Jingle all the Mitchell Way: a holiday novella(2)

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?”