a Beautiful Christmas: A Pride and Honor Christmas

by Ember-Raine Winters

“It worked though, didn’t it?” Even though his eyes were crinkled with humor, I could see the absolute relief in them as he kissed my temple chuckling softly.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  MAC

  Late Christmas afternoon we were all due over at Kaylee and Griffin’s place. I had one last thing up my sleeve before we went. Marcy was in the bedroom getting ready and Johnny and I were in the nursery putting the final touches on the room.

  “You think she’ll like it?” Johnny asked me hopefully.

  “Be prepared because your mom is gonna cry.”

  “I was talking about the baby.” He chuckled. “Yeah, I know about Mom already.”

  I put my arm around my boy. It was sometimes still a shock that he was mine, that I had a son. Even though I hadn’t been in his life for the first bunch of years, it was overwhelming at times the amount of love I had for him. “Well,” I explained, “she is sure to love it when she gets big enough to understand.”

  “Mac? Johnny? Come on let’s go,” Marcy called from the hall.

  “In here, Pix,” I yelled back and opened the door.

  MARCY

  I had no idea why they were messing around in the baby’s room when it was almost time to get to Kaylee’s for our family celebration. Mac opened the door with a flourish. My heart stopped. The room was painted a pale yellow color and it had a white sleigh style crib pushed up against the one wall. The mobile above the crib was tinker-belle themed and I laughed softly through my tears. My hand covered my mouth; it was beautiful.

  “When did you do this?” I asked softly.

  “All that time I was bored without someone to chase.” He teased me, then reached up to my cheek and wiped my tears from my cheeks.

  “Do you like it?” Johnny asked hopefully.

  “I love it.” I smiled at my beautiful boy. My heart filled as I looked at the two men in my life thinking it couldn’t get any better than it was right then.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  TWITCH

  I was going to lose my ever-loving mind if Kaylee didn’t stop walking around showing James off to everyone in the damn house. The guys kept giving me shit. I told Tasha I didn’t want to bring him out in public yet but she wouldn’t listen.

  “Dude, you can’t lock him in a bubble. His immune system will be shit if you do.” Trey punched me in the shoulder.

  “He has his whole life to build up his immune system. Why does she insist on doing it now?”

  “Brother, calm the fuck down. He will be fine.” Trey laughed.

  “Kaylee,” I grumbled as Lance and Mikey walked up to her and started touching James feet. I started toward her, but Kelly cut me off.

  “Don’t be stupid, Dylan.” She clicked her tongue at me, pushing me back.

  “Come on, Kelly. That’s my family. You, of all people, know what that means,” I whined like a little girl as she dragged me away.

  “Listen here, Dylan. I do know what that means, but look around you. Do you think anyone here would intentionally hurt that baby?” I started to speak but she cut me off.

  “I’m not done,” she growled. “You’ve been looking for a family so hard and long you don’t even recognize that it’s all around you. You’ve built this family for years, dummy. You have some fierce men and even fiercer women around you to help you protect that little baby. Don’t throw it away because you’re being a crazy caveman. What do you think Tasha would do if you alienated them?”

  “I’d kick his sorry ass.” Tasha glared from behind her.

  “Exactly, so get over your shit, Dylan. I’m gonna go see if I can get my little nephew away from Kaylee.” She gave me another stern glare and I had to laugh.

  TASHA

  I looked over at Twitch who was getting a pretty good tongue lashing from Kelly.

  “Officer Trixie, your boy is freaking out a bit,” Trey said, then I punched him in the arm.

  “Are you gonna let her abuse me, sunshine?” He looked over at Kenzie who just shrugged and turned back to read to Mikey, but then added, “What do you want me to do about it?”

  “Defend your fiancé.”

  “Fiancé?” I asked smiling, staring at Kenzie. “You said yes?”

  “He plays dirty, what can I say.” She had a huge dopey grin across her face.

