Page 31 of Home For Christmas

As we rolled down the road toward the Scott Ranch, my dad’s voice brought me out of my light doze. “We all talked about it tonight and thought we’d keep the kids at the house and let you and Dec stay at Jasper’s place with everyone else. If you want, I can drop you guys off there. They’ve got plenty of rooms.”

“Wait, let me get this straight. You’re offering to let Dec and me have twelve hours without kids?”

My dad’s shoulder lifted in the same way Declan’s did when he was being cagey. “We miss the grandkids. And it isn’t like they’re waking up every three hours anymore. And we’ll have Lydia and Jack there to help us out.”

Declan sounded exhausted from his spot in the front. “I’m not going to turn that offer down, honestly. I’m whipped.”

My head bobbed up and down. “Drop us off at Jasper’s, please.”

Dad took the right side of the fork in the road and we snaked about a half mile back toward Jasper’s house. There was a small tree in the window with some lights on it but no other decorations. Why were there still no decorations?

The kids were sound asleep in their car seats, and I hesitated for a beat. “You sure you don’t mind?” I asked my dad.

He smiled and shook his head. “Get out of here. Enjoy your time with your brothers.”

Declan opened the back door and I shimmied out from between the car seats, performing a maneuver a contortionist would be impressed with. Of course, the grace of it all was totally erased when my foot slipped on the frame and I flew from the SUV. Thankfully, Declan was there and caught me with ease, but the sheer material of my panties slid straight up my ass. I loved thongs, but the comfortable briefs I’d put on for the trip were not meant to be in my ass crack.

Declan made sure I was securely on my feet before he headed toward the back and popped the hatch, pulling our suitcases and carry-ons out with ease as I tried to remove the wad of material from my ass.

“Come on, Ty,” Dec said as he came back around the car. He leaned into the still-open door and looked at my dad. “Thanks so much, Brice. Call us if you all have problems.”

My dad waved him off with a smile. “We’ll be fine.”

Declan shut the door and I took my bags from him as we headed up the steps to my brother’s home. We hadn’t even made it onto the porch when the door swung open and Greg was standing there smiling broadly. “I seriously can’t believe you all made it tonight. I was sure they’d reroute you.”

Declan greeted him with a hug. “They closed the airport to all flights as we were walking toward baggage claim. If we weren’t the last flight in, I’d be shocked.”

Jasper’s house had once been a minimalist’s paradise with pristine floors and an unused kitchen. It was now filled with pops of color, trinkets and knickknacks, and oversized furniture that swallowed you up when you sat on it, and the lingering smell of their dinner hung in the air. In the last two years, this house had gone from a place where Jasper slept to a home.

There was a fire crackling in the fireplace, the sadly decorated tree was lit in the window, and a few presents sat under it. Jasper was at Greg’s side by the time we set our bags by the door, looking genuinely pleased to see us. A few years earlier, our relationship had been so strained I’d been certain this day would never come.

“Hey, Ty.” He greeted me with a warm hug and a smile that lit the room more than their tree.

“Hey. Thanks for letting us stay here.”

Colt waved from the sectional where he’d been spread out on the chaise with Derek in his lap. Derek looked half-asleep in his fleece footed sleeper while he nursed lazily on a bottle of milk. Harrison appeared from the kitchen holding an armload of beers. “Oh hey, you made it! Crazy weather.”

“There’s snow on the ground,” I said in reply. “I can’t remember the last time we had snow here in December!”

Jasper ushered us in and shut the door. “The weather forecast has been changing by the hour. This was supposed to be a freak storm, but it seems like it’s turning into a front that they’re predicting to last for days.”

Derek’s head came up from Colt’s lap and he blinked sleepily. “Are we gonna have a white Christmas?”

Harrison’s shoulder lifted. “There’s a possibility, yeah.”

“Seriously?” I didn’t know if I’d ever seen a white Christmas before. We all lived in areas that didn’t frequently get snow, and when we did, it was usually way later in the winter.

Jasper nodded. “That’s what the forecast currently says.”

Declan and Greg had our bags in hand and were heading to the guest room, so I walked over to the couch and curled up near Derek and Colt. “How was the flight?” Derek asked.

“The last twenty minutes were hell, but okay otherwise,” I answered truthfully.

Colt pushed at Derek’s back. “This one refused to go to bed once you said you landed, but now he’s spent. It’s even later at home, so I need to get him to bed. Then I’m going to crash as well. It’s been a day.”

“Night, Dare. Night, Colt.”

Derek nodded and yawned and shuffled around to stand up. I watched as he moved toward the steps, a puffy diaper under his pajamas and his thumb in his mouth, and was struck once again by how far we’d come as a family over the last few years.

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