Ace Villan
"I will detach your head and toss it into the river."
Mom blinked at me. "Sweetheart, I thought it would be best if the triplets were a team."
I gave her a once over. "Fine. Fair. Can I opt for lighting myself on fire?"
"I put you with Alastair and Liam."
I pursed my lips. "Okay, that's fine."
Mom shook her head with a laugh. "Okay! Back to what I was saying before my violent child decided to interrupt. There are several challenges you will have to complete! Think of this as team building!"
I groaned. The triplets groaned. My best friends groaned. Everyone groaned. "Mom, I think we need to have a discussion about what you qualify as fun."
"The teams are as follows! The triplets. Ace, Alastair, and Liam. Nolan, Ethan, and Asher. Lily, Tate, and Me. Damon, Sebastian, and Emery."
Uncle Damon smirked at his husband. "I'm so turning our daughter against you."
"We're wonderful parents." Tate mumbled. "Okay! Let's get this going!"
Mom smiled as everyone moved to their perspective group. "Great. So, the challenges are simple enough. You're going to build a snowman. You will make a cup of hot chocolate, and not just instant. Building a gingerbread house." I knew she added that because we never got to do it. "A sled race, and you must go out and find the ugliest Christmas sweater you can find. That will be the last one."
I sighed dramatically. "Why the Christmas sweater?"
"Glad you asked! We're opening our secret Santa gifts tonight, and the winner is picking the Christmas movie we're watching tonight. Not only that, but I picked out pajamas for everyone to wear! They match!"
"I draw the line at matching—" Cade gave me those eyes that told me he wanted partake. Damn it. Damn these triplets for having awful parents and needing experiences. Damn it, existence. "I better get a Santa hat."
Mom winked. "Anything for you."
"Do not butter me up. I'm still going to complain."
"It wouldn't be a family occasion if you weren't complaining, baby." She waved her hands. "First game is set up in the back. Nature did it for you. Make the best snowman you can, everyone! You will all vote, and you can't vote for your own team! Move it!"
I complained the entire way to the back of the house. I dragged my feet through the snow, and hated myself for not wearing a scarf. It was too cold to be doing Christmas activities for supposed team building. But as I listened to the triplets laughing as they started to pack snow together, I remembered why we were doing this.
We wanted to shove Christmas cheer down Cameron's throat, and it seemed they were all having the time of their lives. I glanced over from assisting Liam with the middle part of the snowman, and saw them flicking snow from their creation onto each other. As rich as they'd been their entire lives, they sure found the best in the smallest things. They enjoyed being part of something. Part of a family. And they were. They were part of my family. Alastair's family. Even Liam's. They had a huge family now.
I turned back and grabbed snow from the ground and dumped it on Alastair's head. He pinned me with the look of death, and grabbed the back of my neck, and threw me into the snow. Liam was laughing hysterically at both of us, so I exchanged a look with Alastair before we both grabbed massive handfuls of snow and tossed it at him.
He wasn't laughing anymore.
No, we lost track of what we were supposed to be doing and ended up in a snowball fight. Everyone was advancing quickly, and eventually we went back to the task at hand. By the time the challenge ended, we had a very sad looking snowman.
"I'm voting for the triplets." Liam said. "They sculpted a pipe for it."
Alastair snorted. "I'm voting for them too because I'm extremely biased."
I sighed. "Same. But Asher's little creation is pretty neat. I think I'll vote for his team because I won't play favorites."
Mom gathered everyone's slips and read them out. "One for the triplets." She opened another. "Two for the triplets." Another. "One for Asher, Nolan, and Ethan. Three for the triplets."
As she kept reading, it appeared I was the only one who voted for another group, aside from the triplets themselves. Everyone else voted for the triplets, and the triplets voted for Asher, Ethan, and Nolan.
Which meant the triplets won, and they were more than excited about it. We moved onto hot chocolate where I was tasked with shaving chocolate. Shaving chocolate. What the fuck did I sign myself up for? Unwillingly, at that. Liam and Alastair were hard at work, and I was stuck with this job. I'll choose to be happy that I knew how to cook, and not be bummed that I didn't know anything about making a nice cup of hot chocolate.
I looked over at Asher as he helped Ethan pour the mixture they concocted into a mug. I couldn't help but smile. I did hate how I haven't spent a lot of time with my brother, but he didn't seem to mind. We grew up together and our lives were changing. My life changed a lot.
I hissed and dropped the knife when I managed to catch my finger pretty badly on the blade. "Ow."
