Oreos for Breakfast: Chapter 27

Oreos For Breakfast: Chapter 27
By the Paperbag Princess and Pumpkin Coach

I could feel my stomach sink as we pulled up to the house. Last year had been awful. Just… awful. The first Christmas without Dad, and we'd all tried to ignore it but it was there in the room with us, every moment, like a huge elephant no one wanted to see.

This Christmas would be different. I hadn't felt that way last night, but now Nick was here. I stole a glance at him, his eyes wide as he looked at all the lights Patrick and Jon had put up around the house and vineyard. Thank God it had snowed. It was barely a dusting, but the house was so pretty when it snowed. Nick looked over, catching me mooning over him, and grabbed my hand, interlacing his fingers with mine and smiling at me.

"I love you, Rachel."

He did. At this moment I believed that fully. He was here with me. I knew he should be with his family, but part of me didn't care - that selfish part that wanted him with me always.

Always?

No. Don't rush there, Rache.

Ever since the other night when I'd thought he might be proposing, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Maybe it was just because my subconscious was tired of worrying about the band and missing Dad, so now it had decided I needed to worry if Nick was forever or not.

Even this afternoon, when Nick had handed me a jewelry box, I'd wondered if he'd changed his mind since Miami. For a brief moment, I could envision him down on his knees, looking up at me with that earnest look in his eyes, asking me…

No. Earrings. That's what was in the box. I glanced at my reflection in the rearview mirror and smiled to myself. They were gorgeous, too. This was a boy who'd been taught to pick out jewelry well. I didn't care that they were expensive - and I'm sure they were - I only cared that he'd found them just for me.

That was good enough right now. It was more than good enough. We had lots of time to figure out the forever stuff. Now I wanted to forget about the band and just enjoy the Christmas Eve party and stop worrying. I'd still miss Dad, but introducing Nick to everyone in town would give me something else to do.

I stopped in front of the house, and he was out of the car in a second, running around to my side to open the door. He was too cute sometimes. He pulled me up, and I snuggled against him for a moment, letting him hold me there. "I love you, too, Nick. Merry Christmas."

He kissed my forehead and pushed the hair off my shoulders so he could admire his gift, "They aren't half as beautiful as you are, Rache."

"Flatterer!" I laughed, "You think you're gonna get lucky later or something? I have something I can hock now! What do I need you for?"

He jumped back in mock horror, making us both laugh, then took the keys out of my hand and popped the trunk. "But now I have possession of the ham. Your family will be pissed if I accidentally drop it."

I stuck my tongue out at him, grabbing our bag and the tray of stuff that didn't fit into the box he was trying to get out of the trunk. It was a very small trunk and a very large box. Then there was screaming. "Aunt Rachel, Aunt Rachel!"

I moved around the car so that Katie and Colleen could attack me properly. "What, girlies?" Good Lord, I'd just seen them yesterday morning. I knew I was cool, but this reception was a little over the top.

"Aunt Rachel, Nick sent us flowers!" Colleen told me breathlessly.

"I did?" he asked from behind me, and they both froze, whipping their heads around me to see him.

Then the scream was ear-splitting. Man. My girls could scream. Guess Mom hadn't told them he was here. They were in his arms before I could turn around, and I found him with one girl in each arm, hugging them tightly. "Nick! Why are you here?"

"I came to surprise you. And your Aunt Rachel. Did I send you flowers?"

"Yes! Roses for me, and Katie, and even Ali!"

"Your moms, too," he corrected, and I blinked at him. When the hell did he do that?

"Right," Katie went on. "And poinsettias for every single stair in the staircase. Both sides! And cool pine stuff. More flowers than we've ever had! Come see!"

They tried to pull him inside, but he laughed, letting them go. "I've got a big box to carry in. You guys go in. It's cold out here. We'll be right in."

They ran off, laughing and talking about the flowers, and I blinked at him. "What did you do?"

