The Mitchell Family Series BoxSet 1-4.5 (114 page)

Since it was getting dark and the weather was getting even colder, none of us could go to midnight mass at the church in town. It was too icy to take the chance, so we opted for a night of wine with some extremely spiked eggnog and enough of Ty’s crude jokes to occupy an Irish pub for a month.

John sat with all the kids and read The Night Before Christmas, before we took them all over to go to sleep. Van’s parents had gone home right at dark, before the roads got any worse and she and Colt were sleeping on our pull out sofa.

Once we all headed over to our house, we found Conner and Amy watching Christmas movies on the couch. We carried the sleeping kids to their beds and started playing Santa.

Conner jumped up and got Ty’s attention. “You know what we forgot?”

Ty got a smile on his face. “Baby, in ten minutes wake up Iz and Noah and tell them to look out the window in her room.”

I wasn’t sure what they were up to, but I agreed to it anyway. We watched the two men get bundled up and head outside. After waiting the ten minutes, we went into her room and had them look out the window. Behind Ty’s parent’s house was a bright flash and then this red box with something sitting inside of it went flying off the roof. Noah and Bella looked at each other with wide eyes.

I leaned down and tried my best not to laugh. “I think that was Santa.”

Noah smiled from ear to ear. “It was Santa. I just know it!”

“Mommy, can we go open our presents now?” Poor Bella thought it would be fine to open them since she’d seen Santa leaving.

“No, honey, you have to go back to sleep. Santa hasn’t come here yet because you were both awake.”

They jumped down from the window and climbed back into the bed. Colt and Van stood at the door, trying not to laugh as I tucked them back in and followed my cousins out of the room.

When the guys came back in, they were so excited. “So, did it look real?” Ty asked.

Colt started laughing. “Real enough for them to believe it.”

“That’s awesome.” Ty rubbed his hands together. “So Van, you ready to do adult pictures?”

She cocked her eyebrow. “It’s late. Why can’t we wait until the morning?”

I shook my head and watched my husband run back in our room and grab the bag full of red velvet. When he came out, he emptied the bag on her lap. She looked up at him. “I know you are joking right now.”

He shook his head. “Nope, this is my year to choose. Go get your ass changed. We have a photo to take.”

Van stood up and put her hands on her hips. Her little pregnant belly was showing and she covered it with her shirt quickly. “I am not putting that on.”

Ty grabbed the outfit intended for Van and stretched it out. “It stretches to fit the largest of asses.”

She smacked him on the arm. “My ass isn’t fat!”

I sat down next to Colt and started eating from his bag of popcorn; just watching the two of them bicker. It had become very entertaining through the years.

“If it ain’t fat, then why don’t you put it on and prove it, fatty pants.” Ty smacked her ass as if to push her toward the bathroom.

She lifted her knee and got him right between the legs. “That’s for saying I’m fat.”

He was still leaned over, trying to breathe. “I didn’t say YOU were fat, I said your ass was.”

She pushed his disabled body to the couch and looked at me and Colt. “How can you two just sit there and not say anything?”

We both started to laugh and shrugged, making her roll her eyes, like she always did.

I stood up and looked at poor Ty, who was still holding his balls with a red face. “I think it would be fun. I say we just do it.”

She pointed at me. “You always take his side.” She pointed to Colt. “Babe, tell them this is a stupid idea.”

Colt reached over and grabbed his wife by the shoulders. “Darlin’, don’t get all mad at me, but I think it would be hilarious.”

She grabbed the little red outfit and pouted her way to the bathroom. “I hate you guys!”

Ty sat up; probably feeling like he’d won the battle. “No you don’t!” He smacked me on the ass. “Hurry up and get changed before she changes her mind and go get your brother. He needs to be in this shit too.”

Getting my brother to agree to the photo didn’t turn out to be easy. He handed Ty a fifty dollar bill and offered to be the photographer instead.

By the time I came out of the bedroom in my little number, Ty and Colt were standing there in their velvet briefs while Van had her hands crossed in front of her chest, hiding her belly. I ran up and pulled her hands away. “You look so cute.”

She covered herself back up with a pillow. “I can’t believe you knew about this and didn’t tell me.”

I pulled her up off the couch. “It will be fun. Will you lighten up? You’re the prettiest pregnant woman ever and Conner will make sure your belly doesn’t even show.”

Colt pulled her into his arms and she started to relax. Amy had draped a white sheet behind us and even laid out a couple wrapped presents and even a sack that was red. We tried to be quiet, but trying to pose while Ty made ridiculous comments was harder than it seemed. Conner finally got Van and Colt on one side, while Ty and I were on the opposite. We were both supposed to be looking in the sack, but my husband was looking at his own package the entire time, making comments to Van. “Good thing she didn’t kick hard enough. My jewels are still intact! My meat is still edible! My tube steak is fully functional! The frank is still above the beans!”

I had no idea how the picture was going to turn out, but the fact that we went through with it was enough to satisfy my husband for many holiday photos to come. Before we changed, Ty went up and hugged Van. “Thank you for being a good sport.”

She hugged him back. “I still hate you.”

He kissed her on the cheek. “You’re a terrible liar.”

I think once we all changed into our pajamas we were too tired for anything else. We all went to sleep, knowing that it was only a matter of time before one of the babies were going to wake up the whole house. For the second night in a row, the boys slept in bed with us.

