“You know, you aren’t fooling me, Riley,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

She scoffed. “Well, that’s a pretty open statement. What am I supposed to be fooling you about?” she asked, giving me a dirty look.

“How long have we been friends?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“Forever. Why?” She shoved the covers off and sat up slowly.

“When were you going to tell me?” I asked, prodding her to admit it.

“What am I supposed to tell you?” she asked, pushing me to move with an urgency that had me up and bringing her with me.

She would have slammed the bathroom door in my face had I not been holding on to her so she didn’t fall over on her way to the toilet.

She didn’t pick her head up as she spoke into the toilet bowl. “Congratulations, you’re going to be an aunt.”

I caught her as she listed sideways. “The nausea is kicking your ass, huh?”

She made a grumbled sort of sound as I helped her up and then shuffled to the sink. Once her mouth was rinsed, she leaned her elbows on the counter and sighed.

“Let’s get you back to bed.” I put my hand on her back and waited for her to move.

“I’ll be fine in a minute. Once I’m sick, I feel much better,” she answered.

“Does Ace know?” I asked.

She nodded. “I told him a little while ago.”

“How long have you known?” I asked.

“Not that long. I swear,” she said, straightening up and blowing out a quick burst of air. “I honestly thought I had food poisoning, or that I’d possibly picked up some crazy virus from somewhere. Turns out it wasn’t that at all. He would have known a little sooner if I’d let him stay with me while they checked me out at the hospital.”

“Why didn’t you let him stay with you?” I asked.

“There was no reason for him to. Besides, someone had to keep Jared from marching up to the desk every five minutes and making a nuisance out of himself. He was really worried, and I knew Ace would keep him calm. Plus, I was so damn embarrassed about falling down the stairs.”

She had me on that one. I would have been humiliated, too, if it had been me. “So you booted Ace out, then they asked all the standard questions. When you couldn’t tell them when your last cycle was—”

“They did a pregnancy test and voila. Instant mom. Jesus, what the hell am I going to do?”

“I, uh, hate to break it to you, but you’ve already done it. Now it’s only a matter of accepting it and allowing yourself to be happy. Because I know deep down you are. You just haven’t made it past the initial shock,” I tossed back at her.

She blustered. “Shock. You can say that about a million times. I never thought… We were careful. Responsible. We talked about it once. Having a family, I mean. And we both agreed this was no life for a child. Look at Jared and all he’s been through.” Riley closed her eyes, but not before a tear escaped.

“Hey,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. She turned and burrowed her head in my shoulder, wrapped her trembling arms around me, and lost it.

It wasn’t just shock. She was scared. And it went deeper than I could have possibly imagined. I didn’t try to talk to her. Didn’t try to pacify her with words. Words wouldn’t help. Riley needed strength. If I could have, I would’ve given her every bit of my own to help her build her crumbling world back onto a solid foundation.

She blew out a long breath and shuddered before lifting her head. “I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t realize how much I needed to get that out of my system.”

When she stepped back, I caught her hand. “Don’t be sorry, Riles. Not for this. And so you know? You’ll never be alone. You, Ace, or this baby. You’ll have more support than you’ll probably want, or need.”

She gave me a watery smile and nodded. “Thanks, Paige. For everything. Do you mind not saying anything right now? I’ll tell everyone. Soon, but not just yet.”

I ran my fingers over my lips. And then pulled the covers over her when she laid down.

“Wow, you’ve been busy,” Mark said as he closed the bedroom door behind him.

There hadn’t been a lot to wrap, but I’d somehow managed to strew everything from wrapping paper to plastic bags all over the room.

I eyed him suspiciously. “I thought you were going shopping?”

He smirked. “I did.”

“I guess I’ll clean this stuff up since you don’t have any bags.”

“You can leave it. Do we have any boxes?” he asked.

“Boxes? But you have no bags.” What was he up to?

He knelt in front of me, getting eye level. “Look at you, Mrs. Nosy. Maybe I left what I bought in the car. Or maybe I sent it off with one of the guys so you couldn’t see the bags. Did you think of that?”

I rolled my eyes. “I was just stating the obvious. Yeesh.”

“Boxes?” he inquired again, looking at the explosion of paper, gift tags, and the fairly large stack of wrapped presents.

“It would help if you told me what type of box you need. There are different sizes, you know,” I said, reaching behind me and grabbing a stack of gift boxes left over from my own wrapping.

“Perfect, just leave them there and I’ll do the rest,” he said, putting his hand out as he stood.

I let him help me up from the floor. “I still have something I want to finish. I’ll sit on the bed with my back to you. Will that work?”

He crossed his arms. “And not peek?”

“Scout’s honor,” I said, moving to the closet to get everything I’d stashed for the plastic-wrap game I wanted to surprise everyone with.

