Page 88 of Breaking the Pucking Rules (LA Vipers #1)

Casey

Christmas Day

I ’m already awake when I hear the first soft footsteps coming our way.

I haven’t been this excited about Christmas since I was a little kid myself.

It was never the same once I grew up, and then it was even worse after Mom died, when Dad and I were too busy trying to survive than celebrate.

Mom loved the holidays. She decorated a week before Thanksgiving, and every week, there was an addition to her beloved collection. A collection that has been gathering dust in the garage ever since.

Well, not this year.

This year, all of her decorations are out on display to be enjoyed as they should have been. Only, they’re in a different house.

In the days that followed the first Vipers game with us as officially a couple, Kodie asked me to spend the holidays with him and Sutton. Of course, I agreed, but only if Dad could come as well.

What I didn’t know was that Kodie had already spoken to my dad about it, and that they’d been scheming up how to make this Christmas the best one yet.

The last thing I expected when I walked through Kodie’s front door after work one day was to find boxes and boxes of familiar decorations filling his living room.

My heart stuttered when I saw them, because I knew exactly what they were.

Kodie stepped up behind me and told me that he understood if I wasn’t ready, or didn’t want to, but that my dad had given him the boxes because he felt like it was time to celebrate Christmas properly, as a family.

I broke down right there and then in front of all my mom’s decorations.

But they weren’t sad tears. Okay, not all of them were sad tears. Mostly, I was just so overwhelmed and grateful, and so fucking in love with the man doing this for me, I couldn’t contain it.

Together, along with Sutton, we spent the next two days decorating the entire downstairs of Kodie’s house.

They both listened dutifully as I explained the story behind almost every piece—where Mom had bought it, why, and where it had lived in our home over the holiday season.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as we carefully unpacked each box, but as much as my heart hurt, I could also feel it being put back together at the same time.

What I used to know as family hasn’t existed for a long time, and there will be a part of me that will forever mourn that. But times are changing, and family to me now includes the incredible people who live under this roof.

Kodie’s bedroom door creaks a little as it’s pushed open. The little footsteps are getting closer.

I crack my eye open to check the time, and I fight a smile when I see that it’s one minute past five.

Of course it is.

Kodie gave a strict no-earlier-than-five-AM wake-up time. I’ll bet anything that Sutton has been sitting in there, staring at the clock and begging for it to move faster.

Kodie’s arm tightens around my waist, silently letting me know that he wasn’t sleeping either.

I bet he’s just as excited as I am.

Gift shopping with him for Sutton was so much fun. He put so much thought into each of her presents, and I know he’s going to enjoy watching her reactions to them just as much.

Excitement flutters in my stomach as a very soft, “Daddy,” fills the room.

Kodie groans as if she’s waking him up.

“Daddy, he’s been. Santa’s been.”

Be still, my beating heart.

“W-what was that, Peanut?” he asks, rolling over to face her.

“Santa, Daddy. He came. Wake up, please,” she begs before her shocked shriek rips through the air as he suddenly lifts her from the floor and drops her between us on top of the sheets.

Reaching over, I flick the bedside light on.

“Santa came?” Kodie asks with a frown. “What do you mean?”

“It’s Christmas Day, Daddy. Come on, wake up.” She rolls her eyes as I laugh at her.

“Of course he came, sweetie. You’ve been so good this year.”

She beams. “I tried really, really hard.”

Oh my god, I love this kid.

“We know you have, Peanut. Shall we go and see exactly what he’s left?”

“Yesss,” she squeals, scrambling off the bed and racing toward the door in her elf pajamas.

Kodie rolls back over, pulling me into his body and rocking his erection against my ass.

“Hmmm, wish there was time for me to give you a special gift to start the day.”

“I know we’re good at quickies, but I don’t think even we have time right now.”

He groans, pressing his forehead to my shoulder.

“Later,” I promise before slipping from under his arms and standing at the side of the bed in my own elf pajamas. It was weird sleeping with Kodie while fully dressed, but we knew we were going to get an early morning visitor, and we agreed it would be best not to terrify Sutton.

“Elf pajamas shouldn't be that sexy,” Kodie groans, his eyes running down my body as if I’m naked.

Flipping the sheets off him, I take in his shirtless chest and then his green-and-white striped pants that are barely containing his morning wood.

“Yeah, I see what you mean.”

A wicked glint flashes in his eyes, and the second he swings his legs off the bed, I take off running to the bathroom.

