Page 43 of Harley

“I want grandchildren, and I don’t care who knows,” Phoe replied.

The older children not in a relationship snickered.

???

Dinner, despite the exploding turkeys, had been wonderful. Caterers had made plenty for everyone, and there wasn’t a fried turkey in sight.

We were waiting for dessert now, which Axel had arranged. Harley explained that, in a nod to Phoe and her five English children, they always had Christmas pudding and a chocolate yule log. More traditional American desserts would be served with tea.

The puddings were placed on the tables, and Axel was giving everyone instructions. On the count of three, everybody struck a match and set the pudding on fire.

“Fuck!” Harley shouted and dived at me as three-foot flames shot upwards. Within mere seconds, chaos descended as old ladies rushed for their kids, and the sprinklers came on.

“You ain’t meant to burn our home down!” Drake yelled at Axel, who stood in the middle of the soaking wet chaos, confused. Harley had swept me up in his arms and carried me to the exit leading into the library.

“Axel, how much whiskey did you put on them?” Phoe asked, remarkably calm.

I didn’t know how she did it; I was freaking the hell out. I’d latched firmly onto Harley, and he grinned at my panic.

“Might have guessed Axel would fuck up,” Harley murmured.

Women and children dashed past us, soaking wet.

“Half a bottle per pudding,” Axel replied, sounding miserable.

“Half a bottle?” Sin gasped, glancing at Phoe.

“Half a bottle?” Phoe repeated, staring at Axel. “You’re only meant to put a couple of tablespoons on each.”

“Huh?” Axel muttered. “Well, that was a waste of whiskey!”

Phoe began to giggle before laughing hysterically. The old ladies joined in.

I shook my head at the sheer craziness of the entire day.

“Let’s go get you dry,” Harley said as Phoe gave instructions to the caterers. As we walked away, we heard Phoe call out loudly.

“Let’s make it a pyjama party,” she declared, and the kids all cheered. “There’s a movie that Liz, security, and the prospects have made this Christmas. It’s called a Raging Merry Christmas. Basically, it is all the screw-ups the adults made! We will meet in the drawing room to watch it. It should be fun.”

“We’ll open more presents first!” Eddie stated.

“Of course, then we’ll watch the film,” Drake replied.

Harley began laughing, while the brothers looked sheepish.

???

My stomach hurt from giggling so much.

The Santa gifts had been opened, and the kids had tidied up the mess, and we’d just finished the movie. Despite how frightening and horrific it was, it was also hysterical. I finally got to see the penguin porn and reindeer orgy and the rest of the gang bang the older Hellions had committed. It was literally one disaster after another.

As it went on, the brothers began ribbing each other as they watched the disasters evolve. The old ladies and Hellions were in hysterics. The younger kids were more interested in playing with their toys.

For the first time, a powerful sense of family overwhelmed me, and I envied Harley. After Christmas tea, alcohol flowed freely as some brothers took up instruments and a sing song happened.

Harley loved this, I could see it in his eyes and smile. He was completely happy. As I looked around, despite the drama, these people had a strong sense of family and love. I envied them. Archer only had Aspen and me to give him that.

It was pointless wishing Aspen and I had Christmases like this. We hadn’t. Grandad had tried to spend the day with us, but he didn’t fit into my parents’ idea of class.

---