by Nikki Ash
Fighting ‘round the Christmas Tree
Copyright © 2017 Nikki Ash
All rights reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Cover design: Jersey Girl Designs
Cover photograph: Depositphotos
Dedication
To my mom, who always made sure every Christmas was filled with love and laughter and family.
Table of Contents
Cooper
Liz
Bentley
Kayla
Caleb
Hayley
Kaden
Ashley
Bella
Marco
Cooper
Bentley
Liz
Hayley
Kayla
Marco
Bentley
Cooper
Bella
Liz
Cooper
Caleb
Bella
Ashley
Hayley
Bella
Marco
Kaden
Marco
Bella
Coming Soon
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Cooper
“No, Elsa! Stay away from the damn tree.” For the millionth time since we got this damn dog I am shooing her away from the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree that Liz insists we put up every year the day before Thanksgiving so we can decorate it on Thanksgiving. The Christmas tree she says she needs to look at during the month of December because it’s so pretty and is filled with so many memories. The same Christmas tree that never has a single damn present under it because every year we leave the day after the kids get out of school for winter break and head to Breckenridge for two weeks to celebrate Christmas with our family and friends. The Christmas tree she makes me take down before we leave, so it doesn’t die while we are away because God forbid the poor tree be brown and dead when we return home. Are you doing the math, here? Yep! That means this damn Christmas tree is up for two damn weeks! During which time, I spend countless hours yelling at the goddamn dog to stay away from the goddamn tree.
“Cooper, honey. Can you please stop yelling at the poor dog? You know she’s getting older. She is just trying to find a comfy spot to lay down.” Are you listening to this crap? The dog has been rolling around under the tree, knocking the ornaments off the branches since the first Christmas we got her. At least she will be staying at the dog daycare while we are away this year.
“Ok, babe. I need to run to the gym. With Mason winning his fight a few weeks ago, the women have been stalking the gym to check him out and take pictures, and I need to check on a few things before we leave for Colorado.”
Mason Street joined my gym a little over two years ago. He was eighteen—broke and lost—living on the streets, but a damn good fighter, and with Kaden’s guidance he is soaring to the top, fast. This kid is making a name for himself. A few months after he started training, Ashley found out he was sleeping on benches in various parks and insisted he move in with them.
I walk out of the living room and find Liz standing in the foyer sifting through the mail she must have brought in. Dressed in an off the shoulder cream colored sweater, dark skinny jeans, and those fluffy expensive boots she loves, my wife of almost fourteen years still makes casual look sexy as fuck. Coming up behind her, I wrap my arms around her waist and give her bare shoulder a kiss.
“I thought you were leaving,” she giggles as I trail wet kisses up the side of her neck, ending up at her ear. She tilts her head to the side to give me access and I growl into her ear making her laugh harder. I will never get enough of this woman.
“I was leaving… until I saw your sexy ass in those tight—” My words are cut off when I see the envelope she’s holding in her hands. “What’s that?” Reluctantly peeling myself off her, I go to grab the envelope from out of her hands but she turns around quickly, preventing me from getting it. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Cooper, calm down. You knew this was a possibility.” She uses her mom voice on me and I know I am about to be pissed.
“No, I’m pretty sure I knew my answer was no. … let me rephrase… Hell. No. Let me see it.”
“Not until you calm down.” She quirks her brow at me, and normally it would stop me in my tracks and make me rethink whatever it is I’m about to do, but right now I’m on a damn mission, and no look is going to deter me.
“Liz, let me see the damn envelope.” Before I can grab it from her, there’s a crashing sound from the living room. Damn dog! “Just great! Elsa!! Get away from the tree!” I bark out. “How many more days until we take this damn tree down?”
“Real nice, Cooper,” Liz glares at me, “Why don’t we just call you the Grinch?” She huffs, throwing her arms up into the air, and stomps out of the room. Fabulous! I should have just focused on getting her undressed.
“Was that a crashing sound I heard?” Nathan, our twelve-year-old son, comes out of the kitchen with a sandwich in one hand and a glass of milk in the other.
“Yeah, the dog is rolling under the tree, again. God knows how many ornaments are broken this time.” I watch him shove the sandwich into his mouth, crumbs falling to the floor. “And hey, how about grabbing a plate instead leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind you.”
Nathan rolls his eyes in typical pre-teen fashion. “Dad, the dog does this every year. Are you really pissed over a couple broken ornaments?” Nathan walks back into the kitchen and grabs a plate. “Happy now?” He sits down at the island and continues eating his sandwich.
“Very, and how about you watch your mouth. Did you see your mom come through here?” I could have sworn she came this way.
“Yeah, she threw the mail on the counter and kept going. She didn’t look very happy. What’d you do this time?” He laughs, and if I was a tad bit less mature, I’d accidentally spill his milk all over him.