  “I do not. I use what I have at my disposal to make sure I get what I want. There’s a difference.”

  “Using your son so I couldn’t say no wasn’t playing dirty?” She lifted a skeptical brow.

  I noticed the argument between Twitch and Kelly looking tense, so I decided to go over and defuse it.

  “Smooth move, Trey. Using the kid was genius. Excuse me but I need to go save my fiancé from a pint-sized dictator.”

  Trey looked over and laughed, muttering something about watching out for her heels. I heard Kelly ask Twitch about alienating his family, and I decided to cut in.

  “I’d kick his sorry ass.”

  Kelly made quick work of getting out of the line of fire and Twitch wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in.

  “Darlin’ you know I’m just worried about him getting sick.”

  “Well, you need to stop it. He’s going to be fine. Kaylee has been sanitizing everything. Lysol is her new best friend. Now, calm down and enjoy Christmas, please?”

  I kissed him on the cheek and he finally relented. A minute later Kaylee was clinking her glass. “Can I have everyone’s attention please? I just wanted to let you all know how truly blessed we are. I never thought this time last year that we would be where we are today.

  “Mac and Marcy couldn’t even be in the same room together and now they’re engaged. We went through a lot of struggles over this last year, none of which I need to rehash, but we made it through them and became stronger. As long as we’re together, there’s nothing we can’t do.”

  Griffin walked up to her, put his arm around her waist and pulled her in for a fierce kiss. I looked over at Twitch and the rest of my crazy mixed up family and smiled. I couldn’t think of one place in the world I’d rather be than in that room with those people. Not too long ago, they’d all been strangers, but in the end we all became family.

  THE END

  Thank you for reading A Beautiful Christmas. If you enjoyed this book, please continue to read for another dose of Holiday cheer!

  Christmas for the Byrds

  Ember-Raine Winters

  Christmas for the Byrds

  Ember-Raine Winters

  Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved

  Acknowledgements

  I have the best family in the world! They put up with my crap and are super supportive. Especially, My mom and sister. They are the best!

  The best Goodreads group ever! Especially Authors Annie Arcane, Jane Blythe. You ladies have helped me so much in the last few months! Thank youuuu!! Mwah!

  Last, but not least my editor, Randie. editorrjc@gmail.com I couldn’t do this without you! Thank you so much!

  Dedication

  To all the bloggers and indie authors in this awesome community who helped me in my writing journey. You’re all the best! Merry Christmas. Thank you bunches!

  CHAPTER ONE

  KATE

  I was late… again. If I hadn’t been the top marketing executive in the city, I probably would have lost the client. Stupid LA traffic was going to be the death of me. There had been an accident on interstate ten that had backed everything up for miles, and I was late for my rebranding meeting with one of the top lingerie outfits in the country. They had seen a drop-in sales and we were going to rebrand them including all types of women’s shapes, instead of just the rail thin model types. It was my vision. They had announced that the new line was in production and with everything going to plan I was going to be helping to launch the new campaign in the next couple weeks. I just had to get my butt to the meeting first.

  I walked into the meeting half an hour late and cringed. “Sorry I’m
late. There was a horrible accident on I-10 and traffic was backed up for miles.”

  I grabbed the designs for the sleek new logos and the new ad campaign story boards, and launched into my meeting.

  “The colors are all wrong.” Alexis, the owner of All the Apologies, huffed out in her thick Italian accent. “Where is the purple and black?”

  “Your normal lines will still have that but with the rebrand for the new line, I think the teal and silver give it great contrast and is extremely appealing to the eye,” I countered. She looked skeptical for a minute but finally nodded her agreement.

  I blew out a breath and continued with my presentation. The older woman was tough as nails and continued to question my choices throughout the entire presentation. She had on her resting-bitch face so it was impossible to tell what she thought. After speaking to her for over an hour, we ended the meeting and I sighed with relief.

