Read Online Checking It Twice (Crashing Book 2) by Samantha Wayland - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Samantha Wayland
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messages,
starting at six-thirty that morning, from Christian. He opened them.
Come over now?
Please?
Oliver says hurry up.
Hello??? Wake up! You can’t sleep late
on Christmas!!!!
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
Ugh you guys are the worst.
Mike grinned at his phone and poked Alexei
in the side. Alexei groaned and kept his eyes stubbornly shut. Mike wasn’t
buying it, but he let Alexei pretend.
“I’ll get this big lug up. You can go over
now, if you want.”
Jayne just shook her head. “I’ll wait. But
hurry up!”
It took considerable poking and prodding to
get Alexei out of bed. Mike frowned as he watched Alexei limp to the bathroom,
cursing himself for letting Alexei do all that work on the basketball court.
The boys were going to love it, but it wasn’t worth this.
Then again, no one could have anticipated
how much work they would put into getting little Eleanor settled.
Eleanor .
Mike threw on his pajamas and tossed a
t-shirt for Alexei on the bed before dashing out to find his sister fidgeting
by the door. She looked about as eager as he expected Oliver to be when they
got across the hall. He laughed at her and pulled out all the treats they were
bringing over this morning. Because, as if they hadn’t been busy enough, Alexei
had spent the day before yesterday baking until they’d had to leave for
the game.
Mike was just stacking the last of the
boxes when Alexei’s arms curled around his waist from behind and soft lips
pressed to the nape of his neck.
“Thank you, Michael,” he said softly, then left
him to stand there stupidly for a moment.
Michael ? It
was his name, of course, but reserved for special moments. Mike looked over at
Alexei and blinked at the warm, happy smile he received in return.
Alexei was acting weird. Not that his
boyfriend wasn’t always loving and tactile, but this seemed…different. More, somehow.
Shrugging to himself, he followed Alexei
and Jayne across the hall, distracted from his thoughts the moment they entered
the chaos that was Rupert and Callum’s home. Oliver squealed with joy to see
them, “ finally” . Mike pointed out that it was, in fact, only seven in
the morning, but Oliver wasn’t having it.
As far as five year olds were concerned,
that was like noon when it came to Christmas.
Rupert and Callum, both of whom looked like
they’d been hit by a truck, hugged them hello and tried to shoo them into the
living room to get settled. Alexei ignored them, taking over the kitchen and
barking out demands for requests while Jayne snuggled Eleanor and Mike got Eleanor’s
new fathers settled on the couch.
“Long night?” he asked with a pitying
smile.
“Yes, very. We hardly slept,” Callum said,
rubbing his hand over his eyes. Then he looked at Rupert, and they smiled at
each other like it had been the best night of their lives.
“Ugh. You guys are so gross,” Christian
said as he flopped down beside his dads and snuggled up under Callum’s arm.
Mike secretly agreed, but he thought that
kind of gross was awesome, so who was he to judge?
“Are we ready?” Oliver demanded from in
front of the tree, his hands on his hips and his expression making it perfectly
clear he couldn’t believe how slow they were all being.
Alexei came over and passed around coffee,
orange juice, and slices of coffee cake. As soon as he’d made sure everyone was
going to be properly fed, he dropped onto the couch next to Mike and tugged the
blanket over their legs. Mike leaned against his chest and settled in.
The Morrison family had a tradition where
the youngest person present for Christmas morning had to be “the elf”, so it
fell to Oliver to pick out the gifts, read the tags, and hand them out, one
gift to each person at a time.
Last year he’d looked supremely scandalized
that his having learned to read meant he had to work on Christmas
morning, but then he’d learned that this also meant he got to go first, and
suddenly he’d been on board with the plan.
Mike
starting at six-thirty that morning, from Christian. He opened them.
Come over now?
Please?
Oliver says hurry up.
Hello??? Wake up! You can’t sleep late
on Christmas!!!!
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
Ugh you guys are the worst.
Mike grinned at his phone and poked Alexei
in the side. Alexei groaned and kept his eyes stubbornly shut. Mike wasn’t
buying it, but he let Alexei pretend.
“I’ll get this big lug up. You can go over
now, if you want.”
Jayne just shook her head. “I’ll wait. But
hurry up!”
It took considerable poking and prodding to
get Alexei out of bed. Mike frowned as he watched Alexei limp to the bathroom,
cursing himself for letting Alexei do all that work on the basketball court.
The boys were going to love it, but it wasn’t worth this.
Then again, no one could have anticipated
how much work they would put into getting little Eleanor settled.
Eleanor .
Mike threw on his pajamas and tossed a
t-shirt for Alexei on the bed before dashing out to find his sister fidgeting
by the door. She looked about as eager as he expected Oliver to be when they
got across the hall. He laughed at her and pulled out all the treats they were
bringing over this morning. Because, as if they hadn’t been busy enough, Alexei
had spent the day before yesterday baking until they’d had to leave for
the game.
Mike was just stacking the last of the
boxes when Alexei’s arms curled around his waist from behind and soft lips
pressed to the nape of his neck.
“Thank you, Michael,” he said softly, then left
him to stand there stupidly for a moment.
Michael ? It
was his name, of course, but reserved for special moments. Mike looked over at
Alexei and blinked at the warm, happy smile he received in return.
Alexei was acting weird. Not that his
boyfriend wasn’t always loving and tactile, but this seemed…different. More, somehow.
Shrugging to himself, he followed Alexei
and Jayne across the hall, distracted from his thoughts the moment they entered
the chaos that was Rupert and Callum’s home. Oliver squealed with joy to see
them, “ finally” . Mike pointed out that it was, in fact, only seven in
the morning, but Oliver wasn’t having it.
As far as five year olds were concerned,
that was like noon when it came to Christmas.
Rupert and Callum, both of whom looked like
they’d been hit by a truck, hugged them hello and tried to shoo them into the
living room to get settled. Alexei ignored them, taking over the kitchen and
barking out demands for requests while Jayne snuggled Eleanor and Mike got Eleanor’s
new fathers settled on the couch.
“Long night?” he asked with a pitying
smile.
“Yes, very. We hardly slept,” Callum said,
rubbing his hand over his eyes. Then he looked at Rupert, and they smiled at
each other like it had been the best night of their lives.
“Ugh. You guys are so gross,” Christian
said as he flopped down beside his dads and snuggled up under Callum’s arm.
Mike secretly agreed, but he thought that
kind of gross was awesome, so who was he to judge?
“Are we ready?” Oliver demanded from in
front of the tree, his hands on his hips and his expression making it perfectly
clear he couldn’t believe how slow they were all being.
Alexei came over and passed around coffee,
orange juice, and slices of coffee cake. As soon as he’d made sure everyone was
going to be properly fed, he dropped onto the couch next to Mike and tugged the
blanket over their legs. Mike leaned against his chest and settled in.
The Morrison family had a tradition where
the youngest person present for Christmas morning had to be “the elf”, so it
fell to Oliver to pick out the gifts, read the tags, and hand them out, one
gift to each person at a time.
Last year he’d looked supremely scandalized
that his having learned to read meant he had to work on Christmas
morning, but then he’d learned that this also meant he got to go first, and
suddenly he’d been on board with the plan.
Mike
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