Back to December (Ward Sisters Book 1)

by Lucy Gage

  “You were in perfect harmony with the rest of us. Like you'd been singing with us for years. It took Raoul a couple years to blend that well.” He stole a glance at her.

  The comment had the desired effect. She swallowed hard. The ease with which she fit into his family was not lost on her. Much as Emily had loved Josh's parents, it took a couple of years for her to feel that comfortable with them, and she never quite meshed with their lifestyle. It was just too outdoorsy for her. And while Rob had admitted that his family liked the great outdoors, too, so far, it seemed to be more balanced.

  The way she had always hoped it would be with Josh.

  They arrived at the Deacon home, last in a line of cars making its way down the driveway. “I have to tell you, the kids can be rowdy. And pushy.”

  Emily laughed. “They're kids. I'm sure I'll be fine.”

  “Don't say I didn't warn you. There are seven of them between the ages of four and fourteen. And some of them don't have very good internal censors. They say whatever comes to mind.”

  She just shook her head. Wasn't that how all kids were? Not that she had a lot in her life, but she had a few friends with kids and Josh's sister had a couple older ones. It couldn't be any harder than meeting Amy, right?

  Rob escorted her into the house and then went to help his father with something. When Em walked into the kitchen, she was surrounded instantly. There was a huge wave of chatter and it was impossible to hear every single one of them at the same time. She caught the smallest one saying, “Are you a mermaid?” Probably because he was tugging her jacket.

  “Nope. Sorry. No tail here.”

  His older brother – it was obvious that they were siblings and probably Amy's, since they looked like Raoul – looked at him and said, “No, dummy, she's not a mermaid. She doesn't live in the ocean.”

  “But Liv said she lived in the ocean.”

  An older blond girl, who sat across the room at the counter texting on her phone, said without looking up from her task, “No, I said she lived near the ocean. Not in it.”

  “Well, where do you live, then?” It was the little guy again.

  Em squatted down next to him. “I live in Maine. It's on the east coast. Now I live in a city called Portland that's on the ocean. But I grew up in a town called Bucksport that's on a river and is a little further from the ocean.”

  “Do you swim in the ocean like a mermaid?” His expression was so genuine, it was enough to make her want to cry. He was adorable.

  “Not like a mermaid, but in the summer, I swim in the ocean. It's cold where I live, like it is here, so the water is too cold for swimming for most of the year.”

  “Have you seen a shark or an octopus?” he asked, eyes wide and voice reverent.

  Emily had to laugh. “No, honey. There aren't that many sharks where I live and I think the water is too cold for an octopus.”

  “Can I come to your house to swim?” He was quite sincere.

  “Okay, Freddy, don't scare the woman half to death,” Amy interjected. “He's fascinated by the ocean. Once he heard Uncle Robbie was bringing his girlfriend and she lived near the ocean, it was all he could talk about. Don't mind him.”

  She steered her son out of the room, along with his brother and the other kids.

  “You guys will have plenty of time to talk to Emily later. Give her some breathing room. Go play. All of you.”

  She turned back to Emily. “Here, let me take your jacket.”

  “It's okay,” Em said as she shrugged out of her parka, “I don't mind. I love kids. They're always so honest. And they ask such fun questions.”

  Amy laughed. “You say that now, but wait until you have your own and you're fielding questions like, 'Who made that stinky?' in the ladies room at the grocery store.”

  Em laughed at that.

  “Or they conveniently repeat something at the least opportune time, like 'Daddy, Mommy told Aunt Kelly that you like to walk around naked,' while the whole family is eating Thanksgiving dinner.” Emily's mouth dropped open involuntarily.

  “True story.” Amy walked over to the bar and gestured to the wine sitting there. Emily pointed to the red. “I love them, but they're a lot to take sometimes.”

  A tiny blond woman stepped around the corner looking deflated. “Eli drew all over the wall in the playroom. I told Anja to buy the washable crayons. I just spent half an hour with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser trying to get Crayola's finest off the wall. Oh! Hi! You must be Emily! I'm Kelly.”

