She’d kept it long for our wedding, the tendrils of it almost skimming her waist, but immediately after, she hacked it off to what she calls a long bob. The style resembles the one she wore when we first met, all those years ago when Presley was marrying Keaton.
My ear to ear grin must give away my excitement. “Yeah, I really am. Although, Forrest is still pissed he didn’t get to throw me a bachelor party. Not that any of my brothers really had one, so I don’t know why I was supposed to be the one to provide the stripper-fest.”
My wife chuckles. “Because your twin is jonesing for some time away from the kids. Penelope said the boys are really getting to that reckless age, and Forrest wants to keep a tight leash.”
I can’t believe that Travis is now seventeen, almost ready to graduate high school. And with Matthew just starting his freshman year, that left Ames at the pre-teen age of eleven, which also isn’t easy. So, I guess I couldn’t blame my brother.
“Very true. But it will be nice to see everyone.” I pick our interconnected hands up and kiss the back of hers.
It’s been a while since we’ve been back in Fawn Hill. After Ryan quit her job upon the competition of the Copenhagen project, about two months after I’d flown out to win her back, she decided to completely change her career. Now, she runs one of the largest nonprofit STEM training programs for kids in the world. My wife, the superstar, badass hacker, just flying around the world to teach the next generation of little coders. I’m so proud of her, but more importantly, she’s so fucking happy doing her job. It’s a sight to see.
We bounce around from country to country depending on which branch of the nonprofit needs help or re-vamping at the time, and we just spent almost six months in Madrid. Yes, I miss my family and my hometown, but seeing the world isn’t a bad trade. It’s actually pretty damn cool, and of course, I get to be with Ryan.
Someday, I know we’ll settle down, move back to Fawn Hill and live in the country. But right now, it’s her time. My job is flexible; I started my own woodworking business after settling in Denmark. I make smaller pieces, since I can’t outfit a studio in every city we move to, but I make do and have made friends in a lot of international places. I work out of other’s spaces and do what I love … I have no reason to complain.
“They’re going to try to make a big fuss about this wedding reception.” She rolls her eyes, but in a good-natured way.
To say my mother was upset about our elopement would be an understatement. Not that she doesn’t love Ryan, but the minute I finally convinced Ryan to marry me, I wasn’t about to wait a year planning a wedding. We tied the knot two weeks ago on a beach in Madrid, and it was exactly what we wanted.
We’ve had discussions over the last five years about how we didn’t know if marriage was right for us. Yes, we knew we’d be together for life, but Ryan wasn’t keen on marriage. Argued that it was just a piece of paper, and I didn’t really give a damn about a wedding. But then I’d been fooling around with making some wooden jewelry and thought wearing a wedding ring would suit me well. So I started bugging her, and it took a good eight months to convince her to get married.
“Let them. It means free food and they’ll be happy about it.” I nuzzle my face into her hair as the small crew at the Fawn Hill airport begins to open the plane door.
We soothed Mom’s bruised ego by allowing her to throw a wedding party in our honor.
“I love you, husband. I have to admit, I like the sound of it.” Ryan gives me a sassy wink.
We exit the plane, ready to haul our bags to the car, when a dull roar greets us on the grass in front of the hangar that serves as the airport.
Our entire family stands there, cheering and holding a banner that reads, “Welcome Home Newlyweds!”
Keaton and Presley’s four-year-old son, Maxwell, comes bounding towards me, as my oldest brother pushes his one-year-old twin daughters in their double stroller. They ended up doing in vitro fertilization for both of their pregnancies after trying with no luck. There had been some rough patches, one time Keaton had broken down to me on the phone, but they finally got the family they wanted.
Ryan slams into Presley, their hug going on for minutes, each one half-yelling about how much they miss the other. I hug my oldest brother and then move along the crew, fist-bumping Penelope’s boys and then hugging my twin brother while kissing Penelope on the cheek. Mom envelops me in a bear hug, wiping her eyes more than once, and then I greet Lily with a hug and smile.
