Page 67 of Patching Over

Brick

There’s just one thing I want to make sure she opens today, so once I’m done and my stocking and the contents are off to the side, I lean over and take her face in my hands before kissing her.

“I know we’ve got more to open, sweetheart, but gotta say, I love what you’ve gotten me already.”

“Me too, Brick. I’m having so much fun!” she enthuses. Her eyes are sparkling, her face is flushed with excitement and possibly a bit of embarrassment over the dice, and I suspect when she gets downstairs and sees what all the brothers,Pops, and Banshee have gotten her, she’s going to become an emotional mess.

Standing, I move to the tree and pull over several larger boxes toward her. “These are for the kittens, but I suspect you’re going to have to open them because they’re busy napping again.”

She snickers when she sees they’re both at the very top of their cat tree, curled together and sound asleep. “Okay, I’ll make that sacrifice.”

“Babe, you can tear the paper, I swear they’ll make more for you to buy and use next year,” I finally tell her when she carefully tears each side. “Otherwise, the guys are gonna riot.”

I think that’s all the encouragement she needs because paper is soon flying around in reckless abandon while I work to hold my laughter back until she stops, her hand covering her mouth. “Oh, Brick, this is the one I wanted,” she softly states, looking at the self-cleaning litter box. “You got two of them?”

“Yeah, because one will go into our actual house while one will stay here,” I advise her. “You ready for the next ones?” I prompt once she’s got the second one fully unwrapped.

“Yes.” She’s now biting her lip as I approach with a flat box. Removing the bow, she carefully slides the ribbon from the box then gasps when she pulls out her property cut. “I didn’t know if I’d get one of these,” she murmurs, her hand lightly stroking and caressing the supple leather.

“Of course, you would, you’re my ol’ lady,” I reply, kneeling in front of her. When she looks up at me, I open the small box that’s been burning a fucking hole in my cut for weeks now and say, “You’ve been mine for more years than it seems possible, Ryleigh. Even when we didn’t know who you truly were, you called to my soul and let me know life wouldn’t be complete unless you were in it. I know in our world, being my ol’ lady is enough for most brothers and the women they love, but I want it all with you. Will you marry me?”

Tears are now coursing down her face even though she’s nodding and smiling. “Yes, yes, I will. If you hadn’t come to check on me when the snowstorm hit, I don’t think it would’ve been too much longer before I reached out to you because I missed you. You’ve become my best friend in the world, and I know you’ll always do whatever it takes to make sure I’m safe. I love you so much, Brick, and even though my life as I knew it was just a bad nightmare, you’ve done everything to ensure I get a happily-ever-after.”

And… now, I don’t much care if my brothers get brunch or not; I want to pick her up and take her back to our bed and spend the day showing her just how much I love her. However, I know she wants to get downstairs so everyone else can get as excited about the day as she has been, so I content myself with sliding the ring on her finger before I pick her up and kiss her passionately.

“We’ll celebrate later, sweetheart. Now, though, how about you put your cut on and let’s see if these lazy fuckers are awake and ready to eat so we can open more presents?”

“I like the way you think, handsome,” she sasses, winking at me. “Can we use the dice too later?”

I chuckle as we head out of our room, listening to the noise level increase the closer we get to the common room.

“Ryleigh, how did you know I wanted one of these?”

“Missy, you did too much!”

“Oh, we’re definitely doing a girl’s day soon!”

Over and over, the club girls and my brothers enthuse and rave over the gifts they’ve been given. Everything from specific bike parts, which I know she had help with since she’s notknowledgeable enough to know much beyond where to sit and where not to put her legs, so she doesn’t get burned, to clothes, tablets, game systems, controllers, and games; my ol’ lady made sure every single breathing individual under this roof got what they wanted for Christmas.

“Um, Pops, I have one more thing for you,” she shyly says. “Can you follow me out to the kitchen area?”

I follow behind his chair and because the brothers I live with are nosy fuckers, they’re all walking behind me as she confidently goes into the kitchen toward the screened porch. “What did you do, missy?” Pops asks.

“Nothing major,” she insists, opening the door and standing back so he can motor his way through.

“Ryleigh.” Pops’ voice is quieter than I’ve ever heard him, almost reverent and I stick my head out to see a puppy sitting there, its tongue lolling out with a giant red bow around its neck. “Sweetheart, it’s too much.”

“Pops, it’s a Cane Corso, they’re good for protection and I figured with you being in a chair, you might like the company. She’s already set up for training too, you just have to call the kennel and they’ll get it scheduled for you.”

Banshee elbows me as we both watch my pops and ol’ lady with the puppy. She’s been quivering in place but until Ry tells her to come, she doesn’t move which lets me know she’s already got some basic training.

“Fuck, look at him,” Ban murmurs as we both watch my pops quickly swipe below his eye.

“Yeah, I think she affects all of us that way, brother,” I admit, my voice a bit hoarse as I hold back my own emotions watching the two of them. “How did she know he’s been wanting a dog?”

“She was used to being seen and not heard, brother, but she sure the fuck pays attention,” Phantom advises. “Not sure who’shad the best Christmas, us or her, but I’m thinking it might be a draw at this point.”

“No kidding, brother, no kidding.”

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