Liam leaned back and squealed. "Hell no! Someone tend to it!"
"Aww, you got blood on the chocolate." Alastair frowned. "Well, we can just do it again. But you might want to deal with that. That is...quite a lot of blood for a finger."
"Ah!" Liam was being as dramatic as ever. "Ace is bleeding!"
I heard something hit the table on the other end of the kitchen, and when I turned my head, I saw Cade pushing through his brothers to reach me. Ow, my finger hurt, but seeing his concern warmed my heart.
"Why are you bleeding?! Are you okay?!" Cade grabbed my wrist, and reached over to the sink, and turned on the water. "Ace, blood is supposed to stay inside of your body."
Cameron cleared his throat, and not a single person was prepared for what he said next. "Well, apparently, I also missed that memo."
When I tell you that everyone stopped moving to look at Cameron—everyone stopped what they were doing. Frozen. No one made a sound and I felt bad for him, honestly. He seemed like he regretted opening his mouth at all.
But I literally couldn't hold onto my sanity. I laughed. If he wanted to make a dark joke about something he went through as a way to cope—then I was going to cope with him, because it was rather funny. I slapped a hand over my mouth and tried to stop the train of laughter escaping. I felt I was allowed to laugh. Alastair and Liam ended up giving up, and laughing, too.
Then Carter relented, snorted a laugh. I could tell the humor in everyone wanted to laugh, but the darkness about around it, stopped everyone from doing so.
Cameron started laughing, and Nolan joined in before saying. "Dude, that was fucking dark. I dig it."
Cade stared at his brother. "I'll take your joking on the matter as a way for you to get past it?"
"Absolutely." Cameron answered around a laugh.
He nodded at his brother before smiling, and going back to tending to my wound. "I didn't know it was a joke at first. Not until you started laughing." He pulled my hand from under the water, and grabbed a paper towel from beside the sink. "But I'm glad he's joking about it—even if it probably was a little too soon for everyone. I know you specialize in jokes of the dark kind."
Cade focused on my cut as I smiled at him. "Would you want me any other way?"
Those green eyes found mine. "No, I wouldn't. I prefer you the way you are. But, you know, please try to keep the blood in your body. I don't need someone shouting that you're bleeding. That was one too many heart attacks for me."
I used my free hand and put it on the side of his neck, brushing my thumb across his cheek. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He smiled as he dabbed at the wound, still focused. "I'll continue to be fine so long as everyone keeps their blood inside their body."
"It's just a little cut, Donner. I'm okay." I moved to tip his chin, so he'd look at me. And he did. Yeah, I was a goner for him. "Don't you have a hot chocolate contest to beat us in?"
"You're my primary concern."
"Okay fair because same. But I'm okay, so go get back to kicking our asses, yeah?"
"And this is why no one could tell the difference!" Carter cried. "You two sure act like a couple—it's wild."
I arched a brow and reluctantly dropped my hand from Cade's face to look at Carter. "What's wrong with making sure he's alright? I always make sure he's okay."
Carter narrowed his eyes at me. "Exactly my point. No one here was none the wiser. Except your Mom, but she's your Mom."
"Go back to your hot chocolate." I smirked at him before looking at Cade. "Now, go kick our asses."
"You're having too much fun with this." He picked up the bandaid I didn't even know someone had provided and wrapped it carefully around my finger. "Don't bleed again."
"Anything for you, Prancer."
"Oh, my god! Spare me!" Carter huffed dramatically. "You two are a weird pair of friends!"
I chuckled to myself and went back to cleaning off the counter and sanitizing the surface. Then, very carefully, started grating chocolate while Liam and Alastair finished the hot chocolate.
As it seems, we didn't win that round of the games, and the triplets were ahead of everyone. The sled race after, was even worse. I swear the triplets were a well-oiled machine. They left all of us behind, and took home the trophy again. Though, they seemed to be having a blast with each other, and I'd never heard Cade laugh as much as he had today...ever. So, I didn't care about winning. I cared that they were happy, and I suppose everyone else, too.
Once we were out finding the ugliest Christmas sweater we could get—we found a thrift store. We picked from their selection because used stores always had the ugliest things known to existence when it came to clothes like these. I found one with a stuffed reindeer hanging from the middle—and it even lit up.
The reindeer was symbolic.
And even though no one else had a chance at winning, we all still played how we were supposed to. Because when I walked in the door, my family was dressed in some of the most hideous sweaters I'd ever seen. I wasn't sure if there could be a winner. We all understood the assignment.