  Instead of shaking Emily's hand, she went in directly for a hug.

  “I'm so glad you're here! Rick has told me so much about you. Robbie must really like you if he brought you home. Oh, what am I saying? Hell, if he went out with you in the first place, he liked you quite a bit. He doesn't date anymore since that bimbo made a fool of him.” She said the last bit at a stage whisper.

  Amy glared at her sister-in-law. She looked at Emily. “We don't talk about it when he's around, right, Kelly?” She said the last part with a fake grin, directed toward Kelly. “I'll tell you about it later, Emily. You might as well know.”

  “How doesn't she know? It was all over the tabloids.”

  “Emily isn't a gossip hound, Kel. She didn't even know who Robbie was when she met him.”

  “You're kidding? Really? Wow. I thought everyone on the planet knew who he was by now.”

  Emily spoke up. “It's not that I hadn't heard his stage name. I just didn't know him by sight. I'm in Minnesota. It didn't occur to me that I'd meet anyone famous before the gala. We had been talking for a while and were on our way to the club before he told me his full name. I didn't believe him at first.”

  “Wow. He must have loved that. He hates being recognized all the time,” Kelly remarked.

  “Actually, he thought I was teasing him, that it was a joke. He told me his real name and when I still had no clue, he told me his stage name. That rang a bell. But I still wasn't entirely sure if I was remembering him correctly.”

  Kelly laughed. “Oh, I would have loved to have seen that. No wonder he's so smitten with you. You liked him enough to follow him to a club and you didn't even know who he was. It's probably the first time he felt like a regular guy in at least ten years.”

  “Earlier in the day, he knocked me into the snow outside MacArthur's Toys and I yelled at him. One of the toys I bought for my friend's son got broken and the store had just closed. He insisted on getting me a new one, since he was going in there, but I told him it was too late, they sold me the last one. I guess the owner had held a few back for him, so he gave me one of them.”

  Amy looked at Kelly, whose eyebrows had shot up. “It wasn't, by chance, a Wolverine action figure, was it?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  The two women exchanged a glance again. Amy shrugged. “He must have given her his.” Kelly nodded and they both looked surprised.

  Emily was confused. “I don't understand.”

  Amy explained, “All the boys wanted one for Christmas. It's the big toy this year. And by all the boys, we mean all of them. Even the men. Maybe especially the men. You said he gave you one?” Emily nodded. “Then he gave you his. He wouldn't have given away one for someone else. He's not selfish like that.”

  Em shook her head. “You're telling me that now he'll be the only one who doesn't get one tomorrow?” They both nodded. “But he didn't even know me. Why would he do that?”

  Amy shrugged. “That's how he rolls. Although, I have to say, for him to give up Wolverine, he must have liked you instantly. That was his favorite comic book character when he was a kid.”

  Emily felt like a big jerk. She had made such a big deal out of the fact that he ran into her that he felt like he had to give her the toy. Something he had really wanted. And while she knew that Angie's boys would love them and her friend was thrilled that Em could get them when she couldn't, it still felt like a selfish act on her part. And worse yet, she had nothing to give him. She'd had no time to shop the last few days
. That was why she was in the toy store that day in the first place, she had known there was no way she would have time to shop again before Christmas.

  Once again, Em's emotions were written all over her face. She wanted to cry. Amy tried to console her. “Oh, Emily, we didn't mean to make you feel bad. I'm sure he'll be able to get one. He knows people. I bet he didn't even think twice about it.”

  Kelly agreed. “He's probably thrilled that it went to a kid who will appreciate it. Amy's right. I doubt he even hesitated for a second.”

  Emily started to cry anyway. Kelly rubbed her back. Just then, Anja came into the kitchen. “Are you two playing nice with our guest?” she asked. When she saw Em crying, she immediately said, “Amelia, what did you say?”

  “I didn't say anything, Mom! She's upset because Robbie gave her his Wolverine for her friend. She didn't know it was his. We told her he didn't think anything of it.”

  Anja did her best to make Em feel better too. “Emily, they're right. Robbie is generous to a fault. He always has been. Don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll find one soon enough. Lord knows he's got a big enough collection of those things already.”

