He had no idea. He couldn’t. If he knew about it, there would be no way he’d be acting as if everything were normal. I was internally freaking out with just the thought of it. How the hell would he handle the news?
“Mark, you look like you’re about to lose your lunch,” Paige said, tipping my face back to look me in the eyes.
“Feel like it, too,” I answered without thinking.
“I hope you’re not coming down sick,” Paige said, pressing her fingers against the pulse in my wrist. “Your heart rate is higher than normal. Maybe you should go lay down,” she said, wearing a look of concern.
“I think I will,” I said. “But don’t worry. I’m fine.”
A baby. After the initial panic receded, rational thought took its place. It might not be my flesh and blood, but it would be my family. They said it took a village to raise a child. At least Riley and Ace would have all of us to surround them and protect them when the little sixlet was born.
“Ha!” I knew exactly what I was going to get Riley for Christmas.
But… what if she isn’t pregnant? What then? You’ll look like a complete idiot. I shoved the niggling thought away.
Before I could let the doubt creep back in, I was online and finishing up my purchase. All that was left was picking up the gift cards Riley put on her list, because she’d definitely need those to implement her wardrobe.
“Now, what the hell am I supposed to do for Paige?” I muttered.
I wasn’t going to buy her anything she could go out and pick up for herself. No, I wanted something she wouldn’t normally buy. Something special. In order to do that, I needed to go to the store.
“Headed out?” Eli asked, catching me in the hallway.
“Yeah. Gonna try to finish my shopping today,” I said.
“Mind if I tag along?” he asked.
“Mind if I come, too?” Jared said, sticking his head out of his room.
I should have known I wouldn’t make it out of the house before someone found out where I was going. “I’m ready to go, so get your asses moving.”
“Just gotta put Stella up and change,” Jared said and then closed his door.
“I have to talk to Nova real quick before we leave,” Eli said, moving past me.
Ace came out of his room, closing the door behind him with caution. He looked like he’d taken a few rounds right to the gut. His coloring was off, and his shoulders were tense. She’d told him. That had to be it.
“We’re headed out to do some Christmas shopping,” I said, moving to lean against the wall.
He sidestepped the door, planted his back against the wall, and then stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“It’ll be okay,” I said.
His head snapped up. He looked at me as if wondering how the hell I knew.
“I kind of just put it together myself earlier,” I answered.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in all my life,” he whispered.
I could empathize. It scared the hell out of me, too, and it wasn’t my wife and baby.
“What the hell are we going to do?” he asked, scrubbing his hand down his face.
“I don’t know, but we’ll do it together,” I said, pushing away from the wall.
“Don’t say anything yet. Not even to Paige,” he said, adding, “Please.”
Keeping it from Paige would be really hard. More than likely, she’d end up really mad at me for keeping it to myself, but it wasn’t my secret to tell. “I won’t say a word.”
He sighed. “Thanks.”
“Do you want to come with us? Might do you some good to get out of the house for a bit,” I said, changing the subject on him.
He shook his head. “I think I’m gonna go take a walk. I need…”
I brought my hand down on his shoulder and squeezed. “You don’t need to explain. We’ll be back in a little while.”
He nodded. “Thanks, Mark.”
“Anytime, brother.”
Chapter 6
Paige
“You know, you aren’t fooling me, Riley,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
She scoffed. “Well, that’s a pretty open statement. What am I supposed to be fooling you about?” she asked, giving me a dirty look.
“How long have we been friends?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“Forever. Why?” She shoved the covers off and sat up slowly.
“When were you going to tell me?” I asked, prodding her to admit it.
“What am I supposed to tell you?” she asked, pushing me to move with an urgency that had me up and bringing her with me.
She would have slammed the bathroom door in my face had I not been holding on to her so she didn’t fall over on her way to the toilet.
She didn’t pick her head up as she spoke into the toilet bowl. “Congratulations, you’re going to be an aunt.”
I caught her as she listed sideways. “The nausea is kicking your ass, huh?”
She made a grumbled sort of sound as I helped her up and then shuffled to the sink. Once her mouth was rinsed, she leaned her elbows on the counter and sighed.
“Let’s get you back to bed.” I put my hand on her back and waited for her to move.
“I’ll be fine in a minute. Once I’m sick, I feel much better,” she answered.
“Does Ace know?” I asked.
She nodded. “I told him a little while ago.”
“How long have you known?” I asked.
“Not that long. I swear,” she said, straightening up and blowing out a quick burst of air. “I honestly thought I had food poisoning, or that I’d possibly picked up some crazy virus from somewhere. Turns out it wasn’t that at all. He would have known a little sooner if I’d let him stay with me while they checked me out at the hospital.”
“Why didn’t you let him stay with you?” I asked.
“There was no reason for him to. Besides, someone had to keep Jared from marching up to the desk every five minutes and making a nuisance out of himself. He was really worried, and I knew Ace would keep him calm. Plus, I was so damn embarrassed about falling down the stairs.”
