Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Christmas music played softly, and Fox and his team waited anxiously for the door to open and their friends and families to walk through.
Every one of them hoped that their friends faces showed wide shocked smiles, and even though Angelica and Oscar were only young and didn’t really understand all that was going on, they would also be delighted with the lights twinkling around the room.
“A car just pulled up,” Jag called from his spot by the door.
“Will you fucking move, you look like a creepy grandma waiting for her favorite grandson to turn up.” Deal shook his head and moved toward the tree.
“Simmer down, this is a happy occasion. Remember why we did it,” Fox admonished his teammates.
The door opened and immediately the four of them called out. “Merry Christmas!”
“Oh my God, this is so wonderful.” Eveline walked in, and as they hoped, her eyes were wide with surprise, and a beautiful smile lit her face. Behind her stood Ox with Oscar in his arms. Their yelling didn’t scare the boy, in fact, he had the same enchanted look as his mother on his face.
Ox didn’t say anything, and Fox suspected, like Irish, he knew they were behind the invitation. Whether that knowledge came from Irish himself, or Ox had worked it out himself, didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they were there, and they could celebrate the evening with family.
Ox’s arrival marked the beginning of everyone else turning up.
The noise level in the room rose. Both Angelica and Oscar were fascinated with the tree and every time their parents walked away from it, they both got a little upset, until it came time for dinner, when they were happy to sit in their highchairs with one of small tabletop Christmas trees close to them to gaze at.
Fox looked around at everyone seated at the table. Irish caught his eye and gave him a chin lift, as if to say, good job. Fox inclined his head in acknowledgement.
The servers from the caterers came out and placed two large platters of carved turkey and ham, along with various sides, in the middle of the tables. It looked and smelled delicious, and Fox couldn’t wait to dive in.
Fox tapped his wine glass with his fork, wanting to say something before they started serving themselves. The conversation stopped and everyone looked in his direction. “I know you’re all anxious to eat, but if you could indulge me a couple of minutes, I’d really appreciate it.”
“Floor’s yours,” Ox said.
“Thanks. I know that you probably all had an idea that we were behind the invitations. I admit we weren’t that clever in being stealthy, but we,” he looked at his fellow friends, “are very glad that you took a chance and accepted our invite. The reason for this dinner is in part to celebrate the season, but also to thank you for accepting us into your family. Ox, we know introducing four new members to your already tight knit community was a leap of faith. We thank you for believing in us, and for allowing us to join you. Jag, Hound, Deal, and I are very grateful for the opportunity. This is our way of saying thank you, and that we are honored to be part of the Alliez family, and we can’t wait to help build it into a bigger and better company than it already is. Merry Christmas.”
For a couple of heartbeats, no one said anything, before Ox stood, with his glass raised in the air.
“While we may have figured out that you were up to something, what you’ve done here tonight is more than what anyone of us expected.
We’re so very glad to have you as part of our family, along with Julian.
The future looks bright for all of us. Merry Christmas. ”
Everyone raised their glasses, and a chorus of ‘Merry Christmas’ sounded, and the babies hit their hands on the tables of their highchairs in excitement, not wanting to be left out.
As they all sat and helped themselves to food, chatter started up, and Fox and his teammates shared a look, all of them extremely glad they’d landed where they had.
THE END
Thanks for reading this Operation Keeping Christmas.