Page 54 of The Holidays with Dr. Mitchell
“I’m not going down that road with you,” I answered. “Nice try, though. In respecting Swiss traditions, we’re going to harness some reindeer to a sleigh and have them bring us to a Christmas tree farm where we’ll find and cut down our very own Christmas tree.”
“That sounds exciting,” Avery said.
“And bitterly cold,” Nat added. “But Spencer could stand to do a little manual labor right now.”
Spencer tightened his lips, realizing he should’ve never talked back so harshly to his wife.
“Nat, Spence was doing manual labor yesterday as well. He’s the one who did the roof lighting and cut half a cord of wood,” Jim said, coming to his defense.
“It really is cute watching you defend Spence as if he were your boyfriend,” I taunted.
“Unfortunately, you all were at the market in the city center, unable to witness his efforts,” Jim finished, ignoring me.
She looked at Spencer, “Is this true?”
“Yeah, and hey, I’m sorry for what I said. I’m just sore as hell, exhausted, and not in the mood to hear Jake’s fucking chipper mouth through anotherfucking Christmas song.”
“Listen to me, baby,” she said, disregarding everyone in the room and capturing Spencer’s lips in a sensual kiss.
“Oh, come on, Nat,” I said.
“Chill out, Jacob,” she said, annoyed. “Now,” she returned her attention to Spencer, “because you were a dick, you’re still going on this reindeer adventure, but because you apologized and busted your ass for us with the Christmas lights and wood, you’ll get a special little surprise tonight. You know, the one I vowed to take away from you moments ago?”
“Yeah?” Spence said with the broadest smile any man has ever managed. I rolled my eyes, seeing the bastard get off too easily.
“All right, pervs. Let’s go,” I said. “Get your parkas because it’s going to be cold as shit out there.” I looked around the table, “Ladies, enjoy your relaxing afternoon. The staff will be here to wait on you, and we’ll be back before sundown.”
If only I knew how haunting those words would be to me two hours into our Christmas tree hunt, I would’ve smartly grabbed at leastonecell phone to ensure we wouldn’t become stranded in the middle of nowhere…
CHAPTER 29
Jake
The reindeer were trained for pulling sleighs, and we were ready to get on our way after we got them harnessed to ours. All of us guys, Mark and John included, piled into the bright red Santa sleigh, and we set off to the Gersbach family Christmas tree farm to hunt for the perfect Christmas tree to cut down.
We were reenactingOver the River and Through the Woods, and honestly, it was cold as fuck out here; however, as with everything else we’d planned to the tune of a Christmas song, my discomfort was easily overlooked because of the discomfort my brother and Spence were experiencing.
The highlight was that my father-in-law and son were in spectacular spirits, which was driving my chipper mood—that and the fact that it was Christmas Eve, after all.
Collin and I sat in the front with John between us, and I had to hand it to Collin: he was pretty impressive in his skills for guiding reindeer. He maneuvered this rig like he was backhome driving his Lamborghini. It did help that the man grew up around horses as a kid, so I supposed that must’ve transferred to his knowledge about directing a six-reindeer sleigh. He also sat with the reindeer handlers for a solid few hours, getting tips on how to do this, so I couldn’t give himtoomuch credit.
“How deep into this forest are we going?” Jim questioned as Collin held the reins and guided the reindeer deeper into the woods.
“Until we find the perfect tree, Jimmy,” I turned back and cheerfully proclaimed to my brother.
I smirked at Jim, Spencer, and Mark, all bundled up like snow bunnies, wearing beanies, scarves, and mittens, all crammed into the second row of the sleigh, trying to keep warm.
“I’m freezing my balls off,” Spencer complained.
“There’s hot cocoa that Mom packed, Uncle Spence,” John answered.
I ruffled the top of John’s beanie, finding happiness by seeing how exciting this was for him.
“And once we get this enormous tree, which you two will no doubt demand we cut down, how exactly do you plan on getting it back to the house?” Jim challenged, wholly unamused by our endeavor.
“We’ll tie it to the sleigh and pull it back to the house like they did back in the day,” I confidently returned.
“Don’t you think that the poor reindeer will be pushed to their limits, dragging five and a half men and a tree through the snow all the way back to the house?” Spencer asked, trying to catch us fucking something up.