“The first time you turn around and peek, you’re out,” Mark said, giving me a stern look.

I upended the bags on the bed, grabbed my wallet, took out a handful of cash, and sat down with my back to him. “Whatever. Like you’d be wrapping my stuff with me sitting here. And I haven’t tried to make you tell me whose name you picked, so it’s safe to say I’m not going to try to ruin the surprise.”

“What’s with all the plastic wrap?” Mark asked, reaching past me and poking at the stack of money. “Plastic wrap, cash, and… what is all that stuff?”

I smacked his hand. “Go away, it’s a surprise.”

He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”

“What is that?” Aiden asked, watching me as I carried my finished project to the table. To keep it a surprise, I’d gone one step further and added thick layers of wrapping paper to get through with lots of tape.

“This,” I said, unable to keep a very broad smile from my face, “is a Christmas game. I’m starting the tradition, and the winner will be the one to continue it next Christmas, and so on. Everyone get in here.”

Once I had them all around the table, I set the ball in the center and made them choose a number so we had a starting point. Jared was up first.

“Rules are, you try to unwrap as much of the ball as you can before the person to your left rolls doubles on the dice. Whatever falls out, you keep, but the ball gets passed off right away. It keeps going until the ball is completely unwrapped. The person who finishes it, wins,” I explained.

“What about you?” Murphy asked.

“I put it all together, so I’m just going to stand back and be the cheering section.”

Jared grabbed the ball. “I hope you know I’m going to win this, so you guys should just give up now.”

“We’ll see about that,” Airen said, poking him in the side.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand your Scottish,” Jared said as he clutched the wrapped ball to his chest.

“You better start the game, Paige, before I clout this numpty and away wi’ the prize,” Airen said.

“Did anyone else underst—”

I tossed the dice on the table, cutting Jared off. If his hands were busy, his mouth wouldn’t get him in trouble.

“Does anyone else find it amusing that Jared is having a hard time with tearing wrapping paper?” Eli asked.

His question caused a whole round of jeers toward Jared, who was almost sweating to get past the first few layers.

And then, like magic, the first of the hidden prizes fell out.

“Ha! Snake eyes!” Murphy said as she plucked the ball from his hands and went to town on it. The table was littered with paper before Ace got the dice to land on doubles.

Around and around the table it went, along with laughter, jokes, and groans of angst when doubles were rolled right away on someone’s turn. Before they knew it, they were cheering for one another, more interested in what the person in possession of the ball would get than of their own windfalls.

“Oh my God, Nova, you won!” Murphy said when the last strand of wrap was peeled away to reveal the round plastic ornament that made up the center.

“It’s like the movie Inception. Only it’s a ball within a ball. Crack it open so we can see if there’s another ball inside,” Josh said, moving to peer over Nova’s shoulder.

“Leave it to you to have some sort of movie reference,” Riley said, picking through the layers of paper and plastic to get to her pile of goodies on the table.

Nova opened the ornament and pulled out the fake medal I’d placed inside as I said, “You get to wear that as bragging rights until Christmas, and then you have to put it, and that,” I poked the plastic ball, “away for next year. So don’t lose it.”

Eli took the medal and put it over her head. “Announcing the winner of the first annual Six Games, Nova McCarty. Congratulations, Nova. Now that you’ve won, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to pig out on all that candy.” Nova’s eyes twinkled as she pointed at the rounded pile in front of her. “This was really fun. Thanks, Paige.”

I’d done what I’d set out to do, creating something fun. Not only that, but it was a memory none of us would ever forget. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“Woohoo! Scratch tickets,” Aiden cheered.

“You just noticed them?” Ace asked, chuckling when Aiden flicked him off.

“Rude,” Riley chided, throwing a peppermint candy at him.

“You did a good thing here,” Mark said, coming up behind me and putting his arms around me.

I leaned against his chest, absorbing the happiness around me and letting it soak into my soul.

“Got a few minutes, Paige?” Jared asked after breakfast.

“I got these,” Ace said, taking the dirty dishes from my hands.

I turned, giving Jared my full attention. “I do now. What’s up?”

“I need your opinion on something, and since—”

“I’m the most opinionated girl you know,” I finished for him.

He huffed. “I wasn’t going to say that.”

“Good will toward men,” Josh sang, turning the radio on so Christmas music floated in the air.

“What?” Jared asked, screwing up his face.

“It looked like you two were going to start bickering; I was just reminding you that this time of year should be harmonic and cheerful,” Josh explained.

I laughed. “I wasn’t going to fight with him. Come on, Jared, let’s get out of here before Josh starts quoting from Christmas movies.”

“Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal,” Josh fired back as I stuffed my arms inside Murphy’s jacket since my own was upstairs.

