AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He calls to me, “We didn’t want to go to their horrible cold, miserable, grinchy gruelfest.”
Keri, the little girl with the mess of blonde curls, pipes up, “We want to be with the cool people. We’re not children, you know.”
I overhear Clive tell Carmine, “I’ll lose my job for this.” And he smiles, “But it’s totally worth it.”
“Would you like to drive a Bentley instead?”
“I’d love that. I don’t want to leave Greenmeadow, though.”
Carmine smiles. “We’ll talk later.”
It’s the best Christmas party anyone ever saw.
All the kids squeal as they’re given rides on Harleys around the fallow field.
Bikers and their old ladies serve, and the kids eat, noisily.
Drago Santa plays a guitar, Danny Santa plays piano. Carmine Santa and Tinka Christmas fairy sing Christmas songs and, after the lunch, when everyone has eaten all that they can, the children sit cross-legged in the barn. Their faces glow, gazing up in silence, as Candace leads the bikers, singing carols in tear-jerking harmonies.
There are presents for each and every one of the children. They all get cuddly toys, a bicycle, and a phone.
After the party, Farmer Brown’s barn is as good as new, and ready to be put back to work. And he has food orders from the Boneyard Warriors and three other local MC chapters.
Epilogue
Tinka
It’s after eleven when we finally get back to Carmine’s rented mansion.
As we slump, kissing dozily and nuzzling on the couches, Drago says, “Man, I’ll be sorry to leave this place. I could get used to living here.”
“Yeah,” Carmine swings a bottle of cognac, “that’s what I thought.” He pours large measures for all of us. “I think we’ve earned them.” As we lift the glasses, he says, “And Christmas isn’t over yet. I got a present for all of us.”
While we wait, you could hear a pin drop on the rug. Carmine grins from ear to ear. “I bought the house for us. It’s big enough that we can move all the kids in, right? I’ll set up schoolrooms downstairs, and the children can all have their own bedrooms.”
~~
Bonnie and Clive’s sour expressions were gone and their faces glowed when they brought the children to the mansion. Everybody got moved in, in time for the New Year.
Carmine could not be happier. He says it’s like he got to start his life over.
Danny flew back to New Orleans after Christmas. Said he had to meet a shipment. He told us he would stay on in Bourbon Street for New Year.
“Big parties, cher. It’s the most business time of the year.”
Drago got his deal done with the bikers, and he left with his contraband for Boston — or that’s where he said he went.
No matter what he said, I wasn’t sure I’d ever see him again.
Now the house if full of children, all busy getting the place decorated for our New Year party. They’re noisy and boisterous. Over-excited, like they’ve been let out of a cage.
Angela bullies Jack over the tinsel he’s trying to hang on the frame of a huge mirror.
“You have to give and you have to share. You know, Angela?”
I run through the house at the sound of Drago’s voice and fling my arms around him. I take a long, fierce kiss that I have to stop. We can’t get too hot in front of the children.
Our hips press, though with a firm promise for later.
Then Danny is at the door with his roguish smile and a shrug.
“Couldn’t stay away, not even for a week.”
Even Carmine’s stern looks couldn’t disguise how glad he was, as he threw his big ams around all of us.
And we’re all together, ready for the start of the new year.
We will take the kids to visit farmer Brown’s family, and the bikers, but that’s for tomorrow.
Right now, we all have a future to start.
