Finally, I walked out to the living room where all four guys waited, their grins so wide, they looked almost painful.
“You all look very pleased with yourselves.” I glanced from one to the other and then registered the suitcases.
Suitcases.
There were suitcases. They’d been plotting something for days, I focused on Archie. “What did you do?”
He had the temerity to look surprised and maybe a bit offended, playing it off in mock innocence. “Why did you automatically leap to it being me who did something?”
“Because you’re Archie,” I answered almost in perfect sync with Jake and Coop.
Chuckling, Ian shook his head. “She has your number, Arch.”
“She’s always had my number,” he agreed before closing the distance and sliding his arm around my shoulders. “Frankie, we’re about to jet off to adventure. Well, not so much adventure as a holiday retreat for five.”
What?
But he wasn’t done. “We’re taking you to Colorado, near Aspen, where Grandpa has a lodge available for us to use. There will be snow and fireplaces, Christmas trees and presents. Ski lessons and snowman building. And just the five of us—no parents, no school, no annoying bitches or assholes allowed.”
“You think he realizes he might be cutting himself off there with that last one?” Jake asked in a not-so-quiet voice.
Archie ignored the teasing as he studied me.
“You’re serious, right now?”
“Absolutely. Everything is planned. You’re packed. Our car will be here in…” He checked his watch. “Seven minutes. Jeremy will be by in a few hours to pick up the cats, and they will be pampered like royalty at my place. He will even take daily pictures and share their antics with you.”
Shock held me mute for a second, but a glance at the guys told me not only was Archie serious about this, so were they. Then I looked at the tree and the presents.
“All taken care of, Baby Girl,” Jake murmured.
I chewed my lower lip, and my stomach bottomed out. We were going… “Jake, your birthday.”
“Yep,” he said, still smiling. “Mom already signed off on it. Those three didn’t need permission, and neither do you.”
Until he said it, I hadn’t even gone there. But he was right. I had the temporary emancipation order in place.
Holy crap.
“We’re going away for Christmas?”
“We’re going away for Christmas, and we’re not back here until next year,” Archie promised me, and I stared into his brown eyes, even as I had to blink back tears in my own. “And you’re getting snow, babe.”
Oh fuck.
The shock twisted with this fresh ripple of surprise, and I whipped around and hugged him. He laughed, wrapping me up tight. “Okay,” he whispered, rubbing a circle between my shoulder blades. Oh hell, I was shaking. “It’s okay. Good surprise?”
I sniffed once as I pulled back and then gave him a mock punch in the shoulder. “It’s an amazing surprise! I can’t believe you guys…”
Realization hit.
“You told Rachel! That’s why I had to try on all those snow clothes for her to get her ‘cousins.’“ I was torn between admiring the sneakiness and wanting to smack her for tricking me.
“Pretty much,” Coop said. “Okay, let’s get the bags outside, boys. We can get this trip started.” He tugged me away from Archie long enough to cup my face and give me a kiss. “It’s going to be the perfect holiday.”
He snagged three bags, including shouldering my backpack. Then Jake stole a kiss before he grabbed another three. Ian winked at me, and I rose up on my tiptoes to kiss him because he already had an armload of bags and his guitar case.
There were two left, and when I went to pick one up, Archie clucked his tongue at me. At my raised brow, he caught my right hand in his and raised it to press a kiss to my palm and then to my wrist. It looked so much skinnier and paler than the other one. “We’re still treating this like spun glass. Besides, I have something else for you to carry.”
Cool metal brushed my wrist, and I glanced down as Archie slid my charm bracelet on. There were new charms affixed to it, and he closed the catch gently.
“You got it back.” It was a morning for surprises, and the sun wasn’t even up.
He smiled. “Damn straight. I’ve been after them for weeks. Finally got them to release it, and I got the charms fixed on it.” Next he hung the necklace over my head with its own charms. “Now