by Freya Barker
“It’s okay here, but I like my own room better. Can I go play now?”
I catch Brick’s eye and he winks at me.
“Sure. Go ahead.”
We watch him join his sister and his friends on the couch.
“You think he’ll be okay?” I ask, turning to Brick who is already looking at me.
“Kids are resilient.”
Yeah, they are, and thank God for that.
Brick
Lisa is already in bed when I come upstairs.
Her head turns to the door when I walk in.
“Who was that?”
She’s referring to the phone call coming in just as we were starting up the stairs.
“Luna,” I tell her, stripping out of my clothes and slipping between the sheets. Lisa instantly fits herself against me. “Jane Lunsden talked.”
“What did she have to say?”
I don’t want to share—hearing it myself gave me chills—but she deserves to know.
“Nowak was at the hospital. He was watching us. He’d somehow pieced together Kelsey’s baby might well be his.”
“Why didn’t he step up?”
“Luna figures the information on the USB key was more important to him. Finn’s case was Jane Lunsden’s very first assignment with Durango Child Protective Services. That was not by accident. She transferred from Albuquerque two days before.”
Lisa lifts her head and looks at me sharply. “How is that even possible?”
“Nowak. The man apparently has connections everywhere. American National League connections. Lunsden was one of them. She’s all about the cause. She was supposed to find a legal excuse to remove Finn from our care, but when the FBI started sniffing around was told to hold off until after the planned military transport heist.”
“But why risk coming here?” she asks, the same question I posed to Luna.
I stroke the pads of my fingers down her spine, delaying my answer because it turns my stomach and would mean insult to injury for Lisa.
“Apparently he could not abide the thought any of his offspring being raised by a black woman.”
Her eyes grow big. “Un-believable…” she mutters.
Then suddenly she chuckles, surprising me.
“Sugar, I’m not sure what’s funny.”
She rolls partially on top of me and props her chin on my chest, grinning wide.
“Seems like sweet justice this particular black woman gets to help raise that precious boy into a fine young man, in the very same house where that evil man released his final breath. I’m not normally a vengeful person, but yeah, I think that’s funny.”
Her eyes shine when she smiles into mine.
Fuck, but I love this woman.
CHAPTER 29
Lisa
“THAT ONE?”
I desperately point at another tree, hoping this one will pass scrutiny.
We’ve been up and down the side of this damn mountain for what feels like hours. Don’t get me wrong, I love snow, especially this time of year, but for looking at not trudging through.
I thought it would be a fun excursion with the kids when Brick suggested going to pick out a tree. It became clear, when he told everyone to bundle up and packed Finn in the new backpack carrier he’d come home with last week, we weren’t heading to town to one of the Christmas tree lots to pick one out.
“Too skinny,” Ezrah declares, my grandson’s grin big in his flushed face as he continues plodding through the deep snow, his sister on his heels.
My toes are starting to numb in my fur-lined boots and I stopped feeling the tip of my nose about twenty minutes ago. For the sake of the kids I keep my grumbles to myself, but that doesn’t hold me back throwing a heated glare at the rear of Brick’s head. He seems to be enjoying himself altogether too much.
“Found it!” I hear Kiara yell up ahead, just as I step out of the trees into a small clearing.
“Nice one, Princess,” Brick rumbles in front of me, his breath a white cloud in the cold air.
“Bah-pa!” Finn gurgles from his perch high on his grandfather’s back.
The tree is pretty. A full base, tapering into a perfect peak that looks too tall to me, but I’m not about to argue that point. If this is the tree they want, then by God it’s the tree we’ll get. The sooner we get back inside where I can defrost, the better it is.
“Can I cut it down, Papa?” Ezrah wants to know.
“Hard work, Son. You sure you’re up for it?”
His enthusiasm turns out to be no match for the thick trunk, and after giving it his all for a few minutes; the boy finally gives up. He’s barely a quarter through.
Brick unclips Finn’s carrier and turns to me.
“Can you hang on to him for a minute?”
I nod because I don’t trust my frozen lips to form words, and slip my arms into the straps. Still warm from Brick’s body heat and Finn—who is like a little stove—I actually welcome the weight.
Five minutes later, the tree is down and Brick is tightening a rope around the trunk. Then he hands the rope to the kids, relieves me of Finn, strapping him to his back, and grabs my gloved hand.
“I think it’s time for hot chocolate,” he announces.
“Yay! With marshmallows?”
He grins at Kiara. “Is there any other way? Gotta get that tree down first, though.”
It’s all the encouragement the kids need as they start pulling the tree through the snow. It’s a slow process, and it’s not long before Brick hands me the saw so he can give them a hand.
My relief is great when I finally see the cottage through the trees.
“I think ours is prettier than the one in the clubhouse,” Kiara declares when I help her out of her snowsuit.
Some of the brothers had gone to cut down a massive tree for the clubhouse a few days ago, which I’m sure gave Brick his brilliant idea to make this a new family tradition.
“Can we decorate it? Are we still going to bake cookies?”
“Child, give your nana a chance to defrost her toes first, okay? Let’s get that hot chocolate going in the meantime.”
“With marshmallows,” she reminds me.
