Page 17 of Ayden

“I’ll talk to my brother if that helps. Is that why you came to me?” She told him that it was part of it but she’d told Edmond as well just the other day. “I see. Covering your ass, I guess.”

“You might say that.” She told him the price, which was considerably less than he’d thought it would be. Then she handed over the contract that had been with the other leader that she said that Edmond had asked for. “You can give it to your brother or not, but Edmond asked for it. Like I said, I like him.”

He could well afford the house with the money that Brandy had given him. Also, any renovations that he wanted done had there been any. The house as it set was perfect for him. When he asked her how they were to do this, she suggested that they go to the bank and finish up there.

“I have power of attorney for the house and land for my parents. The house is as is, as I said, because you’re going to be taking the things that they left behind. You didn’t ask, but there is a large garage that stores lawnmowers and such that they were renting from the people who worked on it, as well as a pond out back that they had stocked every year. It’s a lovely spot but too much for them anymore.” He told her that he’d go right now. “Good. Edmond said that you weren’t the type of person to second guess yourself. If you wanted the house, you’d do it now. Good for me. I can get home in a good time and only have to return when the loan goes through to sign the paperwork.”

“I have the cash.” She nodded as if she knew he might say that and told him that it was even better. As soon as they arrived at the bank, the paperwork was all filled out, but for his name, he was finished in an hour, and he was the new owner of a house.Not that he had that much to move, but he decided that he was going to move in as soon as tomorrow. If he could get his bed taken over. The rest of the house could sit empty for all he cared about so long as he didn’t have to deal with people.

Ordering a pizza to be delivered, he was going to celebrate having a home. He’d have to tell the others sooner or later, but for now, he was going to bask in the quiet. Telling Lica that he had the contract that hadn’t been covered brought up questions, but since he wasn’t in the mood to answer them, he didn’t. At midnight, after packing up his few things, he made his way to bed and decided that he was going to sleep in. Which to him, meant that he would be getting up at six instead of around five. He might not like people all that much, but he knew they were necessary to run a business. And since he worked for Lica and Brandy, he knew too that if he worked or not, he’d still get paid. They took care of family.

Chapter 7

“What did you want to get your brothers for Christmas? It’s in a few days, and I’ve not seen you shop for them.” He said he got it back in August for them. “Really? What did you get them? I’ll wrap it up for you to put under the tree.”

“We never wrap them.” Ayden was sitting at the table when she’d asked him about the gifts, and the girls were with him. “We wait until Christmas week, then when we see each other, we give them to each other. It’s all right.”

“What did you get him?” He told her. “Socks. Which brother did you get socks for? And so you know, we’re going to wrap everything and put it under the tree this year. We have a family.”

“I got them all socks. Can I have some more of those eggs? They’re really good.” She got up to make him another four eggs, asking him why he would get his brothers all socks for Christmas. “We get each other socks for Christmas. And we get them in August because that’s when the back-to-school prices are the best. We get a bag of socks and one pair of black ones for funerals, and being turned down at the bank for each of us. It’s practical, and since we need them, we have them for the entire year. See? It’s a good gift.”

She just stared at him. Then he explained how the banker used to simply turn them down for any kind of loan, so they called them their funeral and turn down at the bank socks. He said they would make them look more professional if they wore the black ones in.

“So each of you would buy each other a bag of socks for Christmas, you’d not wrap them up, and you’d just—I’m supposing that you didn’t have a tree either.” He told her that the one in their living room was the first tree he’d ever had in all his life. That made her sad. “You have money now. You can buy eachof them whatever you want.”

He looked at her, confused, and she wanted to hug him. He didn’t get it. It was something that he’d been doing all his life, and it didn’t stop just because he had money and a good job now. She was going to go out that day, buy each of the men in her life gifts, and put on the tag that said it was from her and Ayden. Her heart broke each time she looked at the bags of socks not wrapped under the tree. She decided to call Brandy and Mac.

After telling them what she’d discovered, Brandy said she’d not asked Lica what he’d gotten his brothers. When he told her that he’d done it, she assumed that he’d done something special and didn’t want her to know about it. Mac had said the same thing. After looking around, they both found the five bags of socks for each brother and the five pairs of socks in the same black color. None of them knew what to do.

“Did you know that this is their first tree ever? Ayden told me that this morning.” She was an emotional wreck, thinking that these men who were so generous with not just their time but their hearts had never celebrated the holidays like… “That’s why they were so confused at Thanksgiving. They didn’t understand that families got together and had a large meal, then sat around being full. It was the first time that they’d had that kind of family over.”

