Page 2

Chapter One

S lice heard the faint cry of the infant in the crib across the room. He shook his head to clear the sleepiness, got up, and walked across the room. He’d battled insomnia since he’d returned and most nights had nightmares. He’d decided he’d just sit in the rocking chair all night, but he’d amazingly drifted off to sleep.

“Hey, Little Buddy, it’s okay. Let’s get you dry, and then I’ll get your bottle,” Slice whispered. He slipped his big hands under the tiny body and cuddled Buddy close to his chest as he walked to the changing table. He laid Little Buddy down and unsnapped his sleeper. He’d gotten quite good at this by helping out his friends at Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC, who had little ones in the eight plus months he’d been a part of them. He switched out the wet diaper for a dry one quickly so Little Buddy didn’t decide to spray them both.

He'd learned his lesson the hard way with Joey, Bear and Winnie’s son. He’d had to explain to Bear and Winnie how Joey had peed in his own ear and then call and ask them what he needed to do to clean it out while they were out on their date. Nope, Little Buddy wasn’t going to have that happen to him.

He grabbed a blanket because it was three in the morning, and he wasn’t sure how cold the house would be. He walked out to the front room, taking care to try not to wake up the rest of the house. He mixed the bottle and then put it in the warmer like Faith had shown him. Her setup was a little different from his friends’ houses.

Faith, the lush, beautiful woman who had opened her house and asked him to stay overnight when she could tell he didn’t feel comfortable leaving the baby he’d found. Even thinking that had him realizing how crazy the last five hours had been.

After the sheriff had spoken to the DCFS social worker in charge of their area, Little Buddy was placed in emergency foster care with Faith. Faith was licensed for long-term foster care as well as the seventy-two-hour emergency care.

Once everything had calmed down, Faith had her boys go to bed, and then she’d followed after Slice had said he’d stay in the baby’s room and take the night shift. He still couldn’t believe she’d let him, a big, tattooed biker, stay in her spare room after only knowing him for a couple of hours.

Snuffling against his chest had him testing the bottle. After confirming the temperature was right, he settled in Faith’s recliner and gave Little Buddy his bottle to keep him from waking anyone else up with his cries. Despite being less than twelve hours old, per the EMTs’ estimation, the kid had a set of lungs on him that could wake the neighbors.

Slice wasn’t sure what had made him need to be there to take care of the baby, but he was appreciative that Faith asked him to stay. He was sure some shrink dissecting Slice’s childhood would find it had to do with Slice losing his mom when he was eight and his dad surrendering him to DCFS. His dad hadn’t even said goodbye, just dropped him at school and then never returned. He could remember not understanding what was happening when he didn’t go home after school but to a foster home.

A sound from the hallway had him glancing into the darkness. There was a nightlight in the kitchen, which cast a glow over the area.

Faith had put the boys’ filled stockings out, but she’d covered them with a sheet, just in case, she said. As he saw two faces peek around the corner, he thought that had been a brilliant move for her.

The boys stared at him, then the older one, Micah who was nine, grabbed his brother’s hand and walked into the room.

“Is LB okay?” he asked softly.

“LB?” Slice asked.

“We think Little Buddy is too big of a mouthful. We thought maybe just Buddy, but then Isaiah said it sounded like the guy in Elf, and that guy’s a little cray-cray. So LB was better,” he said, leaning over to see Little Buddy, or LB, it seemed like.

“I like LB,” Slice said. “Do you guys want to crawl up here, too?” Slice asked.

They both nodded and crawled up into the recliner. He was a big guy, but he moved a little so both boys could cuddle against his chest near LB. They all watched LB finish his bottle, then Micah took the bottle to the kitchen while Slice burped LB.

“I can burp, too,” Isaiah said and proceeded to burp the alphabet A through G before stopping.

“That’s impressive,” Slice said, smiling at the young boy. He seemed a tad small for an eight year old. He was missing a tooth in the front.

“Did these hurt?” Isaiah asked, tracing Slice’s arm tattoos.

