by BA Tortuga
“Oh man. This is all for us? Are you sure?” He felt a little guilty.
“I know that you had to leave the finals early, so we wanted to help. You know, Trey’s always telling us how you’re his hero, and we all hear about how you ride.”
A warm bud of happiness uncurled in his belly. “Yeah? I do okay.”
“More than okay. You’re famous. I know.” Ray started unloading the truck, the snow powdering his jacket. “We just wanted to help. God knows Trey never turns anyone down, and he’s the first one to volunteer to help.”
“He is.” Famous? “I’m not exactly all that, Ray.”
“Mira, look. You are around here. Should I put things on Trey’s porch?”
“Yeah, please. I can get them in the rest of the way.” He grabbed a load himself.
“Uncle Ap?” Bella stuck her head out the door. “Hi, Ray!”
“Get your head back inside, baby girl.”
“Hey, Bella. I’ll come in in a second. Get your butt in the house.”
“Okay! I saved the milk.”
“Good girl.” Ap waved her inside and grabbed more stuff out of the truck. He would text Trey and tell him not to get another big bird unless they were on sale. Or tamales. Or posole. Christ.
They probably didn’t need to make biscochitos for three years. “I don’t even know what to say, man.”
“Merry Christmas works for me.”
“Well, Merry Christmas for sure. I’m sure Trey will call you too. Come on in and have a hot chocolate?”
“I will. I need to see my girls. I have a little box of candies for all of them.” Ray helped him get the food inside and in the freezer and fridge. “Eee-a-la, it’s all snow out there, eh?”
“It’s getting bad.”
Bella had saved the milk and melted the Abuelita in it. Good going. “Marshmallows?”
“Please.” Ray grinned at him. “How you feeling? Better?”
“Better. I played in the snow.” And she looked exhausted now.
“You gonna have a cookie and go sit on the couch?” Ap handed out cups of cocoa but gave Bella a pointed look.
“Uh-huh.” She hugged Ray. “Thank you for coming. Uncle Daddy will call you. We love you.”
“Love you too, hon.” Ray glanced at him. “Trey out running errands?”
“Yessir. Taking Cole to work. He hasn’t had enough practice with this kind of weather.”
“How many more Kisses, Uncle?”
He looked at Amelia. “I think that’s enough, kiddo.”
The pile of foil and chocolate was… impressive. “Don’t let the dogs get into any of that.”
“Okay.” She glared at the corgis.
“It’s good to see Trey out and about without all the kids. That ought to make things so much easier.”
“We’re easy!” Ames said. “We’re good.”
“You are, but sometimes a man needs just grown-ups, right, mija?”
“You’re a grown-up. Can Victoria come spend the night?”
“Maybe after Christmas, Amelia, hmm?”
“Okay!” She hummed, piling up wrappers and taking them to the trash can.
Ray drained his cocoa. “Okay, I got to hit the road. Need any more help getting anything inside?”
“No. No, thank you so much.” He shook hands again.
“Anytime. You tell Trey to holler. We’ll get together in a few days.”
“You got it.” He walked Ray to the door, still a little stunned.
“Can we open presents?” Amelia asked when he came back.
“No. Those are for Christmas morning. Let’s make these cookies.” A peek told him that Bella was sound asleep and Court was coloring.
“Okay!” God, that was a beautiful smile. Seriously. “I’ll get the peanut butter! Can there be Christmas carols?”
“There totally can.” All she really wanted to do was spend time with him. “Ferb! No.”
She giggled softly. “Sneaky puppy.”
“We don’t want a sick puppy.” He moved the chocolate back away from the edge of the table.
“No. No, Bella was hard enough. No more.”
“Exactly.” He texted Trey real quick about the food.
It felt amazing, how their neighbors just came together for them. Ap would get to know them all, which he was actually looking forward to.
Hopefully Trey was looking forward to that same thing.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“MORE coffee?”
“Please.” Trey smiled at the evening manager—Jaycelle, he thought—and watched Braden play on his phone. They’d gotten all their errands done, but it had taken forever, and before he knew it, it was seven o’clock, and Cole got off at eight, and there was no way for him to get home and back here.
