“You guys,” I said. “I have an idea.”
?
??Fuck, Rowan, don’t you think we’ve pulled off enough ideas?” Owen asked.
“Let the man speak,” Harper said. “What is it?”
“Well, Chance and Ethan are taking Kyra to the hospital, so they’ll be a while. Why don’t we put a few finishing touches on the gift? You know, to make it special?”
“Isn’t it already special?” Blake asked. “What more could we add?”
Once I told them what I was thinking, they were all over it. We rushed out of the house and piled into our cars, then drove to where we were needed. These modifications were going to be wonderful, but we really had to pay attention. Kyra was going to want us at the hospital for lunch, so we had to be quick.
Once we were done, we all showed up at the hospital. It was just after lunchtime and we all brought food with us. I kept showing Chance and Ethan pictures while Kyra was talking with her father. We all hugged Mark’s neck and celebrated with him but Kyra kept giving us strange looks.
“Where were you guys all morning?” she asked.
“Just working on a Christmas miracle,” I said, grinning.
Kyra giggled and shook her head and the sound that filled the room stopped us all in our tracks.
“You can keep being mysterious if you want,” she said.
“Hey, does anyone want coffee?” I asked.
I threw my brothers a look before they all slowly started to nod.
“I could use some,” Chance said.
“Fuck yeah,” Ethan said. “I’m always up for coffee.”
“You know that’s a stupid question to ask me,” Harper said.
“Black as night, sweet as sin,” Blake said.
“Hey, I know that one,” Owen said. “Anansi Boys, right?”
“Okay, I take it we all want coffee,” I said. “Kyra, would you mind?”
Mark shot us a look as I placed my hand on his foot. Kyra’s shocked face melted into one of confusion, then she crinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at us. Now that we were all here, we needed to get her out of the room. We needed to talk to her father without her here before we could present her with the gift we’d actually been able to pull off.
“I’m not a serving wench,” she said.
I felt my chest tighten with nerves before she stood to her feet.
“But… it’s Christmas. So, I’ll make an exception. But just for you guys.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as she headed out the door. Then we all gathered around Mark.
“How you feeling?” I asked.
“Curious,” Mark said.
“Rowan, you wanna do the honors?” Blake asked.
Mark looked up at me with a curious look but there was a glint in his eye that told me he knew what was coming. Or at least, he thought he did. I took his hand and squeezed it tight, trying to communicate to him the love and respect I had for him.
The love and respect we all had for him.