When me, Mina, and Ruby get into the main room of the clubhouse, we see the two prospects and Prophet standing there. “Girls, we thought you’d like to watch a Christmas movie,” Prophet says.
“And we put together these snack things,” Colt adds as he and Preston hold out their hands.
It’s a box like what Marnie put under the bathroom sink to organize everything, except ours has a cup filled with soda, a container with chicken nuggets, another with fries, and a box of candy. I also smell popcorn and when I look over, I see Data scooping some into the bags he has in his hands.
Soon, we’re on the huge couch withA Charlie Brown Christmasplaying as we eat our lunch. I laugh out loud when I see what Snoopy’s making for their feast, especially when I realize I’m eating popcorn right now too! As the afternoon wears on, more and more of the brothers arrive at the clubhouse and one by one, we’re joined on the couches as one movie goes to the next. I’mso excited about this year, I can barely keep from wiggling, but Mina’s the same way.
I smile when I think about the present I found for her. Plus, I made her a friendship bracelet. The door to the clubhouse opens and I turn my head, grinning when I see Ash walking through, boxes of pizza stacked up in his arms.
“It was a good day today,” I mumble as Ash carries me upstairs to put me in my bed.
After eating plenty of pizza, I went back to watching movies, but at some point, I fell asleep until Marnie woke me up so that me, Mina, and Ruby could open up a ‘special’ present. My pajamas, which match my best friend’s, are clutched in my arms, as is my stuffed kitty. Once we’re upstairs, he sets me in the bathroom, ruffles my hair then says, “Go ahead and get ready for bed, sweet girl.”
“Okay,” I reply, my eyes barely open. It doesn’t take me long before I’m walking toward my bedroom where they’re both waiting for me so they can tuck me into my bed.
Climbing in between the sheets and pulling them up to my chin, I’m soon drowsily listening to Ash readThe Night Before Christmas. Once he’s done, Marnie says, “So, in case you wake up early, just know that Santa will probably leave your stocking on your bed. That’s what happened when I was a little girl.”
“Mmkay,” I whisper, my eyes closing. “Good night.”
I’m already heading to dreamland, so I miss it when they each kiss me goodnight and tell me how much they love me.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
Ash
Once we’re absolutely sure that Becca’s down for the count, I start hauling her presents from the closet while Marnie arranges them underneath the tree. A quiet knock at the door has me heading to get it opened before we wake up Becca. When I see it’s Prophet and Colt, carrying the massive Barbie house that we wisely built before tonight, I open the door wider so they can get it into our suite.
“Oh, she’s going to love this,” Marnie says as the three of us get it all set up, complete with some extra Barbies that have magically appeared.
I glance at Prophet who merely raises his brow at me. “It’s a big ass house, brother,” he says in defense. “Besides, how can she have a pool party if she doesn’t have friends?”
Now, I’m fucking confused because the house doesn’thavea pool, for fuck’s sake! Before I can say anything to contradict his words, Colt goes to the door and opens it and in walks Preston, with the Barbie pool already assembled. Between the house, thepool, and the jeep pulling the camper, the living room looks like a walking advertisement for Mattel. Without saying a word, the three men set up the extra gifts and I grin when I see that the gift tags say they’re from Becca’s elf, Harry. Come to think of it, his note today said he was heading back to the North Pole, but he’d leave her some friends so she wouldn’t miss him too much. Guess these are the ‘friends’ he mentioned.
I swear to God, my brothers have had a ton of fun with that fucking elf, and hearing Becca’s giggles every morning as she searches him out has been entertaining, to say the least. If he ‘goes out of our suite’ he always leaves her a note and seeing some of the antics that have occurred ever since Harry showed up have been nothing short of brilliant.
Her past few years might’ve majorly sucked, but with the help of my chosen family, as well as the woman who’s at my side, I think we’ve made tremendous strides with her. “Appreciate it, brothers. Be ready to get up early, because youknowMina will have Rebel and Holly up at the ass crack of dawn,” I say.
“Esther said for all of us to be ready to eat breakfast around eight,” Prophet replies. He glances down at his watch and continues. “I reckon y’all have got maybe six or so more hours before Becca wakes up.”
I smirk, knowing that tonight, at least, very little sleeping will be going on, especially once I ask Marnie a very important question after the three men leave. “We can nap after we’ve eaten tomorrow afternoon. All that’s on are ball games anyhow once the parade is over.”
“I might just sleep until New Year’s Eve,” Marnie murmurs as she fills two of the three stockings. She hasn’t noticed that hers is bulging, but I’m sure once she does, she’s going to want to seewhat’s inside. She’s been hard pressed to keep from giving Becca some of her presents ahead of time.
“Esther said she’ll bring you-know-what over when they come to fix breakfast,” Prophet advises.
“Shit, I have to put that litter box together,” I grumble.
“Go get it, VP, and I’ll do it,” Colt offers. At my look, he shrugs. “We had cats growing up and my mom swore the automatic litter boxes were the best. It may be a different brand and an updated version, but the end result is the same.”
Marnie gets up from her crouched position, and says, “I’ll show you where it’s at, Colt. We’re going to set it up in the bathroom. I got one of those waterproof mats to put underneath it. The ads said it can be vacuumed and also put through the wash in case of any boo-boos.”
It doesn’t take Colt long to get it set up, and since we’ll be sure to get Becca up before we head to bed so she can go to the bathroom, Marnie covers it with a sheet. Not like that’s obvious or anything, but Becca isn’t exactly alert and coherent when we wake her long enough to go potty, so we have that going for us.
Soon, it’s just me and Marnie, the fireplace softly flickering as the glow of the Christmas lights from the tree cover the room in a comfortable ambiance. I touch the box in my pocket and when she settles next to me on the couch, I pull her into my side. “I think she’s going to explode with excitement,” I whisper, causing her to shiver.
“We might have gone a bit overboard,” she admits. “But honestly, when I think of all the times she went without, I think it’ll be okay.”