So they sat.
Fuck-a-doodle-goddamn-doo.
“That’s some weather out there, huh?” She poured him another cup before handing Braden another water. He’d only been allowed one Coke.
“Yes, ma’am. It’s getting heavy. As soon as Cole’s done, we’re going to head out.” Or as soon as you let him loose, you harridan. He’s a sixteen-year-old kid, for God’s sake.
“Oh, he’s just got a few more minutes. It’s so important to teach them responsibility.”
What? Fuck that shit. He would find Cole another job, maybe at a feed store, where the hours didn’t suck so hard. He kept it mild when he raised a brow. “I think Cole’s a pretty responsible kid.”
“All parents think that.”
“Get your shit together, Braden. Cole? You ready to go? We got us a drive.” He wasn’t going to be ugly, but damn.
“Uh, Uncle Daddy?”
“Come on.” He gave Cole a look, and Cole half grinned before taking off his apron.
“Night,” Cole said.
“We’ll talk about this tomorrow, Cole.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Trey muttered under his breath. Tomorrow Cole was calling and quitting.
Braden looked up, blinking hard when snow hit his face. “Wow, look at the snow.”
“I know, right?” God, he wished he had his chains. “Let’s go, boys. Chugga chugga.”
Shit, it was way worse now than it had been a few hours ago. All he had to do was make it to the ranch. Hell, if he made it to the bottom of their road, he could call Ap to bring chains.
The man had been texting him all day.
It had been… well, a lot of it had been good, hadn’t it?
They started out, creeping along, tires sliding on the ice. He turned the Christmas music on, straddling the centerline, because nobody was out here.
“I’m glad I didn’t drive,” Cole said quietly.
“I would have been out of my mind loco worrying about those old tires on this.” He was careful to keep any comment about Cole’s driving out of it.
“They do kinda suck on slick.” Cole held the door handle hard.
Yeah, this was a once in ten years kinda storm.
“They do. We’ve got everything we need for the next few days, tons of food, all the presents, wood for the fire. You looking forward to it? Having Christmas?” He kept the chatter light, easy, but when he headed around one of the curves and spun out, leaving them facing the wrong way, he had to take a couple deep breaths. “Cole, call your Uncle Ap and tell him we’ll be a while.”
“Yessir.” Cole pulled out his phone, the light bright in the night.
“Are we okay?” Braden asked.
“We are. I just needed to get my head back on straight.”
“Hey, Uncle Ap. No, we’re okay. It’s just really slow going out here. Might take us a while. Okay. I’ll keep checking in. No, I’m pretty sure I quit. Okay. Later.”
“Thanks, son. I didn’t want him worrying.” Okay, Trey. Get your ass moving.
“He wanted to know if we were bringing food home.” Cole chuckled.
“Ah. Was he joking?”
“Yeah, he said we have enough for an army.”
“Yeah, Ray and them brought a feast.”
“We get some of that, right?” Braden sounded a little worried.
Cole snorted. “Dude, you had a hamburger and fries, a shake, and mozzarella sticks.”
“Thirteen-year-old boys are always hungry. I’m sure you remember that.” He got them moving, doing the world’s most careful thirty-eight-point turn ever. “And yes. There is food for you, boy. I swear.”
“Okay.” Braden sat back, and the boys went quiet, the feeling in the air tense.
“We can do this.” He would do this. He had his kids in the fucking truck. He would get them home safe.
“I know.” Cole nodded firmly. “You got this.”
He did. He’d been driving for way longer than Cole. He got them moving back along the main road. He turned off on Paseo de Pueblo, heading away from the highway. The snow was thicker here, less icy, so he got more traction for a bit.
As he relaxed, the boys did.
Of course, once they got farther out, it was going to get bad again, not that the boys needed to know that.
Chapter Twenty-Four
AP paced. He did it in the kitchen, so only Phineas and Ferb saw him, but he paced. Bella was in bed, and Court and Amelia were blanket-covered on the couch, waiting to show Trey the cookies.
