A Bryson Family Christmas: Brothers in Blue, book 4

by St. James, Jeanne

  Her kids were horrible at keeping secrets. That was a fact. Amanda learned the hard way when she’d say, “Don’t tell your father!” and then they’d go blab to him as soon as he got home.

  Tattletales.

  Plus, they probably would’ve moped around the house about not being able to go with them.

  Amanda’s smile grew to epic proportions.

  “You might want to turn down that blinding smile so it doesn’t tip off our children.”

  “I can’t,” she whispered.

  Her husband helped her remove her coat and put it into the closet along with his. All the presents they had bought, for their own kids and everyone else, should already be stacked under the tree the kids decorated yesterday.

  Except for Greg’s. The rescue puppy was in a crate in the Boneyard Bakery, since that outbuilding was heated. They had picked her up a little while ago from her foster home and Amanda couldn’t wait to see Greg’s face when they brought her into the house.

  As she went to follow a slower moving Chaos, Max snagged her wrist and pulled her to a halt.

  She glanced at him over her shoulder, her brows pinned together. “What?”

  “Remember that first Christmas when you were a big pain in my ass?”

  “I remember that first Christmas when you were a big pain in my ass. Always in my business and trying to take control of my life.”

  “I don’t remember it that way.”

  “Of course you don’t. You even told me what to wear Christmas day. So, what about it?”

  His eyes rolled upward.

  So did Amanda’s. “Oh.”

  He jerked on her wrist, pulling her into him. “We had our first kiss under the mistletoe in this very house.”

  Was it their first? She couldn’t remember. Back then she’d had all kinds of sexy dreams about the frustrating man. They most likely kissed in one of those first. “The beginning of the end,” she muttered.

  “You probably fell in love with me the moment our lips met.”

  “I don’t remember you being drunk that night, nor are you drunk right now, so does dementia run in your family?”

  “My parents are as sharp as tacks.”

  “That they are, thankfully. So, you should remember how I resisted.”

  His lips twisted. “You didn’t resist. I thought you would swallow me whole.”

  “Bullshit,” she whispered as he lowered his head.

  “You couldn’t get enough of me,” he murmured.

  “I couldn’t get away from you fast enough.”

  “Bullshit,” he echoed in a whisper as he dropped his lips to hers.

  He closed the gap and she tolerated him kissing her for a few seconds... Okay, like a minute. Or two.

  Until they heard the loud, deep clearing of a throat. That got Max’s tongue out of her mouth and back into his own, but he smiled against her lips. “If you ignore him, he’ll go away.”

  “That didn’t work with you,” she whispered back.

  “Your children are about to bust their seams waiting to open presents,” her father-in-law announced.

  Max lifted his head. “Did Mom make breakfast?”

  “You should have been here earlier if you wanted breakfast,” Ron told him sternly.

  Max glanced at this watch. “It’s only eight.”

  “And your children, along with your nephews and Greg, had your mother and me up at five in their excitement to see what Santa brought.”

  “Is everybody else here?” Max asked his father. They already knew they weren’t because they hadn’t seen their cars parked outside. But, of course, Max was stubborn just like Ron, so her husband was making a point.

  “Not yet. But they’re losing one present for every fifteen minutes they’re late. Except for Matt and Carly, since they’re dealing with an infant.”

  “We should all get a late pass since we are dealing with your sons,” Amanda reminded Ron.

  “I’ll take that into consideration. Now, your mother made a huge pot of coffee. There’s a French toast casserole and a quiche in the kitchen, if you’re hungry.”

  “Coffee and Ma’s food or our children, which is more important?” Max murmured in her ear.

  “You have to ask?”

  “Right. Let’s tiptoe to the kitchen, then.”

  But they were spotted before they could stuff their gullets and get caffeinated.

  “Dad!” Hannah sprinted across the living room to her father and glued herself to his front, pushing Amanda out of the way. “I’ve missed you!”

  Amanda’s lips flattened out.

  Max glanced at her over their daughter’s head, shot her a smug grin, then shrugged.