“Why don’t you check the pantry and make sure we have some.”
She runs ahead into the kitchen, while I take Finn from Brick and start peeling him out of his snowsuit.
“Put those boots on the mat, boy,” I call out to Ezrah, who is about to take off after his sister, leaving his boots dripping in the middle of the floor.
Brick’s arm slips around my waist from behind as he sticks his cold face in my neck.
“You done glarin’ at me?” he asks, amusement in his voice, and I growl in response, making him chuckle. “That was fun, admit it.”
“Ask me when blood flow has returned to my body,” I return.
“I can help with that,” he mumbles, and I curse my body for responding to his suggestive comment instantly. Especially since the kids are in the kitchen waiting for their hot chocolate and Finn is squirming in my arms, probably ready for a diaper change.
“Stop teasing, the kids are waiting.” My tone is terse, but the smile I throw him over my shoulder has him grin back. His eyes focus on my lips and in the next moment he covers them with his, kissing me with a heat that warms me right up.
“Bah!” Finn rudely interrupts, his little fingers tugging on my wild, hat hair.
Brick releases me with clear reluctance before his eyes drift to his grandson.
“You’re already a menace, you know that?”
The baby’s response is a wide smile.
Later that afternoon, I’m in the kitchen pulling a tray of snowball cookies from the oven when the front door slams open. Dropping the cookie sheet on the cooling rack, I wipe my hands and follow the kids’ excited squeals into the living room where Brick is wrestling with the tree. We cleared a spot in the far corner by the window where we can see it from every vantage point, even from the kitchen island.
“Still too damn tall,” Brick grumbles, when the tip of the tree scratches against the ceiling.
I bite my lip to refrain from telling him ‘I told you so,’ which I did, more than once. He glares at me anyway and I mimic zipping my lips, trying hard not to laugh while doing it.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine if we cut a little off the tip,” Ezrah suggests diplomatically.
“Shears are in my back pocket, Son. Have at it.”
Ezrah must have a carpenter’s eye because after he snips about five inches off the top, the tree easily slides into place.
That night after a simple meal of soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, we set to decorating. It’s Christmas Eve and Ouray insisted I take the day off because tomorrow night we’ll have a clubhouse full for dinner.
The tree is packed with decorations, with only a few clusters on the lower branches. Brick quietly stops Ezrah from correcting his sister’s work who, because of the long, activity-filled day, is already tired and cranky.
“We forgot Mommy’s star,” she mopes.
We didn’t exactly forget, but with the tree so tight to the ceiling, there isn’t any room for the topper so I snuck it out of the box and hid it under a pillow. Trust Kiara to notice.
“There’s no room, silly,” her brother informs her, which results in the tears I could’ve guessed were next.
“I want Mommy’s star,” she wails inconsolably and Brick raises a questioning eyebrow in my direction.
I fish out the star and hold it up behind Kiara’s back.
“Let me see what I can do,” he says, reaching for it.
Ten minutes later, after a few failed attempts, a goodly amount of muttered cursing, some kitchen twine, and a collection of twist ties, the star is haphazardly fixed to the top of the tree.
“It’s perfect,” Kiara sighs.
“It’s crooked,” Ezrah states.
“It’s exactly right,” I intervene before a new drama starts.
Brick
Her hair is bouncing wild around her face, her skin shimmering, her lips slack, but those fierce eyes are holding mine captured.
“Get there,” I groan, waiting for her as she rides me with abandon.
“Almost…”
“Can’t wait, baby,” I warn her when I feel my balls draw tight, ready to explode.
Desperate, I slip the pad of my thumb over the tight bundle of nerves right above where we are connected. Almost instantly, I feel her pussy convulse around my cock and I let go in long, hot streams, bucking underneath her until we’re both spent. She collapses on top of me and I hold on tight.
“Merry Christmas, honey,” she whispers, her pants stirring the hair on my chest.
“Damn fucking right it is, Sugar.”
I feel her chuckle against me and smile.
We lie like that for a few minutes, enjoying each other in the early morning quiet, when the doorknob rattles and we both dive for the covers.
“You can’t go in there,” I hear Ezrah whisper outside the door.
“Oh God, we woke ‘em up,” Lisa groans.
“But I wanna go see if Santa was here and Nana said not without her say so.”
“Get your nightie on in case she barges in, baby,” I suggest, digging around for my boxers. I pull them on under the covers as Lisa slips her nightshirt over her head. “We’ll be right out, guys!” I call to the kids before they get into an argument and wake up Finn as well.
Ten minutes later, the coffee machine is gurgling and Lisa is sliding a tray of cinnamon buns she prepped yesterday into the oven. It’s barely six thirty in the morning.
The kids were told to look but not touch, so both are on the floor in front of the tree, trying to figure out which gifts are meant for who. A squeal over the baby monitor signals our youngest is ready to join us.
“You go grab him while I make his bottle,” Lisa suggests.
“Do we gotta wait?” Kiara asks, when she sees me heading back upstairs.
“Bet your booty you’ve gotta wait,” I tell her, ignoring the responding whine.
