Chapter 15
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Marnie
To say that the Steel Raiders have Christmas chaos down to a fine science, is the understatement of the year.
The tree, which is glowing brightly, is now overrun with presents and I briefly worry that we’re going to have a hard time finding places to store everything.
Then, I remember the playroom that we’ll have in the new house and my mind settles.
Seeing the three little girls with their heads together giggling as they sit at the table waiting for breakfast to be served has my heart singing.
“Oh, what’s this?” Holly asks, grabbing my left hand. “Good grief, that’ll poke your eye out if you’re not careful, my friend!”
I laugh as I wiggle said finger and say, “He asked, and I said yes, of course.”
“When?” she asks.
“We didn’t talk about specifics, but it’ll probably be sooner rather than later, so we can officially adopt Becca,” I admit. “Plus, the only family he now has is the club, so it’s not like we’ll have a huge guest list, since it’s just me on my side of the family.”
“And all of us,” she replies, nudging me with her shoulder. “Now, let’s get these kiddos fed so we can see what kind of mischief the brothers got up to after dark.”
I snicker, because even though Becca’s elf, Harry, left her a note telling her he was heading back to the North Pole, when we got downstairs, it was to see one last surprise from Harry waiting for us.
There was a small ladder that went to the ceiling, with a black hole that made it look like someone had gone through it, along with another note that indicated he’d be back next Thanksgiving, along with some of his friends.
Chaos. Pure and utter chaos is currently reigning, and I’m totally here for it as the brothers are currently squared up and having a ‘snowball’ fight courtesy of the gifts that Harry left behind for them.
“Y’all are ridiculous,” I murmur, giggling as I continue to video them while three little girls run around picking up the snowballs and giving them to either Ash, Rebel, or Prophet.
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Data shouts. “Y’all have helpers and we don’t!”
“You snooze, you lose,” Rebel retorts as he fires off several snowballs at Data’s head.
I shake my own head in disbelief and head into the kitchen to see if I can help Esther since the ‘children’ are entertaining themselves.
Breakfast was phenomenal, as per usual, and I was truly touched by the gifts that not only Becca, but I, received from everyone.
All I know is Holly and I will be going shopping to spend the countless gift cards we both got.
But next to my engagement ring, which I can’t stop looking at, my absolute favorite present came from Ash and Becca.
I’m now the proud owner of a Suburban with all the bells and whistles.
Becca giggled as she told me how she went with Ash to pick it out for me.
It has heated and cooling seats, the windows have a nice dark tint to them, and the cargo area is large enough to handle any kind of shopping I plan to do.
I think Esther will be keeping Holly’s kids when she and I go out shopping, while Ash takes Becca to the American Girl store so she can pick out and personalize her doll.
“What can I do to help?” I ask once I breach the doorway.
“Everything’s cooking now,” she replies. “Prepping it yesterday helped tremendously.”
“Oh, I just figured you needed help because you hustled into the kitchen after we were done opening presents,” I tell her, going to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.
It may be cold outside, but I’m trying to do better when it comes to staying hydrated. In fact, Ash bought a water cooler for our suite, since he drinks quite a bit himself, and it’s a habit we want Becca to get into as well.
“No, when I saw what that crazy elf left for the boys, I knew it would be safer in here,” she says, laughing. “So, how was this morning with Becca?”
Tears well up when I think about how ecstatic she was with everything she opened.
“It was magical,” I admit. “She kept saying she couldn’t believe that Santa remembered her because he never had before.
Gotta say, it broke my heart a few times.
As sweet as she is, I cannot believe someone would be deliberately cruel to her the way her aunt was, you know? ”
Esther frowns as she says, “That woman needs a good old fashioned beatdown, and I don’t say that lightly.”
“I know and it guts me that someone who should’ve loved her simply because she was her niece, is such a piece of shit. I hope her pillow is always warm no matter what side she uses, and that every single day of her sentence, once she goes before the judge, is miserable.”
Data found out that Alice opted for a bench trial instead of one with a jury.
I guess she feels as though her sentence won’t be as harsh, but what she doesn’t know is that he went into the court calendar and moved some things around, so she’ll go before the harshest judge this county has on the bench.
Can’t say I’m too broken up by it, that’s for damn sure, because I’m not.
“So, are we hiding out in here until they wear themselves out?” Holly asks as she comes into the kitchen, PJ in her arms.
“Sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day,” I admit, giggling. “Although, I’m kind of surprised that they haven’t taken the girls outside to try out the new bikes that the brothers got them.”
“That’s because it’s too chilly out for what they’re wearing and none of them want to put ‘real clothes’ on today,” Holly says. “I mean, can you blame them? We want today to be all about family and relaxing. Getting dressed doesn’t convey that at all. How’s the kitten doing?”
“The last I checked, he had worn himself out again zooming through the living room playing,” I reply. “I found him crashed out on his back underneath the tree. Y’all don’t think we went too overboard, do you?”
Esther is already shaking her head. “No, I don’t. A lot of the things she got are toys, sure, but she had next to nothing when she arrived here. Y’all got her plenty of fun learning things too, as well as clothes. Plus, she’s a good little girl. Some spoiling never hurt anyone.”
“I’m not looking forward to when she finally realizes she’s safe with us and throws a fit,” I admit. “How will I handle having to discipline her when it happens?”