  She rolled her eyes. “You know, kid, I’ll remember this moment when in six or seven years you come running to me screaming about how a boy is trying to come up the driveway to take you on a date and your father is standing on the deck with a shotgun in his hands.”

  “He wouldn’t do that!”

  “Oh, don’t you doubt it. And I’ll remember just how much you loved your daddy more than me.”

  “Dad!”

  Max chuckled. “We’ll see.”

  Oliver ran up and glued himself to the only space left on Max’s body, the back of his thighs and ass, since Hannah wasn’t letting him go or willing to share the front with her little brother. “Daddy, you gonna do the same thing with me?”

  “Nope,” Amanda answered their son. “The second the clock hits midnight on your eighteenth birthday he’s going to pack you up in a box and put you at the end of the driveway for UPS to pick you up and ship you out.”

  “No, he won’t!” Oliver laughed, peeking at her from behind his father.

  “No, I’ll wait until 12:01,” Max told his son, running a hand over his messy dark hair. “Were you good for your grandparents?”

  He peeled off both children so he could walk into the living room where Ron was now settled in his recliner, sipping coffee with a gray-faced Chaos already laid out at his feet near the fire. Mary Ann was sitting with Greg on one of the couches, with a coffee mug in her hand, too.

  Amanda hoped they hadn’t given Greg any coffee. Today was not a day for him to be wired out of his mind. There would be enough excitement already.

  “Did you drink all the coffee, Bud, or did you leave some for us?” Amanda asked her brother. She needed to know in a roundabout way if she should prepare for activity overload. And if they should all wear bubble wrap to protect them from his flying arms.

  “No! Grampa said... said no coffee for me.”

  Oh, thank fuck. “Good idea, Grampa,” Amanda said catching Ron’s eyes and he winked at her knowingly.

  The front door opened and two miniature draft horses came barreling around the corner, a long string of slobber hanging from Menace’s mouth. Both mastiffs plowed past Max and immediately found their little humans, Austin and Jax, who were sitting on the floor engrossed with their tablets. Trouble’s big tongue licked up Jax’s face, from his chin over his open mouth and up his nose, leaving a path of slobber.

  “Guess you didn’t use a napkin during breakfast this morning, did you?” Amanda asked the four-year-old.

  “Who needs a napkin when you have dogs?” Marc announced as he came around the corner from the foyer to join them. Leah followed behind him, her cheeks pink.

  “Did you two walk here?” Mary Ann asked, her eyes narrowed on Leah.

  “We were trying to wear the dogs out a little since it’s going to be tight quarters today,” Marc answered.

  Ron jumped from his recliner and went over to Leah. “Come sit down on the king’s throne and put your feet up. I’ll rub them for you, if you need it.”

  “No, Pop, she doesn’t need her feet rubbed,” Marc growled.

  “Yes, she does,” Mary Ann insisted. “All pregnant women do. Gets the blood flowing.”

  “In Leah or Pop?” Marc asked.

  Leah rolled her eyes at her husband as Ron escorted her to his seat and helpe
d her sit.

  “The woman is carrying my grandchild, she deserves to be spoiled,” Ron said.

  “And she puts up with you,” Max added under his breath, loud enough for his brother to hear. “For that she deserves an award.”

  “Get your wife a plate and some juice,” Ron ordered Marc.

  “Pop and his harem. Fuck me. If he didn’t have Mom, we’d have to hide our women,” Marc muttered as he turned and headed toward the kitchen.

  They heard the door open again and a loud, “Yoo hoo!”

  “Uncle Teddy’s here!” the boys all yelled and a wild pack of man-children rushed past them to tackle Teddy.

  “Oh, look at all these baby gorillas.” He came around the corner, fighting his way past them, carrying one small wrapped gift in his hand. Adam followed on his heels, a mile-high mountain of gifts in his arms, so high Amanda wondered how he could see where he was walking.

  “Are those for us, Teddy?” Greg bellowed in excitement across the room.

  “Some of them, yes. Some are for the adults who will open them in private when they get home.”

  “Sweet!” Amanda said.

  Adam placed the small mountain next to the beautifully decorated tree since there wasn’t any room left under it. “Nobody opened gifts, yet?”

