Page 25 of Yours to Ho Ho Hold
He holds her to his chest in a protective hug as he kisses her chubby little cheeks. “Merry Christmas, Indie. Did you miss me?”
She ignores his question, holding up one finger as she screams. “Not! Tell him not!”
A tall, slightly trimmer man with tattoos and short dark hair comes around the corner, pausing when he sees Drew. “Hey there, Doodoo. I didn’t realize you were home already.” He wipes his hand on his pants and holds it out to me. “I’m Simon, and I see you’ve already met Indie.” He looks down at the silly dog soaking up all the belly rubs. “And that’s Denver. Sorry to bombard you like this. I wish I could say they’re just excited, but the truth is it’s always this chaotic around here.”
I stand to shake his hand. “Oh, I don’t mind. It’s a nice change from what I’m used to. It’s nice to meet you.” I shake his hand, and he gives Drew a curious look, to which Drew mouths something behind the baby.
Simon smiles as a beautiful woman with lavender and hot pink hair comes up behind him.
“Holly, this is Wren. She’s my brother’s better half. She and Charlotte have their hands full keeping all us boys in line.”
Wren rolls her eyes. “You have no idea.” She flashes me a smile. “I can’t wait to hear all about how you two met.” She gives Drew a teasing wink and reaches for the baby.
Drew kisses Indie on the head before passing her to her mom. “Sorry, Indie, but you stink, and you’re covered in syrup. Go take a bath, and when you’re all clean, I’ll let you open your present.”
She sucks in a loud gasp. “A pwesent! Doodoo bwoght Indie a pwesent?”
He ruffles her blonde curls. “I sure did, but if you don’t get cleaned up, I’m afraid we’re going to have to changeyourname to Doodoo.”
Indie furrows her little brow in confusion. “I not Doodoo. I Indie.”
“Uncle Doodoo is just being silly,” Wren says as she carries her to the bathroom, from where I assume she just escaped.
“Sorry about that. I think Jamie snuck her some chocolate when we weren’t looking, and she’s all hyped up on sugar and overstimulated with all the new toys. I don’t think she knows what to play with first, and she keeps cycling through her piles and making a mess.” He whistles and pats his leg, and Denver moves to sit beside him.
“Where’s Sam and Maggie?” Drew asks, and they share another silent exchange. “Right, well, I guess Holly can meet them later.”
The smoke alarm in the kitchen beeps just as the smell of smoke fills the air.
“Oh, shoot. James, can you crack a window?” I hear Charlotte say, and my eyes widen at Drew, but he doesn’t seem concerned in the least bit.
Simon shakes his head and laughs. “Welcome home, little brother.” Then he leaves us to go help with whatever’s burning in the kitchen.
When we’re finally alone, I turn to Drew and quirk a brow.
“I told you they were a lot.”
It’s a stark difference from my quiet family gatherings; that’s for sure. I always wondered what it would be like to have a house full of people on the holidays. Being an only child, it was always just my parents and me. We made the most of it, but it was pretty quiet, nothing like this, and we haven’t even been here for thirty minutes.
I rock back on my heels and look around the cozy space. It’s got an air of elegance about it, yet it doesn’t feel like you can’t touch anything. There’s an assortment of family photos displayed on a small secretary desk, and I pick one up to examine it.
I immediately identify Drew. He’s got the darkest hair and the lightest eyes of everyone. He’s making a silly face with his younger brother, the one he’s told me about the most. They’re standing on the beach, and everyone’s wearing their swimsuits looking genuinely happy. Charlotte’s head is thrown back as she laughs at the two younger boys as James, Simon, and another brother—Sam, I think—stand in a line with their arms thrown around each other’s shoulders.
“You look so different from your brothers, but I can see the resemblance to your dad. You’re all built just like him.”
He blows out a breath, and his eyes fall. “Yeah, I look more like my mom. She had the same light eyes and dark hair.” He gestures to a picture of all four boys as little kids clinging to a beautiful, smiling young woman. She doesn’t look much older than me.
“That’s your mom? She’s gorgeous.”
Drew told me she passed away when he was young, and I can’t imagine how hard that must’ve been for him growing up. It looks like his dad is happy with Charlotte. They all seem to love her. It’s nice they keep pictures of her, too.
I pick up the family photo I was looking at before, the one in which Drew looks to be fifteen or sixteen. He’s much skinnier than he is now and obviously isn’t covered in ink.
“That was our last big family vacation. We all went to Turks and Caicos. I think I was sixteen and Jamie was fourteen there. We’d just finished zip lining and found this swimming hole. My dad did a backflip off a cliff and gashed his leg open on a sharp rock. Charlotte nearly had a heart attack, and we all couldn’t stop laughing at how stupid he was for trying it.” He scoffs a laugh. “I swear, he still thinks he’s twenty-five, and the worst part is he executed it perfectly. He only cut his leg when he was climbing out of the water. Charlotte was furious, but we thought he was to coolest guy in the whole world.” He smiles to himself as he remembers. “The only problem is now he’s in his sixties and isn’t as agile as he once was. Doesn’t stop him from doing dumb shit, though. I hope I’m just like him when I get older.”
“Wow. Sounds like fun.” I set the picture down and look at him with fresh eyes. Meeting Drew’s family helps me understand where he got his easy-going nature. “So, you guys are still close, huh? Even all grown up?”
“Oh, yeah. My parents house will always be home. We try to all get together for at least one holiday every year. Obviously, Christmas is our favorite, but now that two of my brothers are married, we sometimes have to compromise.”
