A Bryson Family Christmas: Brothers in Blue, book 4

by St. James, Jeanne

  “Well, luckily, I don’t think they’re gross,” Max announced.

  “As much as your face is between them, I’d say not.” She smiled, thinking she won that round.

  He grabbed his wife’s arm and pulled her to him, putting his mouth to her ear. “If you’re lying, you will get that spanking you want. Then you’ll be lying out by the pool at the resort with the red ass your husband gave you on display.”

  He could feel the quiver run through her. “Then everyone will know what a bad girl I am.”

  Well, that backfired as his cock twitched in his jeans.

  “You know we can hear you,” Adam grumbled, putting his plate in the sink and shaking his head.

  “And I am very jealous right now at the thought of Max spanking you.” Teddy approached and cupped Max’s cheek. “If I’m a bad boy, will you spank me, too?”

  Adam cleared his throat.

  “I’m just kidding, lover. You’re the only man who gets to spank my tush.”

  “Let’s keep it that way. Now, you guys eat and let’s get this day started.” Adam left the kitchen.

  “Why’s he in a rush?” Teddy asked. “We have nowhere to go but the living room.”

  “Maybe he’s anxious to see what Santa brought him,” Max answered.

  “Hmm. Maybe. But I can’t wait to see what he got me,” Teddy said as he rushed out of the kitchen.

  “He’s going to shit a brick,” Amanda murmured into Max’s chest as she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into him.

  “He’s going to shit the Great Wall of China,” Max said into her hair, holding her tight. “Grab us coffee. I’ll make us a couple of plates and bring them out to the living room. Sounds like Matt and Carly have arrived.”

  “Hey,” Amanda whispered, pulling her face out of his chest.

  He stared down at her. Fuck, he loved her. He couldn’t imagine life without her.

  “If I was going to squirt out a third kid, I would make sure it was your sperm that knocked me up.”

  “I love you, too.” He laughed, released her and swatted her hard on the ass as she moved to the coffeemaker. “Just a preview for later.”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

  “That wasn’t a promise, honey, it was a guarantee.”

  Chapter Ten

  Marc & Leah

  Marc sat next to his mother, scowling at this father as the sixty-six-year-old married grandfather was on his knees on the floor, massaging his wife’s feet. Fuck no, not Ron’s wife, Marc’s mother, but Marc’s wife.

  If he was trying to make Marc feel guilty, it wasn’t working.

  If Leah would have asked, he would have massaged her feet. Though, admittedly, it quickly would have turned into more of an internal massage than an external one.

  Leah sighed contently and rubbed a hand over her belly, her eyes closed.

  “I guess I missed out on all that spoiling,” Carly announced as she came into the room. “I didn’t have to go through the discomfort of pregnancy. I just got the spoils.”

  “Where’s the baby?” Mary Ann asked since Carly’s arms were full of everything but Levi.

  Matt came around the corner from the foyer, a cloth like thingy strapped across his torso with a big lump under it. Marc assumed the baby was the lump.

  “What the fuck is that?” Marc asked.

  “It’s a sling or something. I don’t fucking know. Carly got it,” Matt shrugged, “I wear it. Leah’s getting you one. Makes it easier to carry the baby or something.”

  “I have two arms to carry the baby. I don’t need to wear one of those damn things.”

  “Can we watch our language, boys? It’s not only Christmas, but the kids can hear you.” Mary Ann scolded, getting up from the couch, using Marc’s shoulder for balance.

  “Fuck!” Greg bellowed from the floor next to the boys and then laughed.

  “And there you go, the holiday is not complete without Greg randomly shouting curse words,” Max grumbled, as he walked in with two plates of food, handing one to his wife, who was sitting in a folding chair tucked between Ron’s recliner and a second couch. One his parents had to buy once their family began to grow.

  Marc frowned. “He hears it all the time between you and Amanda.”

  “Doesn’t mean we want him spouting it randomly.”

  “Why should today be different than any other day?” Marc asked his older brother.

  “Because it’s Christmas!” his mother hissed, whacking Marc in the arm and then going over to Matt. “Let me see his precious face,” she cooed, pulling back some of the cloth to peek in.

