Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
Jim
I walked into the house, the buttery warmth of oven-baked goodness and the faint sound of laughter drifting from the kitchen replacing the sharp scent of fall air clinging to my coat.
I was prepared to unwind from a long day buried in numbers, and the endless Christmas expenses my wife and I kept charging like rivals at war.
The lamb I’d picked up from the meat market on my way home sounded delightful, but even more enjoyable would be the time I would spend preparing and cooking it. Perhaps the dinner I had planned to cook would be enough to allow my feisty wife and me to lay down our swords for the night.
All I wanted was to enjoy a delicious dinner and end the night with a glass of wine on the pool terrace, my wife in my arms. It hadn’t even been an exceptionally long day, but between planning events and signing off on their financials, it felt like I’d sat through a board meeting that dragged on for seven hours.
This added shit-bomb of Christmas glitter was undoubtedly the last thing I expected this year after checking the box for the charcuterie board and champagne a few weeks ago.
When I walked in, I immediately caught the aromas of baked chicken tenders and fries.
Shit, looks like it’s kids’ dinner night.
“Hey, Dad,” Izzy said when I walked into the kitchen to confirm the last thing I wanted for a home-cooked meal tonight.
“Hey, sweetheart,” I smiled at her cheerfulness. “Smells delicious.”
That wasn’t a lie. It smelled amazing. I just wasn’t in the mood for chicken nuggets and fries. I smiled at Avery, flour dusting the hem of her apron, with Izzy beside her in a matching one. Both looked far too pleased with themselves, as if the entire ambush had been staged for my arrival.
“Hey, babe,” Avery looked up, licking the special sauce she’d made for the nuggets off her finger, “what’s that?” She eyed the lamb wrapped in butcher paper that I held.
“Just a leg of lamb I picked up on the way home to make for dinner,” I smiled, walked over to where Izzy was, and kissed her on the top of the head. “I realize now I should’ve called to see if you had anything planned because it looks like my girls are way ahead of me tonight.”
“Mom said it would be nice for us to make you dinner tonight,” she smiled sweetly.
“Is that so?” I arched an eyebrow at my always calculating wife.
“How was work?” Avery said with a cheeky grin. “I hope it wasn’t stressful enough that it made you want to come home and cook something to unwind from it?”
I placed the lamb in the fridge, pulled out a beer, and eyed the mischievous look on my wife’s face. “Nah, any other day. The lamb was just something I thought of on the way home.”
“Ah,” Avery chuckled softly, knowing exactly what she was doing.
Keeping me under tension and pressure with all the holiday planning was supposed to force me to crack and make me lose this planning war.
Well, that wasn’t going to happen. I mean, sure…
it could. Party planning wasn’t exactly one of my many talents.
I was just the guy who approved shit. But that’s why I had to be creative—and why I had the girls on my team.
Their creativity would ensure this succeeded against their mother and Cat’s superpowers.
My brain ran in a very black-and-white manner, so their vision and childlike sense of wonder were essential here, and it would be the key to my success.
“So, work was good, then?” Avery pressed.
“Mm hm. Just another day at the office,” I smiled, pretending as if the pile of folders from her phase one plan didn’t affect me at all—because I knew that’s what she was itching to find out right now.
“That’s great. Were you able to approve the files Cat sent over for ph—”
“Phase one. Yes, I saw them.”
Shit, I said that too fast and too dick-ish.
Avery smiled like she had just caught me red-handed. “It wasn’t too over the top, was it? The prices and all?” she smiled wryly at me. “Or that we’ll be using Stonecrest for the international employees who are able to attend?”
I narrowed my eyes, hanging my leather bag on the back of the high stool where I sat across the large kitchen island.
“Pennies,” I said. “It’s nothing. Everett Stone may be a competitor in the aviation industry, but I’m pleased we were able to use his jets since ours were mostly booked for other clients. ”
Avery turned and grabbed the plates from the cabinet, her perfect ass shaped to remind me to keep my mouth shut and not get into petty arguments.
Time to change the subject.
“How was school today, Izzy Bear?”
“Awesome,” Izzy answered, stealing a bite of a chicken nugget off the baking sheet. “We had a fire drill, and everyone got scared but me.”
