Page 88 of Hot Zone

“I guess we should go help them carry boxes. I don’t even know what all he has out there.”

A couple of hours, two pizzas, and a bunch of empty boxes later, Roxy and Steven headed home, and it was just me and Mars. I looked around, and Steven hadn’t been kidding about the color. A collection of candles, statues, and large crystals had been added to my shelves. Colorful suncatchers hung in the windows, and bright cushions littered the couch.

The house looked nothing like it had when I woke up this morning, but I wouldn’t change a thing if it meant Mars felt at home here.

Nothing mattered more to me than my boy and his happiness, so putting up with a more boho style in my house was a small price to pay for the joy he brought to me every single day.

He looked around, worried. “We don’t really have to keep all this stuff, you know.”

“I know, but I kinda like it.”

“You do?”

“I do. It reminds me of you, so what’s not to love?”

Epilogue

Mars

“So what do you think?” I hung the last ornament on the tree and took a step back. We were hosting the Station 69 holiday party tonight, and I’d wanted to get our tree just right before everyone came.

Samuel wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled my neck below my ear. “I think it’s perfect, just like you.” He gave my ear a little nip, and I squirmed out of his arms and moved out of reach.

“Don’t you be starting anything, Daddy. People will start showing up in less than an hour.”

“An hour’s plenty of time for what I have in mind.”

“Well, you can just put that right out of your mind because I still have to take a shower, and I need to wrap my gift for the party. It has to be wrapped perfectly so people will want to choose it.” We’d decided on a white elephant gift exchange for the party, and I was really looking forward to it.

“I tossed mine in a gift bag.” He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes. “Of course you did, but that won’t do for my gift.”

“You better hustle then. I would hate it if you didn’t have time to make your twenty-dollar gift look like a million bucks.”

I did not, in fact, run out of time, and by the time the first person arrived, both me and my gift did indeed look like a million bucks.

We’d invited the crew members from the station along with their families. Samuel had also invited Hawk and Gator, but only Hawk was able to attend. Gator was on assignment somewhere, and we didn’t ask where.

This was technically a Christmas party, but truthfully, it was more than that. The station had been through some rough stuff this year. They’d gone through a change in leadership, andthey’d all been impacted by the arsonist in one way or another. Some directly, like Keith, who’d been injured, and Cody, who’d lost his record shop, but all of them had worked the fires, worried about their families, and stuck together until the guy was apprehended.

Add in the bomb at the station, and everyone just wanted to get together to celebrate life and the fact that they’d all survived.

The next thirty minutes or so was a chaotic rush as the guests arrived. Our house was a decent size, but we’d invited a lot of people, and it was packed. Luckily, the weather was pretty mild so far this year, so we’d been able to set up a couple of fire pits and some chairs outside to give us some extra room.

“Where should I put this?” Caleb asked, holding up his gift. It was obviously a book, but what else would a librarian bring to a gift exchange?

“Just under the tree is fine.”

“Sure. No problem. Have you seen Andy?”

“Not yet, but he texted me that he was coming. I think Mika is with him and Jesse.”

“I don’t think Mika has any family to spend the holidays with, so I’m glad you invited him.” He looked around, spotting Keith standing by the fireplace with Kevin and his husband. This was my first time meeting either of them, but they’d seemed like nice guys.

“I guess I should go be sociable, but find me later.”

“Maybe after things calm down.” I’d never hosted a party this large before, but I’d had events at the shop that were every bit as big, so I knew how everything worked. Once all the guests had arrived and had a few minutes to say hi to everyone else, things would get a lot less chaotic.

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