  “He’s sleeping right now,” Matt told her.

  “Do you need one of your brothers to help bring in stuff?” she asked him.

  “I just need the car seat for now.”

  “I’ll get it,” Carly said once her hands were empty.

  “No.” His mother turned toward Hannah. “Hannah, help your uncle.”

  Hannah’s mouth dropped open.

  Mary Ann lifted her brows when the girl didn’t move fast enough. “Now. Your cousin will need his car seat.”

  “But we’re going to open presents now.”

  “Carly,” Ron called out. “Can you grab one of Hannah’s presents?”

  “Grandpa!” Hannah cried out, got to her feet and ran out of the room. A few seconds later the front door slammed.

  “Oh, I kind of like that method,” Amanda said before shoving a couple slices of bacon into her mouth. “Maybe it’ll work for her chores.”

  Suddenly, Marc’s two sons were jumping onto the couch and onto him, Jax’s knee hitting him squarely in the nuts. “Ooof. Good thing your mom is carrying your last sibling, because I think you just destroyed your chances of having any more.”

  Austin wrapped his arms around his neck. “Daddy, can we open presents now?”

  “Is everyone here?”

  “Yes!”

  “Then it’s up to Grandpa.”

  Both of his boys’ heads spun toward Marc’s father. Who, thankfully, got to his feet—albeit slowly and with a deep groan—and stopped rubbing Leah’s.

  Ron moved over to the tree. “This is going to be done in an orderly fashion and—”

  All the kids bum rushed him, even Greg, and started pawing through the presents looking for theirs.

  Ron whistled so loudly, Marc winced. But it was effective because all the kids froze in place. “First of all, that was not orderly and you need to wait until Hannah is back.”

  Greg clapped his hands with excitement as he yelled, “Hannah!”

  “I’m coming!” came a shout from the entryway. The door slammed shut again and she hurried into the room, dropping the car seat at Matt’s feet as she rushed past him.

  Matt picked it up, set it out of the way, and carefully sat on the couch between Marc and Carly.

  Carly leaned over Marc’s younger brother and whispered with one eye on Leah, “I brought what you wanted. It’s in the diaper bag.”

  Marc only nodded but his heart began thumping out a frantic beat. He hoped what he asked Carly to bring was the right decision. He wanted to make his wife happy today, not disappointed. He still had time to decide whether to give it to her or just wait.

  Ron had all the kids, including Greg, sit in a semi-circle around the tree and, along with Marc’s mother, directed who opened what. The joy on his parents’ faces as they handed the kids their gifts and watched them torn open was priceless.

  Wrapping paper flew everywhere, even covering Chaos, whose black and white tail thumped slowly against the floor as he watched over his three charges: Hannah, Oliver and Greg.

  None of Marc’s brothers or their wives, or even Teddy, said a word as the kids and Greg took their turn getting a present, opening it while everyone watched and then showing off what Santa brought.

  One day the kids wouldn’t believe in Santa but for now, they did. Hannah might know the truth already, but
if she did, she still acted like the jolly fat man in a red suit who slid down the chimney into a roaring fire at the bottom existed.

  And for that, Marc was grateful. He loved seeing his sons be surprised with their gifts. Life was simple for them right now and he wanted to keep it that way as long as possible.

  He glanced over at Leah, who now had the recliner in the upright position. Menace sat between her legs and she was petting the Mastiff, but kept her eyes on the activity.

  He never expected this to be his life. A wife, soon to be three kids, and two dogs.

  Leah glanced over at him, a smile on her face and a sparkle in her hazel eyes. She mouthed, “Love you,” and turned back to watch the kids instead of waiting for him to say it back.

  Trouble lumbered over to him and flopped into a crooked sit, her tongue hanging out and a string of slobber dangling precariously from the corner.

  “They need towels attached to their collars,” Matt complained. “Amanda should invent something for her business that’s a collar where you can pull out disposable wipes for sloppy-ass monsters like yours.”

  That wasn’t a bad idea.

