Kaleb loved it. Every single minute.
That morning he’d woken up to his wife in his arms, a huge smile on her face as she rested a small gift on his chest. When he had insisted that he be allowed to get hers, she had refused him, rather insisting that he open hers first. So he did.
After peeling off the glittery paper, he found a small silver frame with the sonogram picture of their little boy. The caption engraved on the bottom of the frame read “Daddy’s Little Boy”. To his absolute shock, Kaleb had teared up as he held his wife and looked at the perfect black and white image of their baby boy who would be joining them in just a few short weeks.
This was his life, and it was still so hard to believe. He had married his best friend, the love of his life. And that morning he realized the truly amazing journey they were on together. After forcing her to stay in bed, he jumped up, fully naked and ran downstairs to grab the lone present hidden under the tree. When he returned, Zoey was sitting there waiting for him. The fact that she’d been uncovered from the waist up had nearly distracted him from his goal, but somehow he’d forged ahead.
After climbing back in the bed, getting himself situated with her against his side, Kaleb had handed her the present. And to prove how alike they were, he watched for Zoey’s reaction when she opened the gift he had found not too long ago. It was a similar frame, sterling silver and engraved with their names on the bottom along with their wedding date. The look on her face was priceless, and when tears came to her eyes, Kaleb had pulled her down on the bed with him and slid deep inside her warm, welcoming body. They made love for what seemed like hours, enjoying nothing more than the mere fact that they were able to enjoy such a fantastic day together.
And here they were, hours later, still side by side, enjoying time with their families and friends. Kaleb shifted his eyes around the room, watching his brothers as they interacted with those around them. Travis was on the opposite couch, Kylie tucked up against his side with Gage sandwiching her in on the other side. They were smiling, all three of them and Kaleb found himself smiling at them. It was nice to see Travis so damned happy.
The man truly was a different person these days. He beamed with pride when he talked about the two loves of his life. His shift in mood was definitely welcome, especially as they put the finishing touches on Alluring Indulgence. Travis was certainly much easier to work with. It was about damn time Travis found the happiness that he deserved and based on the way Kylie and Gage stared at him with nothing but love on their faces proved that they’d all three found what they’d been searching for.
But, on the other hand… Kaleb glanced over at Ethan who was sitting on the edge of the fireplace hearth, his head down, hands clasped between his spread legs. Although Ethan appeared to have cleaned up for the occasion, he looked tired. But true to form, Ethan had been his usual loner self all afternoon, limiting how much he spoke and that included the conversations he shared with Blake. His friend.
Yeah, right.
Kaleb couldn’t help but wonder when Ethan was going to finally let them in. He loved his brother with everything that he was, and it hurt to know that Ethan kept a substantial part of himself concealed, although the rest of them knew what was going on. They’d always known. But Ethan refused to admit it for whatever reason.
But, that was the thing about Christmas. Miracles did happen, and Kaleb could only hope his brother would find his miracle soon.
♂♀
Zane
“Nobody ever said who goes first,” Zane reminded the room, watching as everyone toyed with the gift in their hand, but their attention was more on the conversations going on around them. Not that he minded, but he was ready to get on with it.
“Relax,” V whispered against his ear, her breath teasing him. He knew she did it on purpose too.
“I am relaxed,” he answered, keeping his voice low. “But if you’d like to help me out, I know of a place where I can get you naked and screaming my name in just under three minutes. That’ll help release an entirely different sort of tension.”
“You better behave.” V swatted his thigh as she laughed.
“Fine. Have it your way.” He grinned and then linked his fingers with hers.
Complete. That’s what he was.
Even more so now than when he woke up that morning. After hours and hours of searching the internet and walking mindless miles through store after store, Zane hadn’t been able to figure out what to get V for Christmas. That was until he talked to his father.
Armed with the advice his father had bestowed upon him, Zane went to a jewelry store in the mall and purchased a simple heart shaped charm on a thin platinum chain. After all, V wasn’t much into jewelry, but as soon as he saw the heart, he thought of her. There were a couple of diamond chips on one edge of the heart, but nothing extravagant. From there, he’d had the charm engraved to say “Mine Forever.”