Shrugging, he picked up the box and shut the trunk with his elbow. "I thought it would be nice to send flowers for the party. This was like a week ago, before I knew I was coming."

"So you sent us seventy million poinsettias?"

"Apparently the florist is a regular at the party. I told him I wanted flowers sent, but he knew the house, so I told him to do whatever he wanted. Guess he did."

I kissed him before we got to the door. "You are so sweet, bunny. Flowers for the girls?"

He gave me his cockiest grin. "Girls like getting flowers. I'm just buying their affection."

Worked, too. Mom opened the door and kissed him before she even said 'hello' to me. "You darling boy! Thank you!" His grin got even cockier as he looked at me over her shoulder. "I've always wanted the house to look this beautiful. It's just wonderful."

Kate pulled me inside, and I followed, not able to protest with the box in my arms. Rachel hadn't let me eat anything before we'd left, and the smells drifting up from the box were driving me insane. That, and the thought of what Rachel was going to be wearing for the party.

Oh my God.

The house looked like something out of a movie. There were flowers on just about every available surface. Greenery strung with little white lights outlined the archways and banister on the staircase. And the girls were right. There were poinsettias on every stair. It was beautiful.

"Wow," Rachel breathed behind me. "Nick, this is…"

"I didn't do it," I interrupted. "Really. Ben got all excited when I told him which party I wanted him to do, and I told him to just go ahead. He deserves all the credit."

"You made his Christmas," Kate told me with a smile, leading us back to the kitchen where I could finally put down the damn box. "I always order some flowers from him for the party, but when he started pulling out flats of poinsettias, I told him he had the wrong house. 'No, all from Rachel's boy,' he said."

'Rachel's boy.' I was gonna be that all night, wasn't I? I caught her eye, and we grinned at each other. That was okay. I could do that. In the kitchen, Vanessa and Sarah cooed over me, thanking me for their flowers and teasing me about surprising them. Had Kate kept the secret from everyone? I looked over at Kate while Rachel showed off her earrings, and she smiled at me.

"Christmas surprises are always nice," she said as if she was reading my mind. "Excellent job on the earrings, darling. Will you keep my daughter in diamonds?"

"That's the plan," I grinned. Hopefully she'd like the necklace I'd gotten her. Rachel had gotten diamond earrings for all the women, so I got them all diamond necklaces. The guys were much harder.

Just then, they walked in, both of them stopping when they saw me standing there with their mom. "Nick?" Patrick asked. "Did you RSVP?"

Kate whacked him. "He doesn't need to. He showed up to surprise Rachel, and all of us, really. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yes, Mom," Patrick grumbled, but smiled as he shook my hand. "Good to see you again. Ready for the madness?"

"They told me I had to be early to move furniture."

"Great!" Jon said, slapping me on the back. "Been a while since we've had another set of hands to push things around. Let's go." And that quickly, I was away from the safety of the women. Women liked me.

But it wasn't that bad. Maybe it was just the Christmas spirit, but within minutes, we were just acting like guys, insulting one another's strength and relative intelligence while the kids ran around our feet. The women kept wandering in and out, placing trays of food on every surface not covered with flowers or candles, and yelling at us when they came back five minutes later to find holes where we'd sampled the food.

If my family had attempted a party like this, we'd all be screaming at one another within seconds. Or maybe not, because Mom would have had it all catered. Rachel had told me when we were discussing it a few days ago that nothing was catered, not one thing. Starting at Thanksgiving, everyone cooked and froze things, and then today they'd pull it all out and stick it in the oven. They ordered bread from a local bakery, but that was it.

"Nick, we should get changed." Right. I had good clothes in that bag, didn't I? She'd been so excited when I'd opened the box with the suit she'd gotten me. I didn't like suits, but this one was really nice, and Rachel said it went with my eyes.

It was nearly eight, and soon people would start arriving and I'd have to memorize a million new names. I sucked at that. I could remember every piece of choreography I'd ever had to learn, but introduce me to someone and I forgot their name 10 minutes later.

