Christmas with the Kings (The Kings of Guardian)

by Kris Michaels

  "Mom." Reece extended the word into ten syllables.

  "Sorry, what baby?"

  "I asked you for a hint." Reece looked at his paper. "I can't find what I forgot."

  Faith walked back over to him and leaned against the counter where he was sitting. "Okay, here is your clue. What do you do when the numbers you add equal ten or more." Reece's brow furrowed until the light bulb popped on. He carefully erased his answer and wrote the correct sum. He looked up at her with eager expectation. She lifted her hand and he high-fived her. "Good work. Now, you and Tippy can play until Dad gets home."

  "Okay!” Reece launched from the stool and darted out of the kitchen, followed closely by a black and white barking blur.

  Faith put his homework beside his backpack so they wouldn't have to search for it in the morning and brought out the cutlery for dinner.

  "Faith?"

  Jason's evening announcement of his presence made her smile. "Kitchen." She called out. He strode in and swept her into his arms, dropping a kiss on her that left her breathless and just a little tipsy.

  "You look happy?" She asked when he lifted his head.

  "I've got some interesting news." He glanced around. "Where's Grandma's information source?"

  "Playing in his room." Tippy's happy barks came from the back of the house, confirming the dynamic duo’s location.

  Jason dropped his voice. "Did she tell you?"

  "Yes! On Christmas Eve? Isn't that exciting?" Faith clamped her hand over her mouth and looked down the hall. She lifted it and whispered. "I've never been a bridesmaid. I'm so excited she included me!"

  His hand cupped her cheek, and his face sobered to a serious expression. "Do you regret not having a church wedding?"

  She leaned into his touch. "I regret nothing about our life. Not one minute."

  He leaned down and hovered over her lips with his. "Are we going to tell them at Christmas like we planned?" His hand reached down to her still flat stomach.

  She lifted on her toes, closing the space between them for a second before she replied, "I think it would be okay. They get their moment on Christmas Eve, we can have ours on Christmas morning." Faith had never been so happy in her life, and she wanted to share their good news with the entire family.

  "Dad!"

  Jason spun as Reece launched at him. Faith ducked out of the way of flying feet as Jason threw their son into the air. Through the laughter, she gave her typical warning, "Dinner in ten minutes. Wash up, you two!"

  "Yes, ma'am!"

  Jason flipped Reece onto his back, piggyback style, then reached up over his shoulders and grabbed Reece under the armpits, pushing him up over his own head.

  The boy extended his arms straight forward, and Jason crouched like a platform. "I'm Superman!"

  Jason ran out of the room, and both of them made noises like they were flying. Faith caressed her stomach and looked down at the love that had become a baby. "You are so lucky to have that man as your daddy."

  "What do you think about repelling off the face of Mount Rushmore when we go to South Dakota? I know a guy, who knows a guy.” Justin ran his hands through Dani's hair. She was draped over his chest, and somehow the silk sheets on their bed had twisted around them, binding them together. Not that he minded. He'd spend the rest of his days with this woman bound to him.

  “In December?” Dani exaggerated a shiver. “Besides, isn't that like defacing a National monument? Pass. What else do you have?”

  “Hmmm... We could go to Jackson Hole. Skiing.” Damn, that sounded like fun. He pulled at the sheet, releasing the binding hold so he could roll her onto her side. “Imagine it. We could drop into some chutes and hogbacks, then maybe finish it up with dropping into Corbet's Couloir.” He leaned down to kiss her. “I promise I’ll keep you warm.”

  Dani pulled back and looked at him. “Oh, Corbet’s Couloir? What is that?”

  “A double Black Diamond run outside Jackson Hole. It starts with a twenty-foot freefall and then it is a fast, slick, forty-five-degree angle to the end. So, what do you say?” He damn near vibrated with excitement. "We can book it and then go to the ranch on Christmas Eve, have Christmas with my family."

  "I can't wait," She sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck and fell into his kiss.

  Fuck, the woman swamped him, left him stranded on an island of need and desire he prayed he’d languish on for the rest of his life.

  Dani jerked and pushed at his chest. "Wait, no, we can't."

