Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Jingle all the way. No one likes to listen to a half ass jingler.
— Jeremiah to Bryson
JEREMIAH
“ Hey ,” I said to my sister. “ You remember all those extra toys that we bought in case you ended up bringing Cammie’s friend with you today?”
Cammie’s friend was a little girl down the street from them. Their parents were supposed to be going out of town on a business trip, and it’d been possible that they would need Noel to watch her for about a week. But the snow coming had delayed their trip, and the little girl got to spend Christmas with her family after all.
Noel being Noel , she hadn’t wanted Cammie , her eldest, to be opening presents while that little girl had just stood by and watched. So she’d spent about two hundred bucks on some random things that were now just going to sit there.
“ Yes ,” she said. “ They’re wrapped up under the tree right now. Why ?”
“ Do you think you can bring them all over?” I asked, then went into detail about what had happened over the last couple of days.
“ That’s amazing,” she said. “ And it’s really super incredible how you almost knew that you were going to be choosing those presents for Anleigh .”
“ I know,” I said softly.
“ Since , technically, you bought these presents, I don’t see why I can’t bring them over for her.” She paused. “ What about a present for Merriam ?”
I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.
“ I figured she would understand,” I admitted. “ I’m making her pumpkin pie, though.”
“ Eww .” Noel chuckled. “ I have something that might work. And I’ll call Ginger and Chris . They always have extra gifts for their in-laws in case the out-of-country ones manage to come home.”
“ Perfect ,” I said. “ Thanks , Noel .”
The door opened, and a billow of steam came out with Merriam as she entered the room, fully dressed in a comfortable-looking pair of leggings and one of my sweatshirts that looked woefully oversized on her.
“ You’re welcome,” she said. “ Love ya! See you in a few!”
After hanging up, I said, “ My sister is overly excited about meeting you.”
Merriam flushed. “ That makes me really nervous.”
“ My family is really chill,” I said. “ You’ll like them. I guarantee it. Grams raised us to be awesome.”
She giggled.
A whisper of “ Mama ” had her looking over at Anleigh , who was just now walking into the room from her night of sleep.
“ Hey , my baby,” she said as she walked to her and lifted her into her arms. “ Merry Christmas .”
Anleigh hugged her mother, and my heart did this weird melty thing at the sight of the two of them in the middle of my apartment.
I liked having them there.
Even more, I liked that I wasn’t alone on Christmas and that she’d come to me yesterday.
Fuck , I hoped that I could make myself worthy of her trust in me.
“ Merry Cwissmas ,” Anleigh whispered.
So freakin’ sweet.
“ How are you today? Feeling okay?” I asked as I walked up to the pair of beautiful ladies and pressed the back of my hand against Anleigh’s head.
“ Okay ,” she said.
“ Do you want anything to drink?”
“ Milk ,” she replied sweetly.
Damn , if I wasn’t careful, the little girl would wrap me around her little finger.
“ I have chocolate milk and regular milk,” I said. “ Chocolate is my favorite.”
I always made sure to have it on hand for when I wanted it.
It was one “bad” for me food item that I could explain away as being great for the protein factor.
In reality, it was full of sugar and chocolate, and it was one of my only indulgences.
“ Choccate ,” she answered, holding her hand out to me.
I took her hand and kissed it before heading into the kitchen for drinks.
“ What about you, Mom ?” I called out. “ I have coffee, hot chocolate, and both types of milk.”
“ I’ll have what everyone else is having,” she said. “ Anleigh got her love for sweets from me. Chocolate milk is a must-have when you’re dealing with my sweet tooth.”
I had the refrigerator open and the chocolate milk in hand when Christoper knocked on the doorjamb and said, “ Knock -knock.”
I lifted a brow at him. “ What if we’d been indecent?”
“ With a child?” He rolled his eyes. “ That frisky business comes to an end when you have kids.”