“Lica said that he understood that people ate big on that day, but he’d never participated. I just didn’t understand that it was because he didn’t know how not that he didn’t want to. Oh my god, when I think of the things that he said to me that day, about all the leftovers, how much food I was having made. I get it now.” The three of them met at her house and cried all afternoon while they talked about their husbands and their brothers. The things that they missed out on and the things that they’d never experienced. “I’m going to make sure that we celebrate each and every holiday on the calendar. I don’t even care if it’s Taco Day.I’m going to make it special for them. When I think of all the things that they missed because…it hurts me to my core to know that they, these wonderfully wonderful men, have given so much of themselves that they never had anyone give back to them. I mean it. This is going to be the first of the best holidays that I can make for them.”

“We have to do this in a way that doesn’t hurt them.” Mac had a point. They weren’t being selfish, just uninformed. As they decided what they were going to do and how they were going to fix this, it was Mac that came up with a plan. “We buy them gifts that they never would have gotten for themselves or from anyone. Games that they can play together. New sweaters even though the other one isn’t worn out yet. When I think of seeing all those socks in his drawer and why there was still a package unopened in the closet, I understand what their thinking was. They weren’t being mean by buying each other socks. It was practical. It was on sale in August, so they got it then and held onto it even though they each knew what they were doing. I can see them now, handing off the bags to each other in large grocery bags because that, too, would have been practical. When I think of their parents, I want to find them and beat the shit out of them.”

It took them most of the day to get things set up. They had never ordered things for the holidays three days before Christmas, and so far, it was going to work. They got them all kinds of things that they should have had as a child through their teenage years. As soon as they were finished, the three of them had an idea that they’d not have to do this for the next wife, whoever she was, they were going to set the men up so that they not only had the holiday spirit, but they would hold it year-round.

The boxes and bags began to arrive that afternoon. It helped to have money to burn so that they could make this work. Hiringa few of the pack to help them, they put large and sometimes giant blow-ups in their yards. Christmas presents that were jokes, and some that were serious. Through it all, they laughed, wondering how their husbands were going to react to their first Christmas. It was Hattie, Lica’s cook, who told them to get them ornaments that had their first Christmas for them. By the end of the day, they were so excited that they had to refrain from telling their brothers and husbands. It was going to be epic, and they couldn’t wait to share.

She was able to see Ayden’s face when he got home that night. He was excited about the blow-ups but more so about the gifts under the tree. She’d even been able to get her daughters involved in the planning, and they were just as excited as she was about the morning of Christmas.

“You’ve been so busy.” She told him that she had been, just for him. “You didn’t have to do that. I got all I need right here with you and the girls.” But she could tell that he was curious.

“How did you like the front yard?” He said that he’d seen them from the highway, and there were so many of them. “We’re going to have even more by the time the girls are moving out. I plan to make every holiday the best that we can make it. We have a lot to make up for.”

“I bet. The girls said that they were only able to get a couple of things for Christmas. I’m glad that—” Selma told him that they were all for him. “Me? No, that’s not right. I’ve had good Christmas’s.”

“You’ve had Christmas. You’ve never had good ones. We’re going to have fun this year.” She could tell that he was embarrassed, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to blindside him about the holidays and have him feeling bad. Instead, she gave him a list of things that the girls were getting and asked him what else he wanted to give them. They had been getting socks as well. And the funny part was, she knew that he’d paid full pricefor them as they didn’t have back-to-school sales in November.

By the time she was ready for bed, Summer could tell that Ayden was getting excited. He kept looking out the front of the house and to the tree. There were about two hundred gifts under the tree and most of them were for him. She couldn’t wait for him to begin opening them. She also knew that they were all going to benefit from him having such a lovely holiday.

“I don’t understand.” She asked him what he meant as they were preparing for bed. “Why are you making this big deal for me. We have children now. It should be all about them.”

“Because it’s never been all about you.” He asked her what she meant. “You’ve never, not any of you have, had a holiday where it meant something. Not even your birthdays. It was just another day for you.”

“But that’s all right.” She told him that it wasn’t all right that he deserved more than anyone. “But I’m all right with how things went for us. We’re who we are simply because of the way that we grew up.”

“That’s bullshit.” He looked taken aback, and she told him that again. “You’re who you are because you’re a good man. All of you are. It had nothing to do with those people that raised you. If they were here now, I’d beat them to death and not think a thing about it. You were raised by people who should never have had kids in the first place. But I’m glad they did because I was able to have the best husband and friend in the world. A good parent to the daughters we have. A good man that helps others despite being so busy with things himself that he really doesn’t have time. I love you, Ayden Frazier. So much that I’m not sure that words can relay to you what my heart already knows. I was so lucky that you found me and my girls that I can’t tell you how happy you’ve made us all.”

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