  Justin lifted up. "Why?"

  "Jade is getting married on Christmas Eve. In the afternoon. We have to be there at least the day before. It will be the first time I try on my dress."

  Justin's laugh of disbelief wasn't intentional. Okay, yes it was. "Jade? As in my sister?"

  Dani nodded. "I was sworn to secrecy, so you can't tell anyone. She's doing this as a surprise so your mom doesn't stress even more than she already is. With all of us going to the ranch for Christmas, Amanda has enough on her plate."

  Justin sat up, pulling the sheet off her beautiful body. He reached out and ran a finger across her collarbone. Her breath hitched, and her eyelids lowered. "You do realize that makes me the last unwed King."

  "Unwed, yes. Unclaimed, no way. You agreed to marry me, buster. Tuscany, in June. The venue is set, and I've bought my dress, so you're not getting out of it." Dani stopped his trailing finger and licked the tip of it before she swirled her tongue around it and sucked it in her mouth.

  He could feel his eyes roll back in his head. "I'm yours, woman. Heart, body and soul."

  Chapter 7

  Jade paced back and forth and scrolled through the document on her phone. Everything was done. Wasn't it?

  "You're exhausting me." Nic walked into the bedroom, and Jade lost focus. Small rivulets of water ran down his chest. A towel wrapped around his waist. The crutches he used made his shoulders and arms flex with effort as he crossed the floor toward her.

  She waited for him and leaned into him when he stood in front of her. "I'm freaking out."

  A low rumble of laughter vibrated against her ear. "You, freak out? Who are you, and what have you done with my woman?"

  She lifted away and slapped him on the arm. "Stop. This is serious." She spun on her heel and crawled into their bed. "We leave for the ranch tomorrow. Once we get there, it will be almost impossible to keep my mom oblivious."

  Nic made his way to his side of the bed and propped his crutches next to the nightstand. "Which is why we've delayed going back until tomorrow. It is just a couple days, Jade. You've been undercover for almost a year—assumed a fake identity and brought down a huge drug operation with them none the wiser. I think you can fool your mom for a few days." He pulled the blankets back and slid between the sheets with her.

  "You don't know my mom. She's got this talent or gift. She's a human lie detector. She knows everything. It’s a superpower." Jade dropped back onto the pillows. "I'm forgetting something." She draped her arm over her eyes.

  "Okay, let’s run down the list. First, we have a place to get married, right?"

  Jade lifted her arm and glared at her future husband. "Yes, we have a place to get married."

  Nic held up another finger. "We have a license?"

  Jade lifted up, folded her pillow in half and leaned back against it. "Yes, we got it when we were there at Thanksgiving."

  Nic nodded and lifted another finger. "We have a preacher who is going to do the ceremony?"

  "You know we do. We went through the counseling sessions, and I sent him a stipend as a thank you for performing the ceremony." Jade chuckled. "I added one hell of a tip because he was doing the ceremony on Christmas Eve. I think that's his busy season, if you catch my drift."

  "I agree. So, we have a location, a license, and a preacher. We are going to be there and, worst-case scenario, we'll pull two strangers into the church to be our witnesses." Nic rolled over and pushed her hair off her shoulder. "Baby, anything else is just noise. If everything g
oes to hell, we will still be married."

  She rolled into him and thumped his chest with her fist. "Dammit, you're going to make me cry, and I don't fucking cry."

  "Of course you don't." Nic lay down and pulled her into his chest. "Just wait, in a few days we'll look back at this and laugh. You're worrying about nothing."

  Jade slid her hand through the hair on his chest. Dammit, he was right. What was the worst that could happen? Enough acting like a dame without a brain. "You're right. I'm blowing this out of proportion. Fuck it. We've got this." She lifted up and straddled him. "Fuck me into oblivion, handsome."

  Nic laughed and flipped her over. "There's the woman I'm marrying."

  Chapter 8

  Jasmine covered her mouth with a shaking hand. No. This couldn't be... She opened the second box and then the third. "Oh fuck, this is a nightmare." No, no, no!

  She grabbed her phone and punched the screen frantically.

