Page 28

The table is clear, and the room is ready, so all I really need to do is get the boxes of decorations that we’re using for the table out and prepared to go on the table as soon as we’ve finished breakfast and Peter’s turned up.
I had actually forgotten about breakfast despite the fact I helped to prepare everything and that I walked through the kitchen where Rafe and Riot were starting to plate everything up. It’s not a big deal; it just means that we’ve got to clear the table and reset the kitchen again before everyone arrives.
“Breakfast is ready,” I hear Rafe call from the kitchen, letting everyone know to come and take their seats.
Leaving the boxes of decorations where they are, I go into the kitchen to help carry plates through, and all of the guys do the same, grabbing their plates before taking their seats and digging in. I smile as I look around at them, all dressed in variations of red and green and all looking incredibly sexy as they dress up for the day. We don’t often get the chance to dress up, and although seeing them in their combat stuff and armed to the teeth always makes me hot, there’s just something super special about seeing them all dressed smartly.
“So, what’s next on the plan?” Riot asks the table as we all sit back and finish our coffees. I’m liking it to, the calm before the storm.
“We need to clear breakfast and sort the kitchen out again, and then I’m in the kitchen for most of the day,” Rafe replies.
“I’m going to set up some nibbles on the smaller table in the kitchen for people to pick on since we’ve got a good few hours before dinner will be ready,” Riot adds.
“I’ll help,” Luc offers, and Riot smiles gratefully.
“I’m just waiting for Peter to come up to help me do the table, and then we’re waiting for everyone else to come up, I think,” I add with a slight frown as I try to think of everything.
“I need to go and check on the horses. We haven’t had too much snowfall overnight, so it should be easy enough,” Rage adds.
“I’ll come up with you,” Atlas offers.
“I guess the rest of us are just helping out where we can,” Cash says.
“Actually, I’d like just to go and double-check the road before we have everyone coming up here, but Elijah is coming up with Peter, so I’ll see if he wants to come with me and help since I can’t exactly drive with my leg in cast,” Trick suggests, always worrying about making sure that everyone is safe.
“Alright man, well, let's clear the table and get going,” Jensen grins as he stands up and grabs some of the plates off the table.
I watch him closely, and seeing that he doesn’t wince with the movement makes me smile a relieved smile.
Everyone splits up, and true to form, Peter soon turns up dressed to the nines with a red velvet suit, black shirt, and a glittery Christmas tie. I will never get tired of his sense of dress.
I also will never tire of his one-track mind when it comes to decorating and helping me.
“Right, let me see the inspiration photo again?” he asks, and it's the first thing that he says.
I grin and grab him, pulling him into a tight hug, “Happy Christmas.”
He chuckles as he hugs me tightly and lifts me up off the ground at the same time, “Sorry, Ever, you know me, I get too excited. Happy Christmas, my wonderful bestie.”
“Right, now we can do the table,” I tease as we break apart, and I bring the inspiration picture up on my phone.
He takes my phone and looks over it, zooming in on parts and then looking at the boxes of decorations that I’ve got set up and ready to go through.
“Okay, I remember now. Are we having help from the guys, or have they been warned away?” Peter asks as he looks up from my phone with a smirk.
“They’ve been warned away,” I reply.
“Good. We should be able to get this done in no time then.” Peter replies honestly.
The table setup that I’ve chosen isn’t too complicated, and after the guys and I had cleared the table, I asked Atty and Rage if they could put the extensions in it so it's big enough to seat all of us. It does mean that the seating area at the end of the room has to be shifted a bit to make room, but somehow, it still doesn’t look squished or cramped.
We start by putting two plain white tablecloths on the table. We tried to find one big enough to cover the whole thing, but it was impossible, so we gave up. Then, down the middle, the entire length of the table, we put a red velvet table runner that has these tiny gold snowflakes on it that sparkle in the overhead and lights and is going to look absolutely beautiful under candlelight.
We then place candles in these raised glass candle holders strategically along the table before threading a garland of fake pine with snowy tips, pinecones, and tiny red berries through the candles. I then pull out some red and gold baubles and place them along the garland. When I step back, I’m genuinely over the moon at the way it looks. We’ve had to keep it relatively simple because we’re eating family style, so there needs to be enough space for all of the dishes to be laid out.
Peter managed to find some red and green serving dishes that go along with our theme, and it’s going to look really good when it’s all done. The next thing that we do is set out the plates. We’re having starters, so we place the larger plate down and then the starter plate on top. The plates are white with tiny gold snowflakes around the edges and tie in perfectly with the tablecloth and runner; we then lay out the cutlery, which is this burnished gold and almost looks antique-like and tarnished, not bright and gaudy. One of the last touches is the water glass and two wine glasses, all with the same burnished gold edging, and then finally, red cloth napkins that match the table runner with gold snowflakes embroidered on them. We toyed around with having people's names embroidered on them as well but eventually decided against it so that people could just sit wherever they wanted to instead.
Peter stands back with me as we look over our hard work; he throws an arm around my shoulders and squeezes, “We did good; it looks amazing.”