Snatching up the mail, I search for the envelope but it’s not there. She must have taken it with her. “Who said I did anything? And why is it always my fault when your mom is upset?”
“Probably because you are usually the person to upset her,” Bella chimes in. She is dressed in her workout clothes with a Cooper’s Fight Club hoodie on. She swings the fridge door open and grabs a bottle of water and an apple, then sits down at the breakfast bar next to her brother. It’s hard to believe my little princess is going to be graduating from high school in a few short months. It feels like yesterday I was running into her at the grocery store, her telling me all about her Maleficent dolls. I would give anything for time to stop. Hell, maybe if it could even just slow down, that would be great.
“Dad, are you ok?” Bella looks at me like I’m going crazy.
“Yeah Princess, I’m okay.” My voice breaks from the heavy emotions I’m suddenly feeling. Without giving it a second thought, I am wrapping my arms around my daughter and hugging her tight.
“Dad, seriously what’s wrong?”
“Can’t a dad hug
his little girl?” And never let her go…
“You can hug me, Daddy!” Lilly, our youngest at ten years old, comes barreling into the kitchen attaching herself to my side.
“Thank you, Lil.” I pick her up, making her long legs dangle off the ground and give her a bear hug, squeezing her tight until she starts squealing. “Daddy! You’re going to squeeze all the love outta me, silly!” These kids need to stop growing up.
I set her down and turn toward Bella. “Hey Bella, I was thinking this trip to Breckenridge, you and I can spend some time together.”
“What’s going on, Dad?” She looks at me accusingly as she takes a bite of her apple and pulls her cell phone out of the front of her hoodie.
“Nothing. Can’t a dad want to spend time with his eldest child?”
She looks up from her phone and gives me a look that says she thinks I have lost my mind. “He can…I’m sure we will spend plenty of time together. I need to get going to the gym.”
“I’m heading there now if you want to ride together.” Bella opens her mouth but closes it, her eyes squinting at something over my shoulder. Turning around, I spot Liz shaking her head no. Damn, I guess it’s going to be like that.
“Really? Ok, I guess we are going to have this conversation right here.”
“What conversation?” Nathan asks with his mouth full of food. Now he’s chowing down on some cookies. Damn kid never stops eating.
“I need to get to the gym,” Bella says, taking another bite of her apple.
“I’ll have a conversation, Daddy,” Lilly croons sweetly.
“I need to get back to the Rec Center. I’m meeting Ashley over there to go over a couple things before we all leave for the week.” Liz grabs her purse from the counter, attempting to calmly run away.
Running to the doorway, I block the exit. “Hold up.” Pointing to the bar stools, I demand, “Everyone sit. Now.”
Looking at me like I’ve lost my mind, everyone sits down on a bar stool. I come around to Liz and grab her purse. “Cooper! Give me my purse!” she shrieks. Ignoring her, I take the large white envelope out then open it up.
Dear Isabella Cooper,
It is a great pleasure to offer you admission to the University of California, for the upcoming fall semester…
The letter goes on to state she will be receiving a full academic scholarship and the deadline for her to accept or decline. “No.” I throw the letter on the kitchen island. “My answer is no.”
“Cooper, don’t do this,” Liz warns.
“What is that?” Bella questions. She gets up and comes around the breakfast bar, picking up the offensive piece of paper. After a few seconds, she gasps. “Oh. My. God! Ohmygod! Ohmygod! I was accepted! Mom, did you see this?” She turns the stupid letter around to show Liz, then after looking at it again, she starts jumping up and down. “I can’t believe this! I have to call Tristan and see if he was accepted.” She runs over to her mom and hugs her, then grabbing her phone goes to call her best friend.
“Stop it right there.” She turns back around in the doorway. “Didn’t you hear me? My answer is no. You aren’t going.” Bella’s head tilts slightly to the side, her hands going to her hips, and in that moment, she looks more like her scary-as-fuck Aunt Kayla than her sweet mother. I blame Kayla for her attitude. It was those first four years before I was aware I had a daughter when Kayla helped raise Bella. The woman ruined her for life.
“Seriously?” She says, venom in her voice.
“You aren’t going,” I insist.
“Cooper.” Liz puts her hand on my chest.
“You can’t be serious. I didn’t even want to go to college. I wanted to fight. But you said I have to go. You said the only way you would support my fighting career is if I go to college. So, I applied to the college I want to go to and I got in just like you wanted, and now you are going to tell me I can’t go?”
“I didn’t say you can’t go to college. I’m just saying you can’t go to college in California… or in any other state for that matter.” I shrug. “There are plenty of great Universities right here in Nevada. Your mother went to one.”
“I’m not going to argue with you, Dad. You’re being ridiculous. I’m going to the gym.” Bella turns her back on me and a few seconds later the front door slams.
“Ok… well that was fun. Mom, can you take me over to the rec center with you? My friend, Colton, is going to meet me there,” Nathan says while chewing on a granola bar.
