Page 19 of Home For Christmas

I must have looked ridiculous standing in the middle of the bar laughing so hard I doubled over. The thought of too much information being provided to any of the brothers, but especially Ty, was so absurd I couldn’t help it. I’d heard all about Ty’s panties, his favorite sex positions, and even the places he and Declan had had sex over the years. Too much information wasn’t something Ty understood when it came to himself, but apparently we’d found his limit with Jasper.

The night quickly got away from us. Christmas music blared, bodies ground together, and as more and more people realized we were there for a bachelor party, the drinks started coming our way as soon as we walked up to the bar. Aside from the first round, we hadn’t purchased a single drink the entire night, yet somehow I’d ended up with five very drunk men while Greg and I tried to corral them toward the exit after one in the morning.

“We’ll be right back,” I said as I took Derek’s elbow while Greg was busy finding coats and counting heads. “Time for a potty break.” Big or little, Derek was my responsibility and I took the job of being his Daddy seriously. He knew that when I told him it was time to go to the bathroom, it was time to go to the bathroom. There were times that Derek, knowingly or not, gave me complete control over bathroom breaks and if I wasn’t paying attention to time, I’d quickly find him dancing from foot to foot without ever realizing. Add in drunk, dancing, and with music to distract him, and I’d needed to pay even more attention.

Derek pursed his lips. “I don’t have to go potty, Daddy!”

If he was letting Daddy slip out in the middle of the crowded bar, I knew he was well buzzed. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Do you really want to start this in the middle of the bar? I told you it was time to go potty.”

Derek’s eyes widened and he seemed to sober up. “Sorry,” he mumbled as he began to follow me through the bar and toward the restrooms. Standing him in front of the urinal near the far wall, I allowed him to go pee on his own, which wasn’t easy with the onesie he’d put on. I’d ended up using my body to block the view of him while he fought with the snaps. I’d have preferred to go into a stall and help him, but the bathroom was simply too busy, and judging from the number of feet and the sounds coming from the two stalls, we weren’t getting in either.

“I can’t get it snapped,” he hissed just loud enough that I could hear him.

I couldn’t drop his pants in the middle of the bathroom to help him snap up, so I did the next best thing. “Just tuck your shirt in well, we’re leaving anyway.”

Derek did as instructed and then headed toward the sink. While he washed his hands, I made sure there was no sign of the bottom of the onesie. When I was convinced he was decent, I held out a paper towel, then made sure to be the one to touch the doors. His thumb would be in his mouth as soon as we made it to the car and I really didn’t want him touching anything else with his clean hands.

Walking toward the exit, I knew Derek had way more to drink than he was used to. I rarely let Derek drink like this, so I knew he’d feel it in the morning. I just hoped he wasn’t too hung over.

We met up with the guys at the exit and Greg informed me that the valet was already getting our car. I could tell he was as anxious as I was to get the guys in the car because as soon as the car was parked, he was ushering his men toward it. I leaned in and automatically buckled Derek into the seat behind me and watched as Greg double-checked that Harrison’s buckle was fastened. He sighed as he got into the car. “It’s going to be a fun night.”

How Ty had managed to stay up on his pin-thin stiletto boots while so drunk was beyond me. The fact that he was still throwing his hips from side to side as we walked out told me he was drunk but not wasted. There was no way someone wasted could walk like that. And the fact that Derek was complaining about wanting his blanket and a bottle of milk told me I’d plied him with enough bar food over the course of the night that we should manage with only a good headache in the morning. The others in the car I couldn’t be so sure about.

“We really are too old for this,” I said as we pulled away from the curb. “It’s not so much the drinking and the parties, it’s more the hour. You’d think I’d be used to weird hours with what I work sometimes, but working is so much different than being at a club… or you know, trying to keep an eye on my husband.”

Greg nodded like what I’d said made perfect sense. “In my line of work, I’m at clubs until all hours of the night at times, but it’s very different when Jasper and Harrison are there than when I’m babysitting a client. I feel even more on edge when it’s the two of them.”

I completely understood what he was saying. Knowing Derek was there, especially after not giving him a limit on what he could drink for the night, had added a level of stress that wasn’t normally in my life. Not only was I making sure he wasn’t drinking too much, but I was constantly on the look out for things that could wind up with him or us on the front page of gossip sites.

Pulling into the driveway half an hour later was a relief. Seeing the house lit up and the brightly colored Christmas tree glowing in the window, stress left my body.

Looking back to find Derek sleeping with his thumb in his mouth. “Okay, buddy, time to get inside and ready for bed.”

He mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like diaper and I couldn’t help but agree. “Potty, then diaper and sleep,” I assured him as I killed the engine and opened the door.

All in all, there was nothing about this moment I’d change. Even at nearly two in the morning, with five men on the wrong side of tipsy, the night was perfect. After getting Derek ready for bed, I crawled in behind him and spooned my body around his. I had my boy and, aside from the kids, the most important people in my life were in the rooms next to us. We were getting to spend a weekend together celebrating Jasper, Harrison, and Greg, but also just getting to be together.

The next week was going to be an insane roller coaster ride as we got the kids through their last week of school before flying out to Oklahoma, but we’d all be together again in a few short days. I loved spending time here, and not being in Tennessee for Christmas would be strange, but anywhere my boy and my kids were would always be home to me.

II

Ty and Declan

Chapter 1

Ty

December 13th

I was willing to concede that I was no longer as young as I once was. Having kids changed everything. Before Meadow and Mason came along, I could have easily closed Vortex down and had twice as much to drink. Since the twins, I’d cut back so much on drinking and clubbing that a single one a.m. night was enough to leave my head thumping.

“Turn off the light,” I mumbled into the room.

Declan groaned from beside me, though he just sounded tired, not like the world was trying to play a rock concert inside of his skull—laser light show and pyrotechnics included. “The light’s off, babe. That’s the sun.”

“Then someone turn the sun off.”

Declan laughed at me, and it sounded like he’d just played a tambourine in my brain. I tossed the pillow over my head, cussing my husband.

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