With the trash finished and bagged up, I put the bags outside our door, then head into the kitchen to make sure Chance has plenty of food and water while we’re busy downstairs. Confident that he’s set, seeing as he’s currently passed out on the top of his cat tree, I call out, “You two ready to head downstairs? I smell cinnamon so I bet Esther already has rolls going in the oven.”
I chuckle when I hear the squeals coming from Becca’s room as the two of them fly out of her room. Little arms wrap around my legs, and I look down to hear Becca say, “This is the best day ever!”
“Ah, but Becca, trust me, the best is yet to come, sweetheart!”
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Marnie
To say that the Steel Raiders have Christmas chaos down to a fine science, is the understatement of the year. The tree, which is glowing brightly, is now overrun with presents and I briefly worry that we’re going to have a hard time finding places to store everything. Then, I remember the playroom that we’ll have in the new house and my mind settles. Seeing the three little girls with their heads together giggling as they sit at the table waiting for breakfast to be served has my heart singing.
“Oh, what’s this?” Holly asks, grabbing my left hand. “Good grief, that’ll poke your eye out if you’re not careful, my friend!”
I laugh as I wiggle said finger and say, “He asked, and I said yes, of course.”
“When?” she asks.
“We didn’t talk about specifics, but it’ll probably be sooner rather than later, so we can officially adopt Becca,” I admit.“Plus, the only family he now has is the club, so it’s not like we’ll have a huge guest list, since it’s just me on my side of the family.”
“And all of us,” she replies, nudging me with her shoulder. “Now, let’s get these kiddos fed so we can see what kind of mischief the brothers got up to after dark.”
I snicker, because even though Becca’s elf, Harry, left her a note telling her he was heading back to the North Pole, when we got downstairs, it was to see one last surprise from Harry waiting for us. There was a small ladder that went to the ceiling, with a black hole that made it look like someone had gone through it, along withanothernote that indicated he’d be back next Thanksgiving, along with some of his friends.
Chaos. Pure and utter chaos is currently reigning, and I’m totally here for it as the brothers are currently squared up and having a ‘snowball’ fight courtesy of the gifts that Harry left behind for them.
“Y’all are ridiculous,” I murmur, giggling as I continue to video them while three little girls run around picking up the snowballs and giving them to either Ash, Rebel, or Prophet.
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Data shouts. “Y’all have helpers and we don’t!”
“You snooze, you lose,” Rebel retorts as he fires off several snowballs at Data’s head.
I shake my own head in disbelief and head into the kitchen to see if I can help Esther since the ‘children’ are entertaining themselves. Breakfast was phenomenal, as per usual, and I wastruly touched by the gifts that not only Becca, but I, received from everyone. All I know is Holly and I will be going shopping to spend the countless gift cards we both got. But next to my engagement ring, which I can’t stop looking at, my absolute favorite present came from Ash and Becca.
I’m now the proud owner of a Suburban withallthe bells and whistles. Becca giggled as she told me how she went with Ash to pick it out for me. It has heatedandcooling seats, the windows have a nice dark tint to them, and the cargo area is large enough to handle any kind of shopping I plan to do. I think Esther will be keeping Holly’s kids when she and I go out shopping, while Ash takes Becca to the American Girl store so she can pick out and personalize her doll.
“What can I do to help?” I ask once I breach the doorway.
“Everything’s cooking now,” she replies. “Prepping it yesterday helped tremendously.”
“Oh, I just figured you needed help because you hustled into the kitchen after we were done opening presents,” I tell her, going to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.
It may be cold outside, but I’m trying to do better when it comes to staying hydrated. In fact, Ash bought a water cooler for our suite, since he drinks quite a bit himself, and it’s a habit we want Becca to get into as well.
“No, when I saw what that crazy elf left for the boys, I knew it would be safer in here,” she says, laughing. “So, how was this morning with Becca?”
Tears well up when I think about how ecstatic she was with everything she opened. “It was magical,” I admit. “She kept saying she couldn’t believe that Santa remembered her becausehe never had before. Gotta say, it broke my heart a few times. As sweet as she is, I cannot believe someone would be deliberately cruel to her the way her aunt was, you know?”
Esther frowns as she says, “That woman needs a good old fashioned beatdown, and I don’t say that lightly.”
“I know and it guts me that someone who should’ve loved her simply because she was her niece, is such a piece of shit. I hope her pillow is always warm no matter what side she uses, and that every single day of her sentence, once she goes before the judge, is miserable.”
Data found out that Alice opted for a bench trial instead of one with a jury. I guess she feels as though her sentence won’t be as harsh, but what she doesn’t know is that he went into the court calendar and moved some things around, so she’ll go before the harshest judge this county has on the bench. Can’t say I’m too broken up by it, that’s for damn sure, because I’m not.
“So, are we hiding out in here until they wear themselves out?” Holly asks as she comes into the kitchen, PJ in her arms.
“Sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day,” I admit, giggling. “Although, I’m kind of surprised that they haven’t taken the girls outside to try out the new bikes that the brothers got them.”
