Gifted Connections 4

Jemmy cackled as she covered her mouth with glee.

“You’re kidding me!” Noah said in disbelief. “You knew she was exploiting us, and you continued allowing her to torture us over me not appreciating a popsicle stick framed dancer picture that looked suspiciously like a hippo and crocodile mated and had the ugliest child ever and it was supposed to be me?”

“I always told you, boys, to pay better attention to the little details.” Will barely smothered his laugh.

“Unbelievable,” Jaxson muttered as he started to open his gift.

“These are cute!” Dawn exclaimed as she pulled out a pair of Christmas pajamas. It was solid red with a green elf on the shirt, and the pants were red and green stripes.

“We need a new tradition!” Jemmy clapped her hands happily as she pulled out a matching pair of Christmas pajamas. “Blake, can I use your bedroom to change?”

I nodded with a smile.

“Me too!” Rachel cried happily as she pulled out another one.

“Me three!” Dawn exclaimed.

“After years of being required to wear your crap, I refuse,” Jaxson called after her retreating back. He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Please Jax,” Alex pleaded as he held out a green pajama top with a red, white, and black plaid reindeer. The bottoms matched Jaxson’s discarded pajamas.

Jaxson looked at me and gave me a pleading look. I smiled and shrugged. “Fiiiine,” Jaxson said with a sigh. “Come on, boys, let’s get our Christmas pajamas on.”

“Yay!” Alex fist bumped the air and went running in the direction of Jaxson’s bedroom.

Micah and Kade seemed

more reluctant in joining in Jemmy’s reindeer games but still got up. Patrick was halfway to Jaxson’s room already.

“We’re next for your bedroom,” Cora insisted as she held her own pajamas up. She was smiling, and I was glad to finally see that she was coming back to the real world. She really seemed to enjoy watching the children open their gifts.

“We’re now allowing Jemmy to involve us in her shenanigans?” Beth gave her a mock look of horror.

“We are,” Cora said with a smile as she started gathering the discarded wrapping paper littering the floor.

I watched as everyone else opened their gifts. It looked like she had purchased all the girls and women the elf pajama sets, and the men and boys the plaid reindeer pajamas. I stood up, gathering mine in my arms. My jeans and Henley were not as comfortable as the pajamas, and I would gladly switch them out. After the amount I ate at dinner, I was looking forward to slipping into something I could breathe better in.

“Come on, Ella and Nadia, want to get in our PJs?” I asked as they squealed at their matching pajamas.

“So, this is happening?” Troy asked wryly as he stood up.

“When in Rome, I guess,” Terrance muttered as he started to head to the bathroom.

I grinned because I could see he was secretly pleased to be included in our new family tradition.

We had a little over twenty minutes before we were expecting Miranda, Greg, Harry, and Hazel. Everyone but my family left not too long ago. The children asked if they could go over to Will’s and play with their new gifts for a little while. We gave them permission, and they ran out of the apartment in excitement.

I was amazed to find out that I was hungry once more and went into the kitchen to pick at some of our leftovers. Even though we had a lot of people over, we still had quite a bit of food left. I threw some macaroni and cheese on a plate with ham.

“Are you eating again?” Remy asked with a smirk as he started to open tins of cookies.

“I need to. I need as much energy as I can for tonight,” I said suggestively as I placed the plate in the microwave.

He growled low in his throat as he came up behind me, wrapping me in his massive arms. “We’re not sleeping for some time,” he whispered in my ear. “I hope the guys wear ear muffs tonight because I fully intend to have you screaming my name over and over again.”

My teasing had only backfired on me as my vivid imagination conjured an image of us naked and writhing in my bed. The low burn spread throughout my body, and I could feel the warmth between my thighs.

I grabbed his hand and looked around, ensuring everyone else was sucked into the movie that they had started. They were currently watching White Christmas. Jemmy insisted that we view the new Christmas movie she had purchased for tonight after the visit from Greg, Miranda, Hazel, and Harry. I guided his hand into my pants so he could feel my heat and know how his words had affected me.