“Safer out here, huh?” Jared said, white vapor wafting out with his words.

“Probably, but I can’t say how long we can stand out here before my toes freeze,” I answered. I didn’t like it when my toes got cold.

“Good thing I know how to build one helluva fire,” he replied, hunching his shoulders as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

“If I’d have known that, I would have brought the marshmallows with us,” I joked, falling into step beside him.

He looked at me in mock horror. “You just ate breakfast.”

“So. Come on, let’s get that fire built so neither of us freeze before you get a chance to ask me whatever it is you need my opinion on,” I said, catching the sleeve of his jacket and pulling him along as I quickened my pace.

We didn’t settle into a conversation until the fire was going. I moved closer and shivered when the heat blasted the front of me while the wind did its best to freeze my backside.

Holding my hands out, I rubbed them together and sighed. There was nothing that compared to a good bonfire.

Jared left me there, and I would have questioned where he was going, but his intent was clear only seconds later when he brought folding chairs for us to sit on. Along with those chairs, he’d found an old blanket someone had forgotten the last time we’d had a fire. I took it from him, grateful for another barrier between me and the chill pushing against my back.

“It surprises me sometimes,” I said, pausing for a second to look at him when we sat.

He leaned forward and poked at the fire, but turned his head when I spoke. “What surprises you?”

“How you can be such a gentleman when you want to be,” I answered.

“Gotta grow up sometime, right?” He grumbled and then stabbed at a smoldering log. “I think I screwed up.”

“Define screwed up,” I said, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees as I stared into the fire.

“I asked Murphy to marry me. It was a couple of months ago… I went all out, ya know? I even got down on one knee and everything. Told her how much I loved her.” He stopped and took a long breath, blew it out, and then stabbed the end of the fire poker into the ground. “She said no. When I asked her why, she shut down on me. I left it alone for a while, but it bothered me. So, I brought it up again, but all she could say was that she was happy the way things are. She said marriage wasn’t necessary for us because we were already living together like married couples do. We slept in the same bed… that we’re together all the time.”

My heart hurt for him. “And that bothered you.”

He gripped the fire poker tight enough that his knuckles turned white. Looking into the dancing flames, he said, “I see how happy all you married people are. I just want that, too.”

“But you and Murphy are happy, Jared. As happy as any of us can be.” I was probably the worst one to talk to about relationships. I’d almost severed mine and Mark’s before it ever got started.

He nodded. “It’s not just happiness. It’s everything that goes with it.”

Curiosity pushed me to ask, “What is it you think you’re missing out on?”

He looked at me with his soul in his eyes. “I want to be able to call her my wife. I want to hear her call me her husband. It feels like I’ve waited my entire life for her. Like she was the reason I never settled down with anyone from high school, or even thought about dating any of them. I’d been waiting for her.”

My eyes teared a little hearing him say that. Jared the jackass had the soul of a romantic. “Did you tell her that?”

A log rolled, scattering sparks into the air. We tipped our heads back to watch them rise before he answered.

“Do you think she’d want to hear about the girls I’ve turned down? Would you in her shoes?” he asked.

I chuckled. “No, I don’t think I would.”

He smiled at that. “Didn’t think so. Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about it. Wondering if maybe I didn’t do it right. Proposing, I mean. Or if maybe I caught her at a bad time. It was right around the time that everything was going down with Ella and Josh. Maybe somewhere in the back of her mind, Ella’s situation made her question things. Ella had thought she was in love with Trent. They got married, and then the next thing you know, he’s dead. Then he’s not dead, and he’s trying to kidnap her and kill everyone else.”

“That’s a lot of thinking she would have done over a situation that is nothing like yours,” I said, worried he’d put a little too much thought into something that was nothing like his and Murphy’s situation.

“But what if she married me and something happened to me? Do you think that could be why she doesn’t want to get married?” he asked.

“Maybe she’s happy with the way things are. Not everyone has the driving need to be married,” I answered, looking into the glowing embers of the log in front of me, wishing it could give me some words of wisdom instead of me winging it.

“Like Aiden and Airen? Or even Nova and Eli?” he asked.

“Well, Aiden and Airen for sure. Nova and Eli are just getting to really know one another. Not all relationships work out. And not many people marry someone they hardly know. It happens, but not very often. Hell, you could know someone forever, marry them, and then be divorced before you’ve celebrated your second anniversary. Or you could be one of those who dove in, said I do, and make it last a lifetime. Everyone is different. What I can tell you is to respect her feelings on it. One day, she may change her mind and surprise you.”

He settled back, kicked his feet out in front of him, and crossed them at the ankle. “That’s where the whole, ‘I think I screwed up’ part comes into play.”

“What did you do?” I asked, wondering how fast I could do damage control if it were needed.

