by Nikki Ash
Oh shit! I spot my panties just to the left of Kaden. I try to tell him with my eyes but he’s oblivious.
“What are you guys doing outside?” Emma questions.
“Why are you sitting in the grass, Dad?” Morgan adds.
Mason smirks.
Tristan’s eyebrows furrow.
I pray nobody notices my panties lying in the grass.
“Your dad and I were just out here…”
“Talking,” Kaden finishes for me.
Mason walks over next to Kaden and steps on my panties then looks at me, laughter evident in his eyes.
“Let’s go inside, girls,” Tristan suggests, grabbing them by their shoulders. Once they are turned around, Mason chuckles, then with his foot, kicks my panties into Kaden’s lap.
“When I grow up, I want to be you,” he says to Kaden, his chuckle turning into full-blown laughter. He walks back inside the house, his laughter still going strong.
“That was close,” Kaden says, shaking his head as he stuffs my panties into his pocket.
“But so freaking worth it.” I give him a wink.
Bella
We are the first to get on the plane. My mom and dad grab a couch together and Nathan sits next to them begging to play gin rummy for the millionth time. The kid is obsessed with card games. Lilly finds a spot near my parents and opens her book to read. I grab a seat and get comfortable with my electronics and headphones. I choose a playlist to listen to on my phone while I search videos of previous UFC fights on my iPad.
I feel him before I see him and it scares me because the last thing I want is for him to have this effect on me. After everything that has happened, I promised myself I would never let Marco Michaels affect me in any way ever again. Luckily, he doesn’t sit next to me, not that I expected him to. He’d rather just mess with me from a distance. Without trying to make it obvious, I peek up to see where he’s sitting and lock eyes with him.
And he smirks at me. Fucking smirks!
Marco
I step on the plane and immediately my eyes go to find her. It’s not intentional. I’ve spent half my life aware of her. I spot her sitting in a seat by herself in the corner, earbuds in her ears, probably watching old UFC videos. The plane is huge and seats twenty people easily. I could sit anywhere but where do I sit? Right across from her. Why?
Because I’m fucked up like that.
Cooper
The plane ride was short but filled with chaos. Bentley rented one plane for all of us and when I looked around, it made me laugh at how many of us there are now, and that’s minus Kaden and his family, who are coming on a separate plane after they visit with Ashley’s parents first.
Once we land, we check-in to grab our rental vehicles then we all head to the resort. While Bentley and Kaden both own a place here, Caleb and I haven’t taken the plunge. Normally we rent a place but since Bentley’s parents aren’t coming this year, we have decided to stay at their place. Maybe this year, I will find a place I like enough to want to buy, or maybe I will find a place in California since my daughter has decided she’s going to be stubborn and move there.
Bentley’s parents’ place has four bedrooms with a guesthouse out back they built recently; Liz and I will share a room, Caleb and Hayley will get their own room, Nathan will have his own, and the three girls will share a room. Bentley said Marco can stay in the guesthouse out back if he’d like so he has his own space.
Everybody piles into the house and then go their separate way, hauling their luggage into their assigned rooms. I’m hoping this week I will get to spend some time with Bella. My days are dwindling down until she leaves for California and I need to make the most of it. After unpacking my luggage, I head back down to watch some TV.
“So, what did you get Liz for Christmas?” Caleb asks. We are sitting on the couch watching Sports Center while the women make a list of groceries we need to pick up.
“Huh?”
“Liz… Christmas gift...” Caleb looks at me like I’m stupid. “You got her a gift, right?”
“Shit! I completely forgot to buy her a gift.” How the hell did this happen? I have never forgotten to get her a gift. I can tell you how this happened. I was so stressed over waiting on Bella’s college acceptance letters, my mind spaced out. Exchanging gifts has always been a big deal with Liz and me. It started the first weekend I met her almost twenty years ago. When we went our separate way, I left gifts for her to open every day she was still at the hotel. It’s never been about the money. It’s always been about the thought. First, it was gift cards for her to buy the books she loves. Then a necklace with a pair of boxing gloves. The entire Batman DVD collection. Her favorite dessert. Over the years, I have bought her charm bracelets, customized ornaments, the kids and I have made her gifts, and I have planned romantic getaways as well as family vacations. But this year… Fuck! I can’t believe I didn’t purchase or plan anything.
Caleb chuckles. “Bro, you are fucked. You better find a way to go into town and buy her a gift.”
“Buy who a gift?” Marco sits down on the couch next to us.
“Cooper forgot to buy Liz a Christmas gift.”
Marco laughs. “That sucks. I’m so glad I don’t have a girlfriend I have to buy shit for.”
“You just wait. One day you will be in this same situation. Keep laughing.”
“Fuck that. Have you seen the family I come from? My bloodlines are tainted. I’ll never subject a woman to that shit let alone procreate.”
“You are not your biological parents. Don’t say shit like that,” Caleb says. Marco and Caleb both come from shitty backgrounds. The two of them meeting was the best thing that could have happened to them. Well, aside from them meeting Hayley. She’s the best thing for both of them.
Just then, the women and kids all come walking into the room.
“Everything okay?” Liz asks. The sudden tension in the room must be obvious.