The cute little thing next to me snorted. “ Please don’t think that when your child comes into the world. It’s not fair to either one of you.”
“ Agreed ,” Neesha said. “ Chris thinks that we’re about to have our sex lives”—she glanced at Anleigh who looked completely absorbed in drinking her milk—“come to an end as we know it.”
“ I mean, it’ll change, sure.” Merriam shrugged. “ But it’s one of those things where you just have to find time.”
I wondered if she’d been with anyone since she’d had Anleigh .
By the way she acted, I assumed not.
Which had my chest puffing out a little bit.
“ What are…”
The door to the apartment slammed open, and I rolled my eyes to the ceiling.
“ Haven’t you ever heard of a doorbell?” I called out.
“ No ,” Ginger said. “ And I’m soaked. Back out of the way. What …”
She trailed off when Merriam popped out from behind me to get a look at who was forcing their way into my apartment.
“ I’m gonna change my code,” I said to no one in particular.
“ You should,” she said. “ Hi , I’m Ginger . This is my husband, Jones . And you are…”
She took my sister’s hand and said, “ I’m Merriam . This is my daughter, Anleigh .”
“ Oh !” She slapped her forehead. “ I should’ve guessed. You’re all Jer’s been talking about since he first saw you.”
My cheeks flushed as Merriam’s eyes came to my face.
“ That makes me…uncomfortably happy to think about,” she admitted. “ I’ve done nothing but think about him since I’d met him, too.”
Ginger giggled and patted my cheek, then looked at Anleigh in Merriam’s arms before saying, “ Well aren’t you a gorgeous little thing?”
“ Tanks .” Anleigh flushed just like her mama.
“ So sweet,” she said. “ Jones , go put all those presents by the tree. I’m gonna get started on breakfast. Noel , Kyle , the kids, and Grams should be here any second.”
I offered to take Anleigh from Merriam , and before she could say yes or no, she leaned toward me.
I took her, curling her up into my arms, and said, “ Let’s go have a seat. Ginger’s a chef, and she doesn’t like anyone messing with her flow.”
“ You mean, she gets grouchy when you get in her way.” Neesha giggled as she took the seat beside the Christmas tree. “ I love this chair.”
“ You should get one for the baby’s room,” I suggested. “ You don’t have a chair yet, right?”
“ No .” She ran her hand over the soft faux fur. “ It’s pretty, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to get out of it after I give birth.”
“ That’s important,” Merriam said as she took the seat closest to Neesha . I took the one next to her, and Jones took the one opposite of us.
“ Really ?” Neesha asked, looking nervous. “ I’m pretty green when it comes to kids. I’ve taken care of the nieces and all, but they were already mostly out of diapers when I did. I’m just gone a whole lot, thanks to my running schedule.”
“ Oh , yeah,” she said. “ Are you breastfeeding?”
Conversation flowed, and all of us chimed in from time to time.
At one point, Anleigh crawled out of my lap and into Neesha’s , but only because she was closest to the tree, which she had an intense fascination with.
Noel and her family arrived with Grams on their heels, and everyone poured into the kitchen, bearing gifts.
“ Is this normal to do gifts here this early? Do y’all open gifts with your family first?” Merriam wondered.
“ No ,” Kyle answered for them. “ We usually head to all the family’s houses first. Get those finished up. Then we open our Christmas with the girls at the end of the day, so they get gifts all day long, and we’re not rushed to open and bolt. This way, they get to enjoy everything, and we get to put all the crap together without having somewhere to go in twenty minutes.”
Merriam laughed at that.
“ Pretty ,” I heard Anleigh whisper to Cammie , who was about four years older than her.
Cammie held out the Christmas doll and said, “ You can play with it.”
Anleigh took it, eyes wide.
I watched her avidly, loving how everyone was making an effort to play with her.
Cammie and Jessa were the eldest at six and five. Then came Winnie at three and a half. Anleigh was by far the youngest, but she seemed to integrate herself in well with my nieces to the point where they were all giggling, playing around the Christmas tree by the time that Ginger announced breakfast was finished.