  He stared at his youngest brother, who appeared peaceful and calm. No anxiety, no stress, even with a baby strapped to his chest. “Look at you, brother. Landed a doctor wife, now have a kid, plus a job you haven’t gotten fired from yet. Next up is a dog of your own and then you might actually be living a normal life.”

  “If getting a dog makes us normal, we can skip it,” Matt said. “Normal is boring.”

  “Normal is messy,” Marc reminded him. “With dogs and kids.”

  “I’m aware of that. I have three nephews and a niece, remember?”

  “You’ve come a long way since Hannah was born.” Marc will never forget the day Matt was triggered after being forced to hold their niece when she was just a baby. His reaction had scared all of them. He’d refused to take his meds or go to therapy, and Max had been close to firing him. The Chief of Police couldn’t risk having someone so volatile on the force.

  “Took ten years to get this far,” his brother said softly, his one hand curved around Levi’s rear end in the wrap.

  “It was worth the wait,” Carly whispered, squeezing the hand Matt had planted on her knee.

  Teddy came over to the couch, turned around and wiggled his ass as he sat, managing to wedge himself between Marc and Matt with a loud, “Beep. Beep.”

  Marc and Matt both sighed and shifted as much as they could, which wasn’t much since four adults on the couch was a tight fit. If they hadn’t moved, Teddy would have no qualms sitting in Marc’s lap since Matt’s was full with Levi.

  He loved Teddy, but not enough to have the man’s ass smashing his junk. And Marc doubted Adam would give his approval.

  Teddy wrapped an arm around each of them and said, “I love me a Bryson buck sandwich.”

  “Whenever Adam gets around to putting a ring on it, are you going to change your last name?” Marc asked him.

  “Hell yes! I’ll be Theodore David Bryson,” he said with dramatic flair as if he was on a stage. “I will not shed one damn tear about getting rid of the Sullivan last name. If Adam hadn’t come along and fell deeply in love with me, I might have asked your parents to adopt me just so I could change it.”

  Marc snorted. “Then Adam would be your cousin.”

  “There’s enough of that incestuous cousin-brother goings-on up on that mountain with that Shirley Clan.” Teddy gasped. “Ugh. I feel so bad for blowing Autumn’s whereabouts that day. I caused this little bundle of wonder to be born early.”

  Because of something Teddy did, the Shirleys had spotted Levi’s birth mother in town after she’d escaped from them, even though Teddy had no clue he’d done it.

  “It wasn’t your fault, Teddy,” Carly assured him. “You had no idea. It was just bad timing.”

  “It was my fault. But Autumn was so sweet and didn’t blame me at all. She even covered for me with her leather-vest wearing gorilla. She told Sig her hat fell off and it wasn’t me who tore it right off her so I could see her glorious, but damaged, red hair.”

  “You only wanted to help her,” Carly said.

  “Maybe you should keep your hands to yourself next time,” Matt grumbled.

  “You’re right, Matty. I tend to get handsy.”

  Marc and Carly’s eyes met over Teddy and Matt. Today was not a day for Teddy’s enthusiasm for life to be squashed by a broody Bryson.

  “So...” Teddy turned to him, pasting a half smile on his face. “What did you get Leah?”

  “A father who massages her feet. You might just think that’s a cheap gift, but it was actually expensive. It cost me my bachelorhood and a fortune in raising boys.”

  “Your father is quite the charmer,” Teddy agreed. “You’re lucky he isn’t twenty years younger or he’d steal your wives away.”

  “Mom would crack him upside the head with one of her cast iron skillets if he did.”

  Teddy’s smile was back to being genuine. “She would need a new skillet. You all are so damn hard-headed. Now where is Max going?”

  “Probably to get Greg’s surprise. Get ready,” Marc warned.

  “We’ll need earplugs,” Matt said.

  “So many babies in this family!” Teddy gushed. “It’s too much squishy cuteness. Like me.”

  “You and Adam need one of your own,” Leah said, as she came over to the couch, Menace following her. When the Mastiff reached Trouble, he began licking the slobber off her mouth.

  Matt wrinkled his nose.

  Marc stood up to give his seat to his wife, but she just waved a hand. “I’m fine.”

