Violet’s brother’s house is buzzing when we arrive. She walks right into the house with me trailing her carrying flowers, two pies, and a bottle of wine. Her nieces and nephews attack the moment we walk in. “Santa was here,” a young girl shouts before dragging Violet off.
I carry my load into the kitchen where the adults are gathered. “Merry Christmas, Mr. and Mrs. Scott,” I greet Violet’s parents.
“Now, now. You call me Sally,” Mrs. Scott says as she pulls me in for a hug.
The rest of the family glare at me. I guess Violet’s mom is the only one who has forgiven me for breaking Violet’s heart. Good thing I don’t care what they think. It’s Violet’s forgiveness I crave, not theirs. And they better not make Violet feel uncomfortable. I won’t stand for her being upset.
Violet strolls into the kitchen with two children hanging off of her. With a smile on her face from ear to ear, her love for children is obvious. She’s going to make a great mom. She’ll have to teach me how to be a dad, though, since I never had one. My mom was a single mom before she died, and Gramps was already gone when I moved in with Grams.
Violet’s sister, Daisy, shoves a martini glass in her hand. “It’s a white Christmas martini.”
Violet’s eyes widen as she stares at it. “What’s in it?”
“Vanilla vodka, white chocolate liqueur, and crème de cocoa. It’s yummy. Try it.”
Violet curls her lip. “I don’t like vodka.”
Daisy snorts. “Come on. Christmas cocktails is our Christmas tradition. Don’t be a wuss.”
I grab the glass from Violet. “I’ll try it.” I don’t bother sipping the drink. I down it in one go. “A bit sweet for me.” I set the glass down and grab Violet’s hand intent on getting her out of the danger zone.
“I’ll make you another one.” Daisy twirls around and starts mixing another drink. Violet’s eyes widen in a clear message to save her.
I say the first thing to come to my mind, “I thought we were opening presents.”
At the word presents, the kids scream and rush towards the tree. “Good save,” Violet whispers to me. I squeeze her hand and walk with her into the living room. We settle into a recliner with her on my lap.
The rest of the family joins us including Daisy who brings Violet another martini and me a beer. As the kids open presents, I take discreet sips from Violet’s martini and wash down the sickly-sweet taste with beer.
“What’s going on?” Ren, Violet’s oldest brother, asks. I know he’s talking to Violet, but she ignores him like a champ. “Violet,” he growls. “Why is Luke drinking your martini?”
She shrugs. “It’s a bit sweet.”
“But you love sweet shit.”
Silence falls over the room. Even the children quiet down. Every single member of Violet’s family is now staring at her with questions in her eyes.
Ren stands and glares at me. “You got her pregnant? After what happened last time? What the—”
Sally stands. “Not in front of the children.”
“Outside. Now.” Ren cracks his knuckles. His brother Bob stands and joins him. Things went downhill fast.
Violet scurries out of my lap. “You are not going to beat him up for getting me pregnant. It takes two to tango, and I always did enjoy dancing.”
Her father and brothers groan.
“You are pregnant, then?” Bob asks. At her nod, he starts stalking towards me.
I stand and push Violet behind me. “It’s okay, Petal. I’ll talk to them outside.”
“They don’t want to talk to you. They want to be all big brother and beat you up.” She tries to move in between us, but I won’t let her. She peeks around my shoulder to glare at her brothers. “Let me at them.”
“No. You need to rest and think of Baby Bud.”
“Low blow, Luke. Low blow.”
When Daisy and Violet’s other sister, Iris, take her hands and try to drag her to the kitchen, she resists. “Luke has stitches in his head from a head wound. They’ll hurt him.”
“Don’t hurt his stitches,” Daisy orders her husband before turning back to Violet. “Now, come on. Let the men grunt and fart at each other and measure their dicks. I made a chocolate gingerbread cake with white chocolate dressing. I got major cravings for chocolate when I was pregnant.”
I make sure Violet is safely ensconced in the kitchen before facing her brothers. “Let’s do this,” I say and lead the way outside into the front yard. At least those martinis and beer will help numb the pain when I get the crap beat out of me. I may be able to take on one brother at a time but I’m under no illusion they’ll come at me one at a time.
I turn around once I’m in the middle of the driveway and open my arms wide. “Do your worst.” Yes, I’m asking for it. The quicker they get their hits in the quicker I can get back Violet. “Hurry up. I need to get back to Violet.”
Ren snorts. “Like you care about her.”
“Yeah.” Bob nods. “You left her when she was pregnant before. What’s stopping you from doing it again?”
“Do you honestly think I would have left had I known she was pregnant?” I shake my head. I would have gone AWOL if I knew she was carrying my baby.
Ren shoves me hard enough I barely manage to stay on my feet. “You fucked her up, man. After you dumped her, she got off track. Quit school. Started working as a waitress. A fucking waitress.”
I close my eyes as his words hit me harder than any punches ever could. Violet told me she had a rough time after she lost Rose, but she refused to go into detail. I didn’t push her because talking about it hurt her and hurting her is the last thing I want to do.
“I didn’t know. I didn’t know about Rose.”
“What the fuck?” Bob shoves me but he’s not as strong as Ren and I barely move. This infuriates him and he pushes me again. To appease him, I take a step back. “You didn’t know about the baby? How could you not know?”
“She didn’t tell me.” I stare at the ground as I explain. I can’t look these men in the eyes and admit how badly I fucked up. “We broke up, but I didn’t let her explain.”
Bob and Ren join forces in shoving me. “Enough boys,” Violet’s dad, Tim, says.
I nod at him in thanks for the reprieve, but his eyes narrow at me. “What are your intentions with my baby girl?”
“I proposed.”
“Damn boy, you finally did something right.” Ren slaps my back and the force of it nearly brings me to my knees.
“She said no.”
Tim snorts. “Of course, she did. You proposed when you found out she was pregnant, didn’t you?” At my nod, he chuckles. “You have a lot to learn about women, son. You love her?”
“With all my heart.”
He motions to his sons. “Come on, let’s get back in. I have a feeling our Violet is going to do a better job punishing him than you two ever can.”
I stand in the driveaway as they go inside, unsure of my welcome.
Tim stops at the door and yells, “Get your ass in here. I’m starving.” I shake my head and follow him into the house.