Jingle All the Mitchell Way: A Holiday Novella Read online

  This copy is for purchase only. Copying this title is a crime.

  Don’t be a thief!

  A Mitchell-Healy Bonus Novella

  Copyright © 2015 Jennifer Foor

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a written act of fiction. Any places, characters, or similarities are purely coincidence. If certain places or characters are referenced it is for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book is not allowed to be offered for sale, discounted, or free on any sites other than Kobo, ITunes, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This book may only be distributed by Jennifer Foor, the owner and Author of this series.

  Happy Holidays to All! Xoxo – J4

  Chapter 1

  Jax

  The sound of the alarm on Amber’s phone was piercing to my ears, considering I’d gone to bed only hours before after staying up late to finish the slew of tasks she’d given me. It was going to be the first Thanksgiving we’d ever hosted and my woman was hell-bent on making sure it went off without a hitch.

  I brought my arm over and tapped on the first spot my palm landed on. A slap sound made me smile, even as my eyes remained shut. I’d made contact with her squishy tit, her hand catching me from doing it a second time. “Cut it out, Jax,” Amber mumbled while the annoying tune was still blowing up the room.

  “Turn the shit off. It’s still dark out.”

  I felt the mattress moving and cracked my lids to discover her standing up. She was covering her perfect body with a thin robe as if she were leaving the room. I sat right up. “Where are you going now?”

  “I have to put the turkey in,” she whispered. “Go back to bed.”

  “No,” I insisted. “I’m coming too. I don’t need to hear any shit that I didn’t put forth the same amount of effort for this catastrophe tonight. It’s not every day the whole clan will be sitting in our dining room, enjoying a meal my wife slaved in the kitchen for days over.”

  I caught her rolling her eyes before her hands caught each side of her hips. “First off, this isn’t a competition, at least not yet, and second, don’t be annoying this early. I may slip with the carving tool and take off an important limb before it can impregnate me with two more mini Jax’s running around.”

  Her snarky comment caused a low cackle to escape me. My little twin girls were into everything. Every single time I saw them smile it was like I was put on this earth to give them all their little hearts could ever want. Yes, I was scared shitless of them becoming teenagers, but at least for now they were safe and sound with their daddy’s protection.

  My attention went back to my overly-tired, seemingly antagonized wife. “You love it,” I added, while latching my hands around her trim waist. “I happen to enjoy making babies with you. In fact, let’s take advantage of a quiet house and get back in bed. I just had this dream about a position we’ve never tried before. It’s where you put your leg up above your head while I…” Amber cut me off.

  She shoved me away lightly. “Jax, be serious. Go to sleep. I’ll come to bed once everything is situated in the kitchen.”

  Against her orders, I followed Amber down the old wooden trimmed stairs and into the large country kitchen. We’d remodeled the space when we bought the property. What was once a small area, had been increased to a space capable of several people being able to work without feeling crowded. During the design process we’d kept in mind the size of my family, and what it would be like when filled to capacity.

  Now, it was no secret that my wife wasn’t the most skilled in the kitchen. I found it hysterical to watch her struggle through recipes my mother could prepared with her eyes closed, though I never seemed to mind whatever she put on the table, even if it was unrecognizable due to being extra crispy.

  After being asked three times to get the turkey out of our garage freezer, I’d stuck it in the large farmhouse sink to thaw. It’s twenty five pound size almost took up the entire area. “Are you sure you can handle something so big, baby?”

  She was struggling to get her hands under the turkey to lift it out of the sink. I leaned against the kitchen island watching and waiting for her to react to my comment. It was clear Amber was determined to prove some point, even though I couldn’t have cared less about the turkey being in the oven on time. I needed sleep. Sex first, because let’s face it, my wife in only a silk robe was pretty damn sexy. Then sleep. Lots of it. I needed to recuperate from a week’s worth of Amber’s preparation wrath. She’d been a force to be reckoned with. It was surprising she hadn’t had a nervous breakdown yet.

  “I don’t know,” she came back with a resting bitch face. “It’s been a long time since I’ve handled something this size. I’m used to little things.”

  I patted the cold quartz countertop. “That’s low. Way to make me feel insignificant.”

  “No problem. You asked for it.” She spun back around and fiddled with the raw bird. “Are you going to stand there or come over here and help me put this in the roasting pan?”

  I headed to the sink, shoving my wife over so I could manage it myself. My first attempt failed, the turkey covering my arms in slick lubrication from being rinsed. “It’s slippery,” I announced, after noticing her giving me one of her looks as if she knew I’d have issues with it. “Did you oil it up?”

  She giggled, filling the empty kitchen with echoes of her amusement. “What? Of course not. Hurry up. If you keep messing around you’re never going to have time to bend me over.”

  In my defense, my wife was a model. Hearing her talk about bending her fine ass over for me was like dangling a piece of chocolate in front of a woman on her period. I couldn’t resist. I got the turkey within inches of the damn pan before it slid out, slapping onto the counter first and them tumbling to the tile floor.