Mom didn't make us vote, though. The triplets already won when they took home the victory in the sled race. Now, we were sitting in various areas of the living room, in our ugly ass sweaters, and the gift I hoped Cade liked. I was nervous. I didn't like giving gifts because it was too much pressure.
Though, I probably should have saved this gift for another time because it was rather personal, I suppose. I couldn't figure out what to get him, and I knew Cade better than a lot of people. Then I remembered when I was clicking through his social media. Cade once shared an article he published during college. Or rather, he was published by the University.
He once said that he didn't much care for music the same way others did. The conversation we had during the scavenger hunt told me that. And that might be true, but he liked studying how different music affected other people. He liked statistics. Analytics. Maybe he realized software development wasn't for him, but I think this could be. It might not make him the paycheck he was used to getting, but he'd be happy. I hoped.
That Facebook post was the only place I saw it other than the magazine it was published in. His post had two likes. Two. Those two likes were his brothers. He wrote an entire article about it. And the people he wanted to care, didn't, aside from his brothers. To be published in a magazine as a freshman was a huge deal. He was proud of himself if the post attached to the article was anything to go by.
Cade expressed how excited he was that he was being published as a freshman. That he was good enough to be published. And hardly anyone took notice. His brothers left comments. Left their likes. I was sure they celebrated with him, but I wanted him to know. I needed him to know that there would be more people now that were proud of him. And maybe he would find something within analytics.
So, I went and had it printed off, I found a massive frame, and I posted each page in that frame.
Hopefully, I didn't embarrass myself.
Mom clinked her glass with a fork to get everyone's attention. "Okay, the way we are doing this is I'm going to pick a present, and then the person it belongs to, you have to guess who your secret Santa is. You'll find out if you were right at the end."
I groaned. "You love torture."
"Exactly." She sat by the Christmas tree where she had all of us drop our gifts off at scheduled times earlier, and picked one up. "Oh, look, Ace! This one is for you."
"I don't like your tone." I took it after she passed it down through family members. "So, I open it and I have to guess who gave this to me?"
"Open the present, child."
Rolling my eyes, I did the embarrassing act of opening a present in front of everyone. I didn't know why it was embarrassing, but something about being watched by everyone really rubbed me the wrong way.
I tossed the paper to the side and flipped over the box, and smiled. "Wait, I really love this, so it wasn't Nolan."
"Or was I trying to throw you off?" Nolan asked. "Play some mind games with you?"
I snorted. "I don't think you'd put this much thought into a gift for me. But I still have several options. Someone had to know I wanted to travel, so..." I glanced over at my friends. "Maybe Liam? I'll guess Liam."
Mom nodded. "Okay, Carter is next!"
We did our due diligence and passed Carter his gift. The triplets were still sitting together, watching him open his present. They looked so happy. Jesus, no one could know that I had a mushy side. Except Cade. Nope. I would never live it down. But it was so nice to see them happy.
Carter ravaged his gift, throwing the paper at Cameron. "Okay, who gave me a dog tag? And why is it blank?" He shot his gaze to Cameron. "I'm guessing you. You'd absolutely pull some shit like this."
Cameron laughed. "Wow. While you might be right, damn."
I glanced at Alastair with an arched brow. He was trying so hard not to laugh. Oh, my god. Carter really did lack critical thinking skills. Alastair absolutely was his secret Santa, and they were getting a dog. They talked about it numerous times.
Rolling my eyes, I watched everyone open their gifts. I wasn't sure if anyone was answering right, but it was entertaining. Ethan still needed to open his, and Cade, too.
My stomach dropped when Mom handed Cade his gift. I probably went overboard. How does one quickly disappear off the planet?
Cade opened his present, which was a task, and angled his head. Then his eyes widened. The triplets were looking over his shoulder, reading what was on it. Jesus. And I didn't realize that maybe I did too much when I saw him tearing up. God damn it.
"What is it, Cade?" Tate asked. "Don't cry, it can't be that bad."
Cade carefully wiped his sleeve over the glass, his other hand covering his mouth before he dropped it. "I wrote a human study article in college. I did a whole study how different music affects human mood during a specific period of time. I was a freshman and I was published. My brothers were the only two who knew about this."
You know, I wasn't even one percent offended. His words only made me sad. He didn't post much on his Facebook, so I didn't have to scroll that far to find it. His words only solidified that he felt like no one really noticed such an amazing accomplishment, but I saw it. I read it. It was amazing.