"Two minutes, buttercup, just let me finish this." She smiled at me, running up the stairs. I started to go back to rearranging some chairs, when I realized Jon and Patrick were staring at me. "What?"

"Buttercup?" Jon asked.

"That's nothing," Patrick laughed. "She calls him 'bunny.'"

Shaking my head, I went back to pushing the chair into place. "She can call me whatever she wants."

Jon was laughing, repeating 'bunny' to himself, until Patrick sighed, raising his voice. "Van, what do you call your loving husband?"

She smirked at us as she went towards the stairs. "'Monkey Butt.' He just has the cutest little…"

All three of us groaned, making her laugh. "Dude, 'Bunny' is way better than 'Monkey Butt'," I told Jon between giggles.

"I am sure that Sarah calls you something much worse, Patrick!"

"I'm taking that one to my grave, big brother," Patrick taunted, and Jon took off after him, demanding to know. I watched them go, still giggling, and then decided I really should change.

I had no idea where Rachel had taken my clothes. We were staying here tonight; that way we could stay for the opening of gifts after the party, and wake up for her favorite breakfast - party leftovers. I heard her voice and followed it to the end of the hallway on the second floor. "I wanted to give these to you guys before the party started, so you could wear them, okay?" she said, and I slowed down, peeking inside the room.

She was in the middle of the floor with her back to me. The three girls were surrounding her, each with a jewelry box in her hand. They were way too interested in what was in the boxes to notice me. "They're lockets," Rachel offered, leaning over to help Ali open hers up.

"It's Pop-Pop!" Katie exclaimed, opening her locket. Was she even old enough to remember what he looked like?

"Yeah." Rachel pulled Ali's necklace out of the box and fastened it for her. "I found pictures of each of you with Pop-Pop. I know you're too little to remember, Ali, but this was Pop-Pop's favorite night of the year. He loved the party and the food and the music, and he really loved giving out the gifts to all of us after."

Colleen held out her necklace to Rachel, and Rachel took it with a smile, helping her with the clasp. "So I want you all to wear them tonight, and whenever you want, and remember how awesome your Pop-Pop was, okay? I wanted to give them to you on Christmas Eve, because this was such a special night to him."

"It's pretty, Aunt Rachel," Ali said, looking down at her locket. "I don't have a picture of Pop-Pop."

Rachel was helping Katie with hers now, but I could hear the tears in her voice when she answered Ali. "Well, now you do, Ali Cat."

"What is it?" a voice whispered near me, and I looked over to see Sarah peering into the room with me. "A locket?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Know what else you need to do, Ali?" Rachel asked her, pulling her into her lap. "You need to ask your Daddy, and your Uncle Jon, and me, and your cousins, and especially Grandma, all about Pop-Pop. Because Billy was just a tiny, tiny baby when Pop-Pop died, so you have to help Billy remember him."

"I don't really remember him," Ali admitted, and Rachel hugged her tighter.

"I know, baby. But we'll help you. He loved you very much."

"Daddy says he comes in my dreams."

"Your daddy is a very smart man." Her voice broke, and she buried her head in Ali's hair. Sarah started to go in, but Rachel looked up, smiling as Katie handed her a tissue. "Sorry. No crying tonight, I promise. I just wanted to give you a little present before the party."

"How are you spoiling my daughter now?" Sarah said, going into the room, and Ali leaped out of Rachel's arms to show off her new necklace to her mother.

"Look, Mommy! Aunt Rachel gived it to me, and she said I should wear it tonight, can I? It's got a picture of me and Pop-Pop inside!"

"Oh, look at that," Sarah cooed. "Rachel, it's lovely." They smiled at one another for a moment, and then Rachel saw me.

"There's my hot boyfriend!" she grinned, and I helped her up off the floor just as the doorbell rang.

"Yikes, first guests!" Sarah yelled. "C'mon, girls, I came to fetch you and get you into your party dresses. Thank Aunt Rachel for the beautiful gifts." They ran out, kissing Rachel and yelling out 'thank you!' as they went. Rachel shut the door after them and leaned against it, smiling at me.

