Chapter Six
Aries
“Mama!” Aries raced to the front door before his mama had gotten all the way inside.
“Baby!” She dropped her bag to open her arms for him.
He threw himself into her arms. It had been forever since he’d seen his parents.
Okay, maybe not that long. They’d come to check on him after the injury.
But it was still longer than he had ever been away from her.
Even in college, she would drive up for all their games since they’d only been a few hours away.
“My turn!” Nix bitched from behind him. “Move, brat.”
His mama released Aries and pushed him toward his stepfather before she pulled Nix close. That was fine. He didn’t need all his mama’s attention. Aries moved to hug his father.
His dad did give the best hugs.
Aries buried his face in his father’s shoulder. Now all of his family was there, so it could be the perfect Christmas. He pulled back to grin up at his dad. “Glad you finally arrived.”
His father nodded. “Your mom was determined. You know we would never miss a holiday with our boys if we can help it.”
He bounced. “Did she bring them?”
“Of course she did. White suitcase,” his father replied.
Aries turned and nearly ran into Nix. “She brought them!”
Nix rolled his eyes. “Did you think she wouldn’t?”
Aries scowled at his brother as Nix went to hug their father.
“Where’s Gem?” their mama demanded.
“Right here.” Gem walked down the staircase toward them. “I just thought I’d let Aries and Nix fight over who got to hug you first. I didn’t want to get trampled.”
Ignoring the teasing, Aries dropped to his knees in front of the white suitcase his father had wheeled in.
“What are you doing?” Vin asked, leaning over him.
His mama had Evan wrapped up in a tight hug. At least he was properly distracted.
“Did you hug my mama?” Aries asked.
“What are you up to?” Vin demanded. “And yes, I greeted both of your parents.”
Dang! Aries was hoping to pull out the surprise without Vin noticing. “Nothing,” Aries lied. He laid his hand over the zipper of the suitcase.
Vin narrowed his eyes. “I think you can wait a few minutes to see what your mom brought you.”
But it wasn’t for him! No, this surprise was for Vin and Evan. His parents’ way of welcoming them to the family. “But—”
“I’ll take your bags upstairs,” Gem offered. “Let Nix show you the house.”
“It’s so gorgeous,” his mama said. “I would love a tour. And did you do the decorating, Nix? Excellent job, son.”
Nix began talking to his mom about all the decorating he’d done, including how tricky it had been to get all the boxes delivered in time. Still kneeling, Aries peered up at Vin, hoping his Daddy would follow along with his mama.
His mama spotted him and smiled. “Ah, thank you, Aries. You can carry that one wherever the tree is.”
“There are trees everywhere,” Gem stated with a snort as he started to carry their parents’ suitcases up the stairs.
“The main tree,” Nix drawled, while walking arm is arm with their mom. “It’s in the sitting room.”
“I’ll get it.” Vin lifted the suitcase with his left hand while offering Aries his right.
Aries climbed to his feet, eyeing the bag. Not that he thought it would explode open, but he really wanted to be the one that showed Vin. And Evan. His mama had been thrilled with Aries’s idea.
Dragging his feet, Aries was the one that had to follow.
Gem had disappeared upstairs as Nix led the way into the sitting room that they’d been hanging out in for most of the day.
Once they’d gotten a text from their mom that she was less than ten minutes from the house, Vin had helped Aries clean up his toys.
Aries loved his hockey action figures. They were the best present that he had ever gotten.
Aries hadn’t wanted to stop playing. He just wasn’t quite ready to share that part of himself with his parents.
Vin had assured Aries that he understood.
Aries still felt bad since it wasn’t something that he was ashamed of.
He loved being little. Finding out that age regression existed opened so many doors for him.
And Vin was the perfect Daddy for him. Aries could regress naturally because Vin was always there to make sure that Aries was in a safe space.
He didn’t think that his parents would judge them. His mama was the most nonjudgmental person he knew. Both Gem and Nix assured Aries that it was fine whether he shared it or not. Aries still didn’t know what to do.
They reached what Nix called the sitting room. It was basically a living area with a comfortable couch and cozy chairs. A mantel decorated with a North Pole village. A fire blazed in the hearth. And an enormous Christmas tree was decorated to the nines.
Nix pulled their mom down on the couch next to him, Evan sat in one chair and their dad in another.
“Just put that on the coffee table, please, Vin,” his mom directed. “Aries knows what to do.”
Vin appeared to be confused but did as told.
Aries strolled to Vin’s side and patted his back. “It’s a surprise.”
“A surprise for who?” he asked suspiciously.
“You!” Aries said with a grin. “And Evan.”
“Don’t bring me into this,” Evan stated as he carried over a metal decorative piece with hooks.
