His ears picked up the sound of Roman and Lucas building the playset as Libby read them the instructions. Richie tossed his phone on the bed and hurried down to join them.
Chapter 35
It was almost 2:00 a.m before Riley and Maia crept downstairs to lay out the Santa Claus gifts. Cristie had an easel with a dry erase board on one side and a chalk board on the other. She had finger paints, and Barbie dolls and a Barbie doll house. She had colored sidewalk chalk for use on their front porch and more outfits than Riley could count. She had more games for her Leappad and arts and crafts galore. Then Maia filled Cristie’s stocking with all kinds of little toys and sparkly play things and candy. Not to mention the play fort that the guys had built outside in the backyard while Riley and Maia were upstairs.
“Maia, baby, think maybe you went overboard a bit?”
“Nope. And if I’d had more time, I’d have bought more. Now help me get the rest of this out,” she said, heading toward the hall closet.
“Rest of what?” Riley asked, following her down the hallway to the hall closet.
“Santa brought everyone something.”
“Oh, he did, did he?”
“Yes, he did.” Maia started handing bags to Riley, who went from surprise to chuckling each time she handed him another. “It’s not as much as it looks like. I have them divided into the bags. Each person has a bag.”
“Glad you didn’t go overboard.”
“Hush. Christmas is special. I will always do this, so you may as well resign yourself to it.”
Riley just shook his head, “Direct me, oh holiday-obsessed one, I shall follow your lead.”
Maia snickered, “Glad you finally came to your senses. Come on.”
Riley helped her carry all her bags to the living room, then stood back and watched as she laid out gifts for each of their Pride members. Richie, Roman, Lucas and Libby all got heavy winter coats of the ski jacket variety, and a pair of house slippers for their feet. She’d chosen a different color for each. Richie got blue, Roman got red, Lucas got green and Libby got pink. Then she took out four stockings, each with the name of a Pride member across the top in glitter. She laid the stocking on top of the coat that belonged with the owner of the stocking, so they’d know which coat was theirs. Then she poured handfuls of chocolate candies into the stockings and pulled out heavy woolen socks with different Christmas scenes on them and stuffed them into the tops of each stocking as well.
To finish it all off, she laid out a soft purple coat for herself and a pair of slippers, and one for Riley, too, in a dark grey, with his own pair of slippers. She filled their stockings with candy and socks and then stood back to examine her handiwork.
She smiled. “I love it. You think they’ll like it?”
Riley hugged her from behind, “I do, baby. They’re going to be so excited. But who is the blanket for?”
She looked over at the new fleece blanket still tied with a ribbon sitting on the floor beside the couch. “Oh! That’s for the bodyguard.”
“The bodyguard? You mean our patient? You bought him a Christmas gift, too?”
“Yes, I did. He was protecting me. I know we don’t know his whole story, but I really feel that he was protecting me. So I got him something he could use at this time. A blanket and a pair of woolen socks. Oh, and I got Alex a mug that says, ‘Veterinarians do it better’ and a pair of socks and slippers, too.”
Riley smiled down at her, then he kissed her lips, “You have the best heart, my love. You amaze me.”
“Nah, you just think I’m hot,” she answered, on a yawn.
“That I do! But, you are very loving, too. And that’s enough for tonight, time for bed. Cristie will be up at the crack of dawn.”
Maia lifted her arms in the air and fluttered her eyes at Riley the same way Cristie did when she wanted to be picked up.
Riley laughed, swung her up into his arms and carried her up the stairs to their bedroom. Their first Christmas Eve now a very happy, very loving memory.
Hours later when Riley was sure Maia was sleeping, he crept back downstairs. He went to the pantry and pulled down a small bag he’d placed on the highest shelf out of sight. He reached in and pulled out five fuzzy key chains. Then he pulled a smaller bag out of the larger one. He sat down at the table and took his time putting keys onto each ring. The last one, a fuzzy purple pompom, got two keys. He stood and walked over to the back door, flipping on the light that illuminated the backyard. He smiled, the guys had done a great job. They’d built Cristie’s cypress swing set/fort/slide/climbing wall earlier. He couldn’t wait for her to see it.
