15. Meggie

15

Meggie

T he smell of warm sugary cinnamon wakes me up, and the scent isn’t coming from me.

“Our first Christmas together.” Harrison spoons against me and hugs me close, burying his nose in my hair.

“Merry Christmas, sunshine.” Ellis’s soft lips graze my cheek. His normally tropical scent is mixed with a spicy cinnamon tang, and when his lips brush mine, there’s a sweet stickiness to his kiss. Cinnamon bun frosting. My stomach rumbles and sleep evaporates from my senses.

“It’s Christmas!” Oz hollers from the doorway. He’s holding a plate of cinnamon buns, the source of Ellis’s frosting .

I reach out, palm up, silently asking for one with a smile. Who cares if I get the sheets messy—wouldn’t be the first time. And it’s Christmas!

Oz plops down on the foot of the bed next to Nils, who tears a piece of cinnamon roll off and feeds it to me with his fingers. I lick it up, then kiss him. And Oz. And Ellis. I kiss them all, and together they cover me in morning kisses.

I can’t believe this is my beautiful life.

Even if it is barely dawn.

It would be easy to stay here all day, but I know my mom and sisters are downstairs waiting. Plus, I’m excited to give my men their presents, so I drag them out of bed.

The aroma of dark roast coffee and black tea greets us in the kitchen. My mom is pulling out a second tray of cinnamon buns from the oven as we walk in.

“Merry Christmas!” Lily and Vicki shout, bouncing in from the living room with stockings already in hand. Mom flinches at the noise and almost drops the tray, but just manages to set it on the counter before it goes tumbling over. She gives my sisters a warning glare.

“Good save, Mrs. H.” McQuinn reaches for a cinnamon bun, but she slaps his hand away.

“They’re hot.”

“I like hot buns.” McQuinn says, pulling Oz in for a quick kiss. An adorable blush creeps up Oz’s cheeks as he leans into the affection like a marshmallow melting into hot cocoa. Their lips part, but fingers stay intertwined as they lean against the kitchen island side-by-side.

Mom slides the cinnamon rolls from the pan to a platter with a giant Christmas tree on it. She’s an amazing baker, and I adore her commitment to our Christmas traditions. Traditions I get to share and start with my own pack now.

And my own children. Someday.

Nils passes me a cup of tea with honey, exactly how I like it in the mornings, and I wrap my hands around the warm mug to savor the moment with my favorite people all together.

“Presents!” Lily shouts, jerking Nils away from the coffee pot before he’s even gotten a drop into his cup. He indulges her with a massive hug, holding her tight with his left arm so he can pour some coffee with his right. My little sister’s laughter is the perfect holiday tune.

“Presents!” Ellis shouts from the living room. I’m not even sure when he slipped away from the kitchen. With eager smiles, my men all follow my sisters to the Christmas tree.

My mom grabs her own coffee and the platter of cinnamon buns as we all head toward the living room. She gives me a kiss on the cheek as we fall into step beside each other. Women with our own packs, but she’ll always be my momma.

Walking into the living room, I nearly spill my tea.

A dog sits beside the couch with a gold bow tied on its collar and a wagging tail. I look to my mom, wondering if she got my sisters the dog the three of us always begged for, but she shakes her head.

My men are all wearing massive grins.

“A dog! You got me a dog?” My teacup hits the coffee table with a slight splash as I set it down and hurry over.

The dog gives a soft bark, and my heart melts like snow in summer.

“Merry Christmas, bunny.” McQuinn squats beside me as I wrap my arms around the dog and bury my face in the soft, clean black fur.

“Em helped keep her a secret,” Ellis explains as he reaches down to scratch behind the dog’s ear.

Harrison wraps his arm around my waist and kneels on my other side. “Her name is Cinnamon. Do you like her?”

“I love her!” Since McQuinn and Harrison are closest to me, I pull them both into a quick hug, then go back to petting my dog. I have a dog! My sisters crowd around Cinnamon, exclaiming about how this is the best Christmas gift ever. They’re one hundred percent right.

Cinnamon whimpers and sinks back against Harrison’s legs, clearly a little overwhelmed.

“Let’s give her some space and let her adjust,” I suggest.

McQuinn gives a little whistle and pats a soft fluffy dog bed beside the couch. They got Cinnamon her own bed! She plops down into it, looking a bit exhausted. I can tell she isn’t a young puppy, and she’s a little plump and scruffy, but she’s perfect and she’s mine. Just like my men.

I know she needs some space, but I settle next to her and pat her rounded tummy gently.

A wad of wrapping paper hits me as Vickie and Lily tear into their presents.

“Oh my gosh, thanks McQuinn,” Vickie squeals, unwrapping a large overnight bag stuffed with goodies. Unzipping their tote bags, they each pull out an insulated water bottle, a soft-looking hoodie, and sunglasses.

“You’ll need these,” Oz says, passing my sisters each another present to open, which turns out to be a very cool pair of maroon sneakers for Vickie and black sparkly ones for Lily. “Can’t go to a desert music festival in sandals, now can ya?”

