S hannon knew something was up as soon as she opened her eyes. It was too quiet. Rolling out of bed, feeling rested for the first time in a long time, she padded to the bathroom. After doing her business and running a brush through her hair she opened the bedroom door .
John looked up rather guiltily, pushing something out of her line of sight, toward the fireplace. “Oh, hey babe. You have time to take a shower or something, if you’d like .”
Feeling even more concerned, Shannon stepped into the living room and glanced around. Her mouth dropped open .
The fireplace decorations had been ripped off the mantle and scattered below. She was glad they’d let the fire go out last night otherwise some of them would have been burnt. Wyatt’s stocking still hung on its hook on the mantle but everyone else’s was on the floor or in the ash that they had planned to clean out that day .
The fireplace screen was sitting at an odd angle. That was what John had been pushing out of the way. He couldn’t get his wheelchair close enough to clean without making space .
Something jingled to her left. Carmella jogged to her with a red glass ornament clasped between her jaws. With a gasp, Shannon took the gift from the dog, thankful that Golden Retrievers were so gentle. For some reason the dog’s hair seemed spiked with something. Then she realized that this was a tree ornament in her hand .
“This is not a ball, Carmella,” she scolded .
Alarmed, she looked at the tree, but it seemed fine. The fence was gone, though. That was how Carmella had gotten the ornament .
There was a squeal to her right. Shannon walked further into the room and found the babies in their walkers, inside the puppy fence near the front doorway. The fence itself had been tied to the doorknob with a red bow she thought had been on the mantle. The boys pushing on one side had made it into a teardrop shape, but the bow held fast. Each baby had a stuffed bear in their walker with them .
Both boys screamed when they saw her and bounced in their seats, waving their arms. Shannon laughed as she walked over to give them attention, setting the glass ornament on a high, safe shelf. She picked Caden up first and the baby cooed at her, drooling. He shoved his fist into his mouth and looked at her adoringly, fisting her hair in his other hand. After a moment she handed Caden to John, then picked up Wyatt .
When both babies had been appeased, she gave John a look. “What happened to my house ?”
John put Caden into the chest harness, facing out so that he could see everything. Then he rolled over and took her spare hand. Shannon smiled, wondering what the hell was going on .
“You are the most incredible person I know,” John told her softly, dark gaze firm. “You’re definitely the strongest woman I know. I had these kids for less than an hour and I’m as wrecked as the house. The bathroom has issues, the cats are pissed and the dog is gooey. I know it sounds like I’m buttering you up for something, but you walked out looking all warm and cuddly and sexable and I forget about all the little stuff .”
She laughed, rocking her hips from side to side for the baby. “I don’t care about the house. It can be picked up. The dog can be washed. And the cats will get over their hissy fit eventually. I appreciated the long morning. And the night. It might have made me feel a little more sexable, too. Not sure the house would still be standing if we disappeared now, though .”
They grinned at each other, understanding between them. “So, why are the cats mad?” she asked, turning toward the kitchen .
“Um, mostly just Pickle,” John hedged. “Might have something to do with being locked in the pantry all night .”
Shannon’s eyes rounded with surprise. “No wonder! Oh, the poor thing !”
She wasn’t feeling as bad for the cat when she saw what she’d done to the pantry. “That darn thing. Why couldn’t she have just sat there and waited for one of us to release her? Did she really have to knock everything off the shelf ?”
John flinched as he looked inside the pantry. Shannon felt bad because she wasn’t blaming him for the mess. The cat had done it. Just cleaning up the flour was going to be a bitch, though, let alone everything else. She shut the door firmly. “I’ll deal with it later. Thank you for letting me sleep in .”
His dark brows lowered and he tried to give her a smile. “I did have the best of intentions in taking the kids over for the morning, but it kind of all went to hell .”
She laughed, jiggling the baby on her hip. “Everyone is happy and healthy. That’s all that matters. I love you, John .”
“I love you, Shannon. Even more so now that I know what you deal with every morning alone .”
“Morning, noon and night,” she corrected. The kids laughed together and gripped hands as their parents leaned in for a kiss .
Shannon spied the gift bag on the table. “Where did that come from ?”
John gave her a narrow-eyed look. “You don’t recognize it ?”
She shook her head .
“It was on the workbench when I let the cats out earlier. I know for a fact it wasn’t there last night .”
John rolled over and looked for a tag on the ribbon handles. He found the folded piece of card and opened it up. “For my nephews and their overworked parents,” he read .
Shannon’s brows disappeared into her bangs. The bag was from Jaime .
John pulled the tissue paper from the bag, dropping it to the side. Digging into the bag he pulled out a piece of cardboard wrapped in red fabric .
“What is that?” she asked .
John stared for a long moment then laughed and shook his head, turning the cardboard to her. “It’s a baby leash .”
Shannon laughed as she took the item from him. It was padded fabric, so it would be gentle, and had an eight-foot line on it. Shannon bet John would come up with a bunch of uses for it .
John pulled more tissue paper from the bag, then pulled out a second harness, this one blue. He looked up at her, his eyes shining. “I guess Christmas came early from my brother .”
“There are no other notes or anything ?”
“No. That’s where the bears came from, though, I’m sure .”
Shannon looked at the boys. They each had a hand on a teddy bear and they weren’t toys that she recognized .
John looked through the bag, shaking his head. Shannon could tell he was disappointed, but also happy that his brother had been here. No, he hadn’t seen him, but at least he knew he was safe .
Retrieving the baby monitor, John scrolled through the footage for the past six hours. At a little after three, a figure moved into the boy’s room. If he hadn’t already known who it was, John would have been alarmed. Wyatt woke up first to a stroke on his cheek and held his arms out to the figure in his room. For several minutes Jamie held John’s oldest son, talking to him and playing. And when he set Wyatt back into the crib he gave the boy the teddy bear .
Caden had woken and been content to chew on his fist. As Jaime picked him up from the crib, Caden patted at his cheeks, one of the things he did to John, too. As John watched, throat tight with emotion, his brother visited with his nephews, stealing a few precious moments to play and connect. Jaime must have considered it safe enough to come out of hiding for this. He handed Caden his bear and put them back to bed. Surprisingly, both boys went down without a fuss or a whimper .
John scrubbed at his face, wishing Jaime could find peace. Actually, he wished they could all find peace .
Following the trail, John looked up the interior camera footage on his phone. At three twenty-eight in the morning, a darkly dressed figure crept into view of the inside garage camera, carrying the Christmas bag. The figure set it on the bench, then reached into his breast pocket for a folded piece of paper. John laughed as Jaime held the paper up to the camera lens. ‘Merry Christmas, Big Brother !’
Then he disappeared from view .
“And Merry Christmas to you as well, little brother. Shannon,” he called, “we better leave some cookies out just in case Santa decides to return .”