I try not to take too long getting a very wet Finn cleaned up and into dry pajamas. I’m at the top of the stairs, ready to head down when I hear Lisa’s rich melodious voice from below.
“We’re not touching anything until the whole family is here, child.”
The whole family.
I’d meant to save it for tonight, after the kids are in bed, but now I’m changing my mind. What I have for Lisa involves the whole family.
With the gift I picked out in Albuquerque when I was down there with Ouray a few weeks ago tucked in my pocket, I head downstairs.
We tried not to go overboard for the kids, so we got all of them a gift from both Lisa and I jointly, and one from each of us separately. The kids got each of us something as well. I suspect we have Lissie to thank for that. She offered to take all the kids into town a few days ago to see a movie.
As for Lisa and me, we decided Christmas was for kids, so didn’t buy each other anything. We’d save that for birthdays. I’m already breaking that rule, but I hope Lisa won’t be too upset when she opens it.
The kids seem happy with their gifts, even though Finn appears to be more fascinated with the crinkling paper than any of the toys we got him.
Lisa’s about to get up to get us another cup of coffee when I grab her hand to stop her, and with my other, pull the box from my pocket. Then I slide off the couch onto one knee and am rudely reminded why this romantic gesture might be better left to younger men. But Lisa was never asked this question and she deserves everything that comes with it, even if she may need to help me get back up after.
“What are you doing?” Kiara pipes up, curious as always.
“Shh, he’s asking her,” Ezrah tries to explain.
Lisa’s beautiful brown eyes shimmer as she looks down at me, a sweet smile on her lips.
“What’s he asking her?”
“To marry him.”
I groan, so much for giving her a proper proposal. Beaten to the punch by the kids.
“Really?” Kiara jumps up and squeals, which Finn finds highly amusing and happily joins in. “Nana, does that mean I can wear my pretty dress?”
The first tear rolls down Lisa’s cheek as she chuckles at my exasperated sigh.
“Let me ask the question first, yeah, Princess?”
“Okay,” she says happily and I shake my head, grinning myself.
“Gave me back a family I didn’t know I was missing, Sugar. Gave me a home I didn’t know I needed. Gave me love I’m still not sure I deserve. Gave me a new tomorrow to look forward to and all I have is this ring…”
I flip open the box to show her the simple white gold ring made up of two parallel bands, holding a single solitaire diamond wedged between two turquoise bars.
“And with it the promise I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret any of it. Will you marry me?”
“So can I?” Kiara jumps up. “Wear my pretty dress?”
Lisa starts laughing through her tears.
“We’ll get you a brand new pretty dress,” she tells her granddaughter, but she’s looking at me.
“Is that a yes?” I want to know.
“That’s a yes.”
“Thank God,” I grumble grinning up at her. “Now help an old man to his feet.”
I try not to groan too loudly when she pulls me up. I quickly slip the ring on her finger before pulling her body flush to mine, and kiss her smiling lips.
“Love you, Brick,” she tells me when I finally lift my head.
“Thank fuck for that.”
“Mind your mouth,” she snaps, and both kids giggle at my expense.
“Don’t mind if I do,” I fire back, taking her lips again.
CHAPTER 30
Lisa
Five months later.
I NEVER KNEW I’d enjoy the wind blowing in my face as much as I do.
Tightening my arms around my husband’s waist, I look over h
is shoulder as he turns up the mountain.
It had taken a lot longer to convince me to get on the back of his bike than it took for me to enjoy it. We’d barely made it out of town before I was grinning wide.
This had been Brick’s idea, to take off for a few days after the small wedding Ouray officiated last week. A honeymoon, biker style. Just the two of us for three days in Mesa Verde at the Far View Lodge.
If possible, I fell in love with the man even more when he explained we’d only be forty or so minutes away from home in case of an emergency with the kids, who were staying with Lissie and Yuma.
Since we’ve lived in a house under construction since early April, those three days away have been bliss. Views from our room at the lodge were stunning, the food phenomenal, and the hikes we took invigorating, but I’m ready to see my babies again.
Brick called ahead to let Lissie know we were on our way back, so when he rolls the bike up to the clubhouse, I’m not surprised to see the door open and both older kids come running out to greet us. I barely have a chance to get off the bike before I’m almost tackled by Ezrah and Kiara.
“Missed you,” I mumble, as I bend down to them.
“Got some of that left for me?” Brick sounds behind me, and I let both kids go so they can give him the same welcome.
“Nana!” There’s no mistaking Finn’s high-pitched voice as Lissie carries him out on her hip.
“Hey, munchkin.” I take him from her and am immediately rewarded with some of his sloppy kisses. “Hope he wasn’t too much trouble?”
Lissie shakes her head. “He wasn’t. Lettie, on the other hand, decided to start walking and has been hell to keep up with. But enough of that. So how was your trip, Mrs. Paver?”
“Perfect.” I grin at her as Brick plucks Finn from my arms. “It was the perfect little break. You guys ever want to get away without going too far; I highly recommend it. We’ll look after Lettie and Jesse, right, Brick?”
“You bet.”
“God, I might take you up on that,” Lissie says, hooking her arm through mine. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you. My daughter is a handful and then some.”