She had me on that one. I would have been humiliated, too, if it had been me. “So you booted Ace out, then they asked all the standard questions. When you couldn’t tell them when your last cycle was—”
“They did a pregnancy test and voila. Instant mom. Jesus, what the hell am I going to do?”
“I, uh, hate to break it to you, but you’ve already done it. Now it’s only a matter of accepting it and allowing yourself to be happy. Because I know deep down you are. You just haven’t made it past the initial shock,” I tossed back at her.
She blustered. “Shock. You can say that about a million times. I never thought… We were careful. Responsible. We talked about it once. Having a family, I mean. And we both agreed this was no life for a child. Look at Jared and all he’s been through.” Riley closed her eyes, but not before a tear escaped.
“Hey,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. She turned and burrowed her head in my shoulder, wrapped her trembling arms around me, and lost it.
It wasn’t just shock. She was scared. And it went deeper than I could have possibly imagined. I didn’t try to talk to her. Didn’t try to pacify her with words. Words wouldn’t help. Riley needed strength. If I could have, I would’ve given her every bit of my own to help her build her crumbling world back onto a solid foundation.
She blew out a long breath and shuddered before lifting her head. “I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t realize how much I needed to get that out of my system.”
When she stepped back, I caught her hand. “Don’t be sorry, Riles. Not for this. And so you know? You’ll never be alone. You, Ace, or this baby. You’ll have more support than you’ll probably want, or need.”
She gave me a watery smile and nodded. “Thanks, Paige. For everything. Do you mind not saying anything right now? I’ll tell everyone. Soon, but not just yet.”
I ran my
fingers over my lips. And then pulled the covers over her when she laid down.
“Wow, you’ve been busy,” Mark said as he closed the bedroom door behind him.
There hadn’t been a lot to wrap, but I’d somehow managed to strew everything from wrapping paper to plastic bags all over the room.
I eyed him suspiciously. “I thought you were going shopping?”
He smirked. “I did.”
“I guess I’ll clean this stuff up since you don’t have any bags.”
“You can leave it. Do we have any boxes?” he asked.
“Boxes? But you have no bags.” What was he up to?
He knelt in front of me, getting eye level. “Look at you, Mrs. Nosy. Maybe I left what I bought in the car. Or maybe I sent it off with one of the guys so you couldn’t see the bags. Did you think of that?”
I rolled my eyes. “I was just stating the obvious. Yeesh.”
“Boxes?” he inquired again, looking at the explosion of paper, gift tags, and the fairly large stack of wrapped presents.
“It would help if you told me what type of box you need. There are different sizes, you know,” I said, reaching behind me and grabbing a stack of gift boxes left over from my own wrapping.
“Perfect, just leave them there and I’ll do the rest,” he said, putting his hand out as he stood.
I let him help me up from the floor. “I still have something I want to finish. I’ll sit on the bed with my back to you. Will that work?”
He crossed his arms. “And not peek?”
“Scout’s honor,” I said, moving to the closet to get everything I’d stashed for the plastic-wrap game I wanted to surprise everyone with.
“The first time you turn around and peek, you’re out,” Mark said, giving me a stern look.
I upended the bags on the bed, grabbed my wallet, took out a handful of cash, and sat down with my back to him. “Whatever. Like you’d be wrapping my stuff with me sitting here. And I haven’t tried to make you tell me whose name you picked, so it’s safe to say I’m not going to try to ruin the surprise.”
“What’s with all the plastic wrap?” Mark asked, reaching past me and poking at the stack of money. “Plastic wrap, cash, and… what is all that stuff?”
I smacked his hand. “Go away, it’s a surprise.”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“What is that?” Aiden asked, watching me as I carried my finished project to the table. To keep it a surprise, I’d gone one step further and added thick layers of wrapping paper to get through with lots of tape.
“This,” I said, unable to keep a very broad smile from my face, “is a Christmas game. I’m starting the tradition, and the winner will be the one to continue it next Christmas, and so on. Everyone get in here.”
Once I had them all around the table, I set the ball in the center and made them choose a number so we had a starting point. Jared was up first.
“Rules are, you try to unwrap as much of the ball as you can before the person to your left rolls doubles on the dice. Whatever falls out, you keep, but the ball gets passed off right away. It keeps going until the ball is completely unwrapped. The person who finishes it, wins,” I explained.
“What about you?” Murphy asked.
“I put it all together, so I’m just going to stand back and be the cheering section.”
Jared grabbed the ball. “I hope you know I’m going to win this, so you guys should just give up now.”
“We’ll see about that,” Airen said, poking him in the side.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand your Scottish,” Jared said as he clutched the wrapped ball to his chest.
“You better start the game, Paige, before I clout this numpty and away wi’ the prize,” Airen said.
“Did anyone else underst—”
I tossed the dice on the table, cutting Jared off. If his hands were busy, his mouth wouldn’t get him in trouble.