He dug into his jacket pocket, hauled out a box, and then tossed it to me. It wasn’t a standard box, more like something that would hold a necklace. The hinge creaked when I opened it, and my jaw just about hit the ground. “You bought the whole wedding set?”

He nodded. “I had the ring I’d proposed with in my jacket when we went shopping today. Long story short, I had a moment of weakness, and a paralyzing thought all in one. I couldn’t keep the ring she’d said no with. And really, it was torture keeping it so close to me and knowing she’d never wear it. And then, what if she did say yes? Was I supposed to give her the same jinxed ring and, in turn, jinx our marriage? So I—”

“Panicked and sold it only to turn around and buy even more jewelry that might have the same shelf life?” I snapped my mouth closed and shook my head. “Sorry, Jared, I really didn’t mean for it to sound cruel.”

“I told you that I thought I screwed up,” he said, holding his hand out.

I snapped the box closed and tossed it back to him. “Well, for what it’s worth, they’re beautiful. How in the hell did you manage to find jewelry, let alone matching jewelry, with music notes incorporated in them?” I asked.

He blushed.

“You had these made. Didn’t you?” Damn.

He tucked the box inside his jacket. “Guilty. I sent drawings to a local jeweler before I bought the other ring, but he’d sold the company right after I sent them. The guy who bought it from him stumbled on my drawings. I guess the owner left them on the desk when he handed over the keys. Anyway, they guy made them and then contacted me last month wanting to know if I was still interested in buying them. I asked him if he could give me time to think about it. I’d pushed it to the back of my mind with everything that happened with Eli, and, well, he probably thought I was putting him off. They were in the case when we checked out the store. When I saw them, I whipped out my credit card. The guy saw the first ring and asked me what I was doing with it. I guess he had someone he knew who was looking for that particular style.”

He shrugged. “Long story short, I got the set, and he got the solitaire.”

“Why music notes? I mean, other than the obvious,” I asked.

He pulled his feet back from the fire. Settling his arms on his legs, he brought the tips of his fingers together as he bounced one knee. “Music was everything for me, until it wasn’t. Murphy witnessed the rise and fall of it. And through everything… everything. She was my balance. My harmony when I no longer had music.”

The full impact of his words slammed into me. Jared loved her more than anything else in the world. And he loved her deeply.

“Oh, shit, Paige. I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m sorry,” he said, wincing when I brushed my hands along my cheeks and found them both wet.

I waved off his concern and took a second to get my thoughts in order. “Jared, did you say that to her? Did you tell her what you just told me?”

He ducked his head. “No. I just told her how much I wanted her to be my wife, and that I couldn’t imagine life without her. I gave her a man’s words, because I thought that’s what she wanted to hear.”

I swallowed a sigh. “A man’s words are the words that come from his heart. You’ve never been one to do or say anything like anyone else, so why start now?”

“But how could she have taken me seriously that way?” he asked, getting up to put another log on the fire.

“Why wouldn’t she?” I asked, forcing myself to see how much we'd all been truly affected since our lives had shifted into a whole new world.

“The guilt eats me alive if I think about it too much. How, because of me, our lives are not what they should have been. Had it not been for me…” He hissed a curse under his breath.

“Look at me, Jared.” I waited until his eyes met mine. “No one blames you. No one will ever blame you. So our lives took a turn, so what? Life does that, and there isn’t a damn thing anyone can do to stop it, unless they decide to stop living. We’re all together again. How can that be wrong?”

He looked as though he wanted to argue the point with me, but didn't know what to say.

“I’m serious. For years, Riley was the glue that held everyone together, but you know something? You’ve been the backbone. And I don’t think any of us have realized it. Hell, I just realized it.”

From over Jared’s shoulder, I saw the door open. Murphy stepped out, clutching her arms. After seeing us, she started in our direction. “That’s my cue,” I said, getting up.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“To give Murphy her jacket so she doesn’t freeze her ass off out here,” I said, stopping to put my hand on his shoulder. “You’re a good man, Jared. Give it time. She loves you. You love her. The rest will come when it comes.”

He squeezed my hand and then let go. “Thanks, Doc.”

I left Jared staring at the fire and jogged over to Murphy, taking off her jacket and handing it to her. “Sorry I borrowed it without asking, but I kept it nice and warm for you.”

The chill struck me instantly. I shifted one foot to the other, almost dancing in place to keep warm.

“No big deal. Everything okay?” she asked, chin jutting in Jared’s direction.

I smiled and went to answer, but bit my lip when my teeth tried to chatter their way out of my head. Instead, I ended up slapping my hand to my cheek. “Nng.”

“You better get inside before you turn into an ice sculpture,” Murphy said, darting around me and making a beeline for the fire.