“That’s because you’re brave like you’re mother,” I said, smirking at Avery’s arched eyebrow.
“This is true,” Avery said, placing the plates out so that Izzy could divide up the chicken nuggets and fries. “Not many people have the bold warrior spirit like we do, kiddo,” she winked at me.
“Exactly,” I said. “Not many would take on the challenge of boldly declaring a holiday war against their CEO spouse and then immediately start charging millions to the company he’s running.”
“Ah,” Avery smiled. “Could it be that phase one got under your skin a little?”
“Not at all,” I said, recovering. “You act like this is the first lavish event I’ve ever approved.”
“Well, it’s just that it’s a far cry from your one-click option of charcuterie boards, so you know. I was just curious.”
“No need for curiosity, love,” I said, reaching for a few cashews out of the nut tray. “If this is how we show our appreciation to the company? Then it’s approved.”
“Really?” she planted both hands on the counter, her crystal blue eyes glittering in some amusement. “You’re not irritated at all?”
“Nope,” I took another handful of nuts and tossed them in my mouth.
“Good, then you should have the final phases on your desk tomorrow. Cat and I started planning tonight, and this is just going to be magical,” she said with an excited shiver.
I mimicked her, “I can’t wait.”
“Oh, my God, I hate school!” Addy’s voice came from behind me, prompting me to turn around and see my frazzled teen at her limits with school yet again. I extended my arm, inviting her in for a supportive hug, “Homework troubles again?”
“And again and again,” she answered, collapsing into my side.
“Lord, have mercy,” Avery answered. “The drama these days with you and school, Addison,” she started. “I already said I would help you with the homework after dinner.”
“It’s not just that,” she said.
“It’s her boyyy-friend,” Izzy teased.
“Izzy!” Addy snapped. “I don’t have a boyfriend. Be quiet.”
“Not anymore,” Izzy said, smarting off and giggling.
“That’s enough, Izzy,” I said calmly, then turned to Addy. “What’s going on, and when did you have a boyfriend who may have contributed to this?”
“It’s nothing,” she said, pulling away from me.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Avery chimed in. “Come on. Dinner is on the patio by the pool tonight,” she said, walking around to where I had started to stand.
I bent to kiss her, unable to resist the pull of my sassy wife, her lips tasting faintly of the sweet sauce she’d been testing. “I’ve missed you.”
“You guys are so gross,” Izzy said, trailing her mother, carrying the other two plates of food.
“Thanks for dinner, Izzy Bear,” I said, smiling that, these days, their mother and I couldn’t so much as steal a kiss without being called out for it.
The patio lights swayed lightly in the ocean breeze, casting a golden glow over the table. Avery sat, taking a bite of the finger food our daughter had proudly prepared, the scent of salt air mingling with crispy chicken and fresh citrus from the potted trees nearby.
“Addy, who’s the young man who ruined my daughter’s mood for this evening?” I asked, watching as she picked the breading off her chicken.
“Seriously, Dad, it’s nothing.” She brushed me off after giving Izzy a glare of warning.
“Bullshit, it isn’t,” Avery said. “And you girls know I never curse at the dinner table unless it’s warranted.” She looked at Addy, “Spill it, child. We’re all here for you.”
“Ugh,” she practically swore into her plate of food. “I don’t want to talk about it!”
“Addison Mitchell,” Avery snapped, “spare the theatrics, please. What happened at school today? You don’t get to march into the kitchen, proclaim you hate school, and then withdraw, leaving us all to guess why.”
“Spill it, Addy,” Izzy taunted.
“I don’t need you antagonizing her, Izzy,” Avery said, seemingly even more agitated about the Christmas numbers than I was.
Perhaps her planning with Cat wasn’t going as well as she thought.
I smirked into my freshly poured wine glass and then resumed my fatherly duty of offering a concerned and supportive expression toward Addy.
Looks like I wasn’t the only one under planning pressure, and Avery’s lack of patience with the girls’ dramatics was giving me a little insight into that.
After a long inhale, an even louder sigh, Addy finally looked between me and her mother. “I just don’t understand boys,” she finally said.
“Get in line with every female on the planet,” Avery said, eyeing me, smirking, then looking back to Addy. “But what did this one do to cause this attitude we’re getting from you tonight?”
