The smell of gumbo and potato salad makes my stomach grumble. Lilly, Mindy, Linc, and our newest prospect, Aaron, are hanging out around the kitchen island when I walk in, talking and laughing and snacking on crackers with cream cheese and pepper jelly. I snag one and dip it, shoving it into my mouth as I walk by with Lilly’s present in hand. I set it underneath the tree before I return to the kitchen and press a kiss to the top of Lilly’s forehead.
“Hey, you,” she says with a smile, leaning into me.
“Hey, yourself,” I retort.
The sound of a motorcycle outside lets me know that Clayton’s arrived. Sure enough, his broad shouldered self walks in throughthe backdoor, shivering. He’s still got his leather jacket, chaps, and gloves on.
“It’s too cold down here,” he huffs, removing his gloves.
I chuckle. “Says the snowbird?”
“It’s a different kind of cold, and you know it,” he narrows his eyes in my direction. His expression changes quickly when Lilly approaches him and wraps him into one of her hugs. He smiles softly at her and embraces her. It makes me think that old heart of ice is melting a little. Softie. The television is playing Christmas music through the surround sound in the house, and I can’t help but grin at how much my girl loves Christmas.
Lilly’s mom and step-dad walk in the back door, each holding a red sack that looks like they were made for Santa Claus himself. She beams with a wide smile and Linc rushes over to take the sacks from them. He carries them into the living room and sets them down underneath the colorfully lit Christmas tree that Lilly had to have.
Lilly and Mindy have rushed her mom and they’re both talking so fast and excited, probably spilling secrets already knowing the two of them. I shake David’s hand and introduce him to Clayton and Aaron.
“Okay, now that you’re here, let’s eat!” Mindy cheers, already holding a bowl of rice.
Everyone spoons gumbo and potato salad onto their plates while I fill a few glasses with ice.
“Anyone want a Christmas cocktail to accompany this delicious meal?” I ask.
“I’ll have a glass,” Clayton says, lifting his hand in the air.
“A glass of what?” Lilly asks.
“Whatever he’s fixing, hell it don’t matter. I’ll drink anything.”
“Got about an eight-year-old bottle of Bourbon that I pulled from a cabinet I forgot about and then rediscovered when cleaning out my old place,” I say, lifting the bottle.
“That’ll work,” Clayton gives me a thumbs up as he takes a bite of gumbo.
Everyone is seated around the table and at the bar in the kitchen, quiet chatter filling the room between bites. The way I feel, standing here, in this house on this holiday. I don’t remember the last time that Christmas actually felt likeChristmas. But it does today.
Once everyone is done eating, Lilly and Mindy begin cleaning up the kitchen a bit and the guys and I head to the living room to flip through the channels on the television. Lilly only protests with a small pout when I turn off her Christmas music.
“You can watch TV for now, but when we open presents, I’m putting the music back on!” she chastises me from the kitchen.
“Yes ma’am,” I call over my shoulder while I return to my selection of what to put on the TV. I finally find a football game on and zone out into. My chair is so comfortable and I’m so relaxed and full that I can’t keep my eyes open. Not even for the TV. I doze in and out sleep while Aaron and David comment on the players of each team playing.
I wake up when Lilly wraps her arms around my shoulders from behind my chair. She rubs my chest affectionately with both hands. “Wake up. We’re doing gifts,” she says softly, so as not to announce to the room that I was asleep. Not that they’re confused, considering every time I fall asleep in this chair, I snore so damn loud. Lilly’s recorded me and played it back, and I impressed myself.
I sit up, grabbing her hand that rests on my shoulder and pressing a soft kiss to the top of it. She smiles down at me with the most beautiful look in her eyes, making the same face she does every single time I do that. Making me want to do it a thousand times over.
She slips her hand from my grasp and retrieves a handful of gifts from beneath the tree. She and Mindy begin handing themout accordingly. She stares at the ring box for a minute before she looks at me with a quirked brow, holding it out awkwardly.
“That’s for you,” I tell her.
Lilly’s eyes sparkle as she looks back and forth between me and the box. I chuckle because I can only imagine the thoughts she’s thinking. Wondering what I could’ve gotten her since she’s already got an engagement ring. She continues handing out gifts and once everyone has a gift, she sits down on the floor in front of my chair, leaning against my legs.
“Open ‘em up, y’all!” Lilly cheers, looking around the room at our family. I open the gift bag from Margie, decorated with two ribbon-style bows and a tag addressed to me. Lilly warned me that Christmas is her favorite and that she always goes above and beyond with gifts galore. Inside is a custom pocketknife with my name engraved on one side and ‘Lucifer’s Hounds MC’ engraved on the other. It’s the coolest damn pocketknife I’ve ever seen. It’s stainless steel and in the shape of an open-ended mechanics combination wrench.
“Thank you so much, Margie,” I say as I admire my new pocketknife.
She beams with pride and a smile on her face. “Lilly told me you use a pocketknife regularly and always have one on you, so I figured a personalized one would be a good fit.”
“It’s cool as shit. I love it. Thank you.”