“ Oh ,” Grams said as she caught Anleigh’s hand. “ I suggest you start with the cinnamon roll first.”
Anleigh giggled and walked with my grams into the kitchen.
Merriam fell into step beside me and said, “ Should I take your grandmother’s advice?”
“ Grams is a sugar fiend, remember?” I laughed. “ She’s really a bad influence.”
“ I heard that, young man. It’s never a bad thing to have dessert first,” she countered my words.
“ I think I might take her advice,” Merriam said as she took in the cinnamon rolls, her eyes comically wide. “ Those look like ones you see on food shows.”
“ Ginger has a restaurant that won a Michelin Star . She only serves breakfast,” Jones said proudly, puffing out his chest. “ She’s the best baker around.”
“ I can’t wait to try everything.” Merriam licked her lips, making me want to do the same.
Breakfast commenced, and I had to admit, even not being a sugar guy like I was, Ginger had outdone herself on the cinnamon rolls.
“ This is amazing.” Merriam stared at the last bite of her roll. “ I’m going to throw up. I’m miserable.”
She took the last bite anyway, then fell back onto the couch with a groan.
Everyone laughed, including the kids.
“ Mama ,” Anleigh whispered. “ Twee ?”
I stood up and offloaded my plate, leaving it for later after the presents were open.
Everyone did the same except for Merriam , who started to dig into the dishes.
“ No ,” Grams said as she caught her hand. “ We’ll do those in a while. Right now is for presents.”
“ It’s okay. Anleigh and I can get these knocked out while y’all open…” She trailed off when Grams started to tug her into the living room.
I was happy to find that the new furniture that Ginger had forced me to purchase was being put to use.
The huge sectional couch had, of course, been used. But not all of it like right now.
Even the chair next to the tree was being taken up, this time by Neesha and Anleigh .
Anleigh was sitting between Neesha’s legs, her hand on Neesha’s belly.
Neesha picked up Anleigh’s little hand and pressed it down in a different spot.
When I assumed the baby kicked, Anleigh picked her head up in awe.
“ That’s adorable,” Grams whispered.
“ Agreed ,” I murmured.
A quick vision assaulted me of Anleigh doing the same to Merriam when she was pregnant with my baby.
It was so desperately wanted that I stopped walking and just took that vision into my soul.
Yes , I could definitely get down with having Merriam be permanently mine.
“ Come on.” Grams patted the seat next to her. “ Sit down. Trust me.”
Merriam sat, and I grinned at the hesitant way that she did it.
Walking farther into the room, I headed to the first pile of presents and started to hand them out.
The first present that Anleigh got, Merriam frowned.
The first present that Merriam got, her breath caught.
As the presents started to flow, and the pile at the end of the chair that Neesha was sitting at started to grow, I could see the tears begin to well in Merriam’s eyes.
She looked at me, and I could tell that she was overwhelmed.
I cupped her cheek, swept my thumb over her cheek for a second, then went back to passing out presents.
Once they were all handed out, the wrapping paper started to fly.
The first gift I opened was from Chris .
My mouth dropped when I saw the canvas photo.
“ Don’t know why, but I got it because I loved it, and felt like it’d look great on your wall,” he said. “ I found it at a thrift store.”
It was an old black-and-white photo.
You could tell that it was old by the yellowing of the photo.
Someone had done some creative work on the photo itself, and somehow plastered it onto a canvas and given it a new life.
It was a photo of a man and a woman on a motorcycle.
They were both on the bike. The man was stopped in front of a mountain overlook. From the back, you could see the woman had her arms thrown around the man’s shoulders. The man had both hands on the handlebars, feet planted on the ground on either side of the bike, and he was looking up at the woman.
Neither one was wearing a helmet, so the woman’s blonde hair was a tangled mess behind her. The man’s hair was short, but his beard was impressive.
