Brothers in Blue A Bryson Family Christmas - Jeanne St. James

Part One

Christmas Eve Morning

Chapter One

Max & Amanda

The low, gravelly whisper filled her ear and made her nipples pebble. “You know what happens to bad girls who don’t stay out of trouble?”

Amanda smiled and stretched, keeping her eyes closed. Her man’s voice was delicious. “Mmm. Her husband spanks her ass.”

“EWW, Mom! Gross!”

Amanda’s eyes popped open and her ten-year-old daughter, Hannah, stood by the bed, her face twisted in disgust. She swallowed her thumping heart back into her chest.

“Why would Dad spank you?”

Oh shit. “He wouldn’t,” she lied as she sat up and noticed the other side of the bed was empty. “Where’s your father?” Certainly not whispering naughty promises into her ear, damn it.

“Getting Liver and Greg ready.”

Amanda pinned her eyebrows together. “Stop calling your brother Liver.”

Her daughter huffed like only Hannah could. She was an expert at it. “That’s his name.”

“It is not. We picked out a perfectly good name.”

“Then you should’ve had a perfectly good son. He’s not. He needs to go back.”

Her five-year-old son was never going back up her vagina. No way. No givebacks.

After Oliver was born, she’d pretty much threatened Max with death if he even thought about having a third child. She even had him get snipped. And if he didn’t, she threatened to do it herself sometime during the night with a rusty butter knife.

Knowing his wife too well, he decided not to take that chance and made an appointment the next day.

Smart decision.

Two pregnancies were more than enough. The only good thing that came out of those were her two kids. Though, she was rethinking that right now as she frowned at Hannah, who stood with one hand on her hip.

She was ten going on sixteen. She took after her father.

Funny, he insisted Hannah was just like Amanda.

Well, at least they agreed she looked like Max with his dark brown hair and crystal blue eyes.

Amanda yawned. “What is he helping them with? Breakfast?”

“No, Mom! For Grandpa to pick us up.”

“What?”

“It’s an early Christmas present or something. That’s what Dad was telling Liver.”

“Hannah...”

Her daughter bugged her eyes out. She was an expert at that, too. She probably practiced the hand-on-hip, bugged-out-eyes routine in the mirror. “Oooooliver. There, you happy?”

Not really. “Whose Christmas present?”

Hannah shrugged. “Don’t know.”

“I don’t know,” she corrected her daughter.

“Apparently you don’t, if you’re asking me.”

“Hannah.” Amanda took a deep breath. Kids took a lot of patience. No one warned her of that before one of Max’s enthusiastic swimmers hooked up with one of her reluctant eggs. “Say I don’t know.”

“Okay. You don’t know.”

Amanda rolled her eyes. Her daughter did, too.

Oh lord, she was putting an ad in the local penny shopper and giving Hannah away. Cheap. Screw it, free.

Shit, she’d only find her way back home. The kid was pretty damn smart for ten. Plus, Max might not be happy that she gave away “Daddy’s girl” and he might arrest his own wife.

Hmm.

That reminded her, they hadn’t broken out the cuffs lately…

“Mom!”

“What?”

“Can I borrow your makeup?”

That was why her daughter interrupted her hot dream? “No. You’re ten. And the last time you borrowed it—without permission, might I add—you ended up looking like a drunk raccoon.”

Hannah snorted. “Well, if you’d teach me…”

“You’re ten,” Amanda reminded her for the millionth time. “Your father doesn’t want you wearing makeup and we’ll let him decide when you’re allowed. Plus, if you haven’t noticed, I’m not great at it.”

“Teddy can teach me, then.”

“Fine, go to Teddy. But not before your dad says it’s okay.”

“I’ll ask him.”

“Okay. Go do that now and stop asking me questions that you know I’m going to say no to before you even ask them.”

“Whatever, Mom.” She did her signature huff.

“Yeah, whatever,” she mimicked. “Now come here, give your mean mom a kiss and then go get ready to go to your grandparents. By the way, if Grandpa saw you with makeup on, he just might throw all your presents into the fireplace and then ground you for a month.”

“He can’t ground me.”

“No? He still grounds your father and uncles.”

Hannah giggled. “He does?”

“Yep. And since he outranks us all, he can ground anyone in the family.”

“Even Grandma?”

“I’m sure Grandma gets a different type of punishment.” She rolled her lips under, trying not to smirk.

“What kind?”

Oh shit. “Uh… that’s between them.”

“I’m going to ask him.”

Oh shit! “No, you won’t! That’s… That’s their business, not yours. Now, come give me a kiss since I won’t see you until later.”

“What’s later?”

“The Christmas parade. Daddy’s going to be up front right behind the mayor.”

“He is?”

“Hannah, honestly, don’t

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