“Everything is all good. How about I go into town to get the groceries?” And buy you a present…
“Oh! Well actually, I was going to go. I was hoping to pick up a tree so we can decorate it and put all the presents underneath. You can stay here and check out the slopes.” Caleb chuckles but coughs to hide it and I make a mental note to punch him later.
Marco smirks then stands and stretches. “The slopes are looking really good right about now.”
“I can grab a tree while I’m out. Just give me the list.” I stand and grab the keys from the table.
“I would rather pick it out so I know it’s the one I want,” Liz argues, putting her hand out for the keys.
“You know what would be real neat? If we cut down our own tree this year! We could have the perfect tree,” Hayley says.
“Yes! Can we?” Lilly and Mackenzie jump up and down.
“I can help cut it down,” Nathan adds.
“I’ll call Kayla and see if they want to join,” Liz says.
“All right. Everyone go grab their jackets and meet at the vehicles,” Caleb announces. I count the days in my head. After today, there’s three days until Christmas, which means I have two and a half days to find a way to leave on my own to go in search of a Christmas present for my wife.
“Can I stay here?” Bella asks. “I’m not feeling well.”
“What’s wrong?” Liz walks over to Bella and feels her forehead.
“It’s probably just something I ate. I’m just going to lay down for a little bit.”
“Okay, sweetie. Text or call if you need anything.”
“Actually, I think I will join in on this tree searching excursion,” Marco says.
We all pile into the vehicles minus Bella and head to the tree farm.
Bentley
We get to the tree farm and I take Ryan’s hand in mine while the girls go in search of a tree. Kayla decided to stay back and spend some time with her mom.
“Okay, little man. You ready to pick out a Christmas tree?” Ryan just looks at me. I wonder if
he knows what Christmas is. I make a mental note to see if the resort has a Santa Claus we can go see. We usually go to the mall every year but with the girls getting older, they find it to be silly. I need to remember all these things now that we have another little one in the house.
After about thirty minutes of everyone pointing at several trees, we have decided on the two trees we are going to cut down.
“Dad! Can you help us? Cooper said we have to cut down the tree for our house!” Faith calls to me and Cooper laughs.
“All right.” I bend down to speak to Ryan. “I’m going to help them cut the tree down. I want you to stay right here, okay?”
“I’ll keep an eye on him. Is this the famous Ryan I have heard about?” Marco smiles down at Ryan.
“It is. Ryan, this is Marco, he is Chloe’s brother.”
“Nice to meet you little guy.” Marco lifts his hand to give Ryan a high five but Ryan only stares. Marco puts his hand down, then kneels in front of Ryan to talk to him.
“I’m going to help them. I’ll be right back.”
I jog over to the girls who are holding the bow saw in their hands trying to cut the tree down. They look absolutely adorable but they aren’t even making a dent in the trunk.
“Coop, are you picking on my little girls?” I joke. The girls hand over the saw, and after putting on the gloves the tree farm loaned everyone, I start sawing the tree trunk. Thankfully, we picked smaller trees so within a few minutes I am half way through. Cooper is sawing the other tree and he’s almost done. The tree is already tipping to the side.
“Everyone move,” he yells and the tree tips all the way over hitting the ground, snow flying up into the air. I finish sawing our tree and it hits the ground shortly after his.
“All right! Let’s load them up onto the tractor trailer so they can bring them up.”
The kids all grab parts of the trees and start dragging. The adults watch for a second, all of us silently laughing at the fact that the kids aren’t dragging the trees anywhere.
“Some help would be nice,” Faith grumbles.
After the trees are loaded, I look around for Ryan. I don’t see him and I start to freak out. Nothing is scarier than losing a child, but add a mute child to the scenario and it’s downright terrifying.
“Have you seen Ryan?” I start asking. Everyone shakes their heads and starts looking around them.
“He was just here.” Now I’m panicking.
“Ryan!” I yell, hoping he will answer. Everyone is searching. My heart is pounding, my palms are sweaty. I need to find my son. Right now.
“Ryan, where are you?” I shout pointlessly but hoping if he hears me, he will at least find me.
“Bentley, calm down.” Marco appears from a woodsy area. Shit! While panicking, I forgot he was with Ryan! I take a second to calm myself because I don’t want Ryan to see me upset.
“He’s right here.” Ryan comes out from behind Marco and I grab him and pick him up, giving him a hug. I don’t know what I would do if something ever happened to him.
“I couldn’t find him and my mind went blank. I completely forgot you were keeping an eye on him.” I hug Ryan tighter.
“He’s fine. We were having a great conversation. Weren’t we, Ry-man?” Ryan nods. I chuckle.
“Oh yeah, what did you guys talk about?” I ask, going along with the pretend conversation they had.
“Ryan said his favorite food is pizza. I told him we could order some when we get back to the house because it’s also my favorite food.”
“He did, did he? You want pizza, little man?” Ryan nods.
“Anything else?”
“He said he likes the snow. I promised him we would make a snowman. Isn’t that right?”
Ryan nods again, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips.
“Okay, then. Pizza and a snowman. I think we can handle that.”