“Hold up,” I said. “What was that look you gave me just now before asking Addy that?”
“What look?” Avery said as if she were innocent. “I didn’t give you a look, baby.”
“The look you most definitely just gave me was as if I’m just as guilty as the kid who hurt our daughter,” I answered, hearing Izzy’s hushed giggle.
“Mom gave you the look because you’re Scrooge, Dad,” Izzy said.
“Not anymore,” I winked, taking another chicken nugget and crunching into it. “You already know what we’re planning, and it’s far from what Mr. Scrooge would be doing for his company.”
“That’s true,” Izzy said, remembering that we were bringing everyone to the North Pole through our event.
“There you have it. Confirmation from our daughter that I’m not carrying the Christmas title of Mr. Scrooge,” I said to Avery. “So, pull me out of the drama of Addy’s frustration with a boy, I’m well on my way to being a Forbes 500 Man of Christmas after the papers I signed off on today.”
“You could never be a bad guy, Dad,” Addy said, eyes filled with tears. “You didn’t break up with Mom to date one of her best friends.”
“Oh no,” Avery immediately softened. “Okay. Yeah, that’s bullshit,” she answered. “How long were you going out with this kid, who none of us knew about until tonight?”
“Since Thanksgiving,” she answered. “And then today, Matthew said he just wanted to be friends. Then I saw him holding Emma’s hand after school.”
“I want to dismiss this all as nothing,” I cut in, “but emotions at your age tend to run very high. This is exactly the reason why I was all for the no boyfriends in school rule.”
“That doesn’t help, Dad,” she let out a broken-hearted sigh.
“It really doesn’t,” Avery said. “God, Addy, if you only knew all the heartbreak I’ve been through, and how happy I finally ended up, you’d brush this off.”
“But I’m never going to find anyone like Dad,” Addy said. “Never.”
“Your dad isn’t perfect,” Avery said. “He pisses me off all the time.”
“Thanks,” I looked at her deadpan.
Being in a family of all women could suck sometimes, especially when one of their own was hurt by another male.
She rubbed my knee. “See, guys are more sensitive and emotional than we ladies,” she winked at me to play along, “and sometimes they’re not thinking when they act.”
“Like Dad and the cheese trays,” Izzy added as if she were part of this pep talk with Dad’s mistakes against Mom and his company this year.
“I know,” Addy confirmed.
“The kid’s mistake was worse than Dad’s goofy mess-ups, though,” Avery confirmed. “I’m sorry he hurt you, baby, but it’s his loss, not yours.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Addy said.
“Hold up! I’m done taking crap for this,” I defended myself after Addy found solace in me being a dick-boss for Christmas.
“How are we comparing a hormonal teenage boy who did a heartless thing to hurt our daughter to me ordering very expensive charcuterie boards and champagne for the company Christmas? How am I even in the middle of this as an example of foolish nonsense?”
Avery shot me a look, then glanced at Addy. “Actually, what your dad tried to get away with would’ve hurt more people than this boy did,” she said, eyes on me. “So, maybe it’s even.”
“If it helps my case,” I started, “I fixed my screw-up, and now we’re looking at millions of dollars going out for not just one, but two amazing Christmas celebrations.”
“And that’s how you know whether or not to keep them,” Avery smiled at me. “What they do after they make mistakes says everything about the man in question.”
Avery leaned to kiss me while the girls moaned in unison about how disgusting we were, and when she pulled away, all I could do was smile.
“I’m sorry we had to make an example out of you,” she said, “but the girls need to understand that not even their dad, even considering how much he loves and adores their mom, is perfect.”
“Yeah, but do we seriously need to keep bringing this up?” I answered.
“So you don’t do it again next year? Yes.”
Oh well, hell. This was just another average pep talk with my girls on a family night.
I was outnumbered, but honestly, I loved it.
I loved everything about this family that’d stolen me away from my empire that consumed me half the time.
I wouldn’t trade them or these discussions for anything in the world.
I’d been well on my way to a lonely, workaholic existence before Avery and Addy came into my life. Soon after we married, we were blessed with Izzy, and there hadn’t been a dull moment since. I was blessed with a life I didn’t dream of asking for, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.