It was still dark when I woke. The sun wouldn’t be up for at least another hour, which was enough time to have a cup of coffee and clean my camera. Paige rolled over, snuggling further into the covers when I reached for my sweatpants on the floor. The gray light coming in from the window gave the small patch of skin on her shoulder a marbled look. My fingers itched to capture the image and preserve it along with the memory that would be stored along with the others I could see if I closed my eyes.

What I wouldn’t give to have my own studio again. To have the freedom we’d had before our lives changed so drastically. Then again, when we had that, we hadn’t had our friends. Sometimes, in my weaker moments, it felt as though I had to give one up for the other. That wasn’t the case. Not really. Life might be a little different than it was starting out, but it was our life, and we were living it to the fullest.

I moved slowly, rising from the bed so I wouldn’t wake her, and then slipped my shirt over my head before grabbing my camera bag.

The end of the hallway sparkled with multicolored lights. Someone had gotten up before me, and they’d turned on the Christmas tree.

Ace turned when he heard me coming down the stairs. “Coffee should be almost done.”

“Thanks,” I answered, heading toward the kitchen.

I took the camera out and captured a few pictures of him standing in front of the tree with his arms crossed. He had the look of a man who had a lot on his mind, yet nothing at all.

I’d wanted to take random candid shots of everyone, but the minute the camera came out, so did tongues, middle fingers, and the ever-present bunny ears. They were jokers, the whole bunch. On occasion, I did get a few really good ones.

I hadn’t wanted to open the camera bag upstairs and have the sound of the zipper wake Paige, but now that it was out, I had the opportunity to take the picture I’d wanted of her earlier.

“Be right back,” I said as Ace moved to the coffee pot.

I snuck back in our room and waited for my eyes to adjust.

I got the picture I wanted before she turned slightly toward me. A smile curved her lips, and I captured that as well before I left her to her dreams.

Ace had a steaming cup of coffee waiting for me when I sat down to clean my camera.

“You’re up early,” he said.

“So are you. Couldn’t sleep?” I asked.

“I slept really well, actually. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to close my eyes and relax. We needed this… being home. Christmas is just a bonus. For me, anyway,” he said, leaning in so his shoulders were hunched and his head hung over his cup.

I sighed. “We did need this, especially after everything that happened with Eli.”

“Do you miss New York?” he asked.

I smirked. “Yes and no. It’s funny you ask. I was thinking about New York this morning before I came downstairs.”

“Must be because we’re home. I don’t think about it a lot when we’re not here,” Ace said, lifting the cup and draining it. “Need another one?”

I looked down, seeing my cup still half full. “Nah, I’m good. Since it’s just the two of us… how is Riley?”

Ace shoved his hand through his hair. Setting the cup on the counter, he sighed. “Stubborn. Hardheaded. The usual,” he answered, tossing a quick look at me over his shoulder before filling his cup and coming to sit back down.

“It’s more than that, though. You know it as well as I do. Hell, anyone with two eyes can see it. What is she not telling us?” I asked.

Ace sat back and would have crossed his arms if not for the coffee cup in his hands. He shook his head slightly. “Damned if I know. Believe me, I’ve asked her, but she insists she’s fine. I think maybe it’s just been a lot for her, ya know. First, everything with Eli, and then add either food poisoning or a really bad virus that she just went through… It has worn her down.”

“And the stairs?” I said, feeling my eyebrow arch.

“It’s been non-stop since we got here. You’ve seen her in action. I told her last night when we went up for bed that if she didn’t take it easy, I was going to tie her ass to a chair.”

“How’d that go over?”

Ace gave me a look that said I should know better than to even ask.

“Get any good pictures?” he asked, jutting his chin toward my camera.

“A few. I’m hoping to get more. I’ll put them together and share them with everyone once I do,” I answered, spinning a plan for a Christmas slideshow with music. They’d like that. Too bad I hadn’t had my camera out the night before when Riley gave Josh the guitar.

I’d yet to do the majority of my shopping. And I had no idea whatsoever what to do for Paige, let alone for the name I’d pulled. Riley should be easy enough to shop for, but for the life of me, I had no ideas. None. It would come to me. Hopefully soon.

“Oh good, there’s coffee,” Paige said. She stopped with her hand on the banister and inhaled deeply before moving dreamlike to the kitchen.

I felt guilty, as if it were my fault she’d woken so early. “Sleep well?”

She nodded, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, watching me as I filled a cup for her.

Paige slumped into the chair beside mine with a noise of thanks when I set the steaming mug in front of her. I kissed her on the forehead.

“I had the weirdest dream,” Paige said after a few minutes of silence.

I looked up from the lens I was cleaning, giving her my attention. It wasn’t often she talked about her dreams. “Define weird.”