“Does anyone else find it amusing that Jared is having a hard time with tearing wrapping paper?” Eli asked.
His question caused a whole round of jeers toward Jared, who was almost sweating to get past the first few layers.
And then, like magic, the first of the hidden prizes fell out.
“Ha! Snake eyes!” Murphy said as she plucked the ball from his hands and went to town on it. The table was littered with paper before Ace got the dice to land on doubles.
Around and around the table it went, along with laughter, jokes, and groans of angst when doubles were rolled right away on someone’s turn. Before they knew it, they were cheering for one another, more interested in what the person in possession of the ball would get than of their own windfalls.
“Oh my God, Nova, you won!” Murphy said when the last strand of wrap was peeled away to reveal the round plastic ornament that made up the center.
“It’s like the movie Inception. Only it’s a ball within a ball. Crack it open so we can see if there’s another ball inside,” Josh said, moving to peer over Nova’s shoulder.
“Leave it to you to have some sort of movie reference,” Riley said, picking through the layers of paper and plastic to get to her pile of goodies on the table.
Nova opened the ornament and pulled out the fake medal I’d placed inside as I said, “You get to wear that as bragging rights until Christmas, and then you have to put it, and that,” I poked the plastic ball, “away for next year. So don’t lose it.”
Eli took the medal and put it over her head. “Announcing the winner of the first annual Six Games, Nova McCarty. Congratulations, Nova. Now that you’ve won, what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to pig out on all that candy.” Nova’s eyes twinkled as she pointed at the rounded pile in front of her. “This was really fun. Thanks, Paige.”
I’d done what I’d set out to do, creating something fun. Not only that, but it was a memory none of us would ever forget. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“Woohoo! Scratch tickets,” Aiden cheered.
“You just noticed them?” Ace asked, chuckling when Aiden flicked him off.
“Rude,” Riley chided, throwing a peppermint candy at him.
“You did a good thing here,” Mark said, coming up behind me and putting his arms around me.
I leaned against his chest, absorbing the happiness around me and letting it soak into my soul.
“Got a few minutes, Paige?” Jared asked after breakfast.
“I got these,” Ace said, taking the dirty dishes from my hands.
I turned, giving Jared my full attention. “I do now. What’s up?”
“I need your opinion on something, and since—”
“I’m the most opinionated girl you know,” I finished for him.
He huffed. “I wasn’t going to say that.”
“Good will toward men,” Josh sang, turning the radio on so Christmas music floated in the air.
“What?” Jared asked, screwing up his face.
“It looked like you two were going to start bickering; I was just reminding you that this time of year should be harmonic and cheerful,” Josh explained.
I laughed. “I wasn’t going to fight with him. Come on, Jared, let’s get out of here before Josh starts quoting from Christmas movies.”
“Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal,” Josh fired back as I stuffed my arms inside Murphy’s jacket since my own was upstairs.
“Safer out here, huh?” Jared said, white vapor wafting out with his words.
“Probably, but I can’t say how long we can stand out here before my toes freeze,” I answered. I didn’t like it when my toes got cold.
“Good thing I know how to build one helluva fire,” he replied, hunching his shoulders as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.
“If I’d have known that, I would have brought the marshmallows with us,” I joked, falling into step beside him.
He looked at me in mock horror. “You just ate breakfast.”
“So. Come on, let’s get that fire built
so neither of us freeze before you get a chance to ask me whatever it is you need my opinion on,” I said, catching the sleeve of his jacket and pulling him along as I quickened my pace.
We didn’t settle into a conversation until the fire was going. I moved closer and shivered when the heat blasted the front of me while the wind did its best to freeze my backside.
Holding my hands out, I rubbed them together and sighed. There was nothing that compared to a good bonfire.
Jared left me there, and I would have questioned where he was going, but his intent was clear only seconds later when he brought folding chairs for us to sit on. Along with those chairs, he’d found an old blanket someone had forgotten the last time we’d had a fire. I took it from him, grateful for another barrier between me and the chill pushing against my back.
“It surprises me sometimes,” I said, pausing for a second to look at him when we sat.
He leaned forward and poked at the fire, but turned his head when I spoke. “What surprises you?”
“How you can be such a gentleman when you want to be,” I answered.
“Gotta grow up sometime, right?” He grumbled and then stabbed at a smoldering log. “I think I screwed up.”
“Define screwed up,” I said, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees as I stared into the fire.
“I asked Murphy to marry me. It was a couple of months ago… I went all out, ya know? I even got down on one knee and everything. Told her how much I loved her.” He stopped and took a long breath, blew it out, and then stabbed the end of the fire poker into the ground. “She said no. When I asked her why, she shut down on me. I left it alone for a while, but it bothered me. So, I brought it up again, but all she could say was that she was happy the way things are. She said marriage wasn’t necessary for us because we were already living together like married couples do. We slept in the same bed… that we’re together all the time.”
My heart hurt for him. “And that bothered you.”
A Very Merry Sixmas Page 6
