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But not so sure that we didn’t.
Getting the never-ending number of gifts onto the checkout space goes a little faster than I anticipated, and thanks to the minor guilt I harbor over just how much shit there is to bag, I take on the responsibility to further speed up the process, not wanting to inconvenience others the way my brother has inconvenienced me.
Not to mention our holiday festivities.
Nochebuenaisn’t just Angel Cake’s favorite time of the year anymore.
It’s our daughters.
And strangely enough my in-laws as well.
All of them.
Everyone gathers at my parents’ ranch – Ma and my stepfather Tom, who she married about six months into their relationship – for a huge celebration. We’re talking all of Arley’s brothers, their wives, their children, my dad, stepmom, little brother, plus our friends on the occasion like Blu and his family as well as Reynolds and his. Hell, even Seventeen and his wife joined us one year. It’s loud and colorful and everyone eats their weight in tamales – kids included. There are outdoor activities – like feeding actual reindeer this year because Tom’s last name might as well be fucking McDonald – indoor activities – like decorating freshly baked gingerbread houses or people – and grown up only activities – drinking alcoholicponche navideñowhile playing adult themed boardgames. Besides the amount of people and the place where we celebrate changing, our service attendance time has changed too. From a spiritual point, it’s important to Ma that we still have that togetherness, so Arley and I go to an early service with her and Tom, while the girls stay behind to play with their cousins.
I swore to thembothI wouldn’t let this outing fuck that up for us.
And I’m a man of my word.
Even if it means Kolby has to shell out an ass load of cash for a Lyft to take him back to Tom’s.
Cash my ass won’t be reimbursing him for.
“Stop him!”a feminine voice suddenly screams at the same time I’m preparing to put the last of the paid for purchases in our cart.“Security! Security!”
Everyone in the area turns the direction of the yelling just as a young, almond beige skinned male sprints around the corner with a child tucked under his arm like a football.
“Anyone!” the woman’s pleading increases in desperation. “Help! Help!” My eyes shift to the long-legged mother frantically chasing after him. “Stop him!” She begs at the top of her lungs, my younger brother trailing closely behind. “That man has my son!”
There’s no hesitation to drop the bag in my possession or to take off running. “I’m on it!” Despite his seemingly fast pacing, tracking the target isn’t difficult, and due to the kicking boy in his possession, catching up will be even easier than if he were empty handed. “Kolby, get her ass somewhere safe!” I command over my shoulder without bothering to check if he’s still following. “Somewhere with lots of witnesses!” The kidnapper dips around another sweater display hoping to throw me off his trail.“Now! I’ll get the kid!”
Because I’ve done this shit before.
Because I can andwillalways do this shit.
Doesn’t matter where I am or when it is. If I can prevent someone from going through what it is I went through, then that’s what I’m gonna do.
No exceptions.
I just hope trying to spearhead this holiday rescue doesn’t have me needing one of my own.
After all, how mad can my family really get at me for doing the very thing they all wished someone would’ve done for them way back then?
Chapter 2
Arley
“We’ve got on our yogurt pants!” Lair Bear exclaims, tiny turquoise blue Christmas sweater arms flying victoriously into the air. “We ready to do this!”
Hearing her quote one of our favorite Christmas movies gets me snickering but her twin pouting.
“What if they not nice?” Lu braces her arms defensively across her chest looking like the spitting image of her father. “What if they notsafe?”
And sounding like him too.
As much as I wish I could say one was like me and one was like him, they’re actually a pretty good mixture of us.
Or more accurately afrustratingmixture of us both.