“Riley was pregnant.”

Ace spewed coffee across the table.

“Gross,” Paige said, huffing as she shoved a rag someone left on the table in his direction.

“Jesus, don’t tell anyone else that dream,” Ace said, mopping first his face and then the table.

Paige closed her hands around her mug as she shook her head. “Like I’m that dumb. I probably just dreamed it because she’s been so out of sorts lately. And I’ve been worried about her. She is okay, right?”

Ace nodded. “She’s fine. And you’re right. It has been a lot for her lately.”

“Because if she wasn’t fine, you’d tell us… right?” Paige asked, giving him a stern look.

“Like any one of us could hide something big from each other. We practically live in each other’s shadow as it is,” Ace answered, giving his own look in return.

Paige nodded, and then rubbed the spot between her brows. “My head is killing me. What did you put in those drinks last night?”

“Alcohol,” Ace answered, smirking.

“Smart-ass,” Paige replied, groaning as she got out of her chair and moved to the medicine cabinet.

“Is anyone else struggling with ideas on what to get for the person they chose?” Ace asked.

“I have a few ideas, but…” Paige shrugged.

“I wish I did,” Ace said, sighing. “It’s hard enough when you’ve known a person for what feels like a lifetime. But when you don’t really know them all that well…?”

“If you say who you picked, I’m going to kick you. Really hard,” Paige said, screwing up her face.

Ace brought his hands up. “I’m not saying a word.”

“Good,” Paige said. “The best thing to do is go with what you know about a person. So ask yourself what that is, and then pick something that corresponds to it.”

“Yeah, that makes things so much easier,” I said, polishing the glass of my longest lens before setting it back in the case.

“It’s all about being creative. It doesn’t have to be expensive to mean something. Especially if the gift comes from the heart. Something simple like the person’s favorite candy, or if they’ve been eyeing something for a while, but won’t justify spending the money because they might already have something similar,” she explained.

I nodded along even though it didn’t help a bit with figuring out the right gift for Riley. She’d filled out her paper with a list of gift cards. To me, those seemed impersonal.

By mid-afternoon, the kitchen resembled a bakery. There wasn’t a square inch that didn’t have some sort of holiday treat on it. The air was heavy with the scent of warm chocolate and butterscotch.

After what Paige said that morning, I thought I’d take note and watch Riley. See if there was anything she mentioned while everyone was chatting away. I’d taken up a small spot at the table with a paperback I wanted to read, but hadn’t made it past the first chapter with everything going on around me. I loved reading… when it was quiet. If it wasn’t, I’d read the same line over and over again, unable to focus or make sense of what I’d read. It made a good cover, though. So long as I remembered to turn the page occasionally.

All the while, my mind wandered back to the past, remembering the night of graduation and the one gift we’d given her. It had been a simple pendant with all of our initials inside a heart. She’d been the center of us for so long. In some ways, a sister to me… to all of us.

That same night, she’d given us T-shirts with the words ‘You Wish’ on the back. A running joke about the closeness of our friendship, and our inability to allow anyone else in no matter how hard they’d tried. Our dynamic had been too good back then. Adding anyone else might have blown it all apart. We’d almost done that to each other because of Riley. That was why we’d pledged to keep her off limits. Our friendship meant more to us than the need to be selfish when it came to her. It had been the best decision we’d ever made as a group. Really, it might have even brought us a little closer.

What we hadn’t accounted for had been her feelings. And she’d kept those on lockdown. All that ended graduation night when Ace took her home. That very same night, I had my own drama playing out with Paige. As stubborn as she was, I refused to let her go without a fight. I couldn’t let another moment pass without her knowing how much I loved her. God, it had been a hell of a fight, too. But in the end, she caved. She’d wanted me just as much, but had no idea how to express it. By morning, neither of us knew up from down. When I left for New York and she stayed behind, it practically broke the both of us.

That was then. The past that built our future. All of our futures. Sitting there watching the girls joke and laugh while darting around one another was almost surreal. Who would have thought that six unruly guys could have gotten so lucky? But we had, and the proof was all around me.

It might not have started out feeling like Christmas, but between the decorations, the baking, and the all-around holiday cheer that rippled through the air, it was proving to be the best one of all.

“And what are you over here smiling about?” Paige asked, leaning over the table and kissing me out of the blue.

“Just happy,” I answered, tossing my book on the table and crooking my finger at her.

When she settled on my lap, she gave her own little contented sigh. “I feel like Mrs. Claus.”

A bubble of laughter worked its way out. “Oh? And why is that?”

“Well, for one, I can’t be Santa; I don’t have a beard. Two, all the baking. Three, we’ve been shopping like the toy factory shut down and we’re the big guy’s only hope.”