Riley quietly headed into the living room and placed one key chain in each stocking. For Maia’s, he put the purple fuzzy key chain with two keys on it into hers. Then he slipped his feet in his boots he’d left by the front door and quietly went outside.
Fifteen minutes later he was back inside, the house locked up tight, his cold toes pressed into the bottoms of Maia’s feet as he spooned her.
“Unnhh!” she snarled at him in her sleep, slapping a hand at him to make him back away.
Riley chuckled as he moved back into place against her back, careful to keep his toes away from her this time.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
“Doddy! Doddy! Mama! Santa Claus came!”
Riley opened his eyes and was, as usual, looking through a face full of Maia’s hair. He swiped it out of his face and lifted his head to see Cristie climbing up on their bed, “Him came!”
“He did, are you sure?”
Cristie stopped jumping on the bed. “Yes! I was good!”
Maia rolled off of Riley. “But it’s so early,” she moaned.
“Mama! Come see! I want to see!” Cristie chanted as she jumped on their bed like a trampoline.
“Okay, I’m getting up,” Maia said, which caused Cristie to emit a high pitched squeal.
Riley got out of bed, pulling Maia behind him, “Come on, Mama. Let’s see what Santa brought.”
They came down the stairs, Riley holding Cristie on his hip, to the scent of bacon, cinnamon rolls and coffee. Maia paused on the stairs long enough to say, “Have I told you yet how much I adore Richie? Do you smell that?”
Riley laughed.
Then Richie called out, “I heard that! And I called the others; they’re on their way over.”
“Thanks, Rich,” Riley answered just as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He walked over to the front door and unlocked it, so their Pride could get in easily. Then he walked back over to the living room and stood there, so Cristie could get a good look at all the wondrous things spread about the room for not just her, but everyone.
Cristie had gone silent, her eyes huge, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. She gawked at all the gifts laid out in the living room, over the couch, across the chair, everywhere, then at her doddy, “I was very good!” she said. Then she started struggling to get down, so Riley, laughing at her reaction, placed her on her feet, both he and Maia following her into the living room and using their phones to snap pictures of her tearing through all her stuff.
First, she grabbed up the dry erase markers and squiggled a few lines on her dry erase board; then, she grabbed a Barbie doll and started walking it around her Barbie house.
There was a knock at the front door. Then, it opened and the rest of their Pride came in, calling out, “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas, guys! Look, Santa came for you, too!” Maia announced.
“Oh, my gosh, Maia. You shouldn’t have!” Libby said, rushing to the jacket that was obviously hers. She picked it up and held it out, looking at it. “Oh, Maia, Riley, thank you! I love it.”
Lucas grinned and hurried into the living room, “Man! We must have made Santa very happy this year.” He went to his coat, stocking and slippers. He lifted his coat and picked it up, unzipping it and shrugging into it. “Perfect fit! With enough room underneath to wear warm clothes, too.” He smiled at Maia and Riley, “You guys are gr
eat. Thank you so much.” Then he sat down on the couch and started going through his stocking.
Roman stood at the entryway, a slight smile on his face, “This is amazing,” he finally managed to get out.
“Go try your coat on, make sure it fits,” Riley told him, patting Roman on the back as he finally walked past to check out his stuff. Roman lifted his coat and looked at the size on the tag on the inside. “I think it’ll fit!” he said excitedly. He unzipped it and slipped it on. It was roomy and snuggly. He grinned at Maia as he zipped it up. “It’s perfect. I got lots of room inside.” Roman sat down and kicked off his boots. He slipped his feet into his slippers. “Ohhh, nice and warm. And they fit, too!”
Maia smiled at him, “I made sure to get sizes I thought would be big enough, then went up a size just in case. I always like coats and slippers to be bigger than my actual size. Makes them more comfortable.”
“I’ll never be able to thank you enough,” Roman said, standing up and walking around in his slippers, looking down at his feet as he smoothed his hands over his coat. “This is the best Christmas of my whole life.”
