 years,” Frosty said. “It’s when I asked your brother if he would like to come with me to Earth. I’d planned on leaving long ago, but it took this incident to get me to pack up and go.”

  Holly lay down on top of him, hugging him tight. “Well, now you have a new family. One that will love you always.”

  “Are you telling me you love me, Holly?” he asked, holding his breath.

  Chapter Eleven

  Holly stared at the man holding her, rubbing her back. His dark hair and blue eyes, well he was one of the most handsome men she had been around in a long time. But did she love him? Sure, the bond between them was growing and Holly had a big place in her heart for him.

  She smiled down at him. “I could ask that question to you, but one day is not enough to decide if I love you. Do I have feelings? You bet your sweet cute butt, I do.” She kissed his chin, resting her head on his chest, feeling his thick, long cock against her leg, but said nothing more.

  After a while she looked up at him. “Am I falling in love with you, yes. How could I not? You brought me fruit cake.”

  Her man laughed, a deep laugh, and it was the first time she could see that it reached his beautiful eyes.

  “Oh, then there is the fact you cooked me dinner, gave me a flower and this was all in one day. I so can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. Just that you know I’ll make sure you are not late for work,” she said and he moaned.

  “I don’t know if you should go into to work tomorrow, Holly. What if they are still looking for you?” He said, rubbing his chin against the top of her head.

  “I have a feeling by the time we wake, my father will have taken care of what needs to be done. Do you think Dylan is okay?” She asked.

  “Don’t worry, I’m sure he is fine, plus, if your father is like I think he is, I bet he has someone already watching his soon-to-be-grandson,” he told her. Reaching down, he pulled
the blanket up over them. “Sleep, Holly. Tomorrow we will go visit Dylan and see what is going on.”

  “Keane, I have a question and I don’t…Well, with adopting Dylan, what about your father? Would he hurt him?”

  “No, Dylan will be safe, Holly. Even my father would never hurt a child—an adult is a different story. Our Dylan will be safe,” he told her, rolling over, placing her next to him. “Sorry, but having your body lying on top of mine, well…I need some sleep too.”

  Holly laughed. “Believe me I want you, but I’m not ready for that big a commitment yet. But soon, very soon.”

  * * *

  She couldn’t believe it. Holly had slept for over eight hours. Her automatic alarm clock was all frigged up as she jumped out of the bed, glaring at the clock. “Shit, shit, shit.”

  “What is all this cussing about?” Keane asked, coming into the bedroom. “We have plenty of time, if that is what you are worried about. I’ve already called the office and told them we would be in at nine. That will give us plenty of time to get you fed and showered. Go, while I finish making breakfast for us. Oh, and while you were sleeping, I called the home and set up an appointment for 3:00 to see Dylan and find out what was going on with the paperwork. That way we can just leave for the day after work.”

  Holly couldn’t help it. She jumped into Keane’s arms, placing kisses all over his face, she was so happy. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said.

  He laughed and carried her into the bathroom. “You are welcome, now shower.” He kissed her lips quickly and spun around, leaving the room, but she grabbed onto his arm, stopping him. “Did you know I’ve always wondered what it would be like to make love in the shower? You know, where a man holds his woman up while thrusting into her.”

  “Holly,” he growled and glanced over his shoulder at her. “Now is not the time to tease me. I’m trying really hard to be a gentleman and give you the space you need.”