The UN Series Complete Box Set

by Shantel Tessier

  I can’t help but grin as I see the puppy wrapped in a blanket, eyes already closed. I wanted to get her something that can keep her company while I’m working and it doesn’t hurt that the dog will get big enough to eat an intruder. I still worry about her like crazy, even though she works at the bank now.

  “Ready to go?”

  She nods and I walk around the truck to open the door for her and the puppy. Once they are in, I get in as well and back out of the garage.

  “What are we going to do with her while we are in New York?” she asks sadly.

  “The neighbors are going to watch her for us.”

  “I don’t know,” she says slowly. “Maybe we shouldn’t go.”

  I look at her. “What? That’s crazy, we are going.”

  “What if she forgets us and thinks she belongs to them and then when we come back she wants nothing to do with us?”

  I laugh as I shake my head at her. If she is this way with a puppy I can’t even imagine what she will be like when we have children.

  “She will be fine. I promise,” I assure her.

  “We need to go to the pet store. Are they open today? She needs food, a collar, a sweater—”

  I interrupt her by placing a hand up. “I already got dog food. I even brought some with us. It’s behind my seat. As for a sweater.” I shake my head. “She does not need one of those.”

  “It’s cold outside Slade,” she says, hugging the puppy to her chest.

  “She will be fine. Look at how much fur she has.”

  She glances at me with narrowed eyes then looks down at the dog. “Mommy will get you a sweater.”

  I smile at the sound of her saying the word mommy. I can’t wait until she says yes to my proposal so we can start planning for our future together, one that will make her the mother of my children one day. New Year’s Eve can’t get here fast enough.

  We pull up to my parents’ house and see that Josh and Courtney are already here. I help Angel out of the truck and walk them up to the door. I open it and announce our arrival.

  My mom comes into view and squeals when she sees the puppy in Angel’s arms. “Don’t you just love her?” she asks. “She is the cutest puppy I have ever seen.”

  Angel laughs. “I just told Slade that I needed to go to the pet store and get her a few things.”

  My mom smiles up at her. “I already bought her everything a puppy needs, including a sweater.”

  Angel turns to look at me with a sly grin on her face. “Told you.”

  I smile as I lean down to kiss her on the cheek before I grab Josh to help me unload the food out of the truck.

  “How is her hand?” Courtney asks as Josh and I sit down at the table.

  “She said it’s fine. She took something for pain last night, but she hasn’t mentioned it once today.”

  “Man, that shit was crazy,” Josh adds.

  “It was,” I agree, thinking back to last night. I had been wondering what was taking Angel so long in the bathroom and as soon as I had turned around, I saw her punch a girl in the face. At that moment, I hadn’t even realized it was Jessica.

  “I actually find it funny. The bitch deserved much more than a broken nose and two black eyes along with some scratches.” Courtney smiles proudly.

  “She did but I don’t like that Angel was the one to fight with her.” I was pissed that she got into that fight.

  We fall silent for a few uncomfortable minutes before Courtney changes the subject.

  “The puppy was a good idea,” she praises, breaking the tension. “She has always wanted one.”

  I smile. She was so surprised, not at all expecting the box to contain a dog.

  “Just think how they will be with kids,” Courtney teases, looking over at Angel and my mother sitting on the living room floor with sacks full of puppy items surrounding them.

  I chuckle. “I know.” It will be great.

  “I don’t think I want any kids,” she says.

  “None?” I ask, glancing from her to Josh.

  She shakes her head.

  “How do you feel about that?” I ask him.

  He shrugs, but smiles brightly. “Whatever she wants is fine with me.”

  “Slade.” I turn in my seat to look back over my shoulder to Angel. She places her cell in her back pocket. “Missy just called. She is coming over with Tate.”

  I turn back to face Josh and Courtney with a scowl on my face.

  “I don’t understand why he spends so much time with her, yet he won’t be with her,” Courtney wonders aloud, placing her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand.