“You already have, Roman. The appreciation you’ve shown is more than enough,” Riley said.
“Good morning,” a strong, clear feminine voice said from behind them.
Riley turned, “Mornin’ Alex, Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” she returned, a happy smile on her face.
Riley flicked his hand toward the Christmas morning melee behind him, “Santa came for you, too.”
Her face registered surprise, “What? Are you serious?”
“Yep, look. Santa came for you, too,” Maia confirmed.
Alex started forward and Libby pointed to the place beside her, “Yours is right here.”
Alex went to the couch Libby sat on and reached for her gifts, “I can’t believe you guys did this.”
“Why? You’ve been good, haven’t you?” Maia teased.
Alex laughed, “Apparently I have.”
She took off her socks, slipped on the new woolen ones from her stocking and shoved her feet into her slippers. “Ahhh, so soft.” She lifted her over-sized coffee mug, “I think I need this filled.”
Richie came walking into the living room with a platter piled high with a mountain of homemade cinnamon rolls, another filled with bacon. “Ya’ll go fill your coffee cups if you drink it and dig in.”
Maia started laughing as soon as Richie came into the room — he was wearing his coat and slippers while he cooked them breakfast. “You cold?” she asked.
“Nope, not at all, just loving the presents.”
Maia walked over and picked up the blanket, she said, “I’m going to give this to the bodyguard.” She picked up his socks, getting ready to take them to him.
“The bodyguard?” Alex asked, coming back into the living room, having filled her new mug with hot coffee.
“Yes, your patient,” Maia answered. “Santa even came for him.”
Alex smiled, shaking her head. These were genuinely good people, generous to a fault and nurturing of all around them. “You’re very kind, Maia.”
“Nah, she’s just obsessed with Christmas,” Riley teased, which earned him a sharp look from Maia.
“And just so you know, his name is Lazarus,” Alex said.
“He told you?” Riley asked, going on alert immediately.
“Yes, last night. I was speaking to him like I do, explaining what I’m doing and his condition. How he’s healing or what I think I should try next and I said, ‘I wish I knew your name so I could use it when I speak to you.’ His lips started trying to move, and I leaned closer. Finally I heard the sound Las. I asked, ‘Las?’ He tried a few more times and managed to say ‘us’. I put the two together and came up with Lazarus. Once I got it right, he squeezed my hand and relaxed. So, his name is Lazarus.”
Riley tossed his phone to Richie saying, “Take pictures of anything I may miss. I’ll be right back.”
“Got it,” Richie answered, catching the phone and snapping a couple pictures of Roman with a Barbie doll in his huge hand making it dance to pretend music that Cristie hummed for them.
Chapter 36
Maia and Riley entered the bodyguard - Lazarus’- bedroom. Riley called his name, the name Alex had given them, “Lazarus.”
There was no response, so Riley raised his voice a bit and put some bite in his tone, “Lazarus!”
The males eyes fluttered, then opened before closing lazily again.
Riley said, “Can you hear me, Lazarus?”
Lazarus’ eyes lifted again and with great effort began to look back and forth for the source of the voice speaking to him. Riley stepped into view and waited.
Lazarus lifted all the fingers on his left hand and flicked them at Riley. Not just one, all of them. “Is that your name? Lazarus?”
Lazarus swallowed, pressed his lips together before managing to say, “Yes,” in a very scratchy, unused voice.
“Why are you here?” Riley asked.
Lazarus didn’t answer, but continued to look at Riley. All the explanations ran through his head, but the words were just too much for him to try to produce right now.
Maia stepped into view, her arms holding the blanket she’d bought him and his socks gripped in her hand.
Lazarus saw her and a weak smile forced its way to his lips. “Safe,” he said.
“Yeah, she is. She’s safe. Did you protect her?”
Lazarus kept looking at Maia, a weak smile in place on one side of his mouth. He closed his eyes, “Yes.”
“Why?”
Lazarus took a deep breath, then opened his eyes, searching for Riley’s, “Craze,” he said.