My sisters look like they might combust into snowflakes as Nils passes them each a little box containing his present: plane tickets and VIP passes to a summer music festival they’ve been dreaming about going to for years. “We already cleared it with your mom. We’re taking you away for the whole three-day festival this summer.”

When we first started talking about Christmas, I told my guys that the one thing I really wanted was to spoil my sisters. Mom hasn’t often had the resources to do that, but we do, and it felt important to me. So when Nils suggested we take them to Black Heart Mania, I was nearly as excited as Lily and Vickie are right now.

Just when I think I can’t possibly love these men any more, they go and do something like this, and I’m ridiculously smitten all over again.

Across the room, Lily and Vicki are excitedly talking my mom’s ear off about the festival. Beside me, Cinnamon gives a strange little whimper and shifts on her dog bed. I hope we aren’t being too loud for her. I give her snout a little scratch and try to soothe her.

“Jackpot,” Oz calls as he holds up a present with a blue bow. “This one is from Meggie.” He shoots me a beaming smile, but I can’t let him open it just yet.

“Wait!” I flinch, then turn to Cinnamon to make sure my shout didn’t upset her, but she seems to be ok. “Wait,” I continue in a more normal tone. “You all have to open them together.”

Dante pulls out the six identical boxes with blue bows as my men settle near me and open their presents. He lets out a deep sigh, as if he’s steeling himself before he tears into the wrapping paper.

“It’s a… calendar,” Nils beams. McQuinn chokes on what sounds like a chuckle.

“For the entire year?” Oz’s expression is a little too excited, and he hasn’t even opened the pages of it yet. “Now I’ll always know what day it is!”

I narrow my eyes at his tone.

“Woah,” Ellis lets out a low whistle as he flips open his calendar first. “Guys, this is actually good. This is actually…” He turns to another month. “This is actually… damn.”

Actually? This is actually good?

“Holy snow globes…” Dante opens his calendar beside me, to the month of July. The month’s photo is me holding a strategically placed water polo ball and nothing else. My wet hair and golden tan, our pool in the background, my new Olympic rings tattoo on my hip, it’s one of my favorite pictures in the calendar I made. Em got such good photos, even if we did have to get tipsy before I got naked so my best friend could take pictures of me.

“I need a minute alone with this calendar, omega,” Dante whispers before kissing my temple.

“Where’s an outlet?” My mom’s voice breaks the heat forming around my men. Holding a foot spa in her hand, she’s turning left and right, looking for a plug to try it out.

The massaging foot bath is the tip of the iceberg of my mom’s present. While we take my sisters to Black Heart Mania, we’re sending my mom to a spa resort to be pampered and enjoy the quiet. McQuinn made sure we included a sizable bookstore gift card so she could pick up some new spa weekend reads.

“Oh my gosh,” Lily gasps. “Is Cinnamon housebroken?”

Jerking to look at my poochie, a reddish brown wet spot coats the dog bed. That’s clearly not a pee accident and everyone comes to stand around Cinnamon.

Still holding her foot spa, my mom bursts out laughing .

I don’t know what’s so funny. My dog is injured! She’s bleeding!

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know she was pregnant?” My mom sets the spa on the coffee table and leans down to kiss my forehead. “Best get ready, sweet pea.”

Instantly, my men hop into action. Nils and McQuinn search the internet for helpful videos. Harrison calls the only vet he can find open on Christmas. He tells us it’s best to keep her where she is at this point, since his office is an hour away from us. But he gives us thorough instructions on what to do to make Cinnamon comfortable.

My mom puts on a Christmas movie to try to keep everyone a little distracted, since there’s really not much we can do but wait. None of us watch it, but by the time it’s over, we’re the proud parents of four healthy, wriggling puppies.

Harrison’s hair is a complete mess from running his fingers through it so much. Ellis hasn’t moved more than a foot away from Cinnamon through the whole labor. Oz nearly threw up when the placenta came out, but Nils handled it and saved us from needing to clean up any vomit. McQuinn paced so much it started to give me anxiety until Dante made him get dozens of rags of warm water for no purpose other than to keep him from pacing.

My sisters immediately want to claim a puppy, but my mom refuses to hear the girls speak of separating them so soon and makes Lily and Vickie go help cook lunch. The morning’s pastries have long since worn off.

“You’re a momma, Cinnamon,” I whisper to my girl as she licks her pups. Little happy tears wet my eyes.

“They’ll need names.” Harrison sits beside me next to our dogs. He kisses my cheek, and I lean into his strength.

“I know.” I nod and tug his hand to wrap it around my waist as we snuggle. “But I don’t want to rush it. It’s a big decision. We’ll know when it’s right.”

His hand on my waist shifts to press gently on my abdomen. Warm kisses tickle my neck as he leans to whisper, “I’m ready. Whenever you are, love.”

“I know.” I nuzzle into him and lace my fingers with his over my flat stomach.

It’s a big decision. We’ll know when it’s right.

For now, I have everything I need.

***

Thanks so much for reading about Meggie and her men. We hope you enjoyed their holiday fun. If you did, would you take 3 minutes to leave a review? It’s the best Christmas gift you can give an author, and it would make us as jolly as Saint Nick.