They’d left Denny’s at eight. It was nine fifteen, and it was a fifteen-minute drive. Twenty tops. Where the hell were they?
He’d texted Cole three times, but the last two times, he’d gotten dick all. Dammit. Surely there was signal. Right?
“Uncle Ap? My head hurts.”
He whirled around, startled by Bella’s low voice. “Sorry, kiddo, you surprised me.”
“Can you look at it? Is it bleeding?”
He checked, but it looked fine, and she wasn’t running a fever. “I bet it’s the weather. My head always hurts when it snows so heavy. You want some of your pain medicine?”
“Uh-huh. Please.”
“Sure thing. Then we put your night bonnet back on, huh?” That was probably part of it too. In the hospital she’d had this huge dressing putting pressure on it most of the time. It had to feel weird still, even after several days.
She sighed. “Yeah. Where’s Uncle Daddy and the boys?”
“Still driving home. Ice and snow is hard.” He should have hidden chains in Trey’s truck, but they usually didn’t need them unless they were going to a ski area or something.
“Yeah. It’s crazy.” He got her medicated and her hat on, and then he got her curled up with the other two, Christmas cartoons on the television.
Lights flashed in the kitchen window, and his heart jumped into his throat. Please, God.
He eased up, his heart beating even harder when the dogs didn’t bark. They just whined at the back door.
He grabbed his boots and his coat. He needed to get them and all the stuff in.
Cole was already moving, opening the bed cover and pulling out bags. Braden was grabbing stuff out of the back seat, and Trey was sitting behind the wheel, pale as milk.
Ap ran out, slipping and sliding. He opened the driver’s side door. “Baby? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, just catching my breath.” Trey looked over at him, smile shaky. “That was less than fun.”
“I’m sorry.” He helped Trey out of the truck when Trey was ready. “We got all the makings of a feast, though. And we don’t have to leave again for days, assuming the kid did quit.”
“I’m pretty sure I got the kid fired.” Trey rolled his eyes. “I bought the entire Walmart.”
“So did your friend Ray’s people.” He winked. “Here, Braden, let me take that.”
“I got it, Uncle. There’s more.”
Man, Trey had been stress shopping.
“I’ll get the next load, then.” Bags, bags, and more bags filled the back.
Toilet paper and wrapping paper and food and, Christ…. Look at all that shit.
“I knew we’d be snowed in a few days.” Trey grabbed some of the bags. “I’m staying home tomorrow.”
“So am I.” It would take a day to unpack.
Cole came back for another load. “Go on, Uncles. I got this.”
“You sure?”
Cole snorted. “It’s just snow. Uncle Daddy needs a beer.”
“He does,” Braden agreed.
“Well, come on, then.”
Trey laughed. “I got to pee first.”
“You could write your name in the snow,” Braden teased.
“I’m not freezing my dick off to show off my penmanship to you hooligans.”
Ap blinked at them, and then he began to cackle, hooting out of sheer relief.
Trey ran inside, and Ap carried in a load next to Braden. “You missed Mr. Ray.”
“Yeah, he’s Uncle Daddy’s best friend. He’s a good guy.”
“He seems like it. Isn’t he a little old to be Uncle’s best friend?” Ray had to be forty-five, not thirty.
“Uncle Daddy’s old. Not like you. Real old.”
He blinked down at Braden. He was almost two years older than Trey. What the hell? “Hey, Amelia made cookies.”
“Yeah? Cool. I could have some cookies.” Braden ran in, beating feet, and Cole came back out.
“I got the rest, Uncle, no worries.”
“Cool. Come get a cookie when you’re done.”
“I saw. Peanut butter kisses. I like those. Rock on.”
Trey was in with the girls, checking on Bella and nodding at them, getting his hugs. His big, brave, goofy lover.
Ap smiled, loving how his family was safe and together and about to celebrate Christmas.
Trey moved into the kitchen, beginning to put things away, dragging bags back into his office, working doggedly.
“Hey.” Ap caught him between runs. “What can I do?”
