Saving Us (Mitchell Family #6)(3)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I guess what helped Amy was the fact that I may or may not have told my sister that she felt uncomfortable, who in turn told my mother. Even though my mother was overwhelmed with spending time with her grandchildren, she seemed on cloud nine every time there was a mention of me being a father. I knew from across the room when she was thinking of it, because she would look at me and her face would just light up. It had been too long since I’d made my mother smile like that.

For New Year’s Eve our family made a shit load of food and hung around all night. After the babies were asleep, we took the party out to the barn to shoot pool and celebrate. Of course, Miranda had the baby monitor and was keeping it hooked to her pants in case the babies woke up.

We were shooting partners in pool and had drawn names to see who was on who’s team. It ended up being Colt and Ty’s dad, John and Ty and me and Van’s dad. We played a set of five games and the winner played the team that was waiting. After John and Ty won the first match, the three older guys quit on us to play cards with the women. As much as we all liked to play cards, I think me, Colt and Ty, liked playing pool better.

Ty leaned against the table. "What’s the wager f**kers?"

"I ain’t taken my clothes off, if that’s what you’re thinkin’. I still ain’t heard the end of that shit." Colt adjusted his John Deere hat and I could tell he was uneasy about running around naked the last time he lost one of Ty’s bets.

"I got somethin’ better and you ain’t gotta run around naked, well, not totally naked that is." They both cocked an eyebrow and looked at me. I shook my head and started laughing. I knew they were dying to know what my idea was, so I took another swig of my beer before responding. "Loser has to wear Miranda’s little Santa outfit she wore in that picture."

"And they have to have their picture taken in it," Ty added.

Colt looked at Ty and then back to me. "You two have lived together too long. You’re both sick in the head."

"Just agree to it and shut your pu**y mouth. Let’s get this game going." Ty stood up and grabbed his stick.

Colt crossed his arms and kept shaking his head. "Just so you know, I ain’t losing this time."

"Yeah, you keep tellin’ yourself that, cuz." I pounded my fist against Tys before we got the game started.

Once we got to playing, things became more serious. Even Ty stopped cracking jokes after he missed an easy cut shot. He pounded the butt of his stick on the hard floor and cussed under his breath.

Bella and Noah were running around with the dog, while the rest of the adults were sitting at a large round table engulfed in their card game.

The way that we worked the game was that we each had to play each other. The first person to lose two matches lost the bet. Since Ty and I played pool so much, I think we both knew whom was going to lose. I had an easy bank shot and sunk my ball into the called pocket.

Colt threw his arms up in the air. "God. Damn. It!"

Ty and I pounded our fists together again and I watched Ty walk up and smack Colt on the ass. "Van, you better get your camera ready. It looks like Colt is going to be giving us a fashion show."

Colt leaned against the wall and looked both pissed and embarrassed. We couldn’t help but to keep laughing at him.

"I ain’t never making a bet with the two of you ass**les again." He grabbed another beer out of the refrigerator.

"Hey, at least you won’t be naked," I joked.

The girls were laughing even before they knew exactly what was going on. Miranda came walking over to find out why her husband was hunched over laughing his ass off. "What did you do now?” She asked.

He continued laughing, so hard he could barely speak. "Oh my God, baby, you need to go inside and get me your Santa outfit." He laughed even harder. "Colt is going to put it on and jingle all around for us."

When he said jingle all around, I spit my beer clear across the room.

Miranda leaned over toward Van and whispered in her ear. We watched her stand up and walk toward Ty. She pushed him before getting up in his face. "Is it necessary for you to make him so miserable. He’s going to hate visiting you if you keep it up."

He grabbed her by her face and kissed her before jokingly shoving her away. "He loves us. Get over yourself." He looked over at Miranda. "Baby, don’t forget to grab the camera when you get the outfit."

I walked over and ran my hands over Amy’s shoulders. “You havin’ fun yet?"

She giggled and looked back at me. "I actually love it. You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to be surrounded by a family. The longer I’m around them, the more I love them."

I kissed the top of her head. "I like you bein’ here. If it’s okay, I’d like you to stick around."

She smiled and reached up to touch my face. "It’s definitely okay, Conner."

"Now we just have to get you divorced."

"You say that like it’s going to be easy." She didn’t seem so sure.

"As long as you and our son our safe, I will wait as long as it takes."

She shook her head and laughed. "Your son? You’re so sure about that."

"I’m always right, Blaze."

A couple minutes passed before Miranda came back into the room carrying a very small little number in her hands and her camera strung around her neck. “This is as far as I am involved in this, Tyler. I refuse to have Colt want to beat my ass. It’s too cold outside to run.”

I shook my head, but kept my hands on Amy’s shoulders. She was brave for wanting to be a part of this family. Van kept shaking her head as Miranda made her way back over to where she was sitting. She crossed her legs and waited for her husband to make a move. Colt just stood there with his hands on his hips as Ty reached the small amount of fabric over to him. “If I were you, I’d change in the other room. I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t really feel like seeing anyone else’s meat besides my own.”

I was already laughing, just seeing Colt’s face turning a shade of red. Even underneath his whiskers, it was obvious. “You best get to changin’. I don’t feel like waitin’ all night to see this. I’ve waited too damn long for this woman to be with me, so I ain’t about to waste any more of it.”

I heard Van and Randa making little sounds, like what I’d just said was sweet or something. I squeezed on Amy’s shoulders, while waiting for my cousin to get his ass in gear.

Colt looked around the room. “Do I seriously have to do this shit?”

“You bet your sweet ass you do.” Ty laughed as he said it. He blew Van a kiss when she rolled her eyes at him. I could see where the history between them made it easy for those two to communicate on a different level. It wasn’t anything inappropriate. Well, let me rephrase that, because everything Ty does is inappropriate. That little bastard could make a smart comment about anything. Sometimes I wondered if he wasn’t wired right. Still, he was pretty fun to be around.