  “I could not care less what he does,” I growl.

  “Have you still not spoken to him since he came over the day after Thanksgiving?” Josh asks.

  “Nope. He drove us home last night but we didn’t speak.” I think back to that day when he showed up with Missy and flowers for Angel. He said he wanted to congratulate her on our engagement and thought that bringing her flowers would be harmless. I told him I had changed my mind and decided instead to pop the question on New Year’s Eve. He then informed me that he was going to come along with us. I asked him why he would want to go to New York, on my family’s vacation, but he wouldn’t answer. Needless to say, I wanted to punch him in the face until he explained why it was so important for him to come, but things were going so well between Angel and me. I didn’t want to rock that boat.

  “I think he has a crush on Sam,” Courtney states.

  “Courtney.” Josh shoots her a look of warning.

  “What?” She shrugs carelessly. “He’s always around or calling and texting her. I mean, it’s nothing sexual or even anything you would consider flirting.”

  I place my head in my hand and look down to the table. I still feel the same way. He has an angle; I just have yet to figure it out. “I’m not worried.” I lift my head and turn to look at Angel playing with the puppy that now wears a bright pink sweater. Tate can try all he wants. I am confident that she loves me.

  “Anyway,” Josh starts, “I can’t wait to leave tomorrow night for New York.”

  “Me either. I think Angel has had us packed and ready to go for the last two weeks.” I laugh. “How can you girls do that much shopping?” I ask Courtney. I swear they went shopping every night after work. And every time I look over at our luggage she has added another suitcase in order to accommodate everything.

  “Hey, Josh loves to shop just as much as I do,” she says defensively.

  “It’s true,” he agrees.

  “I hate shopping.”

  “You always have, hunny,” my mom says, walking into the kitchen to join us. I look back to the living room and don’t see Angel.

  “Where is Angel?” I ask.

  “She took the puppy out to go potty,” she says, taking the plates and silverware out of the cabinets.

  “Here let me help you,” Courtney offers, getting up from the table to help my mother.

  I stand from the table and walk out the front door. I come to a stop when I see Angel playing with the puppy. I can’t help but feel sorry for the poor puppy having to wear that bright pink sweater. She keeps biting at it, I’m sure she wants the damn thing off.

  “Come inside guys,” my mother calls out the front door. “Everything is ready. All we are waiting for is Missy and Tate and Micah and Holly to arrive. They should be here any moment.”

  Angel bends down, picking up the puppy and walks up to me. “Please be nice. I don’t know what’s going on between you and Tate, but please be nice. It’s Christmas Eve and he has no family here to spend it with.”

  I smile, pushing some long strands behind her ear. “I will, Angel. For you, I will.”

  She smiles and brings the puppy up to the side of her face. “Thank you.” As she speaks, the puppy starts to lick her cheek, making her laugh. She pulls the puppy away and places her in front of me. I take her into my hands and Angel steps closer to me. “You know,” she whispers. “I have a surpris
e for you tonight as well.”

  I look to the puppy in my hands and then to her smile. “Please tell me it involves you being naked.”

  “If you’re a good boy,” she taunts before taking the puppy from my hands and walking into the house.

  I turn around and trail after her with a grin on my face.

  “Everything looks great, Mom,” I say as I sit down next to Angel at the dinner table.

  “Thanks, hunny. I think the girls cooked more than I did this year.” She gives a little laugh.

  We hear the front door open and then Micah and Holly walk in followed by Tate and a smiling Missy.

  “The party can now start,” Micah calls out happily. My mother gets up from her seat to help take the food they’ve brought with them.

  “Where is the puppy I keep hearing about?” Missy asks as she sits down next to Angel.

  “She’s in her cage sleeping. She is so adorable.” I smile as Angel starts to fill everyone in on how she got the puppy this morning.