  “He has a collection?” Now she felt worse. She had been collecting Holiday Barbies since she was a little girl. She subscribed to a Mattel newsletter just so she would know when they were released and she could make sure she got one. Sure, there was always a chance she might be able to find it anyway, but if she didn't get it early, there was no guarantee. Rob had made special effort to get enough of his favorite comic book hero toys for all the men in his family, and now he wouldn't have one for his own collection. And he had given her one that was pristine. She couldn't have felt like a bigger jerk. The tears really started to flow.

  Anja took over rubbing her back from Kelly. “Honey, it's fine. He's got the means to get one some other time. He goes to that big comic book convention every year. I'm sure he'll find one there.”

  Emily laughed through her tears. “He's a serious geek, isn't he?”

  The rest of the women laughed, too. Amy said, “The biggest. You should have seen his superhero costumes when he was a kid. They were accurate down to the last button, patch and stitch. He made them himself.”

  “He sews?” Emily was wiping her tears and shaking with laughter.

  “Oh, yeah. He's pretty good with a glue gun too,” Kelly said, laughing harder. “You should have seen him fixing the couch when he and Rick ripped the trim off during a party one night when their parents were gone for the weekend.” She was laughing so hard she could barely get out the rest.

  “Rick was sitting there giving Robbie a hard time because he was so good with the glue gun, but he was practically peeing his pants when their parents got home because he thought Anja would notice.”

  Anja was laughing so hard she was crying. “I did notice. I didn't say anything about it because I had ripped it myself and slip stitched it back on so Pat wouldn't see. Robbie did such a good job with the glue gun that it never came off again.”

  All four women were laughing hysterically when the men walked into the kitchen. “Do we want to know?” Rick asked.

  Amy shook her head, wiping tears from her eyes. “Just welcoming Emily to the family.” They all looked at Rob and burst out laughing again.

  Emily got up from her stool and walked over to Rob. She whispered in his ear, “You're the sexiest dork I've ever known.” She looked at him and grinned.

  He smiled and looked at his sister, shaking his head. “You told her about the superhero costumes, didn't you?” That set off another round of laughter among the women. Rob pulled Emily into his arms and whispered in her ear, “Watch out, or I'll make you a Wonder Woman costume and force you to wear it to ComiCon.”

  She looked in his eyes and they were twinkling. So that only he could hear she said, “For you, I'd do it. Besides, I've already got the hair.” And then she winked.

  His eyebrows shot up. He put his forehead to hers and said, “I'm not going to forget that,” and he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Maybe Christmas presents didn't have to be material things.

  Anja encouraged everyone to head to the dining room to eat. She took Emily's elbow again and explained that the kids had been fed earlier and were watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer while the adults ate. They would each get one gift afterward and then go to bed until it was time for Mass.

  Emily didn't know what to expect for dinner, but she was pleasantly surprised to find salad and pizza and plenty of wine on the table. She knew she had a huge grin on her face. It was the same thing her family ate on Christmas Eve every year.

  She sat at the huge dining room table between Rob and Raoul, whom she hadn't been able to talk to much. The conversation was lively, with stories being told of Christmases past. She heard about Raoul's first holiday with the Deacons, when he had to keep explaining his British idioms to Rick and Kelly's kids.

  Kelly's first Christmas was during high school when, at the time, she was technically Rob's girlfriend. Rick, home from college, fell for her instantly and she dumped Rob the next day to date his brother.

  Rob looked at Rick, obviously kidding but with a completely straight face, and said, “Don't even think about trying to steal Emily.” He turned to Emily and smiled.

  She kissed his cheek. “Don't worry, Rick's too bossy for me.” There were hoots all around the table, with comments that she had nailed Rick to a tee. Under the table, Rob squeezed her hand. She was doing great so far.

  Soon enough, Liv, who was Rick and Kelly's oldest, came into the dining room to tell them that Rudolph was over and Freddy wanted to know when he could have his present because he was 'ready to zonk'.