  Amber’s hands went up to her shocked face, a screech escaping her tiny frame. “Oh my god!”

  I crouched down quickly, taking hold of the two legs and lifting it up, back in the sink. “Shit, five second rule. It’ll be fine. We’ll rinse it off and nobody will ever know.”

  “I will,” she whined.

  “Don’t eat it then. Just go back to bed. I’ve got this under control. You’re making the situation worse.”

  She pointed to the bird I was now rinsing off. “I’m making it worse? You just dropped our turkey on the floor.”

  “It was an accident. Seriously, go check on the girls and I’ll be up in a minute. Let me handle this.”

  “It still needs to be emptied and stuffed.”

  I shook my head while trying to refrain from laughter. “I’m sure I have the skills to fill her up.”

  “You’re sick. I’m out of here. Whatever happens to that poor bird next is on you. I want no part of it.”

  “Come on, aren’t you into threesomes?”

  “Goodnight, Jax.”

  “Stay awake. Once I’m done with this, I’ll be horny and ready to stuff you.”

  “Whatever!” I heard as she left the room.

  I could tell she didn’t trust I’d do a good job, but I was confident. I rinsed the turkey, plopped it in the large pan, and threw on the seasoning bag my mother had been nice enough to prepare ahead of time. Unlike Amber, I knew to wait to stuff the turkey until a few hours later, so it didn’t overcook the scrumptious insides. Once I placed the gargantuan in the oven, I washed my hands and headed back up to bed.

  Amber
was on her side. I sauntered over to climb on top of her, only to lift the covers and find one of my daughters sleeping soundly against her mother. Amber opened her eyes and made a shh sound to keep me from waking the little girl.

  Feeling disappointed, I walked over to my side of the mattress, feeling as if I reeked of raw turkey, while deprived of sex from my beautiful wife, all because a little princess decided to grace us with her company. After accepting the facts, I rolled over and cuddled up next to my girls, just waiting for the other one to wake up and want to join us.

  Chapter 2

  Jake

  “We forgot the pies,” Reese announced as we pulled into Jax and Amber’s driveway.

  I checked the console on the dashboard for the time. We were already an hour behind schedule, and knowing my sister-in-law Amber, she would be freaking out with worry of not being able to finish everything in time. She was such a worry-wart when it came to my family. I don’t know if it was her past of being a stripper, or maybe the fact that she was the rebound girl for Reese and my brother, but she always worked extra hard to please the people around us. Jax found it hilarious, since he knew everyone loved her. Hell, if Reese could be best friends with her, she was obviously a genuinely great woman. I have to say, I was surprised she ended up with Jake, but seeing them together for the first time a couple years ago changed the way I perceived my relationship with him.

  Stealing his girlfriend from him years ago wasn’t the best idea I’d had. I’d like to say it was my biggest mistake, but then I wouldn’t have ended up with the woman I loved. For a while I thought I’d lost my brother over a girl, at least until Amber came into his life. After that, everything changed.

  Jax was different.

  He no longer cared about Reese, not in a romantic way. He even got along with me, only throwing my mistakes out there to pull at my nerves. We were cool, best friends again, determined to put the past behind us. In all honesty, I think I was the one who had to live with uncertainty. It wasn’t so much about my relationship with Reese. We were solid and happy. It was more about being in the same room as the two of them and knowing they’d once planned a future together. My brother had slept with Reese before me, more times than I’d like to know. The past can’t be unwritten, and I guess in many ways I deserved a lifetime of torture because of it.

  “Earth to Jake. Did you hear me?”

  “Yeah, the pies. Sorry, I was thinking about the pie I enjoyed this morning.” My snarky comment got a reaction out of Reese. Her hand ran up between my legs while I drove the rest of the distance up the driveway. “Do you want me to turn around to get them?” We lived a mile from my brother, our property connecting to my parent’s ranch. He and Amber had purchased their house and remodeled it, deciding to stay and raise their children in one place. They were happy, and it was nice to be able to spend time apart, especially when we did almost everything together.

  “If we turn around, we may need to have a round two of what made us late.”

  “Jake, Amber is going to kill us. You know she’s freaking out about today. Drop me off and go back to get the pies.”

  “Fine.”

  She didn’t kiss me when she climbed out of the car. I honked the horn in hopes she’d come back, but got the middle finger from her instead. I rolled down the window and stuck my head out to be sure she’d hear me. “I will punish you for that.”

  “Bring it on, babe.” In the driveway, facing our vehicle, Reese lifted her shirt and flashed me. I shook my head while putting the car in reverse to head back for the pies.

  The woman drove me crazy, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  My cell phone rang just before arriving back at my house. “What’d you forget, shit brick?”

  “Pies.”

  “You’d think someone who never gets any would have pie on their mind constantly,” he taunted.

  “Screw you. I get it way more than you.”

  “Yeah right. Anyway, we just woke up.” A loud screaming could be heard in the background. “Oh shit!”

  “What?”

  “I forgot to turn the oven on.”

  “So, go turn it on.”