Bowen stands next to her holding their son, Jeremy, who is three. Molly, now a smart aleck at six, throws me a peace sign and sticks out her tongue.
“We missed you all so much,” Ryan gushes, and by the emotion in her voice, I know she really means it.
For as much as she tries to play the lone wolf, she’s come to love my family just as much as I do. And they love her.
“Let’s get going, we’ve got ribs in the smoker. And Hattie is baking her famous raspberry pies.” Forrest rubs his stomach.
I’m amazed when Travis gets behind the wheel of one of the cars, while everyone divides into their other vehicles. I take Mom’s keys as she gets into the passenger seat of her car, and Ryan takes the back seat.
“It’s good to be home.” I breathe, taking in the air of my hometown.
Mom palms my cheek. “It’s good to have you home. Our family feels complete now.”
She glances in the rearview mirror at Ryan, and I know she means more than just having us back in town.
As I start the car and pull out onto the country road back into Fawn Hill, I think about how long it took to convince my wife to marry me.
Now, how long do you think it will take to wear her down about kids?
After five years together, I’ve come to know Ryan very well. I think I can find a move or two to do the trick.
Looking in the rearview, I smile knowingly at my wife. Before her, I was only keeping my head above water.
With her, I am flying … but only if she holds my hand.
A Very Nash Christmas
A Nash Brothers Extended Epilogue
Ten Years Later
Keaton
The tires of our seven-seater SUV crunch over the gravel driveway, and it’s almost a mile down until the house comes into view.
“Wow.” Presley breathes beside me, looking up, up, up at the massive log cabin we just pulled up in front of.
“Lily really didn’t disappoint with this choice,” I agree, observing the woodland mansion.
It’s a ten-bedroom, eight-bathroom house in the middle of the Pennsylvania wilderness. With a wrap-around porch boasting benches and rocking chairs, windows where most of the walls should be, and actual log details, it’s definitely the perfect winter paradise. When the idea was proposed for the family to get away for Christmas, Lily captained the search just like she usually does for all family vacations. She found the perfect place, and we haven’t even been inside yet. I know that the house also has a hot tub big enough to fit sixteen people on the deck out back, a hunting lodge somewhere on its twelve acre-property, and views of the lake a couple miles out that are visible from the rooftop balconies. Snow covers the roof, the railings, and most of the gravel drive, but I don’t mind navigating the car through it. If anything, a white Christmas would only make it more picturesque.
“Girls, we’re here. Pack it up.” Presley dons her mom voice to get our eleven-year-old twin daughters, Charlotte and Kate, moving.
The girls begin rustling, packing up the coloring books and markers, specific ones I’ve had to search all over Amazon to find, that they were using the whole way here.
“Can we pick our room before anyone else gets here?” Charlotte asks excitedly, the more outgoing of the two.
“You need to wait until everyone arrives. We already told you that,” I say, though I’m about to give in.
I may be the head of the family, but those two girls have me wrapped around their finger. Where I will not bend for a lot of the other peop
le in our Nash tribe, one puppy-dog eyed look from my daughters and I’m a goner. They’re currently fighting me on when they’re allowed to get cell phones, but I’m not ready for that headache. With cell phones comes social media, which brings boys, and lord knows I want them to stay little for as long as possible. They’ve got a lot of their mother in them, Charlotte especially, and I know that they’re going to be wild things in a few years.
“I get to share a room with Jeremy, right?” Max pulls out an earbud.
Our son spent the ride immersed in whatever playlist he concocted with this face simultaneously in his phone. He is a freshman in high school and started dating his first girlfriend. The texting is constant, and while I know it’s probably puppy love, I try to be respectful of it. After all, my brother met the love of his life in high school, and he nearly lost her because of parental pressures.
“Yeah, that’s fine, sweetheart.” Presley flashes a smile to our son in the back seat.
