Tally exited the kitchen with Scar on her heels. She and Abby had been closer of late, which was good because Bulldog and Scar had a history no one else shared with the silent man. Jenna had been hoping Abby and Tally would also start to grow a bond.
To everyone’s surprise, Scar stepped forward after Tally and Abby’s embrace. He didn’t put his arms around her or touch her in anyway. The two just stared at each other for a long moment before Abby reached forward and gently brushed a hand along Scar’s shoulder. Softly, she said, “Thank you, Julian.”
Angel, Bree, Ollie, and Aaron then claimed Abby next.
The backdoor opened, letting in a gust of cold air. Bulldog entered with Lila, Pumpkin, JJ, Cage, and Bear. After closing the door quickly, they came to a stop to the right of the stairs, pausing to take in the mood of the clubhouse.
“What’s going on?” Bulldog demanded, his eyes landed on Abby’s and Angel’s arms around each other.
Starbucks glared at his woman. Though there was no malice behind the look, the promise of retribution was very visible. “We know about the pregnancy.”
Cage put his hands on his hips. “Damn it, Angel! You said we’d wait until after the holidays! We haven’t even told my parents yet!”
It tooka super long time for the club to calm down after yet another pregnancy announcement, and it was only for the sake of not wanting dinner to be ruined that they had to move things along. Chairs were placed back into their staged position. Jenna felt like she was on a throne with how big her chair was in the center of the other smaller, more uncomfortable folding chairs.
Jack stepped up to the front, standing on the bottom step to overlook the crowd. “A lot of new faces this year. A lot of changes too. When Jenna and I started this club, weneverimagined this.” He waved his hand around to all those in the audience. “Yet, there’s not an ounce of me that isn’t proud to stand before you, one last time, as your President. We’ve grown, we’ve had our ups and our downs, we’ve had our losses,” he gestured to the In Memoriam cuts behind the bar, “and we’ve gained so much. And with the announcement of four new club babies joining us next year, I couldn’t be prouder. I know that I am leaving you in capable hands,” he nodded to Ghost, “and there isn’t anything I can say to make this moment less monumental. We’re all feeling the tides of change, and as my beautiful bride often reminds me, some good must always come with the bad. Take her advice,” he said with a note of warning in his voice. “She’s the smartest woman I know.”
Jenna blushed as others chuckled.
“Now, my love,” Jack turned his attention to Jenna. “I know that you have been worried about all the holiday events you’re going to be missing due to our vacation. So I added an event to today’s itinerary.”
Jenna raised an eyebrow. She had assumed something was going on because of the chairs, but also thought maybe this was just how they wanted to do Secret Santa with the kids before dinner.
Jack waved forward to Jenna’s left. Turning, Jenna saw JJ, Pumpkin and Dosia’s five-year-old daughter, and Lila, Bulldog and Abby’s eight-year-old daughter, come forward. Both were dressed in tutus with their hair done up pretty. Lila had on a green leotard, tutu, and ballet slippers while JJ wore a white leotard, red tutu, and white shoes.
They came to stand before Jack. He stepped off the stair and crouched down between his two young nieces.
“Lila and JJ have been working hard in their ballet class for their holiday recital. Since we won’t be here for it, they wanted to put on a private one for you.”
Jenna’s heart swelled as she smiled down at the two little girls. “Oh, sweethearts. Thank you!”
JJ, who was newer to the club family, was slower to smile than Lila. She looked more nervous to be front and center, too. Lila had more energy than theEnergizer Bunnyafter drinking a case ofRed Bull. She looked thrilled and proud to be standing up on stage with her Uncle Steel. Last year, she’d played the Virgin Mary in the nativity play Jack had the kids put on at the last minute to help cheer Jenna up. Though no one knew it at the time, last Christmas had been hard for Jenna, because she’d only just received her diagnosis and not even her kids knew yet.
“We love you, Aunt Jenna!” Lila exclaimed.
Jenna fought to hold back tears as her nose burned. “I love you too, babies.”
Jack stood, a hand on each girl in front of him. “There’s more. Since the girls won’t be dancing alone at their recital, they were worried about how their routine would look with onlythemdancing up here. So…” His voice trailed off before he cleared his throat loudly. “We brought in some backup dancers for them.”
Out from Jack’s office under the stairs, dressed in red tutus, tights, ballet slippers, and a variety of Christmas headsets came Bulldog, Cage, Bear, Lucky, and Pumpkin. Jenna’s jaw dropped because she hadn’t even realized they weren’t standing behind her. The massive chair Jack had practically dumped her in blocked most of her peripheral view. She wondered if that had been the point.
Ghost stood up from his chair down the row from Jenna and stripped off his cut and shirt to reveal a red Santa bikini top covering his chest. Slipping off boots that were already untied, he pulled his feet out, already donning red ballet slippers. And then, to the hoots and hollers of the women present, he unbuttoned and unzipped his black jeans. A little hip wiggle later and his pants hit the floor to reveal a matching red Santa tutu. It clashed horribly with his ginger hair.
Scotty also came running forward. He was in a black leotard with a tank top and long pants, plus green flats and a green lei around his neck.
But when he got up to his dad, he complained loudly, “This thing is itchy!”
Lucky, bare-chested and in a long-ish red skirt, took the plastic necklace off his son’s neck and then placed it around his own.
Jack left the makeshift stage. He came over to Jenna’s large chair, plucked her up, and then sat back down with her on his lap. Jenna laughed and gave him a huge kiss on his cheek, leaving behind a trace of her lipstick.
Ollie stepped forward, clapping his hands. “Okay, places, everyone! Just as we practiced!”
Scotty, JJ, and Lila took their place in front of their backup dancers. Pictures and laughter from the crowd ensued as they tried to find their positions. Apparently there was no tape on the clubhouse floor like there had been in the garage where they practiced, and this error threw the scantily clad men off.
Bulldog had a fairy wand that he accidentally hit Cage’s ass with, Bear’s reindeer antlers kept sliding off as he moved into position, and Pumpkin had an exaggerated limp, even though he was over a week out from surgery, and per Dosia, his balls were “just fine”.
Ollie finally approved of everyone’s placements. He looked to Jordan who stood back by the kitchen. A moment later,Rockin’ Around the Christmas Treestarted playing from the speakers throughout the clubhouse.
