26. Atlas
26
atlas
Thankfully, Theo was an early riser. He kept Sol occupied with some morning chores as I snuck in with Nova and held her for a little bit. Sneaking around was proving to be difficult when all I wanted to do was snuggle up to Nova every night.
Someone knocked on the door. “Momma, Merry Christmas!”
We sat up quickly as Nova pushed me and I rolled off before Sol barged into the room.
“Hey, Sweetheart,” Nova said, with a little panic in her voice. “Merry Christmas.”
“I’ve waited and I can’t wait anymore,” Sol squealed. “Hurry up.”
“Sorry, sneaky girl asked for a snack and took off,” Theo said as he walked into the room.
“It’s eight thirty, I've waited long enough,” Sol whined, and I almost laughed out loud.
“Well, you can only open Santa’s gifts and we have to wait for everyone else,” Nova said, getting off the bed.
“I’m going to wake up Colt and Atlas,” Sol said, jumping off the bed.
“Sol, let them sleep,” Nova scolded as she left the room.
“Coast is clear,” Theo said, speaking on my side.
“Damn, Theo, you almost got us caught,” I chuckled.
He wasn’t chuckling. “I’m wondering how much longer we are going to do this for?”
“What do you mean?” I took his hand as he helped me up.
“I don’t like lying to her.” He shrugged. “It feels wrong.”
“I never thought of it as lying to her,” I said, feeling a little guilty. “I see it as protecting her.”
Theo nodded, but he still looked uncomfortable. “I want to do right by that little girl.”
“I know, Babe,” I said, hugging him. “Maybe after Christmas we can talk about it and see how Nova feels about it.”
“Yeah, I'd like that,” he said, as we walked out to the living room.
Sol was bouncing up and down, talking to Nova about something. They looked over to me, smiling.
“Merry Christmas, Atty!” Sol ran to me, and I picked her up.
“Merry Christmas, Sunny,” I said, kissing her cheek.
I set her down to run back to Nova who blushed when we locked eyes.
“Alright, you can open Santa’s gift and that's it, we are going to wait for everyone else to wake up, ok?” Nova looked at Sol sternly.
“Hey, opening up Santa’s gift without me?” Colt walked in disheveled looking so damn gorgeous.
“Colty!!” Sol yelled, running to him and he caught her. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Sundae,” he said, giving her a big hug and carrying her back to the tree where we all sat on the floor.
He sat down with her, and she rushed to get her two presents from Santa. We tried to contribute to her Santa presents, but Nova said no. That just meant we put that money towards her gifts from us, with which we might have gone a little overboard. I never knew buying for a kid was so much fun.
Sol ripped the paper off her gifts like a feral little kitten, and I smiled when I saw what it was.
“Oh my god,” she squealed as Nova shushed her.
It was a Gabby doll house she had been talking about incessantly and the second gift was the little figurines. The guys and I had it built for her in less than thirty minutes when the rest of the Malones started to appear.
Iris and Jude, along with Webber, had stayed the night and I was grateful we had the game room that Jude and Webber stayed in. The living room was a mess as we all opened our presents with Sol getting the most, because everyone brought her something. Nova looked extremely happy as Sol opened one of her last gifts, which was a lavender cowboy hat and a leather vest.
“Guys.” Nova looked over at us and I pretended to be preoccupied with picking up wrapping paper. “That better not be what I think it is.”
“I’m gonna be a barrel racer momma!” Sol showed off her vest and hat looking adorable with it over her Christmas pjs.
“Oh, you are going to be the coolest barrel racer this side of Colorado has ever seen,” Webber said, giving her a high five.
“Damn straight,” she replied immediately, and I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped.
“Sol! Así no se habla,” Nova said, laughing too.
While Sol played with her many, many toys the rest of us finished opening our gifts. The daughter-safe presents were given to Nova including new shears she had been eyeing and a spa getaway.
“Webber, are you fucking kidding me?” Jude yelled. “How the hell did you manage to get these?”
Jude threw himself at Webber who laughed and gave him a hug. I watched them for a little while and each time I saw them together, I swore something more was going on, but Webber was a hockey player with a reputation. A part of me hoped it wasn’t just Jude in love with his best friend.
While they had their moment, the guys and I opened Nova’s present, who looked mighty nervous. Theo received new boots that were only to be worn outside of cowboy life. Colt opened an airbrush set he had been wanting to paint his motorcycle with. Nova gave me a small box that had a watch, but it wasn’t just any watch, it was a vintage Rolex with a leather band.
“Nova, this is too much,” I said, wondering how much she had shelled out for it.
