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I look at the tangled pile of limbs on and around the sofa. She looks like she’s surrounded by an entourage and the scene makes me smile. Like mother, like daughter maybe? I hope so. I want Nix to know love is love and there’s no limits or restrictions on how that is expressed.
“I’d love to, baby. But there doesn’t seem to be room for me, and I don’t have a tiara.” I pretend to pout.
“Here you can have mine,” Rebel calls, picking up a second tiara from the arm of the sofa and frisbeeing it my way. I catch it and pop it on my head and Nix squeals and claps her hands.
“Now where shall I sit?”
“Right here,” Rebel calls again, patting his lap this time. Tempting, but I definitely don’t trust him to keep his hands to himself.
“Next to me, here Mummy,” Nix says, patting a non-existent space somewhere between her and Jax that’s half on his lap. He gives me a lazy, sexy smile and I shiver, I trust him to behave more in front of Nix than Rebel so I take a seat, perching on his knee. It’s uncomfortable as fuck.
He shifts so I’m sitting across his lap, my shoulder against his chest and my legs up towards Nix. She rests her hands on my toes but thankfully is so engrossed in the film that she doesn’t think to tickle me.
“Everything okay, princess?” Jax asks low in my ear. I nod. “Where’s Baxter?”
“Kitchen. He said something about a surprise. I hope it’s food. Did you guys eat yet?”
“Nix had some cereal but no, we’ve not eaten, because the big softie over there refused to cook until he saw the end of the film.”
I smile and settle back against Jax. It’s surprisingly nice. I can’t believe that it’s a Monday, it feels more like a weekend with none of us having to do any work. I’m so glad it’s the Christmas holidays at long last. I was dreading it but now that Nix is home I’m woefully aware of how bare the house looks and how last minute everything is going to be.
“What do you want to do today?” I ask Nix.
“Don’t know. Maybe just play with you?” she replies.
“Sure thing baby,” I tell her. It must have been lonely being at Cordelia’s and made to play quietly on her own all the time. I’ll try and get the guys to join in too. Not that I think I’ll have any trouble convincing them. They seem to live for playing with and entertaining Nix.
“Tomorrow do you want to go and get a Christmas tree, baby?”
“YEAH! Can we go today? Please! Can we?”
“I thought you wanted to play?” I laugh.
“No! I want a tree. I’m so happy you didn’t put one up without me. Grandma doesn’t have a tree. She said the needles make a mess.”
“Well we’re going to have a real tree with real messy needles and the mess be damned!” Rebel declares.
“Bad word,” Nix giggles.
“Ooops,” Rebel winks at me and pulls out his wallet. I shake my head and turn away to ignore however much he’s giving Nix right now. That girl has more cash in her purse than I do.
“Now you can buy the tree as well as choose it,” Rebel says. “And we’ll have one in every room!”
“Okay, Santa, calm down,” I say, shaking my head.
“Oh ho ho, where’s your Christmas spirit?” he teases.
Down at the courthouse waiting to take my daughter away.
I force a smile.
“Whatever. But you’re cleaning up the mess and responsible for their safe removal and disposal after the event.”
“That’s wasteful. I’m going to buy potted ones. They can go down the bottom of the garden and Nix can dig them all up again next year.”
“Can I?”
“Yep.”