  “Good work Ms. Nichols, I will be in touch next week to let you know how the new line is coming along.” She shot me a tight-lipped smile and walked out the door.

  “How did it go?” My assistant Casey walked in a minute later with a bottle of water.

  “You’re a life saver,” I said unscrewing the cap and taking a long drink. “I don’t know. That woman gives nothing away. She said good work though. That’s probably the best compliment I can hope for from her.”

  “Well, that’s good. Everything looked amazing so I’m sure you’re fine,” she chirped. “There are two gorgeous detectives waiting for you in your office right now.”

  “What? Why? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Did they say what they wanted?” I spit the questions at her rapidly and she just shook her head.

  “They wouldn’t say what it was about, just that they needed to speak with you… in private.” She looked a little nervous. I jumped to my feet and walked briskly to my office. The employees that lined the cubicles were watching me, probably wondering why the police were there. I opened the door, smiling as brightly as I could under the circumstances.

  Casey had been right. They were both extremely handsome men and I watched as they stood from the arm chairs that were sitting in front of my mahogany desk. “Good morning, so sorry to keep you waiting. I was in an important meeting and only just found out you were here. What can I do for you gentlemen?”

  Each man reached over shook my hand and introduced themselves as detectives Clark and Carter with the LAPD.

  “We hate to give you such terrible news while at work, but there’s been an accident,” Detective Carter explained.

  “What do you mean accident? Who’s been hurt?”

  “You are listed as her in-case-of-emergency contact. I’m sorry to let you know that Bethany and her husband Will Byrd were killed this morning in a car accident.” Detective Clark said with gentle care.

  He may have said more, but it was impossible for me to hear through all the rushing in my ears. I collapsed to the floor totally missing my chair as I crumbled into a heap. “They’re… dead?”

  “Yes ma’am they were in a three car pile-up on I-10 early this morning.”

  The fact that I had passed right by where my best friend had died that very morning gutted me. Panic set in as I sobbed huge gut wrenching sounds and both men looked at me as if they would rather be anywhere else but there. The looks of dread they shot each other would have been funny if I hadn’t just had my heart ripped from my chest.

  It was only a minute before another thought dawned on me and I stopped sobbing abruptly and jumped up. “The kids. Do they know yet?”

  “No ma’am, they’re all at school and we have officers pulling them out and driving them to the hospital now,” Detective Clark said softly.

  “Why the hospital? I need to get to them. I need to tell them.” I freaked out grabbing my purse and keys.

  “Ma’am?” Detective Carter stopped me. “You’re in no condition to drive right now. I’m sorry but regulations dictate that due to the fact that both parents are deceased, we needed to bring the children to the hospital where there will be a social worker to help. Let us take you to there, okay?”

  Even through the haze of shock I nodded, understanding that what the officer said was correct. It was all I could do as the detectives escorted me to the main office. Casey looked panicked and rushed towards me. “Is everything okay?”

  I shook my head barely able to hold it together. “It’s Beth.” I sobbed. “Can you clear my schedule, please? I have to get to the kids.”

  “Of course,” she said beginning to tear up herself. She hugged me fiercely and went off to do what I asked. Casey had met Beth the few times she was able to get out for a girls’ night with us. They hit it off so I knew she would be upset too. She was super sensitive and felt everything deeply, which was why she never wanted to be more than an assistant; she didn’t have the stomach for anything else.

  As the detectives led me out of the building and to their car, I found myself wondering where Adam was and if he was going to be at the hospital. He was also named the co-guardian of the children, who were going to need as much love and support from the both of us. I had a feeling that no matter how much I refused to admit it, I would need him too.

  CHAPTER TWO

  ADAM

  The pounding in my head had taken on a life of its own, and I shot straight up in bed covered in a cold sweat. I had a feeling it wouldn’t matter. I would probably relive that day that altered my life irrevocably every night for the rest of my life. The only thing that helped with the nightmares was the alcohol and even then, some nights the dreams filtered in through the haze. Something smelled and it didn’t take long for me to realize that something was me. The booze that I drank the night before was seeping out of my pores. Thankfully, before I cracked open the bottle of Jack, I’d prepped by grabbing extra water and aspirin.

