Her stomach growled in response.
He grinned at the sound and walked away with their son, patting him gently on the back, moving away from the noisy table where everyone was taking their seats.
Unlike most receptions, seats weren’t assigned except for where Teddy and Adam sat. Her father-in-law pulled out the chair at the other end of the table for her, so she would have space on the floor to her right to keep Levi close in his car seat.
“Why are we all sitting down when we’ll just have to get back up to grab grub?” Marc asked, taking the end seat across from Carly so that he and Leah had their young boys, Austin and Jax, between them.
“Because we’re going to make a toast before everyone starts stuffing their traps.” Ron took the seat to Teddy’s right and Randall took the seat to Adam’s left, with Cathy and Mary Ann sitting next to their husbands. Almost like the parents of the bride and groom. Or groom and groom.
Hell, Teddy wouldn’t mind being considered the blushing bride. More like a bubbly one. He was surprisingly quiet during the ceremony but once they said their “I dos” and the two practically ate each other’s faces off during the kiss, he was back to his bubbly, outspoken self.
Of course, he made sure everyone saw the matching wedding bands Adam picked out for them at least three times. Just in case they weren’t paying attention the first two.
Teddy and Adam were adorable together, though she doubted Adam would approve of that description with him being a Bryson, a Marine and a cop. A triple alpha threat like the rest of the Bryson males.
Her own triple threat put the portable car seat down next to her and took his own seat just in time for Ron to stand and announce, “Since I’m the most senior here, I’m going to start, then anyone else who wants to say something can. If anyone doesn’t like that, they can file a complaint with the complaint department, which is a department of one. Me. I’ll make sure to take the time to read that complaint before I throw it into the fire. Now lift your glasses.”
All the adults, except for Leah, lifted their champagne, while the kids, Greg and Carly’s sister-in-law lifted their sparkling cider for a toast.
Then everyone got choked up as Ron obviously struggled with getting his words out. He cleared his throat a couple times, while Mary Ann squeezed his arm and wiped at her own eyes. “We had three sons, so I never thought we’d have a fourth wedding. Because, if nothing, the Brysons are stubborn and loyal, meaning the women that married us are stuck with us forever. We take ‘til death do us part very literally. So, there will never be a second wedding for my boys. They found the loves of their lives, the mothers of my grandchildren, and I couldn’t be happier.
“But, in truth, we don’t have three sons. We proudly have four. Someone left the front door open a crack and another one wiggled his way inside. Once he did, we embraced him as our own. And we’re not giving him back. Even though he thinks today is the first day of being a Bryson, that’s not true. He’s been a Bryson for a long time now. So, I’m not welcoming him into the family because he’s been planted in the middle of it for years.”
Teddy had a hand covering his mouth and Adam had an arm over his husband’s shoulders and wore a crooked grin as he tried to keep himself together.
The women were crying, the men occasionally clearing their throats roughly, the kids not understanding the fuss since Teddy had always been a part of their lives. He’d always been Uncle Teddy.
Ron lifted his flute a little higher. “Cheers and congratulations to the new Mr. and Mr. Bryson.” He took a sip of his champagne and everyone followed suit. “I said enough, now I pass it over to my brother.” Ron frowned. “Who is now also an in-law?” He shook his head. “I don’t want to know.” He sat and Mary Ann leaned in to kiss his cheek.
Randall stood and lifted his glass. “Then I will welcome him to my family.” He turned to face Adam and Teddy. “I have to say, when the two of you literally came out of the closet together at Marc and Leah’s wedding, I didn’t think it would last since you two are such opposites. But here you are. And today, I gained another son. I also have to say, Teddy, you are one of the best gifts Adam has ever given us.”
Laughter rose from around the table and Teddy blew kisses at his new father-in-law.
“Okay, that’s it. I’m not good with speeches. Congratulations! And can we all agree that you two need to get moving on giving us our first grandchild? We have a long way to catch up with my brother.”
