“Ah, hell,” I said under my breath.“I got a bad feelin’ about this.”
The feeling intensified when Zelda held up a can of hair spray.Before I could really appreciate what was about to happen, the group of them descended on me with… something.I couldn’t really see, but they used the hairspray on my beard.They used… alotof hairspray.On my beard.
Ten minutes later, there were pictures being taken by every fucking brother in the club.The kids were laughing and squealing and my ribs hurt like a motherfucker, but I stayed still, growling occasionally just to get the kids to giggle.Which they did.Continuously.I knew the pictures were going to be epic and I’d never live them down, but I wouldn’t trade this moment for anything in the world.Not when it put such joy on the faces of all my girls.
“Perfect,” Zelda declared, standing back to admire her work.
A strand of tinsel slipped down, tickling my nose, and I couldn’t suppress the laugh that rumbled up from my chest.The pain in my ribs was worth it for the delight on the girls’ faces.
“Will someone at least give me a mirror so I can see how fu -- er, friggin’ jolly I look?”
More laughter and this time I was pretty sure Gunnar was gonna manage to drown on the amount of cider he aspirated.Hannah stepped over to her brother and whacked him on the back several times while wiping tears from her own eyes as she laughed herself.
Through the growing crowd, I caught sight of Penny.She stood a few feet away, one hand pressed to her mouth, the other clutched tightly at her chest.Even from this distance, I could see the sheen of tears in her eyes, but they weren’t tears of sadness.The smile that broke through as our eyes met was pure joy -- unexpected and overwhelming in its intensity.
I held her gaze, trying to communicate everything I couldn’t say aloud in that moment.I love you.I love them.I would endure far worse than decorated dignity for the sound of their laughter.She seemed to understand, nodding slightly as she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, her smile so fucking beautiful I knew there would never be a time in my life when I didn’t miss her smile any time I couldn’t see her lovely face.
The crowd had grown, other children watching with wide-eyed, joy-filled fascination as the fearsome biker was transformed into a gaudy Christmas creation.A few of the smaller kids giggled behind their hands, while the adults made no attempt to hide their amusement.
“Stand up,” Zelda commanded once she was satisfied with her decorating.“Slowly, so nothing falls off.”
Rising from the floor with my injuries was going to be even harder than sitting down had been, but I wasn’t about to disappoint them.I braced one hand against the ground and pushed myself upward, gritting my teeth against the sharp stab of pain in my side.The lights and tinsel shifted but mostly stayed in place, thanks to the girls’ careful arrangement.I thought I saw glitter dust falling as I disturbed some of the more textured garland they’d wrapped around me.Had to be.Right?Sweet, God, what had they put in my beard?
Once I was on my feet, Zelda tugged at my hand.“Now you have to bend down so we can get on your shoulders.”
I crouched carefully, allowing first Zelda, then Kira to climb onto my shoulders.The added weight sent fresh pain through my ribs, but I locked my knees after I’d straightened slowly, supporting each girl with one hand to keep them balanced.Yep.It was as difficult as it sounded.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Zelda announced to the gathered crowd, her voice ringing with pride, “we present… the Christmas Tiny!”
A cheer went up from the crowd, followed by applause and more camera flashes and I knew Caleb, the little shit, had been recording the whole fucking mess from the second he returned with Zelda and that fucking bucket.I stood there, tinsel tickling my neck, lights blinking against my chest, beads tangled in my beard, and two nearly teenage girls perched triumphantly on my shoulders.As ridiculous as I must have looked, the wonder on Penny’s face as she watched us made me feel ten feet tall.And I still didn’t know what they’d put in my beard.OK, so maybe it was more denial than ignorance.Because, I absolutely knew I was going to have to shave after tonight.
Penny gave me a look of sympathy which she ruined by turning her lips inward as she tried valiantly to suppress a laugh.
“Go ahead and laugh,” I told her, mock irritation in my voice.“I’ll get my revenge.”I snapped my teeth at Penny.Which delighted the girls to no end.And everyone else.Whoops went up all around and everyone laughed until I thought more than one of the kids had to go pee.Couple of my brothers too.
“The best Christmas tree in the whole compound,” Knight declared, raising his cup in a mock toast.“Glitter beard and all.”There wasn’t a single person in the common room with us who didn’t roar with laughter.
“Stunner says to tell you he recommends at least three shampoos the first day.”Hannah gave me a serious look, like she wasn’t talking about something as serious as desecrating a man’s beard.“He said you could probably cut back to two after that.Says it takes a good month to get it all out.”
Penny did something with her phone, then turned it around so I could see the picture of myself, the girls sitting on my shoulders, wrapped in Christmas lights, tinsel, icicles, garland… and the biggest, sparkliest glitter beard in red, gold, and green in the whole Goddamned world.I fucking loved it.Of course, I couldn’t let them know how much I loved it.So I was appropriately outraged.Which caused more laughter.
Kira leaned down, her mouth close to my ear.“Are we too heavy?”she whispered, concern evident in her voice.
I turned my head slightly to meet her worried gaze.“Not even a little bit, darlin’.”
The smile she gave me was worth every twinge, every ache, every bit of discomfort.As I stood in the center of the room, surrounded by my brothers and decorated like a Christmas spectacle, I realized I’d never felt more at home.
Chapter Thirteen
Tiny
The apartment was quiet when we finally made it back, the girls practically sleepwalking after all the excitement.I headed to the shower in my apartment across the hall from them.I’d been staying over most nights, but as much as I loved all three of them, even though I hadn’t been around many women for fifteen years, I wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that sometimes, one apartment simply wasn’t big enough for three women.So I’d kept the suite, and it worked out now.I didn’t want to get glitter everywhere in Penny’s bathroom.
Good call, too, because when I hit the lights in my bathroom, I looked like a fucking disco ball.There were streaks of rainbow glitter in my beard, plastered to my arms and even my Goddamn eyebrows.Beard was nearly solid with so much hairspray, and I left a sparkly trail everywhere I went.Guess that was what happened when you let a pack of feral children douse you in art supplies.
I turned on the shower and undressed.The quicker I could wash this shit out the quicker I could go find Penny and sweet talk her into fucking me.Because, honestly, I had very little gas left in the tank.
“They’re out cold,” Penny’s voice came from the doorway.She stepped inside and shut the door as I stepped into the shower.“I don’t think Santa himself could wake them up tonight.”