“That’s a problem for Future Marnie, not you,” Holly decrees. Glancing at the clock over the microwave, she says, “Let’s go see if we can get the girls to help us set the tables so we can eat. I’m ready to curl up and watch a few movies.”
“Yeah, through your eyelids,” Esther teases, causing me to laugh. I love their relationship and I’m so grateful that Esther and Paul, and even Samuel, have pulled Becca and I into their lives.
“Can I wear this to bed again?” Becca asks as we head upstairs to hopefully wind down from the day.
“I don’t see why not,” I muse.
Ash opens the door and I burst out laughing. “Oh, my goodness, he’s definitely an orange kitty, isn’t he?” I ask as I look at Chance, who is currently perched on top of the Christmas tree. “Guess he’s saying he’s the star now, huh?”
When the kitten sees us, he immediately scrambles down the tree and I watch as ornaments hit the floor and start rolling.
He bats a few around but is still making a beeline to his human, who scoops him up in her arms and kisses his head.
“You’re a silly boy, aren’t you?” she asks. “Let’s go get you some wet food.”
I raise my brow at Ash who shrugs. “I told her this morning that we’d give him some wet kitten food at night for dinner, but we’d leave out dry food all day long,” he says. “I’m going to go and help her with opening the can because I don’t want her to hurt herself when she pulls off the lid.”
“Good idea,” I murmur as I take a stack of my own clothes into our room to put into the hamper to wash. I had already washed all of Becca’s before I wrapped them so she could wear whatever she wanted without waiting on me to do laundry.
Once I’m in there, I decide to go ahead and run a load because the thought of wearing some of the snuggly sweat sets that Ash and Becca got for me settles deep inside.
I grab the basket that I’ve got sorted, then take it into the living room before I go into Becca’s room to see if she has anything I can add.
“What are you doing?” Ash asks.
“I was going to head to the laundry room and throw in a load of clothes,” I admit. “I kind of want to wear comfy clothes until she goes back to school.”
“I’ll take care of it, sweetheart, you go enjoy our girl. I think she and Chance are camping right now.”
“Then that’s what I’ll do.”
Becca’s eyes, while tired, are still sparkling as she looks up at the two of us from her bed. “This was the best day of my life,” she quietly whispers since Chance is passed out on her pillow, his little tail wrapped across her neck.
“It was the best day of mine too,” I tell her. “Do you want to know why?” I probe.
“Yes, please,” she requests.
She’s always so polite, and I briefly wonder if it’s because Pauline worked with her on manners, or if she got in trouble when she wasn’t that way by her aunt, then decide it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, Ash and I will shape her future. The past is just that, the past.
“Because I got to spend it with the two people I love with all my heart,” I reply. “You and Ash. Plus, the rest of our family, of course.”
“Best day ever,” she murmurs, her eyes already drooping.
“Good night, sweetie,” I say, leaning in to kiss her only to get a wet nose pressed against my forehead for my efforts. “You too, you silly bean,” I tease as I smooch her kitten then smooth out Becca’s wayward tresses before kissing her. “Love you, Becca.”
Ash follows suit, and it’s not long before we’re sprawled together on our sectional couch, limbs entwined, as we unwind from the busy day.
He’s got a beer in hand while I’m sipping on a frothy hot chocolate.
“If I keep eating the way I have been, I’m going to need to go up a size or two,” I murmur while he flicks through the channels.
“Ask me if I care, Marnie,” he murmurs. “Because how big or small you are doesn’t really matter to me other than the fact that I want you healthy so you’re by my side for the rest of our lives.”
“Good answer,” I tease. “Although in reality, I don’t think anyone who’s of sound mind could resist Esther’s cooking. I’m sure once the holidays have passed, things will go back to normal.”
We’re pretty much Christmas movie’d out, to be honest, since we watched every single animated movie with Becca, and have already watched some of my personal favorites. I plan to slowly introduce Becca to It’s a Wonderful Life and several others as she gets older, just like my mom did with me.
“How about this?” he asks, causing me to stop my musing and look at the screen.
I squeal and clap my hands when I see he’s got the first Jurassic Park queued up. “Are we going for a marathon?” I ask.
“I don’t think Becca’s old enough to watch them yet, but we can watch them after she’s gone to bed,” he replies.
“Then let’s do that,” I state.
After the movie is over and the credits are rolling, I help Becca to the bathroom, then head into ours once she’s gone potty then washed her hands. Laughter spills from my lips when I see what Ash is wearing while sprawled out like a starfish on the bed.
“What on earth?” I ask through my continuous giggles while I close and lock our door. We’ll unlock it eventually, of course, but I refuse to traumatize our girl with our after-hours activities.
He’s in a provocative pose, wearing a pair of boxer briefs with a sprig of mistletoe right over his dick. The writing says, ‘kiss me here’ and since I believe in obeying signs like that, I find myself crawling up the mattress until I’m crouched between his thighs.
“I like these,” I murmur, my finger reaching out to stroke along his burgeoning dick.
“Well, Santa said you’ve been a very good girl this year, so he wanted to leave you with one more gift,” Ash teases as he pulls me down so he can kiss me.
“He did, did he?” I ask, already breathless as my heart rate speeds up.
“Yeah, he did,” Ash replies. “Now, let me get you unwrapped so you can better appreciate your gift.”
The end… for now