"Did you hear all that?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "Were you looking at pictures for the lockets when you got upset yesterday?"

"Didn't I tell you that?"

Shaking my head, I walked over, pulling her into my arms. "Nope. Just that you were looking at pictures."

"That's why." She sighed, leaning into me. "It's stupid and sappy."

"It's amazing. You're amazing."

"My dad was amazing."

"Like father, like daughter," I asserted, kissing her forehead. She just let me hold her for a minute, and when she spoke again, her voice was heartbroken.

"Ali doesn't even know him," she whispered, and all I could do was hold her tighter. "When I have kids, they won't know their Pop-Pop."

"Yes, they will," I told her, hoping I could stop her from crying. "Because you will tell them."

"It's not the same."

"I know. I know, buttercup. But…"

"But it's the best I've got." She stepped away from me, smiling bravely. "He'd just kill me now. I can almost see him rolling his eyes. 'It's Christmas!' he'd say. 'There's no crying on Christmas!' That's what he'd say when we were little and we'd fight over something stupid."

"This isn't stupid."

She smiled at me for real this time. A sad smile, with tears in her eyes, but it was still a real smile. "Thank you. You're right. But he'd still give me that look."

"He's right, too, you know," I said, taking her hands. "There should be no crying on Christmas."

"Did I thank you enough for coming today, Nick? Thank you."

I kissed her. "Stop thanking me. There's nowhere else I'd rather be on Christmas Eve."

I moved away from him, finding our bag. "And you'll even wear a suit for me. I am so blessed. Now, we need to change, because I need to answer the door at least until James gets here."

He looked at me for a moment, confused. "Why do you have to answer the door for James?"

"To keep Mom away from it."

He kept looking at me as I pulled off my clothes, and I laughed. "Because otherwise she will wonder why he parked so far away from the house. He's bringing the car over, remember?"

"Oh, right!" Now he remembered. Okay, giving my family great Christmas presents this year was a good thing, too. If Dad was here, I'd would have had to buy him a car, instead of just giving him my freebie from VW…

Who was I kidding? I couldn't even joke with myself about that. I'd do anything for the chance to buy my dad a car.

"James!" Colleen said from the hallway outside our door, and I knew I'd missed my chance. Damn James for always being early!

"Hey, gorgeous. That is some frock you've got on. Did your dad approve that?"

What the hell was she wearing? I started to go out and see, and then realized I was only wearing underwear. Nick laughed, pulling me into his arms. "No, stay here with me, buttercup," he whispered, his voice soft as he kissed my neck.

"I need to see what the heck Colleen is wearing."

"I rather like what you're not wearing." I did have on a sexy set of underwear that he'd just gotten me. They were black and lacy, and if the bra showed a little under the sheer top I was going to wear for the party that would be okay…

"Give up, baby," I informed him, stepping out of his arms. "Didn't I warn you this afternoon that was the last alone time we'd have for days?"

"No!" he pouted, and I snickered, stepping into my pants. They were loose and comfortable, but I really liked the sparkly bits running through them.

Okay, being able to afford a really fabulous outfit for the party was also good.

"James is gonna be in here in about three seconds, and then it's my family until we leave to see your family. The sex is over."

"Hey, we've got the drive to Albany tomorrow," he countered.

I checked out my butt in the mirror, and James came in without knocking. "Fabulous," he nodded, looking in the mirror with me.

"I know," I told him.

"As I said before, it's a tragically underrated ass," Nick said, and James screamed, whirling around to see him.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Surprising me," Rachel told him, coming over to wrap her arms around me. She needed to put that top on soon, or I was kicking James out and locking her in here with me. Maybe not sex, but we could make out or something. This was an old house, I'm sure the walls were thick enough. The Connors did manage to have three kids, after all.

James considered us for a moment, and then sat on the bed. "Are the boyfriend points worth the family demerits?"