We walk back to where the others are. “Oh, thank goodness!” Liz places her hands on either side of Ryan’s face. “We thought you got lost.” She gives him a kiss on his forehead.
“It’s my fault. Marco said he would keep an eye on him and I completely forgot.”
“All right, everybody ready to head back?” Caleb asks.
“Hey Liz, why don’t you and the girls head back with Bentley since he has the extra room and I’ll run by the store,” Cooper suggests.
“Or you can go with him?” Liz says. “I know everything we need to get.” Caleb laughs softly and Marco chuckles.
“What’s going on with them?” I whisper to Marco.
“Cooper forgot to get Liz a Christmas gift.”
“Oh goodness.” Hayley shakes her head.
“What’s wrong?” Caleb asks.
“Liz forgot as well.” We all laugh.
“Well, that makes sense. When I suggested we go to the store together, she looked like she was about to tear my head off.” Marco shakes his head.
“Should we tell them?” I ask.
“Hell no, this will be too much fun to watch.” Caleb chuckles.
Liz
“I wouldn’t want you getting lost.” Cooper smiles wide and I know his ass is up to something. Is it possible he knows I completely forgot to buy him a Christmas gift? If he does, damn him for making this difficult on me on purpose. After all the years we have been together, and the one time I forget, he’s going to make sure to rub it in.
“I’m sure I can handle it.”
“Hey guys,” Marco says, “It would probably be best if we all just go because I need to grab a few things as well.”
I hope my glare shoots a dagger straight through his throat! Marco picks up on my glaring and physically recoils. Good! Too bad it’s too late.
“Fine, let’s all go together!” I start stalking back to the car.
The guys finish tying the trees onto the top of the vehicles then we all take off to the store. Once we have picked up groceries as well as ornaments and lights to decorate the trees with, we all go back to our houses.
“Bella! We’re home.” I check the rooms but don’t see her anywhere.
“I thought she wasn’t feeling well.” Cooper hands me a note from Bella letting us know she went for a walk to the resort.
“I don’t think it’s her health that’s the problem.” I eye Marco bringing the groceries in. “I have a feeling it’s her heart.”
Cooper follows my gaze to Marco but doesn’t catch on. Sometimes men can be so obtuse. “I’m going to go look for her. I’d like to spend some time with her,” Cooper says putting back on his gloves and jacket.
“Okay.” I give him a kiss. “Have fun.”
As soon as Cooper walks out the door, a thought occurs to me.
“Hayley! I need a favor.”
She is walking down the hallway, frowning at her phone. “What’s up?”
“Everything okay?”
“Yep!” She shoves her phone into her back pocket and I make a mental note to ask her what’s going on later.
“Copper left. I need to go to town to get his gift. Can you keep an eye on Nathan and Lilly for me?”
Hayley laughs. Bitch! “Of course! But what do I say if he gets back before you do?”
“Just tell him I forgot something at the store!” I rush around the house grabbing my jacket, cell phone, and keys. “Thanks!”
Hayley
“Liz running out to buy Cooper a gift?” Marco grabs some items from the bag and puts them into the ‘fridge.
“Yeah.” I giggle, thinking about Liz running out of the house in a rush. “Ever since their first Christmas when she surprised him with a trip to Disney, they have been determined to one up each other every year.”
“Ha! Yeah, I remember a few years ago when they both bought each other a cruise!”
“Oh my God, yes! And it was for the same cruise and during the same week.”
“That was hilarious! The look on their faces was priceless.” Marco shakes his head, laughing. “And this year they completely forgot
to buy a gift.”
“Yep.”
“It will be funny to see who pulls it off and what the gift is.”
Marco and I finish putting the groceries away and I’m about to head back to the living room, when Marco asks if I would like a cup of coffee.
“Sure, but only if we can have one together on the back porch.”
“Deal.”
He makes us both a cup and we take them out onto the porch. There’s a swinging bench that overlooks the resort and it’s breathtaking this time of year. The way the mountains are covered in snow creates such a serene backdrop.
“How have you been?” I sit down on the bench next to Marco.
“I’m good.” He takes a sip of his coffee without giving me anything more.
“Oh no, I need more than that. I finally have you in front of me!” I give him a side-eye.
Marco lets out a sigh. “I’m really good, I promise. You know I am living my dream. I’m fighting and winning. I’m making money doing what I love. I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.”
“I’m so proud of you, Marco. Any women in the picture?”
Marco gives me a side glance. “There’s some.”
“Any of them serious?”
Another sigh.
“Talk to me, sweetie.”
“It’s like I told dad, my bloodlines are tainted. I don’t want serious. I don’t want to get married and have kids.” Even though I shouldn’t be, I’m shocked by his admission. I thought the years of therapy he’s attended along with Caleb and I providing a loving home would have trumped his past.
“You’ve never said anything like this before.”
“You and Caleb saved me. He saved me from a shitty situation, from a druggy mom. You took me in and made me yours. I don’t ever want to let you guys down.”
“What?” I look at him stunned. “How would you let us down?”
“By not having a family. Not getting married. I used to hear you and your friends talk. About how you all can’t wait to be grandmas one day. The wedding. Parties.”