He catches up to me in front of the sink where I’m about to brush my teeth, but he doesn’t allow it. Instead, he cups my jaw and slams his lips to mine, morning breath be damned.

“Daddy. Casey,” Sutton shouts. “Are you coming?”

“Sadly not,” Kodie mutters after ending our kiss.

We quickly brush our teeth before joining Sutton, who’s waiting for us at the top of the stairs with the stocking she left at the end of her bed last night. Only now, it’s full of gifts from the big man.

I swear to God, I have never in my life been as scared as I was attempting to sneak around last night doing that.

Sutton usually sleeps through anything. But knowing we could be caught at any moment was terrifying. I don’t want to be the reason she loses the magic too soon.

But seeing the wide smile on her face, and the excitement in her eyes, I know I passed the test.

Kodie takes the stocking, and together we make our way toward the Christmas tree in the living room.

“Oh my god,” Sutton squeals, finding more gifts that have appeared overnight. “Is this one a bike?” she asks, pointing at a huge, flat box propped up against the wall.

“I don’t know, Peanut. Let’s all grab a drink and then we can get started.”

Sutton huffs impatiently, but she doesn’t argue as I fire up the coffee machine and Kodie makes her a hot chocolate loaded with cream and marshmallows.

Only a few minutes later, we’re all sitting on the floor in the living room, and Sutton is practically vibrating with excitement.

“I’m doing the big one first,” she squeals before tearing at the paper with two hands.

As she predicted, there’s a new “big girl” bike inside.

“Yesss,” she squeals before hitting her stocking.

She takes her time gently unwrapping each one and spends a minute or two focusing on each gift. She explains every single one of them to us as if we weren’t the ones who chose them and tells us all the reasons she wanted them and loves them.

She’s about halfway done with her gifts when she suddenly pauses.

“Daddy, we should give Casey hers now,” she states with her hands on her hips like she owns the place.

“Yeah?” Kodie asks.

Sutton dives under the Christmas tree, stretching right to the back where they must have hidden it.

She passes it over before stepping back. Kodie reaches for her and sits her on his lap, both of them watching me impatiently.

“Go on then,” Sutton encourages when I don’t make a move to open it.

Curious, I carefully unwrap the paper, finding a small white box inside.

I glance up, my eyes narrowing at the anxious expressions on their faces.

What have they done?

Forcing my eyes away from them, I gently pull the lid off and then peel back the tissue. Inside, sitting on a velvet cushion, I find a key inside attached to a little metal house keyring. Written on that house are three names.

Kodie.

Casey.

Sutton.

“Baby,” Kodie says softly, shuffling them both closer. “Make it official. Move in with us?”

My eyes bounce between his before dropping to Sutton’s.

The lump in my throat is so huge, I can barely breathe.

I nod, my smile spreading across my face.

“Yes?” Kodie asks, needing verbal confirmation.

“Yes. Yes,” I cry, reaching for both of them.

We hold each other for the longest time as we prepare to embark on the next chapter of our lives as a family. When we eventually part, I look between them and confess, “My gifts are going to be such a disappointment after this.”

Laughter rings through the house, and it stays the same way for the rest of the day.

Dad and Kathleen join us, and Kathleen and I take charge of the kitchen, melding our family traditions together into a whole new one.

Everything about the day is perfect. There is so much love and happiness. It’s exactly what Dad and I have been missing.

Sutton eventually concedes and lets us put her to bed an hour after her usual time. The four of us play games, drink, and laugh until the early hours before Kathleen retires to her pool house and Dad heads to one of Kodie’s guest rooms.

Alone at last, I climb onto Kodie’s lap on the couch and wrap my arms around him before tucking my face into the crook of his neck and breathing him in.

“I’ve had such a good day—thank you.”

“We didn’t ambush you too much earlier?” he asks, forcing me to pull my head up and look at him.

“It was perfect. You are perfect. Sutton is perfect. We are perfect. Thank you for opening your life and your family to me.”

“We weren’t a family before, baby. Something was always missing. We were just people battling our way through life. You being here is what makes us a real family.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Trouble.”

Pushing to stand with me in his arms, he walks toward the stairs, promising to end the day as we always should. Together. And maybe, just every once in a while, breaking a few rules while we’re at it.

One Year Later…

Nostalgia hits me the second I hear Sutton’s first steps out of her room.

As she moves closer through the darkness, my smile grows.