“Umm, a little. I recommend waiting until you’re an adult because then you’ll be sure you like them.”

The boys both nodded, then stared at him. He wasn’t sure what they were thinking. Isaiah nudged Micah, but both boys kept quiet.

“I think LB needs to go back to sleep. Do you need to sleep, too?” Slice asked.

“Yes. Mom wants us to,” Micah muttered.

“But it’s our first Kissmas with gifts. What if we sleep through Kissmas?” Isaiah asked, with his forehead scrunched in worry.

Aww, Slice could understand now why they were out here with him. He was guessing they’d come from a bad situation, and Slice remembered the lack of hope in those same types of situations he’d experienced. Wanting with all his heart to be loved and have clean clothes and food, but at the same time, worried it would never happen.

“Faith and I won’t let you sleep through Christmas. She seems really nice, even though I just met her. Does she act like she’d let you sleep through the biggest holiday for toys?” Slice asked.

Micah shook his head. “No, she’s really nice. We always have food, and the house is warm.”

“And clean clothes,” whispered Isaiah.

Slice’s heart hurt that the basic necessities were something these boys noticed because they hadn’t had them before. He wanted to wrap all three of them up and make sure they never wanted for anything, along with getting to know the lush, gorgeous woman down the hall.

“Well, I think we can trust her to help us wake up so we don’t miss Christmas. How about we all head back to sleep now? We want to be rested for the fun, right?” Slice asked.

He waited to see what the boys would do, and then the boys nodded. Slice helped them off the chair, then stood up with LB on his shoulder. He walked them back to their room, then helped them get covered up before leaving to put LB in the crib.

Faith was standing in the hallway. Before Slice could explain, Faith smiled at him.

“Thank you. It’s good for them to see a big, strong man being gentle with a baby and them,” she said. She patted his hand, and Slice wondered if she’d say anything else, this woman who had welcomed him in without a thought for herself. She kissed LB on the top of his head, turned, and headed back into her room.

He had a hard time keeping his eyes off her round ass in the pajama bottoms.

He wasn’t sure whether it was the magic of Christmas or something else, but each moment in this house kept surprising him. It almost felt like a dream. As if once the sun rose, everything would disappear. If he wasn’t feeling the weight of LB in his arms, he’d wonder if he was really here.

He needed to get LB back to bed and then catch a little sleep before it was morning. He was looking forward to tomorrow. He didn’t ever remember anticipating Christmas after he went into foster care. The vague memories he had of his family before that time had faded over the years. He could still remember bits and pieces about his mom—like her always smelling like bread baking.

She’d been a baker. She’d baked pies, birthday cakes, cinnamon rolls, cookies, and all sorts of sweets for people. She’d also washed, dried, and ironed clothes for money. His dad hadn’t ever seemed to hold a regular job; at least, that was how Slice remembered it.

The woman, the baby, the kids had him feeling things he’d never felt before. He had a special place for these kids, having grown up himself in foster care in group homes. He had fond memories of his mom before she passed, but going into the foster care system at eight had been eye-opening. He’d been placed with a few different couples over the years until being moved into a group home at eleven. Both couples had not been in it for the love of kids like he could already tell Faith was. It had been a money maker for them, and Slice had been lucky if he’d gone to bed with his stomach full. Most times, he’d gone hungry until he got the breakfast the school provided. The group home had been overcrowded and understaffed. There wasn’t any way the workers could keep an eye on everyone. Numerous fights broke out, and Slice had learned to defend himself early on. Until he’d hit his growth spurt, then everyone left him alone.

Slice shook his head. He didn’t need those thoughts in his mind tonight. He’d joined the Army as soon as he was old enough. He’d found a family in his team and a purpose. Protecting his country had fed his protective instincts and given him a sense of honor. The same sense of honor and hope he’d found when he came to Bluff Creek. He was going to move Heaven and Earth, if needed, to ensure Little Buddy never went through what Slice had, if Slice had anything to say about it.