Two seats down from Carly, Jet dropped her dark head, shook it and groaned.
“Get used to it,” Carly, Leah and Amanda warned her, all at the same time. The three women laughed.
“Anyone else want to say anything?” Ron asked.
As one, the adults rose, lifted their glasses high and Max yelled, “To Teddy for finally nabbing his Bryson buck!” They laughed as they took another sip from their flutes.
“Yay!” Teddy shouted, clapping and doing a wiggle in his seat. He lifted his hand up over his head. “Has everyone seen my ring yet?”
Amidst the groans, Greg yelled, “Need to eat! I’m hungry!”
Carly was surprised nobody was crushed in the rush to get to the buffet and away from Teddy’s flapping hand.
“You stay here with Levi. I’ll grab you a plate.”
She smiled up at Matt as he planted a kiss on her forehead and went to get in line.
If someone had said the grumpy asshole cop who responded to her car versus deer crash would turn out to be the best husband in the world, she would’ve argued with them.
And she would’ve been wrong.
* * *
“When do you start?” Matt asked Jet as she stood back, watching some of their family moving around the dance floor to a slow song.
Max was dancing with Hannah. Cathy was dancing with Greg. Amanda with Oliver, Randall with Teddy and Adam had grabbed Carly. Leah attempted to dance with a four-year-old Jax, while Marc danced with their six-year-old, Austin.
Ron and Mary Ann moved slowly around the dance floor, holding each other tightly. His parents wore very contented smiles.
“After the new year,” she answered. “I look forward to working for Max. And I’m super grateful he offered me the position.”
“It isn’t a huge department,” he warned her, something she already knew but he wanted to make sure she knew she might not have a lot of opportunity for advancement. Not like a bigger department in one of the cities.
“It’s not as small as the one I’m working at now. I’m the only female and the men don’t respect me at all.”
“Sounds familiar,” Matt grumbled as he stared at his brother Marc, who used to believe women didn’t belong in uniform. Then Leah proved him wrong.
Matt rode with Leah on countless shifts and trusted her completely as back up. In fact, he preferred riding with her rather than a couple of the newer officers they now had on the force. Once he was discharged from the Marines and wore the Manning Grove PD uniform again, Matt and Leah got close and stayed that way. They had an easy, comfortable relationship both on and off the job. He was glad Marc finally got his shit together and saw her for the good cop she was and then made her his wife.
Marc couldn’t have picked a better woman to deal with his goofy ass. But then, neither could he. Carly was perfect for him. Someone solid to grab onto when things were twisting inside him like a tornado.
Amanda was also perfect for Max. His older brother could be a bossy asshole sometimes, and Matt’s sister-in-law knew just how to knock her husband down a few pegs.
“They call me every offensive name they know for a lesbian.”
“To your face?” To her face or not, they shouldn’t be calling her names at all. He felt his blood begin to simmer.
“No, when they don’t think I can hear them.”
“Wait, you’re not one, right?” Because if she was, that was news to Matt. But then, he didn’t know Adam was gay until just a few years ago when he hooked up with Teddy at his brother’s wedding.<
br />
Jet laughed. “No, but dealing with those jackasses makes me want to swear off men.”
“Yeah, we can be assholes.” Carly called him an asshole all the time in the beginning. And he couldn’t argue that. He had been. So, he had owned it.
“No shit. I just worry about them backing me up when it comes down to it.”
“Yeah, you have to trust your brothers in blue. Or sisters in blue,” he corrected quickly. “Max is a great chief. He was born to lead,” Matt admitted. “He doesn’t put up with any bullshit. Not from anyone about Adam, not about Leah, either. But then, he runs a tight ship.”
Jet glanced up at him in relief. “That’s good to hear. Maybe when he retires, one of us will take that spot.” A long, dark strand had escaped her ponytail and was stuck to her cheek. She tucked it back into place.