  “We were waiting for all of you before they tore into them,” Ron said.

  “Grandpa made us wait,” Hannah grumbled, now sitting next to her grandmother, her legs tucked under her and her nose in her phone.

  Max went over to his daughter and plucked the phone—one he was not happy Amanda bought her—from her fingers. “No phones today. Today is a day to spend with family, not strangers.”

  Her mouth gaped open. “They’re my friends. And the boys have their tablets!”

  Max pulled Oliver’s tablet from his hands and then with an approving nod from Leah, took Austin and Jax’s, too.

  He took all the electronics and put them on a high shelf out of reach. “Grandpa will give those back to you when he decides family time is over.”

  “Dad!” Hannah wailed.

  “Hannah, you aren’t going to die without it,” Mary Ann said. “Is it so bad to spend some quality time with your family?”

  Hannah’s lips twisted but she said nothing.

  His wife turned to him and whispered quietly, “When do we tell them about staying here for two weeks while we escape to Fiji?”

  “We’ll send them emails after we leave,” he told her, joking but also not.

  “Oliver doesn’t have email, nor can he read very well yet,” she reminded him.

  “He’ll get the picture when Hannah stomps her foot and has a tantrum about not coming along to the beach.”

  “When do we leave again?” she asked, when he very well knew, she was aware of exactly when they left. She had even put a countdown timer on her cell phone.

  He grinned at her. “Like I told the kids, family time first.”

  “Oh all right,” she grumbled, her shoulders drooping and trying to sound like their daughter. “If we haaaave to.”

  “We do. When do we want to surprise Greg?”

  “After all the presents are opened and cleaned up. Then everyone will be here. I think the puppy will distract the kids from getting through that motherlode of presents if we don’t wait.”

  “Good idea.”

  “But before the other thing.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

  “I agree. Before the other thing. Otherwise, Greg might wonder where our gift to him is and get upset.”

  Teddy was suddenly there, leaning into Amanda, making them both jerk in surprise. “What other thing, hmm? What secrets are you keeping from your BFF?”

  Max’s eyes hit Amanda’s in a silent message and she answered, “No secrets.”

  “Why has everybody been so secretive lately?” Teddy whined, just like Hannah.

  “Stop being paranoid,” Amanda scolded him. “Everything is not about you.”

  Teddy’s head snapped up. “It isn’t?”

  Max sighed. “Do you want some coffee, honey?”

  “Sure, sweetums, I’d love a cup,” Teddy answered with a smile.

  “He was asking me. And yes, I do, but I want to grab something to eat while we’re waiting for Matt and Carly. I’ll come with you.”

  Teddy made a disgusted face. “When did he start calling you honey?” He followed them into the kitchen, where Adam was already stuffing his face, standing by the counter.

  “When he got old and could no longer remember my name.”

  Teddy nudged her with his elbow. “But he can still get it up, right?”

  With no kids in the nearby radius, Amanda didn’t bother to whisper. “Yeah, who cares what he calls me as long as I have that, right?”

  “Right!” Teddy said, flouncing over to his fiancé and opening his mouth. Adam dutifully put a forkful of French toast casserole into it. “Yummy. Just like you, lover.”

  “Aunt Mary Ann sure can cook.”

  “Her lessons are wearing off,” Max said, shooting his wife a pointed look.

  “I only took baking and cooking lessons from her to prove Mrs. Busybody wrong, not attract a husband.”

  “May that cranky old bat rest in peace,” Teddy said in a sing-song voice. “Lover, can you cut me a sliver of that quiche?”

  “You need to eat more than a sliver,” Adam answered. “It’s going to be a busy day.”

  “I have to watch my figure. We’re only going to be sitting around and eating today. I’ll bloat.”

  “I have to watch what I eat, too. Somebody needs to look good in a bikini,” Amanda said in a low voice.

  Teddy spun on her. “Oooo! Are you taking a trip?”

  “My man is whisking me off to Fiji for two whole weeks of getting drunk and laid.”

  “What?” Teddy shrieked. “I am so jelly!” He spun toward Adam and grabbed a fistful of his long-sleeved tee. “We need to go with them.”