"Totally," I answered truthfully. We'd had a great day, and we'd both needed it . Rachel seemed happy now. James smiled at me.

"Good. Glad you're here. I'll introduce you to everyone that can share particularly embarrassing Rachel stories."

"Hey!" Rachel whined, leaving me to pick up her shirt. Damn. I liked her in just the bra and those cool pants.

"Who hid the car from your mom?" James queried, looking inside the bag on the bed and pulling out the shirt I was planning on wearing. "You're not wearing this, are you?"

I frowned at him as Rachel answered his first question. "You did, you wonderful boy. Thank you. Did she notice? What's wrong with Nick's shirt?"

"It's boring. No, Vanessa opened the door. Does she know?"

"No, just me and Nick. And you. He might have to be boring."

I loved how they were having two conversations and I wasn't having any. Giving up, I sat on the bed across from James. I didn't have anything else to wear, so I let James complain.

"The car's parked at the bottom of the drive, but I'll move it before we leave. We can figure that out later. Wear this!" James pulled out the blue striped button-down that I was planning on wearing tomorrow. Did he not realize I was wearing a suit? The white shirt went with the suit. "You're wearing the suit she got you for Christmas, right?"

How did James know I got a suit for Christmas?

Why was I surprised about this? He surely helped her pick out the suit.

"Shit, did you not open all your presents?"

"No, that's what I'm wearing. You helped her pick it out, didn't you?"

"Obviously we didn't go far enough with the shirts. Here, put this on. Tell me you have the blue tie we got."

"I hate ties," I complained, pulling off my T-shirt and putting on the shirt James had approved. I knew better than to argue. I'd seen him style Rachel before shows a million times.

"This is a nice party. You're wearing a tie." He rolled off the bed and found my suit, pulling it off the hanger. "Here." He handed me the pants, but I just looked at him. Rolling his eyes, he tossed them on the bed and turned around. "I will avert my eyes, for fear that I will ravish you. Even though you're not my type."

"Yeah, you like the skinny ones," I agreed, putting on the pants. I guess I needed to tuck the damn shirt in, didn't I?

"How is JC?" Rachel asked, leaning into the mirror to apply her eyeliner. I couldn't drink tonight, or I'd be unable to stop myself from attacking her. She looked amazing, all sparkly with a silver top that was just sheer enough to tease. And her ass looked particularly amazing in those pants, didn't it?

She stepped into her shoes and grew several inches. The shoes were even amazing, red with tiny bows on the sides. They were by some designer whose name I could never pronounce… Mento… Milano… something like that.

"Lovely," James sighed. "He's with his family, but he's coming to New York for New Year's."

"Is he?" Rachel squealed.

"You cannot stay with me," James warned. "I will have company."

"So will I," she teased, catching my eye in the mirror as she applied her lipstick quickly. Oh no, she should do that again… slowly… that was a good image. She winked at me, putting away her lipstick. "We're staying at a nice hotel. How cool is it that we both have dates for New Year's?"

"It's been a while. Can I turn around?"

"Yeah," I told him. "Do the stripes really go?"

Rachel giggled. "Nick, are you doubting the gay man's fashion sense? Just let him work his magic."

"Thank you, Rachel. Now, hold still."

He reached inside my pants and I yelled, making Rachel laugh. "Oh, stop it," James said. "Believe me, I'm not attracted to any man who doesn't know the value of a strategically untucked shirt."

Nick finally just gave into James' styling, and I went back to my makeup, ignoring them. Applying the last bit of glitter to my arms, I blew myself a kiss in the mirror. I looked amazing. I was sparkly and beautiful. I turned around from the mirror and Nick smiled at me.

Oh, my God. James was right, the shirt set off the suit perfectly, and it made Nick's eyes so blue. I'd been concentrating on my eye shadow when James had taken my hair gel, but now Nick's hair was spiky and sexy, and I couldn't believe this rock star was here in my house.

"Like it?" Nick smiled, and I grabbed James and kissed him. I heard Nick whine "Hey! I'm the hot one!" as I let James go.

