48. Aubree
A WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS
FORTY-EIGHT
I’m exhausted. Baked out. If I never see or smell another sweet, I’ll be completely okay with that, I think as I step out of the elevator and into the foyer.
Before I can call out that I’m home, I notice something that wasn’t there when I left this morning—Santa Claus. I walk over to it, and it starts swinging its hips, singing “Jingle Bells.” I screech in shock and jump back. What in the actual hell?
I step toward it again, and it starts up again. It must have a motion detector. Where the hell did that thing even come from?
“Bree? You home?” Hayden calls out from somewhere.
“Yeah,” I shout back, stepping away from the creepy Santa and heading into the living room. “Do you know why—?” My words are cut off when my eyes land on the beautifully decorated Christmas tree that’s taking up a large section of the living room.
From there, I notice stockings hanging from the fireplace, each with an initial on the front. And next to the tree, hanging on the wall, are several Christmas coloring pages.
My thoughts go back to the last time we celebrated Christmas when Pete was alive. After the kids woke up, before we started opening presents, Pete insisted on taking a family picture using the self-timer on his phone. It’s the picture the kids keep by their bed. The four of us and in the background is the Christmas tree, the stockings, and the kids’ Christmas pictures they colored and hung on the wall. This room looks like our family Christmas picture on steroids.
“Why would you do this?” I choke out, fully aware that I’m crying, but it doesn’t make any sense. Why would the guys take that picture and do this? They’ve never once tried to recreate what Pete and I had.
“Oh, shit,” Brody curses under his breath. “Bree…”
“Why?” I cry out. “Why would you take that photo and recreate it? I don’t understand.”
Hayden and Brody look at me with confused expressions, and then my eyes go to Evie, who has silent tears sliding down her face.
“Oh, sweetie.” I run over to her and pull her into my arms. “Are you okay?” I glance up at Brody and Hayden and glare. “What is wrong with you?”
“They didn’t do it,” Evie says softly.
“What?” I ask, confused.
“They didn’t do it,” she repeats, her cries getting louder. “I did.” She pulls out of my arms. “I’m so sorry, Mommy,” she says through her tears. “I just wanted to make Christmas happy again like in the picture. Because you’re always sad on Christmas since Daddy died.”
Oh, my heart. I wrap my arms around her and hold her tightly, hating that my children have suffered because I’ve been so busy mourning my late husband. I had assumed because their father died on Christmas, they would hate the holiday too, but they’re little and innocent. This entire time, they’ve been going along with my lack of Christmas for me because I was sad.
I look over and find Miles standing to the side, watching. “I tried to tell her no, but she wouldn’t listen,” he says solemnly.
“Are you mad at me?” Evie asks.
“No, sweetie. I’m not mad,” I say, needing to make this right. “I love the tree and the stockings and your beautiful pictures.” I look at Evie and smile. “You’re right. This all makes me very happy, just like in the picture.”
“You promise?” Evie asks.
“Yes.” I walk over to the tree and run my fingers along the various ornaments I can tell the kids picked out, which reminds me… “I’ll be right back.”
I run into Hayden’s bedroom, which is now the guest room and houses several of my unpacked boxes. I rifle through them until I find what I’m looking for, and then head back to the living room, where I find everyone sitting quietly, worried because I freaked out and scared that I was upset.
“These are from when your dad was alive,” I say, handing the box to Evie. She opens it up and inside there are ornaments. “This was our first family ornament,” I tell her.
“It has all our names,” she says, smiling at me. “Even Daddy’s.”
“Yep. And this one”—I pull it out and hand it to Miles—“is your first Christmas ornament.”
He takes it from me and looks at it. “I don’t remember these,” he says softly.
“No, you were too little. But every year, we would buy a new ornament for Christmas to hang on the tree. I saved these for you guys.”
“This is mine?” Evie asks, taking the princess crown ornament out of the box.
“Yep, that was your first ornament.”
“Can I hang it on the tree?” she asks.
“Of course, you can.”
She eyes the family one. “What about this one?”
“That should definitely go on the tree,” I tell her. “That way, it will be like your dad is with us for Christmas.”
The kids take the ornaments over to the tree, and while I watch them hang them up, Brody and Hayden come over, wrapping their arms around me.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I shouldn’t have accused?—”
“Shh, sweetness,” Brody says. “I should’ve asked you first. It’s just, Evie looked at me and…”
“She totally gave you the puppy dog eyes,” I say with a laugh.