I loved it.
“ I love it,” I told my brother.
He winked when he tore into his own gift. “ I’m glad.”
My eyes went to the chair across the room where Anleigh was sitting with a mountain of gifts in front of her.
Neesha was bent forward—as best as she could with how pregnant she was—helping Anleigh tear into her presents.
Only when she’d gotten the hang of it did she lean back and open her own.
I grinned as I stood next to Chris , absently watching instead of opening our presents.
I noticed that someone else wasn’t opening any of hers, either.
Merriam’s eyes were entirely focused on her daughter as she blissfully opened her presents, her eyes so wide and excitement bubbling.
But still, I could see the tears in her eyes, too.
Just like her mama.
I walked over to Anleigh , helping her open her next one.
I grinned when I saw what it was.
A Christmas blanket.
“ So pwetty,” she whispered.
I ran my hand over it. “ Very soft, too.”
She hugged it to her chest, and those silent tears started to fall.
I reached for her and pulled her into my arms.
Then I turned for her mother and pulled her into my arms, too.
The people around us went silent as the two ladies in my arms had their quiet breakdowns.
Only when I was sure that they were both okay did I pull back and say, “ That’s some blanket.”
Merriam started to giggle. Anleigh took my joke seriously and nodded her head.
I ripped the tags off of it, spread it out, then wrapped it around her.
“ Christmas colors look good on you, Annie ,” I teased.
She beamed.
I walked back to Neesha , who was also now crying, and winked at her before grabbing the rest of Anleigh’s unopened presents and brought them to Merriam , who now had Anleigh on her lap.
“ Why don’t you sit down here with me,” I suggested. “ Let your mama open her presents?”
“ Yeah .” She threw herself into my arms.
Merriam watched me for a solid minute before she tentatively reached for her stack.
She carefully ripped the paper open and revealed a scarf.
“ Oh ,” she said as she ran her hand over it.
“ That’s from me!” Grams said. “ I wrapped it last night when I heard you’d be here. I’ve been wanting to give it to you since I moved in!”
Merriam ran her hands over the cashmere fabric before smiling at Grams and saying, “ I love it.”
Anleigh and I opened the rest of her gifts as Merriam opened hers.
Between the two of them, they had a pretty good haul.
We were lost in wrapping paper and gifts when there was an interruption.
“ Hey , who opened my gag gift for Chris !” Noel called out, picking up the box of condoms that she’d gotten for Chris .
I’d left them on the floor next to the bed.
I’d had no clue that they were going to be found, though, since they’d fallen between the nightstand and the bed.
She looked over at Chris while Merriam and I looked at each other.
“ Wasn’t me,” Chris said.
They all looked to me as Kyle , Noel’s husband, said, “ Did you see that they were the gag ones? I thought they were hilarious with their already poked holes. You can practically see through them, according to the box. But I thought you’d get a giggle out of the fact that they tasted like Kool - Aid flavors.”
My stomach sank.
“ What ?” I asked.
“ They’re gag ones from Spencer’s ,” Kyle continued, not realizing what he’d just said.
Merriam swallowed hard as everyone started to laugh.
Everyone but the kids who had no clue what we were talking about, Merriam …and me.
I opened my mouth, then closed it, then started to laugh.
Merriam covered her face with her hand, dropped her head, and yep. She was totally laughing, too.
What the hell were the chances?
And what else could I do but laugh?
Merriam was still laughing when she tore into her next gift.
Her mouth fell open upon what she saw.
“ What is this?” I asked as I looked at the photo.
“ This is a canning cookbook,” my sister said. “ I just thought it was super cool because you could make all these recipes with banana bread, apple sauce, and all kinds of other things.”
I looked at Merriam , who was looking at me with wide eyes.
This was super weird.
First my photo from Chris that was of a man and a woman on a motorcycle, and now this.
It was like the universe was sending us all kinds of signs.