"James, you must stay with us always."

Nick pulled me into his arms. "He has other stuff to do. He has to have sex with skinny guys with scary hair."

"His hair is perfect," James sighed, dreaming of his boyfriend.

"True," I agreed, leaning up to kiss my boyfriend. "James can just hang out for parties. You look amazing, Nick."

"This might be a problem," James warned, and we turned to look at him. "There will be lots of little girls at this party, and I made him into a Backstreet Boy. But it was so much fun!"

There were literally screams when we walked downstairs. And these were from the girls who'd already met Nick! Hell, Katie and Colleen hadn't even been able to keep the secret, so he was expected. Still, it was fun. Nick was charming to the girls, sitting down on the steps and talking to all of them, and that won the parents over. Within an hour or two, he was the most popular boy in the house. I knew he'd never remember anyone's name, but I loved introducing "My boyfriend, Nick," to everyone.

It was a few hours before I sat down at the piano. There'd been dancing and drinking and far too much good food, but now it was all the good friends, not just the people that stopped in to pay their respects. This is when we sang, and then people went home to their families and we opened presents.

I loved Christmas. I'd been worried last year that I wouldn't be able to love Christmas anymore without Dad, but now I knew it would be okay.

Nick caught my eye when I started playing, and I waved him over to me. This was okay. I could do this. I had to. He sat down next to me, and I kissed him quickly before nodding at him to start singing.

I loved his voice. I loved a million other things about him more. He sang for a living, and I sometimes forgot just how good at it he was. We hadn't even practiced, but it was perfect as I picked up the counterpoint, and I knew we sounded beautiful. Thank God he was good at harmonizing, and he managed to make us blend on the final "Peace on earth… can it be…"

There was silence for a second, and Nick glanced over at me.

She was crying. I mean, we sounded good, but…

Someone started clapping, and I saw Kate making her way over to us, tears running down her face, and I figured it out.

"You sang this with your dad, didn't you?" I whispered under my breath.

She just nodded as Kate reached us, pulling both of us into her arms. "Thank you," she whispered, kissing my cheek.

"She set me up," I admitted, and they laughed.

"You wouldn't have done it if I had told you why."

"Damnit, she always shows us up, Jon!" Patrick complained, leaning on the piano. "She gets the pretty, sappy song."

"What do you sing?" I asked him, and he and Jon exchanged a look.

"'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,'" Colleen told me. "It rocks!"

We all cracked up, as the boys protested that it'd started when they were teenagers, and Mom had never let them stop, and they did not have the sweet tradition.

"Your father loved the stupid songs, too," Kate informed them. "He's the one that taught you all the words, after all. C'mon, Rachel, let them play."

We exchanged seats with the boys, and as they set up, it seemed like everyone in the room came over to thank us or kiss Rachel. The ones who didn't were still wiping away tears. Man, that song was a big deal. I was talking to one of the old family friends who told me that now she'd be able to listen to the original again without crying, when I noticed that Rachel had left me. I found her in the corner hugging James as the boys started their song.

James looked up at me as I approached and gave me a huge grin. I'd been half-afraid that maybe he'd wanted to do that song with Rachel, but he looked as happy as I'd ever seen him, even though his eyes were red from crying. "Thanks, man. That meant a lot."

"She set me up," I protested again. She was so right. I never would have done it if I'd known it was her dad's song. Too much pressure! Now I was just glad I didn't fuck it up.

"She set us all up," he said, looking down at her.

Sniffling, she stepped away from his arms. "I wasn't sure I'd be able to go through with it. But it just… we sound good together, don't we?"

She took my hand, and I kissed her quickly. "Imagine what we could have done if we'd practiced."

"You didn't even practice?" James asked, shocked, and Rachel shook her head.

"I wasn't even sure if I wanted to do it. I couldn't have practiced. Something my brothers should have done, however," she joked, looking over at the piano, where Patrick and Jon were stumbling over their silly song.

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