  Keelee answered on the third ring. "Hey."

  "Girl, grab Em and get over here. We have a huge problem." Jasmine looked at the horrid mess that spilled out of the open boxes.

  "Uh… sure, I can babysit for you and Chad this afternoon."

  What? Oh, fuck, she was with Amanda. "Shit. Okay, so Mom's there. I'll call Em. You get here as soon as you can. Got it? Tell her I need to wrap some last-minute gifts or something."

  "Cool, yeah, no problem, I'll wander over in a bit. Bye."

  Jasmine hit the disconnect button and dialed Em.

  She answered on the second ring. "Hi, did they come in?"

  "Girl, it is a fucking disaster. Get over here."

  "Why, what's wrong?"

  Jasmine shook her head and pulled her hand through her hair. "I... it’s... fuck, just come over here. We have a huge problem."

  "Oh, my god… what color is that?" Em picked up her dress with two fingers as if the atrocious color could slip off the fabric and contaminate her.

  Keelee nudged the boxes out of the way, picked up a random dress and made her way to the window. "Shit, natural lighting doesn't help this at all. Umm… I think it is a cross between puke yellow and snot green."

  Jasmine groaned. "Yeah. How could she do this to us?"

  "Have you called Jade?" Em took the dress to the full-length mirror and held it in front of her.

  "She's in the air on her way here. They're supposed to land at eleven." Jasmine picked up her dress. "I have never seen such an ugly ass color in my life. It seriously looks like baby poo!"

  "I can't imagine she wanted this color. The manufacturer had to have made a mistake. What color are the ties?" Keelee nodded toward the small box that hadn't been opened yet.

  "Does it matter?" Em held the dress against her and grimaced. "I mean, we can't even dim the lights. It is an afternoon wedding."

  Keelee's eyes popped up. "Could we bleach it? Make it paler or even white would be better than… throw-up."

  "I thought I was blowing it out of proportion." Jasmine gazed around the room. "I wasn’t, was I?"

  "Oh, hell, no. If anything, I think this is worse than you led me to believe." Ember flopped down in one of Jasmine's overstuffed chairs. Layers of the disgusting colored taffeta skirting pooled around her lap.

  "Jade's going to freak." Keelee slumped into the couch. "Personally, I'd cry. You can't make this pretty. There is no way."

  "I know." Jasmine dropped into a chair and dropped her head back. "What are we going to do?"

  "Damned if I know. Jade's going to have to make the call on this." Em replied. "Did Chad go to pick up the flowers?"

  Jasmine lifted her head and sighed. "Yeah, he should be back about two. They called yesterday and said they had to make some substitutions because the flower shipment was late."

  Em sat forward. "Wait, we had basic flowers. What kind of substitutions?"

  "They didn't say. Only if we wanted the arrangements, we'd have to accept some creative leeway. They have us over a barrel. What was I supposed to do?"

  "Girl, it will be fine." Keelee lifted the dress she'd picked up. "What about airbrushing? You know where they spray a fine mist of paint?" She made a motion with her hand.

  "Do you have an airbrush machine or know where we can find one?" Jasmine lifted off the couch. Any idea was better than the horror that lay at her feet.

  "Sadly, no." Keelee shook her head. "Sorry, I'm not being helpful."

  "I guess we hang these up and wait for Jade."

  "Did her dress come in?" Ember cast a worried look at the boxes on the floor.

  "Scheduled for delivery this afternoon according to the shipping tracker." Jasmine stood up and grabbed a hanger. "Come on, ladies. Let’s get this hung up and steamed. Not that taking the wrinkles out will improve the look, but..."

  "Yeah. Do what you can." Em stood and grabbed a hanger.

  "Maybe the color will grow on us." Keelee lifted off her chair. Jasmine looked at her and lifted an eyebrow. "Or not."

  Chapter 9

  "Do you know what's going on with the kids?" Amanda sipped her coffee and gazed into the fireplace. There were too many furtive glances between her children and odd comments from the ones in Washington. She'd learned long ago not to disregard her instinct.

  Frank grunted and turned the page of his newspaper.