Bowen’s son Matt is his best friend. They’re around the same age and have grown up together, and now they both attend Fawn Hill High School. The four parents are trying desperately to keep them out of trouble and devoutly loyal to each other, because raising kids these days is frightening.
For the most part, all of the Nash grandkids are good seeds. We had hiccups here and there, and I try to stay connected to not only my own children but all of my nieces and nephews. As always, I am just trying to do what I think my father would have done. It’s around the holiday season every year that I have a few gloomy days just thinking about how much he would have loved this loud, rambunctious family we’ve produced.
As it is, the matriarch, her four boys, their four wives, nine grandchildren plus one of their wives, and a brand new great-grandson are all sharing one house for the holidays.
Typically, we just stayed in Fawn Hill, swapping houses each year of who would host Christmas. But Mom is growing older each year, and she mentioned wanting to do something special for some reason this year. Plus, it’s not every day we can get all the kids in one room. Most of them have boyfriends or girlfriends now or are constantly on the go with sports. This Thanksgiving, Presley, the kids, and I had been down in Virginia for one of Max’s soccer tournaments. He’s good, really good, and even as a freshman there’s talk of scouts and division one programs. So where his talent takes him, we go.
But this week is all about family. I recruited Max, with an expectant look, to haul the suitcases, groceries, board games, and Christmas presents piled in the back of our SUV into the house. Once I get inside, I get a good look at the coziest looking vacation home I’ve ever seen. A fireplace with a mouth wide enough for two of my brothers to sit in, a rustic kitchen with an updated range that Bowen would love making breakfast on, and a lofted hallway above the living room that leads off to what I could only assume are bedrooms.
“Dad, look at this.” Charlotte motions me over to a side room.
It’s a library, with built-in shelves full of books. I smile and wrap an arm around her shoulder for a side hug. “This is like your paradise. Go to town, ladybug.”
She’s my quiet one and loves to squirrel books away to read all day long.
“Babe, I’m taking the master.” Presley all but cackles from a room off the kitchen.
“That’s going to get you in trouble with Penelope.” I snort but follow the sound of my wife’s voice.
“She can fight me for it. After all, she and Forrest got the guest house on our North Carolina trip, and they’re practically empty nesters. We deserve it.”
With three kids still at home to Forrest’s one, I couldn’t disagree. “I’d normally say let’s keep it fair, but you’re right. Plus, it’s right by the kitchen, so maybe no one else will want it.”
“It has a jacuzzi tub.” My wife’s gorgeous emerald eyes spark with devilish thoughts.
I reach for her, taking her in my arms and pressing my body to hers. “How do we fast forward to tonight and make these kids disappear?”
When my lips meet her neck, she sighs softly. “Keaton.”
Still, after all these years, hearing her say my name does crazy things to my heart. I still wonder sometimes why her gypsy soul decided to stick with me, but I’m thankful as hell every day that she did.
“Gross! Get a room.” Max stands in the doorway, shielding his eyes.
“We did, this is it.” Presley rolls her eyes and places a soft kiss on my lips before backing out of my embrace.
Having kids may not have put a damper on our sex life, but it sure has made us get creative.
Over the next few hours, my brothers and sisters-in-law arrive, with Fletcher and Ryan bringing up the rear since they have Mom in tow. The women fuss over the matriarch, helping her inside and making sure she’s comfortable in a rocker with a cup of tea before she shushes them away. Then she calls the grandkids over one by one to ask them what’s going on in their lives. My mom adores each and every one of our kids, and of course, is going to hog Travis’s newborn baby all weekend. Forrest’s oldest stepson and his wife just had their first baby, and it has brought a lot of joy into the family. There’s nothing like a new little life to obsess over.
Walking through the house, I hear the kids laughing, the adults arguing over room assignments, Mom grilling Bowen on what ingredients he bought for tonight’s roast, and the soft cries of the new baby.
