“I like having Hayley here all the time.”
He kisses my cheek. “I know you do.”
Hayley still climbs in bed with us every morning, telling us that the sun is shining. On the days when she’s with her mother, I actually miss having her little foot strike my forehead or jab into my side.
“I just heard Jacob tell Hayley that he can’t marry her because they’re brother and sister,” Paul tells me.
I snort out a laugh. “Thank God for small favors.” They’re not brother and sister at all, but I’m fine with them thinking they are. In fact, it warms my heart.
He spins me around in his arms so he can look into my face. “I thank God for small favors, and for large favors, and most of all, I thank Him for you.”
“You’re just glad you finally found out I don’t like women the same way you do.”
“I only like one woman.” He pinches my butt and I jerk, falling against him.
“That was sneaky.”
“Can you believe Emily is pregnant again?”
I smile. I have known for a while.
“Wait,” he says, extending his arms so he can look into my face. “You knew and you didn’t tell me?”
“What?” I cry. “I couldn’t mess up the betting pool!”
“I’ll make you pay for that.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun.”
“You want me to send everyone home?”
I shake my head. This is my family. “I want them to stay as long as they want. They make me happy.”
“You make me happy.”
“You better get back to Monopoly.”
He pats me on the ass and grins, and then he leaves the room.
I stare down at PJ and think about the path my life has taken. I can’t regret a single day of it, because it got me here.
I think of all the Christmases that came before this one, and hope for all the Christmases to come. My great big Reed family makes the absolute best Christmases, and I’m so glad to be a part of it.
I go back out into the living room and smile as I see the men talking smack with one another about houses and hotels. I hear Paul’s voice over all the others.
“Tomorrow,” he says, “I want all you guys at the tattoo shop by nine.”
“Nine?” Pete whines.
“What are we doing?” Matt asks, as he sells four of his hotels back to the bank.
“The new artists need to do some sample tats.”
“So, they’re going to use you guys as training skin?” Josh asks. “You’re braver than me, man.” He shakes his head.
“Oh, they’ll be using your skin, too,” Paul says. He gets up and pulls a design out a folder. I already know what it says, but Josh doesn’t. Paul had Logan draw it up especially for him. “This one is yours.”
Josh looks down at it and stares at it for a moment. “Do all of them say the same thing?”
Paul nods. “They say the same thing, but each design is different.”
“If worse comes to worst, we’ll cover it up later. But I think the new guys will do okay,” Matt says.
Josh stares down at it for a little longer. Then he smiles and shrugs. His eyes are shiny and bright, and I almost get the sense that he needed the Reeds as much as they needed him that one fateful day.
The tattoo reads, “Where I go, they go.”