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But even if he couldn’t, the chance to have the closest thing to marriage to her three men was something she couldn’t pass up, even if the children couldn’t be there.
The children played with their gifts while Emalee lounged on the couch between Ky and Coll and Xander stuffed all the discarded wrapping paper into a rubbish bag.
This was a very special day, the anniversary of their coming together and Emalee had one last gift to give them.
Kira fidgeted, like she had ants in her pants, from her position by the tree; the twelve-year-old in on the giving of the surprise, but not what it actually was.
When Xander finally sat down on the floor in front of her, Em gave the preteen a surreptitious nod, and Kira scampered away to do her bit.
“There’s one last gift,” she cried triumphantly, wriggling under the tree to find it, and almost toppling it in her excitement.
“Whoa! Careful there, matakia mou,” Kyros warned her. “We don’t want you to get squished.”
Kira wriggled back out from under the heavy evergreen branches a lot more sedately, clearly determined not to do anything to spoil this last surprise, one which she was desperate to discover for herself. And carefully she brought the gold wrapped gift over to the three men to whom it was addressed.
“What’s this?” Xander asked as he examined the small box and flicked the matching bow.
“You have to open it to find out, silly,” Axel chimed in.
Xander turned around so he was facing her, and Ky and Coll huddled in so they could see while the four children hung over the back of the sofa, Nicky balancing on his belly where Kira had lifted him, since he was still too small to see over the top.
Xander removed the lid from the box and shook out the contents.
A hushed silence followed as he placed the item on the palm of his hand and held it out.
“Is it a magic wand?” Nicky chirped, eyeing the white plastic stick, his little nose scrunched to show he was clearly unimpressed.
“It is,” Xander murmured, catching and holding Emalee’s gaze. On either side of her, Ky and Coll let out a whoop of joy, and the way Kira gasped and clutched Em around the neck, hugging her from behind proved she knew exactly what was going on.
“What magic does it do?” Axel demanded impatiently, his twin backing him in a rather vociferous manner.
“It magically tells us that Mama Emie is going to have a baby, and you four get a brand-new brother or sister.” Ky told them, pulling Em towards him, and pressing a sweet kiss to her cheek. Coll mirrored the move on her other side, placing his big hand protectively over her tummy.
The four of them huddled together, lost in their special moment, and the boys lost interest. “Hmph! A puppy would have been much better,” Axel griped, and Alex agreed.
“I hope it’s a girl,” Kira said, somewhat dreamily. “We need to even up the numbers around here a bit.
“I hope it’s not twins,” Xander said, wryly as he tipped his forehead to hers.
“Happy Christmas,” Emalee whispered, and even though this had been her special gift to them, she added, “This is the very best gift you could ever have given me.”
END
JOY
TL Hamilton
CHAPTER 1
“MERRY FUCKING CHRISTMAS,” I muttered, breathing into my gloved hands in a vain attempt to ward off frostbite. The pine tree I hunkered down beneath provided little protection from the vicious winds that whipped at my white beanie, threatening to rip my dark ponytail out and wave it like a Shoot Here banner at the residents of the home I waited to infiltrate.
A flicker of shadows in the window closest to the garage caused my muscles to twitch, the need to throw myself deeper into the treeline nearly irresistible. Only experience and a healthy fear of my targets kept me immobile. Movement was bad. Movement attracted attention.
This is such a bad idea, I thought, relaxing as the silhouette moved deeper into the house.
Not that I had a choice.
Four hours ago, I'd been convinced this year was it. I was forcing a change to Dad’s and my usual Christmas routine of drinking and gambling for him, and thievery out of spite for me. If I couldn’t have nice things, why should anyone else? Don’t judge, I had layers. Most of them were shitty, but trauma's a bitch.