“Craze?”
Lazarus blinked slowly, “Alpha,” he said, pausing before again speaking, “Craze-ee.”
Riley couldn’t argue with that. The man had been completely compromised as far as sanity went.
“You came here with him to attack us. Why did you cross him?”
Lazarus took a deep breath and just when they thought he wouldn’t answer anymore, he opened his eyes and said, “Wrong,” in a stronger voice than he’d been able to muster before.
“I’m wrong?” Riley asked.
Lazarus gave a barely perceptible movement of his head, a shake. He looked at Maia, “Strong,” he said, “courage,” he got out before closing his eyes. Then he opened them again, “Good.”
Riley and Maia shared a look, “So, you got here, saw my Reigna, watched her, decided that your Alpha was wrong and turned on him to protect her?”
Lazarus had closed his eyes while Riley spoke. He opened them now, “Take her.”
“You’re going to take her?” Riley barked out with a laugh.
“Alpha,” Lazarus responded. “His.”
Riley understood then, “He was going to take my Mate.”
Lazarus gave a slight nod.
“You decided to protect her.”
Again, Lazarus gave a slight nod.
“And the rest of us?”
The corner of Lazarus’ mouth turned up just enough to be seen, then he said, “Hers.”
Riley smiled in spite of himself. Lazarus was an impudent bastard, but he was honest — he didn’t care about the rest of them other than they were Maia’s. Riley had detected no lie in the information Lazarus had given them. He made no secret of the fact that the only reason he decided to step in was an admiration for Maia, and he’d been willing to save them as well, if necessary, simply because he and his Pride were hers.
Then Lazarus waved his fingers, the action catching Riley’s eyes and bringing them back to him.
Riley looked at Lazarus, waiting for him to speak whatever else he wanted Riley to know, finally he spoke.
“Hate,” he spat out with vehemence, “old, Alpha.”
“You hated him?”
Again he said the word dripping with venom, “Hate!”
Riley nodded. “I understand.” He looked at Lazarus lyi
ng in Lucas’ bed. He was still hooked up to IV’s. His bandages were fresh and clean. He was healing, getting stronger. In spite of his condition, this male was not a weak male. He was strong. He was capable, and he was very obviously violent. “You killed the other two in the back?”
“Yes,” Lazarus said, then used two of his fingers to point to his bandage.
“They did this to you?”
“Yes,” then, “Alpha.”
“Alpha instructed them to gut you?”
Lazarus inclined his head.
“Why?”
Lazarus’ eyes drifted to Maia.
Riley spoke for him, “Because you figured out he wanted to steal my Reigna and stepped in.”
Lazarus met Riley’s eyes, “Yes,” he said clearly.
Riley stood there, absorbing all he’d learned. He met Maia’s eyes, she nodded at him. He said, “I have to talk to Richie, first.”
A voice came from the doorway, “Accept him.”
Riley turned to see Richie standing there. “Are you sure? I don’t want you feeling uneasy in your own home, among your own Pride.”
“Accept him. He saved me having to do it myself. If my father had succeeded in taking Maia, I’d have cut his throat myself.” Richie and Riley shared an intense look before Riley turned back to Lazarus.
He approached the bed, so close that his thighs touched. Lazarus struggled to cock his head enough to the side to look up at Riley.
“We’ll discuss this further as you get stronger. If you decide you want to join our Pride, we’ll discuss it when you’re able, but until then, permanent sanctuary is granted.”
A look of surprise filled Lazarus’ eyes. He touched his own hip with his fingers, indicating himself, “No place.”
Riley smiled, “That’s what we are, Lazarus. A place for those who belong nowhere else. Get better. Heal. Then we’ll talk.”
“Go ahead, my love,” Riley said to Maia.
She stepped forward, holding up the blanket for Lazarus to see, then pulled the ribbon from it, “I bought you a Christmas gift. It’s really soft and warm.” Maia shook out the deep purple blanket and spread it across him where he lay in the bed. Then she showed him the socks, “And some warm socks, too. May I?” she asked.
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