  “No, in the middle of the night. We got up to cook the turkey. I forgot to turn the oven on when I put it in. Fuck. I’m grass, dude. My wife is going to cut off my balls and use them for stuffing filler.”

  “I’m definitely not eating this meal tonight.”

  “Google how to cook a turkey faster, and hurry up. I need backup.”

  “You’re hopeless. How the twins are normal still boggles my mind.”

  “Eat shit!” Jax said before hanging up. He was going to be in the doghouse, while I was basking in remnants of sex with Reese. At least one of us would be smiling during the day.

  When I walked into the rear door located off the kitchen everything was quiet. The house didn't smell of food. The sink was still full of the same dishes as when we'd left them the previous night. With a good bit of sunshine coming in through the windows, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Following the sound of little feet, I came into the living room to discover one of my nieces standing there staring at me without clothes on.

  I looked around. "Where is Mommy and Daddy at, Liv? Where’s Aunt Reese?" I could tell it was Olivia from the tiny apple-shaped birthmark on her neck. Other than that distinct difference, the twins were identical, much like their father and I.

  The almost two year old pointed toward the stairs. "Up tairs," she said with a cute smile.

  We rounded the corner at the top to have a perfect view of three adults hovering in front of a small laptop screen. "I found this naked kid downstairs if anyone cares."

  Amber was scribbling something down on a calendar, while Reese held Olivia's sister Lex, short for Alexis. She gave me a quick glare that implied to refrain from any smart comments, while my brother paced around the room. He may as well have had his thumb up his ass. That's how ridiculous he appeared. "Does anyone want to tell me what's going on? I am standing here with a naked kid I found downstairs, alone."

  Amber spun around to speak directly to me. "I've been offered a part in a movie."

  This was amazing news. Our cousin Noah had married a country singer, who'd given Amber her big break in one of her music videos. Since then she'd been modeling and doing several more projects with other artists. This, however, was uncharted waters, and a huge opportunity for her. "Congratulations. That's terrific."

  "No, it's not!" my brother interjected. "She needs to be on location in a week and it will run into Christmas. We can't swing it, not with the twins."

  "Jax is right," Amber agreed. "I'm not spending the holidays away from them. I’m good with one or two days here and there, but this would kill me. I like being close to them, even Jax, for the most part." The last part was added for my brother’s amusement, and I had a feeling if we didn’t keep talking they were going to pounce on each other like wild animals, which was what got them impregnated to begin with.

  "Maybe you could take them with you," I suggested. “Jax can handle his kids too. Nothing is going on this time of year on the ranch, so he’s not necessarily obligated to stick around here. Noah travels with Shalan when she’s on tour.”

  The three adults looked at me as if I had three heads. Reese decided to explain. "Jake, they aren't even two. They can't have them in a hotel room for a month. They have too much they'd have to haul around to keep them nourished and comfortable. Plus, they still need to Christmas shop. How will that happen with two little children? Santa needs to visit them. It's not feasible."

  Amber covered her face with both hands and shook her head. "I'll have to tell my agent it's not happening. I can't swing that kind of commitment."

  It was obvious she was disappointed.

  I motioned for Reese to follow me out of the room, so my brother and his wife could talk amongst themselves without an audience. This was a big deal, and as much as I’d like to say we did everything together, this was their busines
s.

  Reese guided Lex, while I carried her sister to their room. We quickly found their outfits sitting on a rocking chair and dressed them to match, much like they did everyday. While Lex loved to put on clothes, her sister preferred to be naked. My mother stated it was a phase, but who could really tell. I mean, her mother was a stripper for a time. Maybe when we weren’t around they watched her dancing around for their father. Jax was into some weird shit. It was entirely possible.

  Although they weren’t yelling, the conversation in the other room was becoming heated. Jax felt like Amber didn’t think he could handle the girls while she’d be filming. I could tell she was trying to explain how hard it would be for him, and after a few days he’d be out of his mind. She was thinking of them in an unselfish way, wanting to turn down her big break into a new venture for the sake and sanity of her family. If you asked me, it took a lot of sacrifice.

  I turned to Reese when we made it back downstairs. “Can you handle these two if I run out for a bit? I think I have an idea, but it’s going to take me a couple hours to see if it can work.”

  “What are you thinking?” It was clear Reese was nervous about me having some kind of secret idea, especially since Jax and I were known to do things on a whim, which eventually backfired into a disaster.

  “How do you feel about a road trip?”

  “You’ve lost me, Jake.”

  “A buddy I went to college with has a motorhome company, well his dad does, but he still works for him. Anyway, what if we went along to help out with the kids? We could stop to get our shopping in, watch the kids for them, and have everyone back in Kentucky in time for Christmas morning?”

  “I’d say you’ve really got a screw loose if you think on Thanksgiving morning someone is going to rent you a high-dollar motorhome for a month to travel across the country with two small children.”

  “You haven’t answered the question correctly. Reese, come on. You saw Amber’s face. She wants this. We can help them. Things are slow here. It’s the off season. We can afford it. It will be memorable. I promise.”