  *****

  We all gather around in the living room after dinner and my mother and father start to pick presents up from under the tree. They then walk around to hand each couple a gift-wrapped box, including one to Tate and one to Missy.

  She hands Angel a box and she passes it over to me. I look down to see Slade and Samantha written on it. “You shouldn’t have done this.” I hear Courtney say.

  My mom waves her off. “It’s just something small,” she tells her, taking a seat down next to my dad over by the tree.

  We all sit in silence as we look at one another as if not sure what to do next. “Well open them.” My father gestures towards us.

  I hand it over to Angel. “Here. You open it,” I offer.

  She takes it from my hands and proceeds to tear into it.

  “We wanted to get you guys something that you can use on the trip.” My mother says as Angel opens the box. She then pulls out a fancy looking black camera.

  “Thank you,” Angel says, getting up off of the couch and walking over to my parents to give them a hug.

  Once done, my father walks off to the kitchen. I stand and follow after him.

  “You really shouldn’t have gotten us anything else,” I tell him, leaning up against the counter.

  He looks up to me, and smiles. “Vivian wanted you guys to have a camera.”

  “But you guys already bought us a trip to New York City.” I don’t know many guys my age that have parents who would pay for them to go to New York with their girlfriend and friends as well. “At least let me pay you for the trip.” We have been driving him nuts up at work about paying them for this trip.

  My dad pulls out a seat at the kitchen table and sits down. He looks up to me and releases a sigh. “Slade, that would only hurt your mother’s feelings. She wanted to do this for everyone, and if I can give you any advice when it comes to women, it’s that you do whatever they want.” He gives a little laugh. “That’s no secret though. Your mother wanted to buy you guys cameras. I didn’t question that.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I know I missed a lot of your childhood and there’s not a day goes by that I don’t think about it. Your mother always wanted a big family. I’m sure if I had been home more for you guys and her, we would have continued to have more children. She loves you boys but I know she wanted to keep trying for a little girl.” He smiles.

  I stand there staring at him as if dazed, wondering what cameras have to do with our childhood. My father has never spoke of our childhood or how much he regrets his career controlling his life. I mean, yeah, there were things that he missed, but Micah and I just thought that was how life was. The mother stayed home and the father worked his life away. The older we got the more we understood the value of a dollar. We always had nice things, but in order to have those things he had to work and once Micah and I were able to, we took over as workaholics as well.

  My father gets my attention as he stands from the table and walks over to me. He places a hand on my shoulder.

  “Now she has what she’s always wanted. A big family. She always worried you would never find a girl to keep your attention long enough, and now your just days away from proposing to the love of your life. She has adored Holly since day one and we have always considered Josh one of our boys.” He shrugs. “So do me a big favor and don’t mention paying for the trip again. Go in there and tell your mother thank you for the camera, because that camera is going to capture so many things to come. And use it every chance that you get. Time goes by faster and faster every year. Before you know it, your children will be grown, and you will still want to give them everything. That includes the memories of you and their mother back when it all started.” He pulls away from me and starts to walk out of the kitchen.

  “Dad?” I call out, bringing him to a stop. “Thanks for everything.”

  “No need to thank me, son. I didn’t spend all those years working to just save all the money.” He gives a little laugh at himself and walks out of the kitchen, leaving me standing there hoping that one day I am as good of a husband and father as he is.

  I push off the counter and go back into the living room to see Angel sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by pink stuff as Holly holds the puppy. “What is all that stuff?” I ask, coming up behind her.

  She turns to look up at me with a frown on her face. “It’s her sweater. She tore it to shreds while locked in her cage.”

  I let out a laugh. “Smart dog,” I mumble and walk over to my mother. “Thanks for the camera, Mom.” That really was a great idea. I don’t own a camera. I’m sure Angel does but I never see her use one.

  “No need for thanks, hun. I bought one for us as well. We didn’t have one when we went to New York last time. I plan on taking pictures of everything. I told the girls we could make scrapbooks when we get back,” she says excitedly.