When the sun started to come up, we had two screaming kids waking the whole house and they weren’t the babies. We found Bella and Noah jumping on top of Van and Colt on the sofa bed, begging them to wake up.

Almost the entire room was filled with presents and all they wanted to do was start opening them.  Making them wait while we made coffee and got changed was torture. They spent the time sorting out everything and choosing the order of what they were opening first.

The grandparents had their own presents to bring, so this was just round one of the mayhem. Once we were all situated, we gave the go-ahead.

Ten minutes later, the room was filled with wrapping paper and two very excited children. But, we still had one big surprise for our little girl. Ty cleared his throat and told everyone to put a coat on. Once he got boots on Bella and Noah, he opened the door to show Harvey walking Scotch up to the house. He’d put a red bow around his neck. Conner carried out all of the riding gear from our closet and set it in front of Bella. She ran up to her new pony and waited to be lifted on. Once she was on his back, she leaned forward and hugged her little pony. “Thank you, Mommy and Daddy. This is the best Christmas ever!”

Colt grabbed Noah by the hand and walked him around the house to where his giant plane sat ready to fly. Noah started jumping up and down and screaming in excitement. All of the men huddled over and watched as Colt took it for a spin, showing Noah how to steer it.

When it got too cold for everyone, the whole family went back inside. The rest of the day was filled with more presents, and even more trash. By three in the afternoon we were eating salad and stuffed shells and sitting inside a very full house, not wanting to be anywhere else.

All of our hard work had paid off and we had so much to be thankful for. I looked over at the couch where Colt and Ty were wearing their new jerseys and holding the boys that also had on theirs. Van was taking a picture of them and smiling the whole time. Conner was leaning against the kitchen counter talking to Amy, who sat on the other side. Rick had never come back to pick her up or even called and she didn’t seem too concerned about it. She knew she was welcome at our house.

Noah and Bella were playing with her Barbie’s and his trucks, while the grandparents kept the little ones in check.  I still hadn’t opened my present from Ty, but just being here with everyone was all I wanted. It was perfect!

Later that night, after a lot of card games, and a bunch more liquor, I crawled into bed with my husband. Everyone in the house was conked out, except for us.

Ty handed me two boxes and leaned on his arm. “Merry Christmas beautiful.”

The first was a clothing box, and when I opened it, I wasn’t too shocked to find lingerie. I held it up and watched Ty giving me the look. The second gift was much smaller. It was a tiny box, with a little red bow on top. I smiled as I opened the package and pulled out a beautiful necklace with a diamond heart charm. “It’s beautiful, Ty, thank you so much.”

“Thank you for being my wife. I love you, baby.”

I leaned over and kissed my awesome husband. “I love you too.”

As he pulled away he started to smile. “There’s mistletoe in my boxers.”

“Now you’re talkin’.”

END OF BOOKS 1 – 4.5

BOOKS 5-9 NOW AVAILABLE

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O3TFSY2

http://facebook.com/jenniferfoorauthor

www.jenniferfoor.com

Check out the other books by Jennifer Foor

(Contemporary Romance)

Love’s Suicide

The Mitchell Family Series

Letting Go

Folding Hearts

Raging Love

Risking Fate

Wrapping Up

Wanting More

Saving Us

Blinding Trust

Losing Him

Loving Her

The Mitchell Healy Series

Noah

Isabella coming August 2014

Hope’s Chance
(Contemporary Romance)

Hustle Me (A Bank Shot Romance)

Hustle Him (A Bank Shot Romance)

Diary of a Male Maid

Twinsequences

The Kin Series

Repair Me

Replace Me

Restore Me

Remember Me

Reject Me

Acknowledgements:

I have such wonderful book friends that help me through the toughest times. This book is for you. Without your support I would be nowhere.

I am honored to be friends with you. If you think this is referring to you, you’re probably right.

Beta Readers

Kayla Kennedy, Emma Clifton, Kristy Davidson,

Catherine Roberts, Lara Petterson ,Kacey Craig

Web Design and Marketing by: Amy Haigler

Thanks to my kick-ass street team, Foor Players. You all rock!

FOORWHORES – my super secret society

Thanks to all of my new friends on my FB, Twitter and Goodreads.

Thank you for spreading the word and all of the support you give.

Thanks to all of my other Independent Author Friends. (you know who you are)

Thank you to all the book bloggers out there spreading the word for me and others who write.

BLOGGERS WHO I COULDN’T BEGIN TO THANK ENOUGH

Rockstars of Romance (Milasy and Lisa), iloveindiebooks,

Book Bitches, Maryse Book Blog, Shh Mom’s reading, Into the night Reviews, Word, Kindlehooked, , Totally Booked, Word, Reading is my time out, Stick Girl Book Reviews, Wolfels World of Books, Dirty Books and Dirty Boys,Book Broads, Book Studs, Books Books Books, Reality Bites Books, Naughty Mafia, Smutty Book Whores Obsessions, Smexy Girl Book Blog, Just Booked Blog, Book Crazy,BookFri-ends,Submit and Devour, Three Girls and a Book Obsession, The Whispering Pages Book Blog, All Is Read With Lexipat, Lit Slave, Six Chicks and Their Love For Books, Zee Books Blog,Evette Ashby Sexy Girl Reads, Risqué Romance Reads, Nicely Phrased, Books Coffee and Wine, What to read after fifty shades – Summer Daniels

Special Thanks to: The Mullet Ninjas