Brothers in Blue A Bryson Family Christmas - Jeanne St. James Page 0,58
he watched over his three charges: Hannah, Oliver and Greg.
None of Marc’s brothers or their wives, or even Teddy, said a word as the kids and Greg took their turn getting a present, opening it while everyone watched and then showing off what Santa brought.
One day the kids wouldn’t believe in Santa but for now, they did. Hannah might know the truth already, but if she did, she still acted like the jolly fat man in a red suit who slid down the chimney into a roaring fire at the bottom existed.
And for that, Marc was grateful. He loved seeing his sons be surprised with their gifts. Life was simple for them right now and he wanted to keep it that way as long as possible.
He glanced over at Leah, who now had the recliner in the upright position. Menace sat between her legs and she was petting the Mastiff, but kept her eyes on the activity.
He never expected this to be his life. A wife, soon to be three kids, and two dogs.
Leah glanced over at him, a smile on her face and a sparkle in her hazel eyes. She mouthed, “Love you,” and turned back to watch the kids instead of waiting for him to say it back.
Trouble lumbered over to him and flopped into a crooked sit, her tongue hanging out and a string of slobber dangling precariously from the corner.
“They need towels attached to their collars,” Matt complained. “Amanda should invent something for her business that’s a collar where you can pull out disposable wipes for sloppy-ass monsters like yours.”
That wasn’t a bad idea.
He stared at his youngest brother, who appeared peaceful and calm. No anxiety, no stress, even with a baby strapped to his chest. “Look at you, brother. Landed a doctor wife, now have a kid, plus a job you haven’t gotten fired from yet. Next up is a dog of your own and then you might actually be living a normal life.”
“If getting a dog makes us normal, we can skip it,” Matt said. “Normal is boring.”
“Normal is messy,” Marc reminded him. “With dogs and kids.”
“I’m aware of that. I have three nephews and a niece, remember?”
“You’ve come a long way since Hannah was born.” Marc will never forget the day Matt was triggered after being forced to hold their niece when she was just a baby. His reaction had scared all of them. He’d refused to take his meds or go to therapy, and Max had been close to firing him. The Chief of Police couldn’t risk having someone so volatile on the force.
“Took ten years to get this far,” his brother said softly, his one hand curved around Levi’s rear end in the wrap.
“It was worth the wait,” Carly whispered, squeezing the hand Matt had planted on her knee.
Teddy came over to the couch, turned around and wiggled his ass as he sat, managing to wedge himself between Marc and Matt with a loud, “Beep. Beep.”
Marc and Matt both sighed and shifted as much as they could, which wasn’t much since four adults on the couch was a tight fit. If they hadn’t moved, Teddy would have no qualms sitting in Marc’s lap since Matt’s was full with Levi.
He loved Teddy, but not enough to have the man’s ass smashing his junk. And Marc doubted Adam would give his approval.
Teddy wrapped an arm around each of them and said, “I love me a Bryson buck sandwich.”
“Whenever Adam gets around to putting a ring on it, are you going to change your last name?” Marc asked him.
“Hell yes! I’ll be Theodore David Bryson,” he said with dramatic flair as if he was on a stage. “I will not shed one damn tear about getting rid of the Sullivan last name. If Adam hadn’t come along and fell deeply in love with me, I might have asked your parents to adopt me just so I could change it.”
Marc snorted. “Then Adam would be your cousin.”
“There’s enough of that incestuous cousin-brother goings-on up on that mountain with that Shirley Clan.” Teddy gasped. “Ugh. I feel so bad for blowing Autumn’s whereabouts that day. I caused this little bundle of wonder to be born early.”
Because of something Teddy did, the Shirleys had spotted Levi’s birth mother in town after she’d escaped from them, even though Teddy had no clue he’d done it.
“It wasn’t your fault, Teddy,” Carly assured him. “You had no idea. It was just bad timing.”