“Ha, speak for yourself. I haven’t done any shopping yet,” Riley said, setting a plate of fresh magic squares down.

“Excuse me? Weren’t you the one who stuffed the closet full of ornaments and decorations? And one-upped us with Josh’s Christmas present?” Paige countered.

“Okay, so I’ve done like three things. I still have to go shopping for Ace,” she replied, huffing when a strand of hair came down over her eye.

She brushed it back before pulling out a chair to sit.

“You look a little clammy, Riles. You okay?” Paige asked, leaning forward to put her hand on Riley’s brow.

She batted her hand away with an eye roll. “I fell down a flight of stairs the other day. Remember?”

“So what you mean to say is that you’re overdoing it,” Ace said as he strolled into the kitchen.

“I’m—”

He had her out of her seat and over his shoulder in an instant, smacking her backside when she pounded on his back demanding to be put down.

“Hush,” he said, turning.

“Put me down. Right now.” It wasn’t so much what she said, but how she said it.

No sooner than Ace set her down, she took off.

Everything inside of me stilled when I saw her face. There was no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Riley had been completely and totally honest about nothing being wrong with her. She was, other than her tumble down the stairs, healthy as a horse. She was also pregnant. How had no one else noticed? Or had they, but were too afraid to say it? Hell, Paige had dreamed it. Which meant the idea had been floating around in her subconscious.

The revelation hit me right in the chest. How the hell would Ace feel about bringing a baby into the world after seeing only the darkest corners of it for the last few years? What would that mean for the three of them?

He had no idea. He couldn’t. If he knew about it, there would be no way he’d be acting as if everything were normal. I was internally freaking out with just the thought of it. How the hell would he handle the news?

“Mark, you look like you’re about to lose your lunch,” Paige said, tipping my face back to look me in the eyes.

“Feel like it, too,” I answered without thinking.

“I hope you’re not coming down sick,” Paige said, pressing her fingers against the pulse in my wrist. “Your heart rate is higher than normal. Maybe you should go lay down,” she said, wearing a look of concern.

“I think I will,” I said. “But don’t worry. I’m fine.”

A baby. After the initial panic receded, rational thought took its place. It might not be my flesh and blood, but it would be my family. They said it took a village to raise a child. At least Riley and Ace would have all of us to surround them and protect them when the little sixlet was born.

“Ha!” I knew exactly what I was going to get Riley for Christmas.

But… what if she isn’t pregnant? What then? You’ll look like a complete idiot. I shoved the niggling thought away.

Before I could let the doubt creep back in, I was online and finishing up my purchase. All that was left was picking up the gift cards Riley put on her list, because she’d definitely need those to implement her wardrobe.

“Now, what the hell am I supposed to do for Paige?” I muttered.

I wasn’t going to buy her anything she could go out and pick up for herself. No, I wanted something she wouldn’t normally buy. Something special. In order to do that, I needed to go to the store.

“Headed out?” Eli asked, catching me in the hallway.

“Yeah. Gonna try to finish my shopping today,” I said.

“Mind if I tag along?” he asked.

“Mind if I come, too?” Jared said, sticking his head out of his room.

I should have known I wouldn’t make it out of the house before someone found out where I was going. “I’m ready to go, so get your asses moving.”

“Just gotta put Stella up and change,” Jared said and then closed his door.

“I have to talk to Nova real quick before we leave,” Eli said, moving past me.

Ace came out of his room, closing the door behind him with caution. He looked like he’d taken a few rounds right to the gut. His coloring was off, and his shoulders were tense. She’d told him. That had to be it.

“We’re headed out to do some Christmas shopping,” I said, moving to lean against the wall.

He sidestepped the door, planted his back against the wall, and then stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“It’ll be okay,” I said.

His head snapped up. He looked at me as if wondering how the hell I knew.

“I kind of just put it together myself earlier,” I answered.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in all my life,” he whispered.

I could empathize. It scared the hell out of me, too, and it wasn’t my wife and baby.

“What the hell are we going to do?” he asked, scrubbing his hand down his face.

“I don’t know, but we’ll do it together,” I said, pushing away from the wall.

“Don’t say anything yet. Not even to Paige,” he said, adding, “Please.”

Keeping it from Paige would be really hard. More than likely, she’d end up really mad at me for keeping it to myself, but it wasn’t my secret to tell. “I won’t say a word.”

He sighed. “Thanks.”

“Do you want to come with us? Might do you some good to get out of the house for a bit,” I said, changing the subject on him.

He shook his head. “I think I’m gonna go take a walk. I need…”

I brought my hand down on his shoulder and squeezed. “You don’t need to explain. We’ll be back in a little while.”

He nodded. “Thanks, Mark.”

“Anytime, brother.”