Epilogue
The Christmas designs were gone from Justin’s skin when he woke up on Christmas morning. He was sleeping naked, and it was one of the first things he noticed. For a moment, he stared at his chest, mourning them.
When they’d started to appear, he’d known Calyx was involved.
The designs had been a sign that his brother remembered him and cared about him.
That wouldn’t change just because they weren’t there anymore, but still.
Justin was going to miss them. Maybe he would go and get them tattooed.
Maybe he could ask Calyx to find a way to make them permanent.
He wasn’t sure it would be possible, but it was worth a try.
It wasn’t something he needed to think about today. No, today, he got to think about his brothers and spend the day with them. Now that he and Mynor had had a couple of days to rest, Justin felt ready to face whatever the world threw at him.
He just hoped it wouldn’t be too much since it was Christmas Day.
He pushed the blankets away, disturbing Mynor, who grumbled. He opened one eye, took a look at Justin’s face, and sighed. “What kind of strange tradition do we have to follow now?” he asked.
“Christmas breakfast,” Justin told him, beaming. “Calyx and Caitlin always took care of it. Caitlin died before Christmas last year, so we skipped last year. I want to make this year good for all of us, but especially Calyx.”
“I’m pretty sure that just you being here is making it good for him.”
“I know, but I want to do more. He saved us. He pulled us out of that cell.”
Mynor rolled his eyes, but he also nodded, which was all Justin needed. He knew that Mynor would follow him anywhere, including downstairs to the kitchen.
To Justin’s surprise, they weren’t the first there when they entered the room.
Shelby was standing in front of the stove, staring at it as if he expected it to cook on its own.
From the looks of it, he was trying to make breakfast, but since he was even worse than Justin at cooking, it probably wasn’t a great idea.
“What are you doing?” Justin asked.
Shelby squeaked and turned around quickly. He bumped into a metal bowl he had on the counter, and the thing fell to the floor, making enough noise to wake up an entire cemetery of dead people.
Shelby grimaced and picked up the bowl. “I was going to cook breakfast.”
“Were you, or were you going to set the kitchen on fire?” Yancey asked as he walked in, Travis trailing behind him.
Shelby glared. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s not supposed to be. I don’t think anyone wants to spend Christmas in the hospital. Maybe it’s best if I cook breakfast.”
Shelby snorted. “No, thank you. I remember all too well what happened the last time you cooked.”
They’d all ended up with food poisoning, so Justin agreed.
Thankfully, reminding Yancey of that experience seemed to be enough.
He flopped into one of the chairs, looking unhappy but not arguing.
Travis had questions about the food poisoning episode, and it was funny to watch Yancey try to explain it in a way that didn’t put him in a bad light.
Breakfast was in the hands of Justin and Shelby. Justin wasn’t sure it was a good thing, but he was going to try his best. How hard could it be? “What were you planning on making?” he asked Shelby.
“Pancakes. I found Caitlin’s recipe.”
“Let’s do that.”
They got all the ingredients together into the bowl and mixed them. It looked fine until they got the first pancake in the pan. Justin wasn’t sure what went wrong, but the thing wouldn’t budge so they couldn’t flip it. He poked at it, Shelby right next to him, looking as confused as Justin felt.
“What’s going on?” Calyx asked.
Justin jumped a little because he hadn’t heard his brother come in, and Mynor was there, gently touching his arm to make sure that he was okay. He was until Shelby shrieked like a banshee, making him jump again.
“Merry Christmas!” Shelby yelled as he threw himself into Calyx’s arms.
“Merry Christmas. What’s happening?”
“Well, you organized everything else, so we thought we’d help you with breakfast this morning,” Travis explained. “Merry Christmas.”
The man hadn’t done anything but distract Yancey, but it was a worthy contribution.
“To you, too, but you didn’t have to do this,” Calyx said.
“We did,” Yancey told him.
Justin had no idea what had happened between these two while he was gone, but he needed them to kiss and make up so they could have a good Christmas.
He watched as Yancey got up and moved toward Calyx. Justin held his breath, remembering all too well what had happened last year, but thankfully, Yancey seemed to have gotten over his dickhead personality.
“Merry Christmas,” he murmured.
Calyx beamed. “Merry Christmas.”
Justin was relieved when Yancey pulled Calyx into a hug. They’d made peace. Justin had always known they would, but it was good to see, especially today of all days. They were a family, and they’d always have each other, even when they argued and stopped talking for almost a year.
“The pancake!” Shelby exclaimed.
Griffith pushed Justin out of the way to grab the pan. Justin was happy to be allowed to step away—right into Mynor’s arms. Mynor pulled him close and glared at the stove, and Justin sighed in happiness.