“Aye, electric bars at that. Laura’s already talking about what they will need for that one. Even she says Ryleigh is going to be our troublemaker.” Highlander laughed, watching Pratt and Raso talking and laughing amongst themselves.
“Ye two ladies coming to eat or are ye going to hide in the corner like scared girls the rest of the night?” Willie yelled out at Marcus and Highlander, unprepared for the smack in the back of the head from his mother as she walked by to take her seat next Will Sr.
“Mind ye manners, Williard James. Ye may be out of my home, but when ye visit ye still have the rules that applied when ye were youngins.” Sylvia warned Willie, as she sat.
“Careful mum, I think it’s all them smacks to the back of the head that’s jarred his noggin loose.” Tommy warned his mum, dodging his brother’s hand at the insult.
Highlander and Marcus ignored the two brothers as they took their seats besides their wives. Both men helped make plates for the kids and their wives before they made plates for themselves. They even offered to hold the babies so the wives could eat.
Sylvia and Will Sr watched Highlander and Marcus with a smile on their face as they looked back and forth between them and Ryleigh with Ash. They were proud of the boys they had raised as they watched them interact with their children and wives, making sure they were good and taken care of before themselves.
Sylvia looked at her husband and smiled before leaning into him. She smiled even more when Will Sr placed a kiss on her head. Her boys did the exact same thing as their father.
Their da was a pure man whore before they had met. She made sure Will Sr had to work for her attention. She made that man grovel for almost a year before she caved and accepted a date with him. She knew that day she was going to marry him. She’s never regretted that thought since then.
Nineteen children, eighteen alive, one dying shortly after being born, not once has Sylvia regretted marrying her husband. He made her feel like the only woman in the world. He helped around the house, helped her raise their children with the same honor, love and beliefs that women were to be cherished, children were a gift, no matter who they belonged to, and when you find the one, your croie, you went above and beyond to cherish her as if she was the air you breathed.
Watching Highlander and Marcus with their families, Sylvia and Will Sr knew they had chosen well. Their wives kept them on their toes but loved with their whole hearts. Their sons were their world, just like their children. They couldn’t have chosen a better partner than fate had for their sons than the women they have, their croie.
While the two watched Highlander and Marcus, they also watched their son Jacob. While Sylvia didn’t understand the moniker ‘Ash’ that was given to him, Will Sr. did understand. Being a retired SAS operator, he also knew the horrors his boys have seen. He knew the last mission that his son went on with his team was not a good one.
There was, unfortunately, some things he had to keep secret from his wife. The demons that their son was facing was one of them. While she understood that there were things the SAS could not allow to be talked about with family, it didn’t negate that her son was in pain. Will had to do what he could to help his son, while appeasing his wife so she didn’t have to know the true horrors of the world like he and his boys did.
Dinner was a lively affair, laughter, jokes, warnings of punishment as if they were still children when the jokes got too hard core, talks about the old days when they were growing up, answering questions for the little ones and talks about the future with the two getting ready to enter the world once they finished school for good. A good time was had by all.
The men did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen while the women went into the living room with the children and enjoyed quiet time, with a glass of wine now that the babies were down, and the two mothers had already had milk pumped for the following day so they could enjoy a good glass of wine with their mother-in-law.
Once the children were all down for the night, the men joined the women in the living room. Will Sr and Sylvia in their chairs, holding hands, Highlander and Marcus on the couch, holding their wives in their laps, Ash and Jack on the loveseat with Tommy and Willie sitting in a chair they brought in from the kitchen. The adults talked about their plans for tomorrow and who all was coming. They talked about plans for brunch for everyone before they started getting everything ready for the big Christmas Eve family get together. Sylvia mentioned who was coming to help the boys and be there to help in the kitchen. It was late before everyone finally turned in for the night.
NINE
The next morning started bright and early with a full Scottish breakfast for everyone before the men went out into the field to help their father with the morning chores around the farm and to find a Christmas tree for the children to decorate when the others showed up. Pratt and Raso helped Sylvia clean the kitchen before going to clean the living room and move things where they needed to be for the men to bring back the Christmas tree.
While her daughter in laws helped with the cleaning and getting things right, Sylvia put the boys and Ryleigh to work doing the popcorn strings and making shapes for the cookies to be decorated when the rest of the grandchildren arrived to meet their American cousins. Tonight was going to be a full house. Sylvia just wished it was going to be fuller with all of her children, just not some of them. One of these years, Sylvia kept the wish internal.
Out in the fields, the men standing around while Will Sr and Ash cut the tree they selected, Highlander pulled Marcus and Jack to the side.
“Elizabeth just sent me a text. They should be arriving at the train station in an hour, then they have their hour and a half drive here to mum and da’s house. Did mum say what time everyone else is arriving?” Highlander asked his brother’s, glancing over now and then towards the others, laughing and making cracks at each other.
“Mum said the rest should be getting here in an hour so that the wee ones have time to decorate the cookies and the tree before dinner. We should be sitting down for dinner by the time the whole crew arrives.” Jack answered, following in Highlander’s footsteps, glancing at their brothers and da cutting down the Christmas tree.
“It’s everyone?” Marcus asked Highlander, eyes wide.
“Everyone. Mum and da will be getting their wish this Christmas, and every Christmas we can manage with our horde.” Highlander vowed. “Just remember, brother, we were all die hard bachelors, never believing we’d find what our mum and da have. Ye found it, I found it, and these rat bastids will find it as well. We’re MacLeod’s, we fall hard when we find the right one.”
“Bite ye tongue, arsehole. Don’t push that mushy shite on me. There’s narry a lass that will make this MacLeod settle.” Jack warned his brothers, hand to his heart in horror.
“Aye, ye lass is out there. And she’s not going to be a skittish colt ye like to play with. She’s going to land ye on ye arse just like our lasses did.” Marcus laughed, smacking Jack on the back, hard.
“Ye two are arseholes wishing that nightmare on me. Don’t get me wrong, I love ye lasses, but at the end of the day, they go home with ye two nutbags,” Jack laughed, cringing at the image in his head of a woman tied to him.
“Don’t let our lasses hear ye make that comment. They will make ye life a living hell.” Highlander shook his head at his brother as he walked away, chuckling at Jack flipping the bird at him.
The men worked for several more hours around the farm, helping their da with taking care of the animals, cleaning the barn, chopping wood and whatever else was needed. It was starting to get dark when they realized they needed to get the tree into the house and get cleaned up for the evening meal.
When the men came back into the kitchen to get ready for the evening meal, the room was crowded with more siblings, their spouses and children. Highlander and Marcus shared a look knowing the house was about to get a wee bit more crowded in a few.
At that moment, Highlander’s phone went off. His sister was letting him know that part of the surprise was set up at the hotel as planned for tomorrows big surprise while the rest were on their way, they were five minutes out. Highlander showed the text to Marcus who smiled big.