  The adults followed Liv to the great room where Freddy was, in fact, already passed out on the sofa. Amy woke him easily with the promise of a present. He crawled onto her lap and rested his head on her shoulder.

  Liv sat on the floor next to Emily, where she was leaning against Rob. The girl kept sneaking looks at her. Emily smiled. “We didn't get to meet, yet. I'm Emily.”

  She seemed a little shy. “I'm Liv. It's for Olivia, but there are like, six in my class. I love your hair. It's like Katniss' braid.”

  Emily smiled wider. “You like to read?” Liv nodded. “Me too. I sat at Barnes and Noble for six hours the night they released Mockingjay so I could get it as soon as it came out. I read for the next five hours until I finished it. I had to know what happened.”

  Liv was thrilled to have someone to discuss what was clearly her favorite book series. By the time it was her turn to open a present, she hardly noticed when her grandfather handed it to her. It took Kelly nudging her for Liv to change her focus and open her gift.

  When she pulled off the paper, she gasped. “Omigod! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you, Uncle Robbie! This is SO awesome!” She turned it so that Emily could see. It was a Mockingjay pin on crushed blue velvet in a custom frame with a matting that was signed by what looked like the entire cast of the first Hunger Games movie.

  Emily looked at Rob with a face that said she was very, very impressed. He knew his niece well. And what better way to use the resources at your disposal than to give her a gift she could get nowhere else? She looked back at Liv.

  “I'm jealous. That's an awesome gift. I bet your friends are going to freak when they see it.” Liv nodded and pointed out the names. Kelly let her talk to Emily a little longer, after the younger kids had all gone to sleep. And then her mother was ushering her to bed.

  “Are you staying for Mass?” Liv asked. Emily nodded. “See you in a few hours.” She gave Emily and Rob both a big hug and bounced down the hall, her prize in hand.

  Rob put his arm around her and squeezed. “I'd say you made a new friend for life.”

  “She seems like a great kid.” Em nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. “You just made her year. Maybe even her decade.”

  Kelly came back into the room then. “No doubt about it. She's thrilled. Do you know how hard it was to
sneak that pin out of her jewelry box without her knowing? I had to keep letting her wear my jewelry so she wouldn't open it! Thank God you didn't need it before this week. Of course, now she's going to figure out that she doesn't have one to wear anymore.”

  “Just wait until tomorrow,” Rob said. “She won't care that you gave me that one.”

  “What did you do?” Kelly asked.

  “I got her a new one. It's real gold. More like the one in the book.”

  “You read the book?” Emily said, looking at him like she didn't believe him.

  “Yes. I told you, when I read for roles that are based on books, I always read the source material too.”

  “What would you have read for? No offense, but you're too old to play the male leads and too young to play Haymitch. There weren't really many older characters in the first book.”

  “You know, I can't remember. I didn't end up actually reading for anything because the production schedule didn't work. Anyway, my agent told me about it, so I read the books and then I passed them on to Liv. Signed, of course.”

  “Of course. By the author, I assume?”

  “Well, she's got plenty of my signatures on her birthday cards.” He kissed her quickly.

  Kelly cleared her throat. “Okay. Well, you two are all kinds of adorable, but I'm going to go lay down before I pass out from cute overload. I'll see you in a couple hours.”

  Everyone else had disappeared too, so they were alone. They moved to the sofa and Emily curled into Rob's arms. “How are you doing?” he asked.

  She smiled, though she didn't look at him. “Good. Your family is terrific. I haven't had this much fun on Christmas Eve in years.

  “You don't miss your family?”

  “I do. But I still got to have my pizza and wine. And now I don't have to worry about whether or not Josh is going to propose to me and what I might actually say if he did.”

  “You didn't want to marry him.”

  “No. I wasn't sure if it was marriage in general or just Josh, but I'm beginning to think it was probably Josh. I kept holding my breath each special occasion, hoping he wouldn't ask and knowing that my mom would make a big deal out of it either way. She'd act like I was heartbroken when I was really relieved. It shouldn't be something you dread. The worst part was that I worried he'd find some really public way to do it and I'd have to tell him no in front of other people.”