“Have you finished packing for the trip, yet? We are leaving Tuesday morning first thing,” Liz reminds him.
“All packed,” he assures her.
I’m still staring at the front door while everyone goes about their business like my precious daughter didn’t just tell me she’s about to move away from me to go to college in another state. My world feels like it’s caving in and my family is acting like nothing is wrong. Am I the only sane one here?
“Okay. C’mon, Lilly. You can come hang out there with us. I’m only going to be there for a couple hours,” Liz says to Lilly. Then she comes over and gives me a chaste kiss on my cheek. “I love you, Coop, but you need to think long and hard about the way you are acting. You are only going to push her away.”
They file out, the front door closing once again, and I am left in the kitchen alone. I can’t lose my baby girl. I have only had her in my life for fourteen years. I didn’t get her for the first four years and I need that time to make up for it. My mind starts reeling, my heart racing. She is going to graduate and move to another state. She’s going to go to college and meet new people and forget about me and her home. What if she doesn’t return? What if she decides to live in California permanently? I can’t lose my princess. It feels like I just got her.
Crash!
Mother Fucking goddamned dog!! “No, Elsa!”
Liz
I’m working on some paperwork for accounts receivable at the rec center. It’s a huge sports complex that provides kids and teens with a safe place to be active after school and on the weekends as well as during the summer. The only time it’s closed is for winter break. The center has areas for all different types of sports such as an area for mixed-martial-arts, an indoor basketball court, an outdoor tennis court, and racquetball courts as well as a soccer field. There’s also a huge trampoline area, and an area for Xbox360 and Wii, which only get used for sports and dancing related games and only on rainy days. There is also an Olympic size pool for swim lessons with two different level diving boards, and we are currently working on opening an area for gymnastics or maybe doing a dance area. Lilly loves to do hip-hop dance.
When Cooper, Caleb, Bentley, and Kaden joined forces to create this place, I thought they were in over their heads. Four men with too much money on their hands was my initial thought. I know their idea stemmed from Marco running the streets when he was younger and I knew their hearts were in the right place but I wasn’t sure if they could pull it off.
I should have never doubted those men. When they set their minds to something, nothing will stop them. Eight years later and the recreational center is thriving and with a long wait list. Kids and teens from low income families always get approved first but everyone is welcome with a membership.
Ashley runs the center and does an amazing job, while I make sure everything money related is handled—from donations to paychecks to making sure memberships fees are paid. All our kids have grown up here. Well, Bella and Tristan are usually at the gym but the rest of the kids are usually here with us. With Emma, Ashley and Kaden’s daughter, getting older and getting more into MMA lately, she’s been at the gym more often these days following her older brother and Bella around.
The door to the office opens and Ashley falls into the chair across from my desk with an exasperated sigh. “Thank goodness this place closes in a few hours. I haven’t even started packing yet.”
“I still need to finish. I went home for lunch thinking I could get some more packing done but my home turned i
nto a war-zone. I ended up leaving without getting anything done.”
“Oh no, what happened?”
“Bella got accepted to the University of California.” I feel myself smiling. I am so damn proud of my daughter. She is smart and independent, and she has always been a good kid and now teenager. It’s felt like in a way, her and I have grown up together because of me having her at such a young age. She could have fought going to college but instead she accepted it and is embracing it. Of course, I will miss her like crazy but I am thrilled she wants to spread her wings and fly, even if it is in another state.
“Tristan got his letter as well. I take it Cooper wasn’t thrilled.”
“Oh Ashley, you should have seen him. I’m talking veins popping out, fists clenching, eyes going all buggy. He’s going to lose it when she actually leaves.”
Ashley and I laugh imagining Cooper’s upcoming freak out. “Have you heard what’s happening to Mason?”
“Sort of. Cooper said he was going to the gym to check on him. Something about girls stalking him and taking photos. What happened?”
“Since he won his fight, the girls have been camped out at the gym wanting a piece of him. It’s worse than when Marco gained a fan base. I feel so bad for him.”
“Who?” Hayley walks in sitting down in the chair next to Ashley, joining in on our conversation.
“Mason. The girls are relentless.”
“Ohhh yeah, I just came from the gym. He doesn’t appear to be too shaken by all the girls. He’s soaking up the attention like a sponge.” Hayley shakes her head. “I’m just glad he’s keeping Caleb busy. Since he officially retired from the UFC a few months ago, he has been home bored and driving Mackenzie and me nuts! I was about to ship his ass to California to visit Marco. Seeing him at the gym, in his element, is giving me some hope. Maybe he will get his ass off the couch a few days a week and stop sulking!” We laugh at her, completely understanding where she is coming from.
“Yeah, well, you think he’s sulking? You didn’t see Cooper this afternoon when Bella told him she’s going to college in California and walked out on him, slamming the door. My heart kind of broke for my husband. He’s not taking this well at all.”