“I….” Trey blinked at him. “I don’t know. Maybe make me something warm and leaded. That was a harsh drive.”
“You got it.” Leaded his ass. It was damn near ten. More like cocoa with booze.
Trey needed a little liquid lubrication, a shower, and a rubdown, or those muscles would be like frozen rope in the morning. That was a service he would happily provide. He moved to the kitchen to heat up the cocoa they’d saved.
The boys were demolishing cookies and laughing, telling “no shit, there we were” stories.
Trey came in, pulled out a chair to sit on, smiling at them.
“Here, guys.” He served cocoa to the boys, then turned away to slip booze into Trey’s cup.
“Thanks, Uncle.” Cole grinned at him. “It’s good to be home. You looking forward to tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow, Christmas Day, the day after.”
“Me too.” Cole kinda chortled. “I don’t have to work. Guess I’ll start looking for a job after the first.”
“I’ll call the feed store, maybe, huh?” Trey drank deep of his cocoa.
“Or maybe you can help with the odd jobs. You were doing okay with those, right?” Ap was starting to get it, at least a little.
“Yeah, I just liked a steady check.” Cole shrugged. “It’s nice to choose your own hours, though. Right?”
“You know it.” He watched Trey, making sure he didn’t give away the fact that Ap had spiked his drink. The only clue Trey gave was the way his shoulders slowly eased down from his ears. Better.
That drive had to have been horrendous.
“I’m gonna go play video games. Is that okay, Uncles?”
They both nodded at Braden, and he headed off.
Cole chuckled. “Good cookies. I’m gonna go call Julianne.”
“Good deal. Thanks for your help.” Trey sat there at the table, staring into nothing. “Thanks for the drink.”
“You’re welcome. Let me put the littles to bed. Why don’t you go take a hot shower?” Trey needed it. He looked beat down.
“Yeah. Yeah, I think I will. It’s been a long damn day.” Trey reached out, touched his wrist. “Sorry about earlier. I
’m just grumpy. I’ll be back in a second.”
Ap moved to the living room. “Okay, you two. You’re asleep on the couch.” He bent to lift Courtney. “Off to bed.” He carried Court and let Amelia lean on him.
Bella held on to his belt, and together he got them all tucked in. Three little girls sleeping hard. After he let the dogs out and in, he went to lock up the house and turn off the TV, bank the fire and turn off the lights, and then he headed back to Trey.
Steam billowed out of the bathroom, and the water was still running, so he stripped off to step in with his lover. He wanted to soap Trey up and rub him down. Shit, he needed to reconnect, to figure out what was hurt and make it better.
He didn’t know why Trey was so touchy, but he was gonna find out.
Trey blinked at him, gave him a smile. “Hey.”
“Hey, baby. I can wash your back.”
“That sounds nice.” Trey turned, offering him that taut ass, those broad shoulders.
He ’bout near drooled. He soaped up his hands and rubbed Trey’s back. Look at all that muscle. That man worked hard. And Trey was stiff and tense, fighting his touch for a bit.
“Sore?” He dug his thumbs into Trey’s traps.
Trey cried out, melting against the tile.
“That’s it, baby. God, that had to be a hellish drive.” He rubbed harder, pushing deep.
“It was. I was trying to be calm for the boys, but damn.”
“You did a good job. Cole was proud, and Braden was calm.” Braden’s words came back to him. Uncle Daddy is old, way older than you. “You’re the backbone of this family.”
“Someone has to be the boring one.”
“You’re not boring to me, baby.” This was a theme, and he was beginning to get a weird feeling about it. Trey wasn’t old or boring or dull.
“Thanks.”
“No, I mean it. You keep acting like you’re a thousand years old, and you’re not thirty.”
“I feel like an old man.” Trey wouldn’t look back at him, but to his credit, Ap was rubbing pretty hard.
“Well, you’re not. You’re a great dad, and you’ve kept this place together all along.” Was that good? Maybe Trey wanted to hear how damn sexy he was.
“I—” Trey groaned. “Right there.”
“Uh-huh.” There was a spot on either side of that long spine that needed releasing.