“Yeah,” Brody groans.
“Well, it’s a good thing she didn’t say she wants a damn car,” I mutter.
When neither guy says anything, I glance at them and notice their guilty expressions. “She didn’t ask for a car, right?”
“No,” both guys say in unison.
“Mommy, can we finish decorating the tree?” Evie asks, hopefulness filled in her eyes.
“Absolutely.” I stand and walk over to join them. We spend the next hour decorating the rest of the tree while we listen to Christmas music. Once it’s done, Evie turns the lights on and squeals over how beautiful it is.
“Can we watch a Christmas movie?” she asks, clearly in the holiday spirit.
“Sure,” I tell her.
We pile onto the couches, and Brody clicks on Netflix. As he’s scrolling through the different Christmas movies, I notice six stockings hanging on the fireplace instead of five. One of which has a paw print on it.
“Why does that stocking have a paw print?” I lean in and whisper to Hayden.
When he doesn’t say anything after several seconds, Miles answers for him. “That would be for the puppy Evie asked Santa for.”
Bonus scene
Aubree
“Do you think there’s something wrong with me?”
Hayden and Brody glance up from their phones and put them away to give me their full attention.
“What are you talking about?” Brody asks.
“It’s been six months since I got off birth control and I’m still not pregnant.” The doctor said it can take time for my cycles to adjust since I’d been on birth control for so many years, but I thought I’d be pregnant by now.
“Hey, come here.” Hayden leans over and grabs my hand. He pulls me down onto the bed between them and they both roll over so they’re facing me.
Since we’re in Paris for a month, instead of booking a hotel room, the guys rented a house so we’d be more comfortable. The kids each have their own rooms and the three of us share one room with a California King bed.
“I guess I thought I’d be pregnant by now,” I murmur. “What if something’s wrong with me? Or I take so long getting pregnant the first time, I can’t do it again?”
“Stop it,” Brody says, turning my face toward him. “Sure, we’d love to watch you swollen with our baby, see a little mini version of us running around …”
“Can you imagine a mini version of Brody?” Hayden chuckles. “God help us all.”
Brody glares, making me laugh.
“We’re already a family,” Brody continues. “You, me, Hayden, Miles, and Evie. And if that’s all we ever have, that’s enough for me.”
“And me,” Hayden adds. “And if you do get pregnant, regardless of whose DNA it has, it will be all of ours.”
“We love you,” Brody says. “And as long as you’re by our side, we’ll take you however we can get you.”
“And look at the bright side,” Hayden adds. “The longer it takes, the longer we get to work on making a baby with you.”
“Hell yeah,” Brody agrees, getting up and moving so he’s between my legs.
He hooks his thumbs into my panties and pulls them down my legs, then spreads my thighs so I’m completely exposed to him.
“Hey, Hayden.” Brody smirks. “I noticed you didn’t have any dessert earlier at dinner. I was thinking we could split this delicious piece of pussy.”
“Fuck yeah,” Hayden says. “And after we eat it, we can fill it with some cream … make it even sweeter.”
I can’t help but snort out a laugh. I was in such a somber mood tonight, but like always, my husbands know just what to say to make me feel better.
Brody drops down and, without wasting any time, starts to lick up my slit while Hayden works on pulling my nightgown over my head.
He pulls on my nipples, knowing how much it turns me on while Brody eats me out. Within minutes, I’m screaming out my orgasm, and before I’ve even had time to come down, Brody is entering me in one fluid motion while Hayden leans down and kisses me.
Brody fucks with slow and deep movements, hitting the spot that will no doubt send me over the edge again, but before I can find my release, he finishes and pulls out, so Hayden can have his turn.
Thankfully, he picks up right where Brody left off, and with his hard and quick thrusts, he sends me flying high, following along with me.
When he pulls out, I’m about to close my legs so I can go to the bathroom to get cleaned up, but Hayden pushes my legs back open.
“You feel this?” he says, pushing their cum inside of me with his eyes locked on mine. “That’s us inside you. Right where we belong.” Hayden smirks. “And it’s where we’ll be every damn day for the rest of our lives. You’re all we want …”
“And you’re all we need,” Brody adds, leaning over and kissing me. “Everything else is just a bonus.”