AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Go get ‘em.” I shut the doors and flip the latch, locking the traitors outside. “Coffee…” I groan as I pad to the coffee maker, but decide on something better. I find the best of the K-cups, pumpkin spice, and pop it into my Keurig.
Don’t judge me, it's always pumpkin spice time in my house.
I have Noah’s cup of coffee waiting when he comes in. His scruffy face, disheveled hair…oh man, he is delicious. He wastes no time capturing my mouth, kissing me stupid.
“Merry Christmas, beautiful.”
“Merry Christmas, my love.”
We kiss again, softer, more intimately—only to be disturbed by the turds. Noah pulls back, looks at the glass door, and raises a brow.
He knows better than to ask why they are locked out; he just goes and lets them in.
“Heffa, that’s just uncalled for.”
“So is sticking your dog on us when Noah’s only been home for,” I look at the clock and scowl, “three hours after a 10-hour shift.”
“I didn’t let him in there, he was sleeping with Elsie.”
“Oh…” I wince. “Damn. Sorry.” I move to her, hugging her neck. “Merry Christmas, heffa.” I place a big, loud kiss on her cheek.
She returns the favor as does Abel. I chuckle and move to the fridge. I made a breakfast casserole last night while I prepped everything else. Today's Christmas dinner is in the fridge. We simply have to set it out to let the dishes get to room temp before we toss them in the ovens. I have never been so glad to have two of them at the ready. The turkey and ham were cooked yesterday, already sliced, and just need to be warmed up when we are ready.
When Elsie joins us, we sit down to open gifts. It is a lot of fun being surrounded by family. I’ve missed this. I have to fight back tears more than once.
Brenna too is sniffling and turning away from us. The two of us are on the couch, so I lean over and hug her tight, our heads pressing together. I sit, just watching the boys. They’ve been handing out gifts and fighting Hippie back. Every piece of paper that hits the floor is being shredded by a playful pup. It only makes this all the better.
Elsie is laughing at the antics and for once, we all seem to be in perfect harmony. This is how all holidays will be from now on. I’ll not have it any other way.
“Mara, Brenna, we have one more surprise for you both.” I sit up straight and look from Brenna to the guys.
“Babe, you know I love you and to prove that I listen—”
“He means that we listen.”
“That’s what I said. Anyways. We wanted to do something a little different.”
Different? We both have a half a couch full of stuff. Things that are perfect for each of us at that. They’ve done too much as it is.
Noah hands me a box, and Brenna gets one from Abel. They are the same size; the only difference is the paper. I slide my hand along the box before tearing into the paper. I open the box and grin. I pull out a beautiful pink blanket, bags of candies, my favorite snacks, and an envelope.
I look at Brenna's lap, and she has a fluffy green blanket, candies, and snacks too. The envelope in her hand matches mine as well.
“Open them,” Elsie orders. Her grin tells me that she knows what these two are up to.
We do. I pull out two plane tickets. I read the destination and start to cry. You know how you see people do in the movies. That full-body sob because you’re so damn excited, you can’t handle it. Yeah, that is me right now.
Noah kneels down before me and moves the box to the side, his arms going around me. “Do you not like it?” He sounds worried.
“I-I lo-ove it…” I hiccup as he pulls me closer.
The tickets are for a trip to Glasgow, Ireland. Brenna and I have been talking about Ireland for months. We made a bucket list. You know, like everyone has. Places we want to go near and far. Stupid, crazy, and sometimes simple things that we want to do. Like backpacking in the Grand Canyon.
That’s probably something we will never do because one, we ain’t backpackers. Two, snakes. Three, I’d be a cooked lobster in an hour. Four, Brenna is too clumsy.
But this, going to Ireland, is our number one bucket list item.
“Babe, you guys did good,” Brenna says, jumping off the couch and pouncing on the poor boy.