“Maybe one of you younger officers. Not me. I’m good with being in the trenches.”
Jet peeled back the fabric of the sling to peek at Levi’s sleeping face. “Do you plan to adopt any more kids?”
Matt stared at his son. “I don’t think so. We were just lucky Levi came along when he did. Carly happened to be in the right place at the right time. Like it was meant to be.”
Fate whispered through his mind.
“Is she in his life?” Jet asked. “The birth mother, I mean.”
“Autumn stayed local and, believe it or not, still supplies Levi with breast milk.” Matt lifted a hand at Jet’s puzzled expression. “That was her decision since I think it helps her deal with the whole situation. But she hasn’t been around him since he was born. I think it’s too fresh right now. She needs to do a lot of healing first. But we kept that option open to her.”
Jet stared at the bottle of beer in her hand. “I heard that whole situation was messy.”
“It was.”
Messy didn’t even describe it. And Matt still didn’t know everything that had gone on. He was afraid if he heard it all, he’d go right up that mountain, do something stupid and screw up his life.
Landing in jail for losing his shit on that crazy clan would not help his family. Levi and Carly needed him.
Hell, he needed them.
Which meant, it was best he didn’t know all the details. Autumn was now living a better life and Levi was healthy and loved. That was all that mattered at this point.
“Somehow she got mixed up with the Shirley Clan living on that mountain. We’ll make sure you get the whole lowdown on them long before you start your first solo shift. You have to keep an eye out on those fuckers since they hate anything to do with the government. Hell, they think they’re above the law. As long as they stay up on that mountain, we usually leave them alone.”
Jet’s crystal blue eyes narrowed on him. “You don’t think I’ll have a run-in with them?”
“Oh no, I know you’ll have a run-in with them. Guaranteed. We all get that pleasure. You just need to know who and what you’re dealing with when you do.”
“It’ll be nice to be in a department where the other officers have my back.”
“Glad you’re joining us.” And that was true. Jet had always been a no-frills female, more of a tomboy growing up. She could probably hold her own in a struggle with a subject. “You got a place to stay yet?”
“No, but your parents said I could crash with them for as long as I’d like. I might take them up on that for a while.”
“That sounds like a good plan. Leah lived with them at first, too, and she wasn’t even related.”
“And now she is.”
“And now she is,” Matt repeated as he watched his wife approach them.
“Can I steal my men away?” Carly asked Jet.
Matt’s cousin laughed softly. “Yes, we were just talking shop anyway, which we shouldn’t be on Christmas day.”
“Yes, it’s a day off. Enjoy it,” Carly murmured. She turned to Matt. “Dance with me, husband.”
“My wife is a bit bossy,” Matt whispered to Jet like it was a secret.
“Then she fits right in with the rest of us Brysons.”
“That’s for fucking sure,” he grumbled, then shot Carly a big smile.
His wife rolled her eyes at him, but smiled and held out her hand.
“Do you want me to hand off Levi to Mom so we can do some dirty dancing?”
Carly laughed. “No, we can do some dirty dancing later in private. If he’s sleeping, leave him in the sling.”
Matt nodded and took her hand. She led him out to the tiny dance floor and then turned to face him.
“Hey, beautiful wife,” he whispered.
“Hey, handsome husband.”
Carly wrapped her hands around his neck, careful not to squish Levi between them.
“You know I can’t dance,” he warned her. “So, watch your toes.”
“We’re just going to shuffle.”
“I can shuffle.”
“Matt...” She tilted her head as she stared up at him. Her smile gone.
Was he the cause of it? What did he do now? Did he do something he wasn’t aware of? “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. Everything is right,” she whispered.
He leaned over, trying not to crush the baby, and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Thank you for making everything right in my world.”
“I’m not the only one responsible for that,” she said softly.
“I know, but you’re a big part of it.”
“Everyone had a hand in it, including you. And we talked about this yesterday. Let’s have only happy thoughts today.”
