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“Gent’s coming over for lunch, and, well, the other three are over there with him, so is there enough for everybody?” Colton had the grace to look a little apologetic.

Xander cracked up. “I brought two loaves of bread. We’re golden.”

“Good deal. I appreciate it, man. You know how the guys are.” Colton, obviously, liked to foster a family situation, and that worked just fine for Sebastian. This was how small-town life was supposed to be.

“Did you get all the work done that you wanted to get done today?” Colton asked him. “Your podcasts?”

He nodded. “I had three clients this morning.”

“So, were you doing readings or were you teaching them how to read?” Xavi asked.

“Some of each. Two readings, one student.” He didn’t promise anything with his readings, but, so far, he seemed to have a knack for it. And the clients that he kept tended to be long term and happy with their results. So, he wasn’t going to be worried about it.

“Cool. I think that’s the neatest thing.” Xavi waved a hand. “I mean, I have my crystals, and I charge them and stuff, but I’m not good with the cards or anything.”

Sebastian snorted. “Anything being what?”

“Like the Ouija.”

“Oh there will be none of those,” Colton said. “I have seen some things.”

“Really like what?” Xavi’s gaze was altogether too interested, and Xander shook his head at Colton.

“No, no, no. Don’t talk to him about it. Whatever it is, it’s dangerous, and he doesn’t need to get into it.”

“Hey!” Xavi frowned, even as Sebastian cracked up. Xavi was notorious for finding trouble. It called him like a magnet. “Xander, you act like I’m a child about these sorts of things. I’m a functional, responsible adult.”

“Nope, you’re not a child. You’re just a little bit of a psychotic innocent. No, no, no, no, no.” Xander’s look of exaggerated horror wasn’t helping Sebastian hold back his giggles at all.

“You’re not my boss.”

“You might need a boss.” Xander stuck his tongue out at Xavi.

“Yeah, but not you,” Xavi chuckled. “I love you, and you adore me, but?—”

Xander shook his head. “No, the chemistry is totally not there. Still, I don’t like the idea of you playing with things you don’t understand.”

Iago opened the door just then, and Xander’s eyes shifted over to the omega. Sebastian privately thought that there was a lot of chemistry right there, personally, but Xander didn’t seem like he was willing to chat about it.

“What are we talking about? What are we playing with?”

The guys all shuffled in, then, Gent bringing up the rear. Abby immediately ran to Gent and lifted her arms up, begging a hug. It was amazing to see Gent’s face just melt.

Xander shook his head. “It’s no big deal. Xavi was threatening to use the Ouija board.”

Iago, Mason, Law, and Gent, as a man, said, “Nope.”

Abby tilted her head, blinking at them, then she stared at Gent. “Unca Gent, what’s a wee, wee word?”

Sebastian looked at Gent, and then to his husband. “Yeah, Uncle Gent, what’s a wee, wee word?”

The amount of swallowed chuckles around the room was hilarious.

“It’s a silly game for talking to ghosts,” Gent explained with a warm smile, but Abby shook her head at his words.

“You don’t need a game. You just say, ‘Hi, ghosties!’” She waved, and the new flowered curtains in the kitchen waved in the nonexistent breeze.

The crew just shook their heads, collectively.

Gent, on the other hand, nodded. “Yes, Abby, I see. You’re absolutely right. We don’t need a wee wee word. We just need to say hi and be friendly.”

Law rolled his eyes, shook his head. “Was someone saying there was going to be lunch?”

“I have bread and potato soup.”

“Oh, that sounds excellent.” Gent shook his head with a smile. “I think that I need to make steaks for everyone. Maybe we’ll have steaks and baked potatoes and with a salad tonight for dinner. I’ve got plenty.”

“Are we gonna make a day out of it?” Colton asked.

“Oh, I think we totally should,” Gent answered.

“Cool.” Xander grinned. “I would love for someone else to cook for dinner tonight.”

“Then I will gladly do so,” Gent winked, and everybody laughed. He was super family oriented, maybe more than Colton, which was hard to do. Although, to be fair, Colton’s relationship with his own family was strained, and Gent apparently had a great one with his folks.

Speaking of… “So when do your people get in for the holidays? You said they were coming here, right?” Sebastian asked.

Gent nodded. “Yeah, my folks and my one sister will be coming in the day before Christmas. And then they’re going to stay for three or four days depending on the weather.”

“Well, we’d love to meet them while they’re here,” Sebastian said.

Colton just laughed. “If you think for one minute you’re not going meet Gent’s family, you’re crazy. He’s going to bring them over here to meet Abby, and then he’s probably going to kidnap her, and they’re gonna go do something over in Secret Springs. That’s what they do.”

Iago raised an eyebrow. “They kidnap children?”

Gent shook his head. “No, we spoil them.”

Abby clapped her hands. “Uncle Gent’s gonna have a granny and grampy for me.”

Sebastian teared up a little bit. His folks had been gone for so long, and Colton’s people wanted nothing to do with Abby, and that really hurt his heart, but Gent had already said his parents intended to call Abby their granddaughter.

He just couldn’t believe how, in such a short amount of time, he had all these people.

It had been him and Xavi and Xander and their parents for so long, and now there was just this huge group of friends and family who were there to support them.

And it was Christmastime, which made it even better.

“Are we going to do the Secret Springs thing like we did for Halloween? They have a big Christmas bazaar.” That was Xavi who just loved to go over and do all sorts of shopping among the weird crafts and food, and the antique store always did a sidewalk sale.”

“Absolutely.” Colton grinned hugely. “I also understand that we have a fabulous tree lighting right here in Hot Springs Junction.”

“We do.” Sebastian felt laughter bubble up.

“Mrs. Berry coordinates it every year, and we put it in the park. In fact, I would imagine that she’s going to try to rope all of the new residents of Hot Springs Junction into helping her string lights around the street lamps at the park.

It’s a big deal, and frankly, everybody who normally does it is getting a little bit old. ”

“We don’t want somebody slipping off the ladder,” Colton said.

Gent gave him a look. “Especially you.”

Sebastian had to agree with that. He didn’t think Colton needed to be on the ladder, but he could certainly coordinate from the ground. He was really good at telling people what to do.

“I can figure out somewhere to be useful,” Colton said.

“Papa Colton always helpful,” Abby said.

Xander gave him a hard stare. “Unless he’s supposed to be wrapping presents.”

Abby perked up. “Presents?”

“Not until Christmas, baby girl,” Sebastian said. “Not until Christmas.”

But he had to admit every day felt like Christmas right now. It was just amazing, and he couldn’t wait for the tree lighting. These guys had no idea what Hot Springs Junction might have in store for them.