I turn my attention back to Santa and smile as Claire gives him a kiss on the lips. Guess it didn’t take long for everyone to figure it out.
“Let’s all sit down. I have many presents for you girls, since you’ve all made the good list. Even you, Kylie,” he says with a kind smile to the troublemaker of the family.
Kylie hugs him and presses a kiss to his cheek before Ash comes up, growling like a territorial animal, and snatches her away. She giggles and wraps herself around Ash while staring at him like he’s her biggest crush, even after all this time. It’s so sweet.
Each couple in the family has a different dynamic that is unique to them, and there’s never been judgment from anyone in this room. We’re truly a family. And until I got with Beau, I had never had that.
When I sit next to my husband, I turn and slide my arms around his neck, so my mouth is near his ear. “Thank you for making me part of this family. I love you, Beau. More than you’ll ever know.”
Beau
My throat growstight as I stare at my sweet, beautiful, loving wife, her words wrapped around my heart like a hug. All I’ve ever wanted to do for Emma is give her the life she always deserved. To let her experience being innocent and to have fun while feeling safe to do so. And my family, they wouldn’t be able to stop loving her if she tried. She just has no fucking idea how unconditionally loved she is.
“Thank you for making me whole,” I whisper back. “I’ll say I love you, too, but you need to know, those words don’t even come close to expressing everything I feel for you. You’re the reason I wake up in the morning, the reason I breathe, the reason I fucking exist, baby. Don’t ever forget that.”
Her eyes sparkle as she smiles up at me, then kisses me several times before settling in, tucked under my arm.
Pop walks to each of the girls, pulling gifts out of his large bag. Emma squeals when he gets to her and wiggles her fingers wildly as she reaches to take it from him.
“What do you say?” I ask, gently tickling her side.
Emma beams up at Pop. “Thank you, Santa. I love you.”
Pop, or Santa for now, I guess, leans down and plants a kiss on top of Emma’s head. “Love you too, Little one.”
Lastly, he goes to Claire and sits down, then promptly pulls her onto his lap. “Come here, you need to sit on Santa’s lap,” he tells her.
Claire giggles and snuggles up to him, brushing the plasticky-looking white beard away from his mouth so she can kiss him.
I grin at my dad. It’s because of him I’ve become the man I am today. Our lives haven’t been perfect. We’ve experienced a lot of pain, loss, and grief over the course of our lives. All of us. But somehow, my Pop has always been the glue. He loves every one of us in this family like they are his flesh and blood. I hope he knows how proud we all are to call him our dad.
“I can’t believe you did this again,” Colt says with a grin. “Gosh, I remember it like yesterday when you came home dressed as Santa because you and Ma were convinced you could make Wolf like Christmas.”
Wolf nods as he sits at the opposite end of the couch with Lucy perched on his lap. “I remember. It always made Ma so sad that I struggled so much at this time of year. She would go out of her way to make each Christmas special for me somehow. I never had the heart to disappoint her, so I tried like hell to make the best of it, but I don’t think I did a very good job.”
He stares off into the distance, sadness sparkling in his gaze.
I reach out and pat his shoulder. “You never disappointed her, Wolf. She loved the hell out of you.”
A corner of Wolf’s lips creeps up. “Yeah. I know she did. She never let any of us forget it.”
Several of the guys chuckle and nod.
“Which is why Pop did wild shit, like dress up as Santa so he could try to make a bunch of fucked-up teenage boys believe in the magic of Christmas again.” Knox smirks at Pop. “I have to admit that was one of my favorite Christmases.”
I grunt in agreement. That year was the last year Celeste was alive. Before we all lost a piece of ourselves forever.
Somehow, Ma and Pop always made the holidays special for us, despite having a whole bunch of angry and deeply broken teenage boys. Our sister Celeste had been obsessed with Christmas. After she was murdered, Ma insisted we continued to celebrate for Celeste. And that continued even when we had lost Ma.
Emma twists her fingers in the sparkly ribbon wrapped around the present in her lap. “What was so special about it?”
I grin, that day still vivid in my memory like it was yesterday. “Celeste had read that there was a shortage of basic essentials available for local homeless shelters that year. She asked Ma and Pop if, instead of getting presents for Christmas, they would give to a shelter instead.
“When we boys heard about what Celeste asked for, we asked for the same thing. On Christmas Eve, we took two truckloads of clothes, blankets, food, toys, and essentials and drove around the city to donate to as many shelters as we could.”
Emma
My heart feelsas though it’s about to burst out of my chest. Tears fill my eyes. I can’t believe they did that. Actually, I can. Because all the men in this room are so damn selfless and truly care about others. They might say they only care about the ones they love, but I’ve seen the way they’ve jumped in to protect total strangers. Each of them is good to their very core.
