CHRISTMAS EVE

I was curled up on my couch with a blanket and a new book on my Kindle when my phone rang. My sister’s name popped up on the screen, so I clicked the green button right away.

“Hey, Hannah. Merry Christmas Eve!”

“And Merry Christmas Eve to you too, Holls. I got your package in the mail, funny joke, sis!”

I try to stifle my laughter, “What? I sent you a cake!”

“You sent me a deconstructed cake that doesn’t even include all of the ingredients.”

“My bad,” I laugh again.

She huffs on the other end of the line, “Jerk! You know I can’t bake.”

“I know, but I love you just the same.”

“Uh-huh. What are you up to tonight?”

“Closed up early after I sold out of all my Christmas stuff. Now I’m just getting some reading some. Wes is heading to pick me up.”

“Ooooo Wes is picking you up.,” she singsongs back.

I realize she can’t see my eye roll, but I do it anyway. “To go back to his parents' place for Christmas Eve. Get your head out of the gutter.”

“I’m so glad you stopped being stubborn as hell about the god of a man.”

“God of a man?” I guffaw. “Oh geez, Hannah.”

“I only saw him once and I already know he’s gotta look good underneath it all.”

“Hannah!” I yell at her.

“What?”

“That’s my boyfriend you’re gushing over!”

“Mmmhmm, it sure it.”

The doorbell from the downstairs door rings and I rush over to buzz Wes up. I unlock my front door so he can come right on up and go back to my phone call. “Alright, sis, as much as I’d love to keep this conversation going, Wes is on his way up.”

“Go get it, sis!”

“Don’t be gross. Love you bye”

“Love you too!”

I press the end button right as Wes walks in. He wraps his arms around me, pulling me in for a hug, and then tilts my chin up and presses a kiss against my lips. “Hey, darling.”

“Hey there,” I reply back. He still takes my breath away, no matter how many times he kisses me.

“Did I interrupt something?” He looks down at my hand holding the phone.

“Just talking to Hannah, wishing her Merry Christmas.”

“What’s she up to for Christmas?”

“She’s got a big group of friends that do something every year. I sent her all the ingredients that she needs to make a cake, but she wasn’t thrilled that she’d have to bake it herself.”

Wes laughs as he walks further into my place, “And Holden?”

“Not sure exactly. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him yet, but I’ll try again tomorrow.”

“Okay, go grab your bag so we can leave.”

“Are you sure your parents are okay with me spending the night?” I ask him as we walk back to my bedroom.

“Totally! Mama has this night all planned out perfectly.”

“Okay, if you swear.”

Wes spins me around to face him, resting his hands on my waist, “Mama and Dad love you, babe. Plus Annabelle already asked if you were bringing Santa cookies.”

“Oh crap, don’t let me forget they are on the counter.”

“I’ll get them while you get your bag.” He pulls me in for one more kiss and then spins me back around and pushes me into the bedroom all the way. I jump when Wes smacks me on my ass.

“Okay, okay, I’m getting it.”

Annabelle’s healing is going well and has taken up a lot of our time, but last week she’s been talking non-stop about Christmas and less about the level of pain and discomfort that she’s in. We all agreed that she deserves the most amazing holiday ever. One of the things that came out of our planning was the idea to have one giant sleepover at the Brown House for Christmas.

Jimmy, Tiff, and Tyler are coming over to spend the night as well and Bobby is going to come in from the bunkhouse for the night. Betsy even went crazy and did an express shipment of matching pajamas for all of us. Apparently even a pair for Raymond, but something tells me he isn’t a matching PJs kind of guy.

I grab my bag and slip on my boots before heading back out to the kitchen where Wes is waiting with the box of cookies that I made. I slip my hand in his and we walk to his truck. Like the true gentleman that he always is, he helps me into his truck and we start our trip to the ranch.

“I can’t wait until winter is over,” he grumbles.

“Why is that?”

“Because it takes almost an hour to get to your place in the winter because of the roads. I don’t want to speed on the icy roads, though.”

“Well, thank you for not speeding to get to me. Obviously, driving still freaks me out a bit.”

“I mean, I would if I needed to.” He takes my hand and kisses it before resting it on the center console. He doesn’t let go of my hand though. I glance over at him and smile, he gives me a quick smile before turning his attention back to his driving. To pass the time we start talking about our days. I tell him about my morning at the bakery and how I have to make a special batch of cookies because the rest sold out. I’m so proud of the business that I’ve built and I know that Wes is proud of me as well.

When we arrive at the house I see that Jimmy and Tiff are already there. Wes grabs my bag and the cookies and we head inside where Tyler is running around with Annabelle on his back. “Faster, Uncle Ty, Faster!!!!”

“Uncle Ty is getting too old, Small Fry,” he says to her, but she’s unamused, hitting her heels against his waist to get him to move faster.

“Uncle Ty needs to lay off the desserts and maybe he could go faster.” Tyler sets Annabelle down on the kitchen island before he playfully smacks Wes’s arm. Wes is much bigger and stronger and just shoves him away. Rather than going back at his brother, Tyler puts his arms around me and pulls me into a hug.

“It isn’t my fault this beautiful woman keeps sharing her goods with me.” He makes a point to emphasize “goods” just to piss off Wes.

Wes lets out a small growl, causing me to just roll my eyes. “Get here darling, get away from that guy.” Wes pulls me into his arms and presses a kiss to the top of my head.