  Looking around, I found where I had thrown my prosthetic leg the night before and I attached it before stumbling to the bathroom. It seemed strange to me to put the prosthetic on just so I could take it off again, but I had learned that when it came to showering all prosthetics were not created equal, and it was just good practice to keep the leg clean. Since sweating liquor from my pores was probably not a great way to do that, I got in the shower. It had been a year since the IED blew my leg off; I wasn’t sure I would ever get over the loss of it. There had been a couple times I had gotten up in the middle of the night after a binge and forgot it wasn’t there.

  After the shower, I dried myself thoroughly and reattached my leg and went to get dressed, turning on the TV as I went. There was breaking news about some pile up on I-10 and I tuned it out as I grabbed clothes from the clean pile on my dresser. I didn’t see a point in folding clothes that were just going to end up wadded in a pile on my floor anyway.

  I went about my business until something on the TV caught my attention.

  “They have identified the couple who was killed in this morning’s crash as William and Bethany Byrd of Pasadena.” The newscaster said into the camera with no inflection in her tone. I dropped the clothes I was getting ready to put on and flopped on the bed. What the fuck?

  Will and Bethany are dead? That couldn’t be. I spoke to Will the night before. We were supposed to have dinner that night. It was the only reason I hadn’t picked up the bottle the second I woke up. I grabbed my cell phone and dialed his number, hoping it was all some horrible mistake, but it went to voicemail. I dial Beth next, but got the same result. Where are the kids? I wondered. The only time they didn’t have at least one of the kids with them was when they were at school. Just as I picked up the phone to call the police, there was a knock on my door.

  The LAPD.

  It hadn’t been a mistake. Fuck! My chest felt like it was caving in on me as I walked out of my little studio apartment in a daze, along with two officers with him. I honestly couldn’t tell you if I had shut or even locked the door.

  The drive to the hospital was a blur, but I got
there in less than fifteen minutes, absently noting that following police as they hauled ass down the highway, lights flashing would have normally been a memorable experience, but sadly this was not the memory I wanted to have.

  I parked in the pick-up and drop off area and jogged the best I could into the hospital. It was difficult to run at any speed but I wasn’t thinking about that. I needed to find someone who could tell me what was going on. Someone that could tell me where the kids were, anything.

  I got to the reception desk out of breath, my leg throbbing from the awkward run. “The Byrds’s family,” the one officer interjected, saving me from asking. “They were in the crash this morning. The children along with the other guardian are being brought here. Can you please tell us where the family is?”

  “Yes officer, please follow me, though the family is not here yet.” The receptionist led us down various hallways, until we arrived at an office door.

  All the air was sucked out of my lungs when I saw her. Even knowing the receptionist mentioned co-guardian, I had completely forgotten that she would be there. Her red hair was pulled back in a slick bun and she was wearing a business suit with her shapely legs sticking out of a tight pencil skirt. What gutted me about seeing the former love of my life were the tear tracks down her cheeks. I rushed to her.

  “They’re gone, Adam.” She sobbed, clutching my shoulders in an unbreakable hold. “What are we gonna tell the kids?”

  “Shit, they’re really gone?” I walked us over to the couch, nodded at the police officers that we were fine, and wrapped my arm around her, needing the comfort as much for myself as for her. The back of my eyes started to burn. What the fuck is this? Marines don’t cry. I scolded myself.

  “Mr. Davis,” the officer informed as he walked to the door. “The social worker will be here momentarily. Again, we are truly sorry for your loss. We will be in touch with you in a few weeks.” Not wanting to think about whatever paperwork and death certificates awaited, I absently nodded my understanding, wanting him to just leave so Kate and I could pull ourselves together before the kids arrived.