Cameron and Carter exchanged a quick look of confusion before Cade ended up refusing to pick between the triplets, and guessed that it was just one of them. He was teary eyed, and I wanted to jump across the room, and tell him that I was proud of him.
He waved toward my Mom for her to continue, and I leaned back on the couch as I kept my eye on him. He wouldn't stop looking at the frame. Well, at least I managed to do something right. I didn't acquire that accomplishment very often.
My attention was grabbed by the shirk of my brother. When I looked at him, he was staring at his present on the floor with his hands over his mouth.
"What the hell was that?" I asked. "Oh god, was Mom your secret Santa?"
Ethan slowly shook his head. "No."
I glanced at the box and then back at him. "Why are you acting like someone stole your fruit snacks?"
He grabbed the box from the floor, opening it. "Holy shit. If someone gifted this to me as a joke, I'm going to be so pissed."
Nolan laughed. "Not a joke, love."
"Is this..."
"An engagement ring, yes." Nolan answered and even I fucking gasped. "I'm not a 'get down on one knee' kind of guy. But I still want to marry you. So?"
This was the most Nolan coded proposal I'd ever seen. And based on the way my brother climbed over everyone to reach his fiancé, I knew the answer to that question. Ethan nestled happily in Nolan's lap, as Nolan put the ring on his finger.
Jesus, was it wedding season?
Still, I smiled. There was no one fit for one another more than those two. Nolan understood Ethan's extremely sensitive side. My brother cried for animals, cried for people he didn't know. Ethan was an empath to the bone. It wasn't an awful trait by any means, but I knew it took a special person to be able to handle it. Nolan handled it, and loved my brother with everything he had.
After everyone gave their congratulations, Carter cut in. "Okay, tell me who my Secret Santa was!"
Mom pointed at Alastair. "Your fiancé."
Carter gaped at him. "You got me a dog tag...wait." The lightbulb finally went off. "We're finally getting a dog?!"
Alastair laughed. "Yes, and we're adopting. We will go together when we get back."
Carter squealed with excitement and bulldozed everyone in his path to reach Alastair. I didn't miss that Asher nor Cameron received gifts, which told me everything I needed to know. They were one another's secret Santa, and now I knew how awkward that had to be for them.
"Who was mine?" Cade asked quietly.
Fuck.
Mom roamed her finger over everyone in the room before she stopped on me. "Ace."
I laughed nervously. "Secret Santa should stay a secret, but maybe that's just me."
"Just you, Sweetheart."
"You...read my article?"
Sighing quietly, I turned to face my fate. "When you added me on Facebook almost two years ago, I saw it. I didn't really have to scroll down too far—you don't post much. I saw it. I read it and I remembered it. You love analyzing things, and I thought it was an amazing article. It didn't get the attention it deserved. So, I wanted to remind you that it existed."
Cade moved like the Flash, and was in my lap, kissing me before I could even register it. But the second I did, I grabbed the back of his neck, and kissed him hard. There was no way I was turning down this form of a thank you. Not that I needed it.
When he pulled away, I shook my head slightly to get rid of the haze. "Okay, let me know if I can print off another ten of those. So long as that happens again."
Cade hugged me, and I pressed my chin to his shoulder. "Thank you." He whispered. "Thank you, Ace."
When he pulled away just enough so I could see his face, I smiled. "You were my Secret Santa, weren't you?"
He returned my smile with a small one. "Maybe."
"Oh, then I absolutely accept your offer to travel the world by your side."
Cade laughed quietly. "Where are we going first?"
"Anywhere you want, Dasher." I pressed a kiss to his temple. "Anywhere you want."
"What the fuck?!" Carter broke through our bubble with his shrill screech. "Did you seriously gaslight us?!"
I glanced at Carter. "I don't know what you're talking about." I kept a straight face. "I told you about our relationship."
"You-" He narrowed his eyes. "Stop gaslighting me!"
I snorted. "Nothing gets past you."
"Not anymore, it doesn't."
"Good." I concluded. "Sorry, I wanted to screw with everyone."
My family laughed, but I focused on Cade. He stayed in my lap with his head on my shoulder even when the movie started. And as I always said, he fell asleep during the first thirty minutes. But that was okay. I happily held him in my arms, and didn't give a shit.
He was comfortable, and he was safe right where he was. I loved him more than anything. More than I thought possible. Having him secure with me was the only thing I needed.
He was all I needed.
And my family too, I suppose.