“Doesn’t feel good, huh?” We turn around and see Jimmy and Tiff join us in the large kitchen.

“What doesn’t feel good?” Wes says back to his brother.

“Your brother trying to get with your girl,” Jimmy winks at Wes and pulls Tiff closer to his side.

“Not even close, Jameson.”

“What isn’t even close?” I ask to the two men, completely confused.

“Your boy here even tried to convince Tiff on our wedding day that she could still run away with him.”

I smack Wes in the stomach, “Wes! You did not!”

“Maybe, just looking out for my brother you know.” Wes casually shrugs, tucking me closer into his body.

“Why are brothers so horrible?” I ask to Tiff.

She shakes her head, “No kidding. These four drive me nuts.”

“Speaking of, where is Bobby?” I took around, noticing the other flirty Brown Brother is nowhere to be seen.

“Did Mama tell the two of you?”

“No, I haven’t heard anything from her today.” Wes answers for both of us.

“Taryn is in town and Bobby asked if she could come tonight,” Jimmy replies, wagging his eyebrows.

“What? No way!” Wes seems excited, but once again I feel left out of the conversation.

“Wait, who is Taryn?” I look up at my boyfriend.

“Taryn used to come down here every summer and visit her grandparents. She started coming back to visit a bit again. What, it’s been about a year and a half?” He looks to Tyler for confirmation

“Yeah about, it was the Fourth that Jimmy proposed to Tiff.”

“Anyway, she and Bobby were all over each other that night. And he makes sure to meet up with her anytime she’s back in town.”

“So they’re like dating?” I ask.

“I don’t know about that,” Jimmy replies. “She lives in South Dakota so she’s only here a few times a year. I don’t even know if they talk when she’s not here.”

“Oh, they do.” The boys all look at Tiff with confusion.

“What? How do you know?” Jimmy asks his wife.

“Don’t seem so shocked that I have friends too. Geez. Taryn and I exchanged numbers and we text a few times a week. “

“Is she Uncle Bobby’s girlfriend?” Everybody looks at Annabelle as if we forget that she was in the room.

“Oh, we probably shouldn’t talk about this in mixed company,” I nod over to Annabelle.

Tiff scoops her up from the kitchen counter and places her on his hip. “Hey Banana, let’s go see if Grandma Betsy has our pajamas ready!”

“Yay! Can Holly come too?”

“Of course, Holly can come.” Tiff tries to lift up Annabelle, but she obviously is still a bit sore in her ribs from the accident, so I grab her instead. We take her upstairs to her bedroom where Betsy has already set the pajamas on her bed.

“I’m going to see if Betsy has ours.” Tiff leaves and I start to get Annabelle undressed and changed.

“Holly?” Annabelle looks up at me with her adorable eyes.

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

“Are you my daddy’s girlfriend?”

“Oh!” Flustered, I try to react calmly “Well yeah I am. Is that okay with you? She lunges forward and hugs me tight around my neck, almost knocking me over. “Whoa, calm down sweetie.”

“It is even more than okay. I like you and I think daddy likes you too.”

“I like your daddy too. And I REALLY like you, because we girls got to stick together.”

“Yeah, totally,” we share a high five.

“What about us girls?” Tiff comes back in and tosses me my red flannel pajamas with matching slippers.

“Holly and I are gonna stick together against daddy.”

Tiff cackles out a laugh, “That sounds like a good idea. Your dad could use that.”

“Auntie Tiff, is the baby you’re having a boy or girl?” And just like that Annabelle changes the topic.

“I’m not sure, Banana. Remember that somebody else is having the baby and Uncle Jimmy and I are doing what is called adoption. If she finds out they might tell us, but if not it’ll be a surprise.”

“Will they still be my cousin?”

“Of course!”

“When is she due again?” I ask Tiff.

“March! I can’t believe next Christmas I’m going to have a baby too!”

“Holly?” Annabelle tugs on my arm again.

“Yes, sweetie?’

“If you have a baby with daddy will that be my cousin too?”

I open my mouth to reply, but nothing comes out. This three-year-old has just rendered me speechless and I don’t think I can recover from this. I look up at Tiff, hoping she can bail me out here, but she’s trying so hard to hold in her laughter.

“Oh, uh, well, you know I’m not sure if your daddy and I are going to have a baby.”

“Oh okay.” And that was all she needed. The three of us finished getting dressed and I took her back downstairs and settled her in on the couch with her blanket. When she was happy and comfortable, I escaped to the kitchen for a drink. Tiff, Bobby, and the girl I assume must be Taryn were standing in there. Tiff bursts out laughing and the other two look oddly at her.

“Thanks for the backup, bitch.”

“I’m sorry,” she says through her laughter, “I had no idea how to reply.”

“What happened?” Bobby asks.

“Annabelle asked if Wes and Holly were going to have babies.”

Bobby starts laughing too and I smack his arm. “Shut up and introduce me to your friend.”

Rather than waiting for Bobby, the girl holds out her hand to shake mine, “Hi I’m Taryn.”

Bobby puts his arm around her shoulder, “Taryn is in town with her family so I invited her over.”

“I see. Hi Taryn, I’m Holly.”

“Wes’s girlfriend,” she says as a statement and I nod.

“And apparently future baby momma.”

That earns Bobby another smack to his arm. “Shut up, asshole.”