“Actually, Sol found it when we went to an estate sale and it only needed a new battery,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “The guys at the jewelry store said it was in great condition.”
“How much did you pay for it?” I took it out and put it on.
“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.” She grinned. “Let's just say the lady had no idea what Rolex was or she thought it was a knock-off.”
“You found that at an estate sale?” Luke pulled my arm to look at it and now everyone was looking at my wrist.
“Damn, we might have to go estate sale shopping here,” Webber joked.
“I swear, Sol is lucky when we go, so if you’re looking for something, all we have to do is take her with us,” Nova chuckled.
“Can we book her next time I’m in town?” Webber laughed.
“All you gotta do is say you're going for ice cream afterwards and she’s game,” Nova said, as Sol whipped her head around at the mention of ice cream.
I laughed as I got up to pick up all the paper as the women asked about the products Nova had gotten them. Nova then opened Iris’ gift which was bras and I overheard she needed to get rid of her nursing bras— the other women definitely all agreed on, whatever the hell that was. She fit in perfectly into this family and it made my first Christmas home that much more special. I loved Theo and Colt, always had, but I didn’t realize how important Nova would be when I first met her. It took a while, but I think we came together at the best time.
The guys and I made breakfast as Luke prepared the turkey for dinner. The house was filled with warmth and laughter as we all hung out around the kitchen after breakfast.
“Sol, Baby, what happened?” I heard Nova speaking.
“Nothing,” Sol snapped, as I looked down the hall at them.
“Sweetie, talk to me, why are you upset?” Nova spoke softly.
“Leave me alone.” She yanked her arm out of Nova’s hands running down the hall and slamming the door shut.
Nova flinched at the sound, rubbing her forehead.
“Is everything ok?” I asked, putting my hand on her back.
“I don’t know,” Nova sighed. “She's been more temperamental lately and I have no idea what it is. It all started that night I went on a date with you guys, and occasionally, it's like she gets mad at me.”
“You think she knows?” I was confused.
“I don’t think so because she would also be snippy at you,” she said, as I pulled her in for a hug. “Maybe she doesn’t want me dating.”
I stilled, thinking that's the only thing that made sense, but what did that mean for us? Nova would give us up for Sol in a heartbeat and I wouldn’t be able to blame her.
“Maybe, one of us can speak to her?” I suggested, racking my brain for something to help, because living without them was a heartache I never wanted to experience.
“Let’s give her some time and I’ll try again,” she mumbled against my chest.
“Ok.” I kissed her head.
Theo cocked his eyebrow at me, and I mouthed I would tell him later. Nova was tense the next hour, laughing and engaging, but she looked around occasionally. Theo and Colt had caught on, and I told them what had happened when we went to the kitchen to refill drinks.
“I’ll go talk to her,” Colt said, and I shook my head.
“Let Nova handle this and if she needs help, she will ask,” I said, trying to keep us respectful of Nova’s boundaries.
“Fine,” Colt muttered, as he went back to the living room.
Nova started to fidget and get restless when she finally went to Sol’s room. Webber was talking about his teammates who hated each other, and his solution was for them to fuck it out of their system. Nova called out for Sol and when she yelled a second time, I got up.
“Sweetie, where are you?” Nova was opening the door to the room she slept in and came out immediately going to the next room. “Sol, this isn’t funny, Honey.”
“I’ll check the game room,” I said, as she looked in another bedroom.
She nodded as I passed her.
“Sol!” I called out as I ran upstairs.
A little panic hit me when she wasn’t up there and when I came down, everyone was looking for her.
“She’s not in the garage.” Colt came out of the door next to me.
“I’m going to go check outside with the horses,” Theo said, putting on his jacket.
It was snowing outside and I hoped she hadn’t decided to go out there.
“Maybe she went home?” Jude suggested.
Nova rushed to her room, panic really setting in for us. I went to our room to change, and Colt followed me. Once we were dressed, Nova was arguing with Jude.
“Don’t tell me to wait,” she snapped.
“Take your phone and give us a call. I want to make sure we all look in different areas,” Jude said, standing in front of the door. “We don’t want to be looking for her without a plan and have it be counterproductive.”
“Nova, he’s right, just a quick plan and we can start looking for her,” Colt said walking up to her.
Her lip trembled. “Ok, please hurry.”
Luke came out of his room ready to look for her too. Jude made a plan on a piece of paper and everyone exchanged phone numbers. It was only an extra five to ten minutes, but each minute felt like it was way too long. I hoped she didn’t walk anywhere and if she had, she had bundled up. The thought of her outside in the cold almost sent me into a panic and a realization. I loved this little girl and I would do whatever it took to bring her home safely.