  “We don’t need a puppy,” Teddy said.

  “A baby,” Leah clarified.

  “We’d need a surrogate. Do you want to volunteer?”

  “Leah is not having your baby,” Marc growled.

  “Well, technically it would be Adam’s. But we would raise the little bundle of joy together.”

  “Leah is not having Adam’s baby,” Marc growled again. The thought of Leah carrying another man’s baby made his blood rush. If his wife was going to be pregnant, then it would be with his sperm not his cousin’s.

  “Well, look at you going full-on jealous gorilla, Marc.”

  “I’m not carrying any more after this one. Sorry, Teddy,” Leah said.

  The hairdresser sighed. “Well, there’s still Amanda.”

  Marc snorted. “Oh yeah, I’m sure Max would be A-Okay with that idea.” His older brother was more possessive than Marc and Matt were.

  “She should take one for the homosexual team.”

  “Have you asked her?” came from Carly at the other end of the couch.

  “Yes.”

  “And?”

  Teddy sighed. “She said her hoo-ha has never been the same again, so she’s not stretching it out a third time.”

  “She did not enjoy pregnancy,” Carly confirmed.

  “Well, if I could do it, I would,” Teddy stated.

  “If men could get pregnant, there would be no humans left on this Earth,” Leah stated.

  “Why do I hear my name over here?” Amanda asked, coming up behind Leah.

  “Because Teddy has plans to knock you up with Adam’s swimmers,” Leah answered with a laugh.

  Amanda’s face twisted. “Oh no. That is not happening. My vag was never the same again.”

  “We already mentioned that,” Marc assured her.

  “Oh, you were all discussing my vagina? Without me?”

  “Why does Amanda’s vagina always come up in conversation?” Matt muttered. “I’m surprised she hasn’t named it.”

  “Oh, it has a name. It’s—”

  “No!” Matt cut her off. “I don’t want to know it. Christ.”

  Amanda smirked. “It’s not Christ. Though sometimes Max does scream—”

  “No!” Matt barked and surged from the couch, supporting the sling by holding Levi with one arm. “Not today, Satan.”


  Marc snorted. Carly had both hands covering her face as she shook. And Teddy’s green eyes just volleyed back and forth between Matt and Amanda.

  “It’s not Satan, either,” Amanda announced. “Though, that might be more fitting.”

  “Well, it looks like we’ll have to find an available hoo-ha elsewhere,” Teddy announced. “Carly, do you know of any?”

  “I know plenty of hoo-has, Teddy,” she answered. “I’ll keep you in mind if one becomes available.”

  “We need to do it soon,” Teddy said, staring across the room at Adam.

  “Don’t you have a wedding to plan first?” Marc asked.

  “We’re not talking about that right now,” Teddy grumbled.

  Marc glanced at Amanda and she only shrugged.

  Leah settled in Matt’s empty spot on the couch.

  “You could’ve moved over so my wife could sit next to me,” Marc said to Teddy.

  “Why? She gets you all the time. When do I ever get to cuddle with you, big boy?”

  “Apparently, she let the secret out.”

  “What secret?” Amanda asked.

  “About how big I am,” Marc said with a grin.

  “No, but she did let it slip about your nipple rings,” Teddy said.

  “That’s old news,” Amanda announced. “Marc, remember the time you had to call Max to release you from being handcuffed to the bed?”

  How could he not? It was the day his secret was leaked to the family about his nipple piercings. He had never lived that day down. “I also remember Max giving me pointers when he arrived about making sure a cuff key was taped to the headboard. Wonder how he knew that?”

  Amanda laughed. “Well, of course he knew that. It’s Kink 101. You should’ve known that trick.”

  He didn’t. But it was one lesson he learned the hard way.

  But luckily after that, he and Leah had kissed and made up. And now look at them. About to have their third kid.

  Ignoring the stroll down kinky memory lane between Amanda and Marc, Leah grabbed Teddy’s hand and put it on the side of her belly. “Feel that?”

  At first, Teddy jerked his hand away, surprised. Then he placed it back where it was. “Oooh. He’s a feisty one.”