“You make me happy,” he told her.
She squeezed the back of his neck as they shuffled slowly in a circle. “Same.” She shifted to his side and pressed her forehead to his shoulder as they continued to move in their little bubble.
He closed his eyes, feeling the weight of his son against him as he held his wife, thinking about the only thing that mattered.
Family.
Not money, not material things.
Family.
He couldn’t have a better one. He couldn’t have one more accepting than they were. None more loving or supportive.
And because of that, he was the richest man in the world.
Epilogue
Ron & Mary Ann
Mary Ann shuffled into the living room, wearing the new housecoat and slippers some of the grandchildren bought her for Christmas and carrying two mugs of chamomile tea. Her husband sat by the fire in his recliner, wearing new plaid pajama bottoms and a worn snug white T-shirt that showed off how fit he still was, even after all these years.
“Are the kids asleep?” she asked.
Hannah, Oliver and Greg were the only ones staying overnight, since Max and Amanda were leaving in the morning for their second honeymoon in Fiji. They decided it was easier to just let the kids stay tonight instead of dragging them back over in the early hours of the morning.
The house would be full for the next couple of weeks. Especially once Jet moved in. Mary Ann looked forward to having another woman in the house, even if it was only temporary.
“Totally wiped out. All sawing logs right now.”
“So is Chaos.” She glanced at the Border Collie stretched out in front of the low burning fire, his feet twitching with doggy dreams. The puppy, Havoc, was crashed in a crate in the corner.
These kids with their crazy dog names... She swore they did it just to give her heartburn.
She studied her husband as she approached him. Even in his sixties, the man was still something to look at. The best decision she ever made in her life was saying yes when Ron bugged her to go on a date all those years ago. She eventually agreed when he played her heartstrings by saying he was a Marine about to be shipped out. She didn’t think their couple of dates would go anywhere, but they sure ended up going somewhere.
Three sons, three daughters-in-law, Greg, and Teddy. And the grandchildren she always wanted once her sons had become responsible adults. A full life created with a l
oving, loyal husband who was completely dedicated to her and his family.
She couldn’t ask for more.
She held out one of the mugs, but he shook his head and said, “Put it down for a minute.”
“It’ll get cold.”
“You don’t need tea to keep you warm. Put it down.”
“Is my husband making demands?” she asked with a slight smile and a raised eyebrow.
“Tonight he is.”
The second she set down the mugs, Ron grabbed her arm, ordered, “C’mere, woman,” in a sexy growl and pulled her sideways into his lap.
She bit back her squeal as to not wake the kids or the puppy. “Ron, I’ll crush you.”
“No, you won’t. I’m tougher than that.”
She patted his chest. “You are a tough old bird.” She snaked an arm around his neck, pressing a kiss to his rough cheek, which now sported a shadow of stubble. Being a retired cop and Marine, her husband usually kept himself clean-shaven, but when he let his beard grow for a day or two, she had a hard time letting him out of bed.
Not that it was a struggle to keep him there. Ron had always been a passionate man and he passed that on to his sons. His sexual prowess, among other things, helped keep their marriage strong all these years.
However, they kept that fact from their children, since the boys didn’t like the truth about how they ended up on this Earth. They preferred to believe they were delivered by a stork.
She sighed softly as Ron dropped his head, a gleam in his crystal blue eyes, and brushed his lips against hers. He deepened the kiss and soon Mary Ann knew exactly what his growing intentions were.
“We have children in the house,” she breathed against his lips.
“And we perfected the art of being very quiet when the boys lived here.”
“Leah, too.”
He chuckled. “Yes, when Leah lived here, too. Marc’s head would probably spin right off his neck if he knew his parents were getting it on only two doors down from his future wife.”
She huffed. “Like the boys never had sex in this house. Or the barn.”
A Bryson Family Christmas: Brothers in Blue, book 4 Page 19