Aries turned on his brother. “You told him!”
Nix shrugged. “I had to. He was going to buy some.”
“Buy?” Aries was scandalized. You couldn’t just go around buying stuff when it came to holiday traditions.
“I know!” Nix exclaimed. “So I had to tell him.”
“Fine.” Aries turned back toward the suitcase.
“What exactly is happening here?” Vin questioned.
Well, at least Aries would be able to surprise someone with his awesome idea. Dropping to his knees, Aries once again reached for the zipper.
Vin took several steps back, making Aries pause.
“It’s fine, man.” Gem patted Vin’s shoulder as he entered the room and walked toward the couch. “Nothing to be afraid of.”
“I don’t know about that,” Vin responded. “Anything that Aries and Nix conspired together to do has me worried.”
Gem barked out a laugh while nodding. “That’s fair.”
“It’s nothing bad, D— dang.” Aries very nearly called Vin Daddy. He tucked his chin into his chest. This was hard. Harder than he thought it would be.
Nix suddenly started to talk very loudly, drawing their mom and dad’s attention to him.
Behind him, Vin crouched, pulling Aries back against his wide chest.
“It’s okay,” Vin soothed. “No one noticed.”
“But I almost—”
“It would have been fine if you did. Remember everyone here loves you,” Vin said.
“I know,” Aries admitted quietly.
“So what secret have you been keeping from me?” Vin asked.
Turning his head to smile, Aries tried to assure his Daddy that there really wasn’t anything to worry about. “It was a good secret.”
Vin nodded. “Okay, I’ll trust you.”
Aries started to unzip the suitcase. He pushed the top over, banging it against the wood. “Oops!”
“It’s fine,” Evan said from his chair. “It would take a lot more than that to damage the wood. I repurposed that from a fallen log up the mountain.”
“Isn’t he the best?” Nix said dreamily.
Aries thought his Daddy was the best but decided to keep that to himself. Evan was cool and nice and perfect for Nix. Vin was simply better than the best. Aries started to dig through the suitcase looking for the surprise.
He pushed a familiar white bag to the side without saying a word. Of course his mama had brought that. Gem was going to be so annoyed. He finally found what he was looking for at the bottom of the suitcase.
Aries grabbed the surprises in his hands and pulled them out before tucking them into his chest.
“Close your eyes?” he ordered Vin.
“Why?” Again, the suspicion was strong.
Aries kissed his Daddy’s cheek. “Please?”
Vin sighed but did close his eyes.
Aries had to wiggle from between the coffee table and Vin’s bigger body.
“Where are you going?” Vin demanded, shooting out his hand and capturing Aries’s wrist.
Luckily, it wasn’t the hand holding the surprise.
“I’ll be right back,” Aries assured him. “I have to put your surprise up.”
Vin released his wrist.
Aries rushed over to the mantel where Evan had put the stocking holder on the edge.
“I want to help!” Nix ran over.
“Okay.” He glanced over at Gem.
“This is all you two,” Gem told him.
Aries shrugged. Gem was so boring! He didn’t even know how to have fun.
Nix grabbed several of the homemade stockings out of Aries’s hands and started to link them to the hooks.
His mama sewed so good!
They all had custom stockings and now so did Vin and Evan. Because they were part of the family. But stockings were special and just couldn’t be bought at a store. It meant much more when they were handmade. Like his mama had always done.
Aries still remembered the first Christmas before his parents were married when they added their stepfather’s stocking to the line. His mama had spent two weeks sewing the stocking. It was the first time that he’d seen his stepfather cry.
At that moment, Aries had been looking forward to adding his own partner’s stocking one day. And that day had finally arrived.
He stepped back to admire the seven stockings that hung on the mantel.
Beside him, Nix was dancing around, but Aries frowned.
Something wasn’t right.
“Dance with me!” Nix grabbed his hand.
“No!” Aries yanked his hand away.
“Uh.” Nix pulled Aries to his side. “What’s wrong?”
“Doesn’t look right,” Aries insisted.
“You, me, Gem, Vin, Evan, Mom, and Dad. That’s everyone,” Nix said.
“Daddy should be next to me!” Aries whispered frantically. “He needs to be!” It wasn’t right. Vin, even just his name, shouldn’t be so far away. With people between them. They needed to fix it.
“I gotcha!” Nix said with a little wiggle. He quickly changed the order.
Aries, Vin, Nix, Evan, Gem, Mom, and Dad.
“Looks good.” Gem joined them, putting one arm around Aries’s shoulders and the other over Nix’s.
“Yeah?” Aries peered up at Gem. “Really?”
“Just the way it should be,” Gem told him.
“I agree,” Nix said.
Aries, Vin, Nix, Evan, Gem, Mom, and Dad.