“Take a walk with me?” Presley finds me as dusk is setting in.
“Shouldn’t we start helping with dinner?” It’s hard for me not to stick to a schedule, even on vacation.
The woman I’ve loved since I laid eyes on her laces her fingers through mine. “No one will notice we’re gone. Well, at least not for a little while. I want to find that hunting lodge.”
“You do realize I save animals, not kill them, right?” I joke, but let her lead me to our coats and boots anyway.
We bundle up and then head out into the snow, our gloved hands connected as we crunch over the landscape. Presley and I walk in sync for a while, soaking up the quiet and each other’s company. When you’ve been with someone for this long, you don’t need to talk every single second of the day.
“This is so nice, just to slow down a bit.” She tilts her head up to the sky, all of those scarlet waves tumbling down her back, and breathes deep.
“We’re always moving at hyper speed.” I admire her side profile as she keeps her eyes closed, my hand the only thing keeping her from bumping into a tree.
Presley is a wonderful mother and supportive wife, but once in a while, I get glimpses of the nomad in her. Little hints of the untamable woman I met long ago sneak out, like right now. Lust niggles at my spine, even if it’s freezing and there is nowhere for us to sneak in activities that are definitely not for the kids’ ears.
“I missed you.” She swings herself into me and presses up on her toes.
My mouth captures hers in a slow but passionate caress, and beneath all of my layers, my cock grows impossibly hard. My wife moans into my mouth as our tongues do an erotic dance, and the silence of the woods stretches over us.
“I’ve missed you more.” I breathe onto her lips before exploring the sweet, soft exposure of skin at her neck where her scarf has gapped.
Throughout the last decade, Presley’s yoga studio has done so well that she opened another one a town over. With a staff of ten people between both locations, she’s a small business maven. My wife has always been so independent, and that hasn’t changed throughout the course of our marriage. She beats to her own drum, taking her alone time when she needs it and doling out equal responsibilities to me when it comes to the kids.
I knew when I married Presley that she wouldn’t settle for coming second, losing self-care time, or taking on ninety percent of the work. That’s what I love about us; we have an equal partnership in all ways possible, and it makes us a better couple because of it. I love that we have separate hobbies, that I don’t know everything about her days. For a guy who resists chang
e and leans toward the predictable, I get my fill of extraordinary by loving with Presley.
But between all of her endeavors, me being the only veterinarian in town, and the kids’ schedules, we barely have time for ourselves. I’ve been toying with the idea of bringing on a new doctor, possibly a partner, who will someday take over for me. I’m nowhere near retirement, but splitting the workload might be a good thing as our children move into the high school phase. They’ll have games I’ll want to attend, events I want to be present for, and that has been a challenge up until now. Even as a small-town pet doctor, I’ve missed some important things because of emergencies at work.
“You’re still the man I fell in love with,” Presley says as if reading my mind.
“Sometimes I can’t believe we made those three. Or that this is our life.” I sigh in contentment.
She chuckles. “Who would have thought that I would be happy raising babies in a small town?”
“You’re amazing at it.” I nudge her nose with mine.
We turn to walk more on her lead, and I know she wants to find this lodge on the property. Something about seeking out new adventures and taking wrong turns never seems to leave her bones. There are days she’ll walk in the house twenty minutes after she said she’d be home, and I know she got herself purposely lost for a bit. It’s what she needs sometimes.
“Only because I have the most loving husband in the world.” We come upon a small wooden building, no bigger than a shack, about a mile out from the house. “Here it is!”
“This is where people sit, for hours in the cold, just to shoot some poor innocent animal?” My voice is all shades of unimpressed. “Great, can we go back now? I don’t need to bear witness to this slaughterhouse.”
Presley rolls her eyes at me and giggles. “All right, Mr. Martyr. I don’t like what happens here either. But it is the most private place on the property. And there is a tiny heater inside. If we leave our jackets on, it could work …”
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