“Thank you for having me,” I tell her happily. “Is there anything I can do to help you in here?” I ask, looking around to see what might need to be done.
Alice takes my hands in hers and looks at me seriously in my eyes. “Yes. Keep my boys out of the kitchen. Take them outside or something, but occupy them and get them all out of here so that I can cook this dinner without them getting into everything!”
“Awe, mom, getting into everything is the best part,” Charles coos at her with a hug as he walks by and grabs a handful of black olives.
“See?” she implores me desperately. “Get them out, please. I’ll give you the biggest piece of pie if you do.”
I laugh at her because she’s begging me and bartering with me, and I only just met her. “Okay. I’m on it. Stryker boy duty!”
Wills laughs and I turn to him and his brothers. “Snowmen and then a snowball fight. Who’s in?”
They’re all in, and they practically tumble over each other heading for the door. Alice places her palms together in a sign of prayer and thanks as she grins at me and gets back to work. I spend the next two hours out in the cold with the boys, all of us having the time of our lives.
It’s been a while since I’ve been around any younger kids. Not since the foster home. I didn’t realize it until now, but I missed it.
When they’re finally a little worn out and there’s talk of video games and hot cocoa, I head inside and go upstairs to my room to unpack. It’s a beautiful room with a big bathroom, and a big king-sized bed. It’s not as hotel-esque as the Rashnikov cabin, but it’s not a bad thing. Here, I’m not afraid to mess up the sheets or trip over fancy stairs leading up to the bed. It’s homey.
I could curl up here with a good TV show and not come out for weeks.
I put my clothes away in the dresser and organize the gifts I brought. I’m just finishing that up when Wills sneaks in and closes the door behind him. I turn to him and he takes me in his arms, looking as happy as I feel.
“I needed so badly to be with you. It just wasn’t right without you,” I tell him as he leans in close to kiss me.
“I know exactly what you mean,” he answers, his hands moving over me as his mouth leaves mine and travels down my neck.
“Wills! We can’t do this yet, we have to go downstairs. Your brothers will-” But he stops me.
“My brothers are in the middle of a video game, my mother is cooking, and my father is out in the garage hiding from everyone and doing some mysterious Christmas thing. So there’s nothing that you and I have to go do right now, which means that we can take a little time and do some of this.”
He slowly pulls my sweater off of me, followed by the rest of my clothes as he lays me back in the bed and I lose myself completely in him. This will be one of the best holidays ever.
Chapter 9
We eat a magnificent dinner, and afterward we all open gifts. Once Wills heard I was coming, they all waited for me so I could be included.
It’s so sweet, it makes my heart melt.
Wills got me a beautiful necklace with a diamond heart on it, and I give him a new waterproof watch to wear while swimming. It cost a good chunk of the money Dane gave me, but really, I’ve lived this long without expenses … I can wait a couple weeks doing the same,
The gifts I picked up for his brothers and parents are warmly and happily received. I’m spoiled by them as well, which was very kind of them, especially considering I didn’t know if I was coming. Wills tells me in my ear that he told them I would come for sure; it was never a question.
We sit together, all of us curled up on sofas and chairs, watching a couple of Christmas movies, and then we all head to bed. Wills joins me in my room after everyone is asleep, and he locks the door behind him and spends the night loving me and snuggling with me under the covers.
Blair comes the next night, and both he and Wills take turns spending each night after with me, as I’ve begun to have nightmares about the fire and the explosion. I keep seeing the injuries and deaths of those around me, especially Dana and my father. Lately, it’s my father a lot.
They’re so good to me, my boys, comforting me when I’m upset, and loving me with such passion and tenderness that there is no time when I don’t feel their all-encompassing love.
Blair, Wills, and the brothers and I are all out hiking through the woods behind the house, one day when I pause for a moment in my steps, gazing at them as they banter and talk. These two boys and myself are more a family than any I have ever been a part of.
Not only them, but their families as well.
Blair’s parents and Wills’ have taken me in as if I was one of their own; warm and welcoming, loving and accepting. Wills’ parents haven’t said anything about the fact that I’m dating both of them, and Blair’s father only mentioned it briefly in passing.
All of them are accepting of it, and of me, and it’s just what I have always hoped for. This feeling of love and inclusion, of being a part of something bigger than myself; a family where I belong, and where I am wanted. I have that with Wills and Blair. I’m so lucky to have that with them, and I know it.
Blair is with me later that night, and he showers with me, taking his time washing my hair and my body, kissing me and making love with me in the steamy water. I’m so breathless and filled with rapture. He makes the whole world disappear when I am in his arms. His silvery-white hair is wet and slicked back, and his mischievous green eyes are on fire with passion. It steals my heart away.
“Do you remember the first time …” I ask him after I’ve melted into his arms and he into mine, both of us having trembled with release.