Page 49 of Home For Christmas

As my eyes grew heavier, I noticed the distinct lack of toys clanking and found Derek had curled up on the floor with his blanket and had fallen asleep in front of the fireplace. The room was warm enough that I was tempted to pull the blanket from the couch and join him.

Greg chuckled from beside me. “If you’re that tired, let’s get up to bed.”

I blinked. “Huh?” Then I winced. “Had I said that out loud?”

Greg was having to actively suppress his laughter. “You were trying to decide if the fire would stay lit the rest of the night and how much you’d hate yourself if you slept on the floor tonight.”

Harrison didn’t bother holding his laughter in. “I can tell you it would be a hell of a lot.”

I didn’t remember thinking half of that, much less saying it. I was clearly more exhausted than I’d realized. And when I stood up to take my wine glass to the sink, I also realized I’d had more to drink than I’d thought.

Greg steadied me as I tipped to one side. “Six a.m. is going to come way too soon.”

I grumbled. “It’s already one.”

“At least Derek can drive in the morning if we haven’t sobered all the way up,” Colt said. “Do you need help getting Ty to bed?”

I looked over to see Ty nearly face-plant on the floor as he tried to stand up. I’d watched him shimmy across a dance floor in sky-high heels back in Nashville, even with numerous drinks in him. Tonight he couldn’t get from my couch to the floor safely. We really had overdone it, however unintentionally.

“I got it,” Declan said, easily scooping Ty into his arms and carrying him bridal style toward their bedroom. “You’re gonna feel like shit in a few hours, Doc,” I heard him say, though I detected the smile in his voice.

“Okay, to bed with you both,” Greg said to us and he guided both Harrison and I toward the steps. “You got Derek?” he asked Colt before we made it to the first step.

“I got him. He’s sober, just very sleepy. I should have taken him to bed before he fell asleep. Come on, buddy, time to wake up. Just for a minute. Everyone’s heading to bed.”

Greg patted my ass. “And you two need to get into bed. Harrison looks like he’s about to pass out on the steps. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

I glanced over at Harrison, who was yawning and holding tightly to the railing. Yeah, he looked worse for wear. I’d better not have a hangover for my wedding. I wanted to remember the day fondly, not with a headache and upset stomach. Then I remembered the snow that was coming down earlier and glanced out the window. It wasn’t snowing here, but I had no idea what was happening in Colorado.

Every childhood fantasy I’d ever had about a white Christmas was coming true on the worst possible day to have it happen.

Chapter 5

Harrison

December 25th

If the wine hangover hadn’t been bad enough when our alarm went off at five thirty, the volume level at Marla and Greg’s at six a.m. certainly was. Marla must have known that we’d been drinking too much for too long the night before because we walked in—still in our pajamas—and had thick Belgian waffles, bacon, and eggs shoved at us.

The only difference between what we’d woken up in and what we’d shown up in was that Colt had changed Derek into briefs instead of a thick diaper, and Ty had changed out of the sexy Santa nightie and into a pair of snug pajamas that matched Declan’s. I could honestly say Marla really did think of everything.

Derek, sober and not hungover, had been nearly as bad as the kids as he’d bounced around impatiently waiting for the rest of us to be ready to leave our house. We were moving far slower than he’d wanted, but a firm smack on the ass from Colt and he’d stopped complaining. Now that we’d arrived at Marla’s, he was impatient again.

“You look like shit. All of you. Well, except Derek,” Marla said, handing Colt the bottle of Advil from the cabinet. “You better get some of this in your systems before the kids wake up.”

I chuckled but it hurt as the sound rattled around in my brain like a fucking bass drum. “Yeah, we may have gone a little overboard on the wine last night. Derek drove.”

Ty grunted, taking a cup of coffee and the pain killers from Declan. “Dare didn’t drink last night.”

Derek grinned like he’d planned it that way and was the responsible one. I saw Colt cuff him on the back of the head and Derek giggled. Truthfully, it was nice to know that there had been one of us that didn’t need to worry about driving over here this morning. It would have been a long, cold walk.

We passed the bottle of Advil around as quickly as we could in an effort to shake the headaches we were all fighting before the kids got downstairs. Between the Advil, a number of strong cups of coffee, and consuming our weight in grease and doughy goodness, we were all feeling better by the end of breakfast—even with the volume five kids added to the room.

The kids’ energy level paired with the bright, sunny day helped shake the last of the hangover, though Brice had been making some odd noises as he’d looked at his phone then turned to whisper to Marla. Marla winced and shook her head. Jasper had picked up on it, but Marla and Brice were keeping their conversation to themselves. Finally, Derek leaned over and whispered in my ear. “There were massive snowstorms in Colorado and Utah last night. Flights across the US are a fucking disaster.”

“Language,” Colt whispered from beside Derek, and even with the bad news he’d just delivered, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Jasper’s expression could only be described as crestfallen. His shoulders sank and his smile faded. The weather had been playing a huge part in his stress levels for the last week. I knew he’d tried to hide his worries, but he hadn’t done a good job of it, at least from Greg and me. “We’re just going to have to reschedule. I don’t want to say ‘I do’ without his family here.”

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