  "Don't pretend you didn't notice." She glanced at her husband. His hair was almost completely silver now. The lines in his face deeper, but beyond that, he was still the amazing, sexy man she'd fallen head over heels in love with.

  He glanced at her, still holding the paper up. "It's Christmas."

  Amanda nodded and considered the point. The children could be trying to stage some Christmas surprise… but all of them? The plane from Washington should have touched down already. Once she had all of her children in one room, she'd be able to tell who the ringleader was—that and Reece would tell her everything she wanted to know and then some. The little boy was a wealth of information.

  "Don't go spoiling their surprise. You'd hate it if they spoiled yours." Frank turned the page and leaned back in his chair.

  "Hmmm… so you admit there is a surprise?"

  "Nope. Just figured if you saw something, it was probably about the season.”

  She pushed her chair, making the rocker glide back and glanced up at the twenty-foot pine tree that stood in the corner of the room. There were boxes of lights, ornaments, and garland to be used. She'd pop popcorn, and the older kids, including some of her grown babies, would eat half while stringing it. Hot chocolate, apple cider, Christmas carols, and excited children would rule the ranch tonight. With ten kids between them, and eight grandchildren, plus husbands, wives, fiancés and significant others, the tree would be overrun with love and presents. "It’s going to be so good to have them all home for Christmas. It was what I wanted this year."

  Frank folded his paper and set it down. His gaze fell to the tree. He grunted an agreement before he glanced over at her. "Got the best present in the world sitting next to me. Beyond that, having the kids here is all I could ever ask for as well."

  Amanda reached out her hand, and he took it. "You are the best man in the world, Frank Marshall."

  "No, ma'am. But you make me want to be." He squeezed her hand gently.

  She blinked back happy tears. After being widowed and raising five boys and three girls by herself, finding her soulmate was the last thing Amanda had expected. But she found him, and for that she was thankful. "We are blessed, Frank. Blessed beyond my comprehension."

  "Truer words were never spoken." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. "Before the horde descends and things get crazy, I want you to know I know how hard you worked to get them here and make everything perfect. I love you."

  "Gramma! Grampa! We're here!" The front door slammed open, and the rush of little feet brought them both out of their chairs.

  Amanda fell to her knees and braced for the multitudes of hugs heading her way. She was blessed. Well and truly blessed.

 
; Chapter 10

  Jade made her way downstairs after unpacking for her and Nic. She could hear the hubbub of commotion in the great room. The kids were hyper after the flight. Jade made a right turn at the bottom of the stairs and headed to the kitchen. It would be quieter there. She loved her nieces and nephews, but all of them together, hyper and amped about Christmas? Well, distance was her friend right now.

  Two minutes after sitting down with a cup of hot apple cider that was simmering in the crockpot on the counter, Em walked in. She shut the door and put her back against it. "Jade, what color were the bridesmaids dresses supposed to be?"

  "A dark red. Why?" A horrible sick feeling dropped over her.

  Em pushed the door open and checked the hallway before she scurried over to the table and pulled out a piece of lurid yellow-greenish-brown material. "What the hell happened to this tie?" Jade lifted it and winced. "Fuck, did someone puke on it?"

  "No, this is the color of everything." Em hissed.

  Everything? What was everything? Her sister-in-law wasn't making sense. Ember pointed to the tie and whispered, "The dresses are this color."

  "Oh for fuck's sake!"

  "Shhhh...."

  "No, this can't be happening." Jade started pacing. "Okay, okay. We can fix this."

  "Fix what?"

  Her mom's question spun her on a dime. "Oh… I forgot to pack a part of Joseph's gift from Ember." She slid her panicked gaze at her sister-in-law, silently begging for help.

  "Yeah, I wanted her to swing by the..." Ember glanced back at Jade.

  "Jewelers! For cufflinks." Jade wanted to slap her hand over her mouth. Like Joseph used cufflinks. The man lived in jeans. She'd seen him in a suit once, and that was at her dad's funeral.

  Amanda's eyebrows lifted toward the ceiling. "Oh, well that's a nice gift, dear. Were you planning on going somewhere that he'll need to wear formal attire?"