Outtake: Christmas Morning - Guzzi Edition

Hey, loves! Just a heads up about this month's outtakes - I asked in my READER GROUP- what Christmas themed outtakes they would like to see/from whom. And so, this created a big list, as it usually does, and I picked two from the pile to write for. There will only be two outtakes this month as I am taking from mid-December, through January off from the blog. 

No worries - I will be posting the second outtake next week, and finishing up The Twins. In January, I will also make my standard New Years post to go over my previous year and what to expect in the coming year, as well as putting up the ebook of The Twins to download. 

And I will be taking most of Christmas week off from social media entirely but for the 23rd which is THE HUNTED's cover reveal - which I am really excited about.

So, onto the outtake for this Friday.

And have a very Merry Christmas, loves.

XO.

BK.

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Christmas Morning - Guzzi Edition

Gian POV

"Papa," came the hushed, excited whisper directly in Gian's ear. All at once, he was ripped from the warmth of his dreams with his eyes flying open. The white ceiling of the bedroom stared back at him, taunting him almost.

He had that second of fear race through him the same way he was sure it did for every other parent on Christmas morning - had he remembered every Santa gift, did he put everything out where it needed to be; had his kids already tore into it all?

And then Marcus's soft laughter had him waking up a bit more when his oldest son said, "Can I wake up everybody now? I waited like you said. Can I, can I?"

"Fifteen seconds of silence," Gian mumbled, "to let my brain work properly, Marcus. Merci."

His son quieted just like that.

Gian rolled over to his side on the bed so his back faced his wife, hearing the soft giggle of Cara behind him. He ignored that, and would deal with her later just because she would certainly like it, and scrubbed a hand down his face to deal with his oldest son. Through blinking, still-sleepy eyes, he finally gave Marcus his attention. The dark hair of his boy bobbed up over the side of the bed before Marcus's dark eyes met Gian's, too.

Damn.

He practically danced on the spot.

His excitement was palpable.

Gian could only chuckle. "Did you have a peek down there yet?"

Marcus was quick to shake his head. "Nope."

He quirked a brow. "Not even one?"

"Gian," Cara admonished without an ounce of heat.

"Not one," Marcus assured.

Gian's little rule follower.

Always.

Someday, that would do his boy well.

Marcus grin grew wider and slyer, taking his boyish features from the nine-year-old he was to something else entirely when he asked, "So, can I wake them all up?"

Gian struggled to hold back his chuckles that time. There was something about Christmas that Marcus just ... loved. Always had, ever since the first year he truly understood what Christmas was. Santa, presents, snow ... all the lights, the energy, and traditions.

Every bit of it.

Marcus loved.

Christmas morning was his favorite.

Unfortunately, if someone didn't hold the kid back and put some kind of constraints on him about Christmas morning, they would all be up at the first sign of daylight without a bit of food in their stomachs because Marcus said so.

"What time is it?" Gian asked.

All he had to do was look at his clock on the bedside table. He opted to give Marcus the benefit of the doubt and see if the boy had followed another of his father's rules.

"Eight-thirty," Marcus said.

That did surprise Gian, and he found his kid wasn't lying when he glanced at the clock to check the time.

"I said eight, didn't I?"

"You did," Cara's warm form echoed at his back.

Marcus shrugged. "Slept in, I guess."

Gian's laughter echoed at his son's back as the kid raced out of the room before his next words were even out of his mouth.

"Yeah, Marcus, go wake up your brothers."

Gian fell back to the bed. His wife's laughter rung out all around him as the shouting started down the hall.

"Keep laughing," he told her, glancing her way, "and I'll give you something to giggle about later."

Cara blew him a kiss over her bare shoulder as she slipped out of bed and righted the thin strap on her silk cami that had slipped down in the night. "Sounds like a very good morning to me, then."

Well, of course.

But ...

"Why's that?"

"Presents, sex, and it's your year to cook Christmas breakfast? I'm winning, Gian."

She wasn't wrong.

He nodded. "Well played."

"Santa came!"

The shouts matched the stomping pairs of feet.

Just another Christmas morning with the Guzzis.