  “No!” Max, Amanda and Adam yelled at the same time.

  Teddy’s well-manicured brows pinned together. “Why not?”

  “It’s our second honeymoon,” Max said quickly. He needed to get the idea of Adam and Teddy joining them on their trip out of his mind immediately, because once Teddy sunk his teeth into something, he usually didn’t let go.

  Teddy pouted. “Oh... well... fine.” He said to Adam, “We need to go on a trip soon.”

  “I’ll look into planning something.”

  Teddy clapped and bounced on his toes. “Oh goody! Surprise me, but just make sure it’s somewhere tropical and there are loads of sexy men in Speedos,” he purred.

  Adam shook his head. “Got it. We’ll head to Jersey.”

  Teddy pushed playfully at Adam’s chest and the younger man dropped his fork onto his almost empty plate and pulled Teddy into his arms, pressing a kiss into his neck.

  “Oh, my man is feeling a bit randy, I see.” Teddy wiggled his ass into Adam’s crotch.

  “I’m picturing you in a Speedo next to a big, hairy Italian guy from New York on a Jersey beach.”

  “Not even funny. You know I’m not into heterosexual bears.”

  “Reminder,” Adam said, “you shouldn’t be looking at any other man but your fiancé.”

  Teddy made a noise and jerked up one shoulder. “No harm in looking. Just no touching.” He turned in Adam’s arms, grabbed his face and pulled him into a quick kiss. “You know how sexy I find it when you turn into a jealous gorilla. And, mmm, you taste like maple syrup.”

  “So, eat some breakfast. I’ll make you a plate.”

  “I don’t want to spoil dinner.”

  “Dinner isn’t until after—” Adam’s mouth snapped shut.

  “After?” Teddy prodded.

  “Until later,” Adam corrected himself.

  “We usually eat early,” Teddy reminded him. His head swiveled. “In fact, usually Ma has a turkey and a ham in the ovens. Both ovens are off. Is she slipping? Do you think she’s getting the old
timers?”

  “The women have it covered,” Max said, hoping that would satisfy his curiosity but knowing it wouldn’t. He was Teddy after all.

  Teddy shot Max a doubtful look. “She didn’t ask us to bring a dish like she normally does.”

  “Baby, if Max said it’s covered, it’s covered,” Adam said more firmly. “Stop worrying your pretty little head about it and eat something now, so as soon as Matt and Carly get here, we can watch Greg and the kids open their presents.”

  “And I can finally open my present from you.”

  “That will be later.”

  “Ooo. Not around the kiddies, then. I like the sound of that.” Teddy moved away from Adam and leaned into Max, flapping his eyelashes up at him. “How did you like your photos? Weren’t they hot?”

  “Loved them. Was the photographer gay?”

  Max didn’t miss Teddy’s eyes slicing toward Amanda. But when Max looked her way, her face was suspiciously blank.

  “Uh. Yes, he was. Super gay. The gayest of the gay. Even gayer than me.” He sang the last part.

  “I don’t think that’s possible,” Max said. Teddy had to be sitting at the top of the gay pyramid.

  “He hit on me the whole time.”

  “He did?” Adam growled.

  “You were there during the actual shoot?” Max asked.

  “Of course I was! I had to make sure her makeup and hair were perfect.”

  “The photographer didn’t help her with the wardrobe? Like making sure her nipples were perfectly placed in the holes where they peeked through?”

  “Of course not!” Teddy flapped a hand. “I did.” He hugged himself and shuddered as he stage-whispered, “I’m the one who had to touch her boobs.” Then he stuck out his tongue and made a disgusted face.

  “I adjusted my own boobs,” Amanda announced. “I’m perfectly capable of fluffing my own nipples so they perked just perfectly.”

  Max stared at his wife. If he simply stared at her long enough, she’d spill the truth.

  “He didn’t touch my boobs,” she said firmly.

  “Well, if he was gay, it wouldn’t matter,” Max stated with one cocked eyebrow, watching her face carefully.

  “Right,” she said quickly. “At the thought of touching them, he said, ‘Eww! Gross!’ just like Hannah.”