Page 43 of Home For Christmas

“Cody’s coming in about that time as well. It really isn’t a problem to head to the airport a few minutes early.”

Emma’s smile was clear through the line. “Nope, we already knew Cody was coming in. Slade has a large SUV; we’ll all fit in just fine. Don’t worry, Dad. We’ve got this covered.”

I’d been a single dad so long, juggling football practice with swim lessons and band practices, that accepting the kids were old enough to not need me was sometimes hard. Emma had been all over the world for her work and had never had a problem getting herself around, even when she didn’t speak the language. I should have known she’d be fully capable of getting from Ada to Pleasant. Though part of me wondered how much she’d had to bribe Nate to go out of his way to pick her up.

Commotion on the porch told me it was about to get loud in the house. “I better get going. My quiet time is over.”

“Bye, Dad. Love you. See you tomorrow!” Emma called before disconnecting.

I ended up saying goodbye to dead air just as the door opened and Ty and Dec walked in, followed by Derek and Colt. They were laughing and talking over one another and I suspected some of them had had more than a few drinks while at Marla’s house.

“Marla says we have to be back by five for dinner,” Colt informed me before turning back to Derek. “Come on, head to our room. I’d told you to go pee before we left your mom’s.”

Derek huffed. “I can’t help it you hit the biggest pothole known to man.”

Ty snorted a laugh. “Tell that to your pants.”

“It’s not that bad. You can hardly see it!”

All I did was shake my head as I pocketed my phone. “How does coffee sound?”

I heard Declan let out a not-so-sober laugh. “That’s probably a good idea.”

“What did you all have?” I asked as I went to the kitchen to start the coffee maker and pulled out a loaf of crusty bread and spinach dip to start sopping up the alcohol in their systems.

“Marla was testing out some drinks for tomorrow. I think she went a little heavy-handed on a few of the pours.” Declan pulled a stool up beside me, broke a piece of bread off the loaf, then pulled it through the dip. He popped the piece of bread in his mouth and hummed as he chewed. “Damn, this is good.”

I nodded. “Jasper made it last night.”

Declan’s eyes popped open. “Jasper? He made something?”

He’d been getting better in the kitchen, especially with things like desserts and appetizers. We still didn’t trust him with dinner, but at least we knew he wouldn’t starve to death or die of malnourishment from only consuming coffee and chips if we weren’t around. “He definitely has a handful of things he really likes to make.”

Declan’s slightly drunken smile reached his eyes. “That’s awesome.”

Ty bounced into the room, noticeably missing the pants he’d arrived home in. The fact that I didn’t even blink probably said something about me, I just wasn’t sure what. The Scotts were the most fascinating group of people I’d ever met. Behind closed doors, they were open and overshared to a fault. In public, they maintained a very boring image, and at home with Marla and Brice, they skirted the line. They definitely shared more than I’d ever shared with my parents—and way more oversharing than Emma and Nate did with me—yet managed to still keep things from getting too awkward. Somehow, I’d become included in the group of people that counted as behind closed doors and it sometimes took me a minute to remember that seeing my brother-in-law in pink panties wasn’t normal for most families.

Then again, watching my other brother-in-law waddle out of the bedroom behind his husband in a thick diaper under a pair of sweatpants wouldn’t be considered a normal occurrence either, yet I still didn’t blink an eye. Nope, not me. I just went to the cabinet where we’d somehow amassed a few of his favorite sippy cups, filled one with milk, and handed it over.

“Eat up.” I gestured to the food plate as Derek took a seat next to Declan.

“Thanks,” he responded, and his cheeks turned a faint pink as he put the cup to his lips.

Colt slid onto the chair beside Derek and set to work putting dip and bread on one of the paper plates I’d set by the serving platter. He slid the plate over to Derek. “Eat, buddy. We need to get you sobered up before tonight.”

Derek didn’t look that drunk to me. Then again, he was a Scott and I’d learned early on that they all had a crazy tolerance for alcohol. Between the four, Colt looked sober, Derek and Ty were both rosy cheeked and a little giggly, but it was Declan I was most worried about. The wince that crossed his face when the door to the garage swung open and Jasper and Harrison walked in didn’t help my concern.

I walked over and pulled the guys into my arms. “Fence fixed?”

They both nodded, but they were chilled to the bone, even through their heavy coats. They’d been out for quite a while, but I hadn’t missed either of their kiss-swollen lips. I was willing to bet they’d gotten up to more than just fixing a fence in the last few hours.

Harrison’s eyebrows pulled together, then a small smirk crossed his face. “You have Christmas diapers?”

Derek ran his hand around the back of his pants where most of the backside of his diaper was hanging out. A shoulder went up in a shrug. “Daddy bought them. They’re comfy.”

Jasper shook his head but he was smiling, at least until he saw Ty with his ass hanging out of a pair of panties, sitting on one of our chairs. “We’re going to have to sanitize the chairs when they leave.” He shot me a wink and I knew he was trying to get a rise out of Ty.

Ty didn’t take the bait, just wiggling his ass and never looking away from the snack he was eating. “Like your naked asses haven’t been all over these chairs before.”

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