  I go to speak but I catch sight of Angel walking out the front door. “I’ll be right back,” I say as I follow after her.

  *****

  SAMANTHA

  “Go potty,” I tell my puppy as I cross my arms over my chest. It’s freezing outside.

  “Need me to keep you warm?” Slade asks, wrapping his arms around me.

  “Yes, please.” My teeth chatter. He tightens his arms around me and I lay my head back against his shoulder. I look up to the gray sky and smile. It’s supposed to snow tonight.

  “I think it would be better this way,” Slade says, turning me around and pulling me close to him.

  He leans his head down to mine. I rise up on my toes and press my lips to his. He brings one hand up and threads his fingers into my hair. His tongue enters my mouth and dances with mine. It’s starts out sweet but becomes heated very quickly. I pull away before we both get worked up.

  He opens his eyes and smiles down at me as he runs his hand through my hair. I feel something cold land on my cheek. He brushes it off then looks to the sky. “Looks like the snow is coming sooner than they predicted.”

  I turn around, look out over the yard, and see the snowflakes lightly falling. “Yeah.” It wasn’t supposed to snow until late night, early morning.

  “Come on, let’s go inside, and say goodbye. I want to leave before it gets bad,” Slade tells me, bending down to pick up the puppy.

  “Hey Mom, Dad, we are going to leave. It’s snowing outside,” he informs them once we walk inside.

  “Really? We should probably go too,” Micah says.

  “Come on, let’s get a picture of everyone real quick,” Vivian suggests, picking up my camera.

  “Here I can take it,” Tate offers.

  “Don’t be silly. All of us girls can sit on the couch and you guys can stand behind it. I will sit it right here.” She walks over to a shelf on the wall and places it on there. “I’ll just set the timer that way you can be in it too.”

  I look up to Slade to see him look from Tate to me. When his eyes meet mine, he gives me a big smile. I don’t know why he does not trust Tate. I wish h
e would just see that no one could ever take me away from him.

  Vivian ushers us all over to the couch where all of us girls sit down and I place my puppy on my lap. The guys position themselves behind us and I smile when Slade puts his hands on my shoulders.

  “Everyone smile. I only set the timer for sixty seconds,” Vivian urges.

  *****

  I walk inside our house and set the puppy down, letting her run wild in the house. I make my way to the kitchen and place some of the leftovers in the fridge. I had tried to tell Vivian we weren’t going to eat them. We leave tomorrow night and by the time we make it back home the food will be bad. She still made everyone take a little something home.

  I open a bottle of wine and pour two glasses. We didn’t drink much at Vivian’s but I feel like having a glass to celebrate Christmas Eve. I pick up the glasses and walk into the bedroom. I frown when I don’t see Slade in there.

  “Slade?”

  “In the living room.”

  I walk down the hallway and into the living room. I smile when I see him sitting on a blanket in front of a burning fireplace.

  “Cozy?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow.

  He pats the blanket beside him. “I will be when you join me.”

  I hand him his glass of wine and sit down beside him. I lie down and look up to the fireplace, seeing the urn that holds both of my parents. It makes me wonder how my mother made it by herself through the holidays over the last five years. Growing up she would decorate the house like a mad woman. She always wore the over the top Christmas sweater and played Christmas music throughout the house.

  I look around the living room to our overly huge Christmas tree in the corner along with the nativity scene. From the Christmas throw pillows that I placed on the couch to the garland, Christmas candles and inside lights, I might have over decorated myself this year. Slade didn’t seem to mind.

  “You okay, Angel?”

  “Yes.” I smile over at him. “Thank you for starting a fire.”

  He nods and then turns and places his wine glass on the fireplace before he lies down beside me. “That was nice of your parents to get us a camera.” I have a camera that I bought back in college but I don’t use it anymore. I don’t even care to turn it on. It’s full of pictures of Jax and me. That feels like another lifetime to me now.