A Very Merry Hockey Holiday
Page 22

Since her sexy husband was at practice, she had all the kids in tow as they rushed through Bass Pro Shop. Apparently Lacey had never gone hunting before and Karson had been trying to talk her into going. Elli’s uncle had a cabin in the woods out in Clarksville, so she decided to buy them a gift card to the pro shop so they could come and stock up for their little adventure that the Adler family was going to give them.
She held Shelli’s and Quinn’s hands, and they held on to the other kids as they navigated through the shop. She also needed to get a gun cleaning kit for her daddy, and she needed to get home to wrap everything, but this place was packed with people trying to get day after Christmas sales. This was a horrible idea.
“Momma! The fish tanks!” Quinn exclaimed.
“Yeah, Momma, can we stop! Please,” Owen begged.
“Please!” the other three chimed.
“Yes, of course. Come on, five minutes. We gotta go, my loves.”
“Okay!” they all chorused before running off to look at the fish tank. Crossing her arms across the stomach, she watched as the kids oohed and aahed over the fish. She loved watching them when they were interested in something. Each one was so different, it was insane. Even Evan and Owen were completely different. Shelli was her overachiever, pleaser, while Posey did what she wanted and didn’t care what anyone said. Owen was her quiet one, while Evan was her loud, obnoxious one, and Quinn was just downright insane. That’s the only way she could describe him.
Counting each one, she started to panic when she didn’t see Quinn.
“Shelli! Where is Quinn?”
“Right here, looking at the bear, Momma,” she said, pointing to her baby brother, and when Elli saw him, her heart calmed. The bear was blocking her view of him. Sheesh, she almost had a mini heart attack. Letting out a breath, she smiled, thanking the good Lord above, but then in true Quinn fashion, he yelled to her.
“Momma!”
She looked back at him to scold him for yelling, but she was speechless by what she saw. Quinn’s pants were around his ankles, his hand holding his penis, and his other holding the bear’s big damn penis.
“Momma! Look, it’s got a dick like me!”
“Quinn!” Shelli yelled, her hand covering her mouth as the boys lost their shit laughing.
“Oh. My. Goodness! Momma! Quinn is playing with his no-no!” Posey yelled and Elli couldn’t move. This was not happening. She was frozen in place as everyone stopped to look and laugh.
“Hell’s Bells, Quinn! Pull your pants up!”
“I swear, I have never been so embarrassed in my life! Holding his penis, screaming he and the bear both have a dick in the middle of the pro shop. A dick, Shea! That is your fault, I swear to goodness. I am so mad and freaking embarrassed.”
Looking across the island at her husband who was obviously holding in his laughter, Elli just got madder. “Speak, Shea Ryan Adler!”
“Yeah, I don’t have anything.”
“Nothing?”
He held up his hands. “I won’t use the word dick in this house ever again, and if anyone says it around our kids, I’ll punch them in the di—penis.”
Glaring, she whipped around to go to the fridge. “I swear to goodness. You have no clue what that was like. It was so horrible.”
When his arms came around her waist, she closed her eyes as she leaned back into him. Kissing up her neck, he nibbled at her earlobe before whispering, “I’m sorry you were embarrassed by our insane three-year-old.”
She knew how silly it was to be embarrassed, but everyone saw her little boy’s penis, along with the fact that he was holding on to a bear’s. The horror. Shaking her head, she let out a breath. “I was just so surprised by it all.”
“It happens. They are crazy. All of them.”
She giggled. “But they are all ours.”
“And I wouldn’t trade them in for anything. Dicks and all.”
Closing her eyes, she laughed for the first time as Shea chuckled in her ear. Turning in his arms, she kissed his lips, melting against him. He could still take every bit of stress out of her body with one kiss. That was probably why she hadn’t lost her damn mind yet. Because Shea loved her. More than she would ever deserve.
“We have to go to my dad’s.”
“Yay,” he said, but she didn’t miss that he wasn’t excited.
“Yeah. My sentiments exactly. Let’s go.”
When they arrived at her family home, her stomach sank. She’d much rather go back to the pro shop and let Quinn helicopter his penis around the damn store than deal with her mother and sister. She had dressed to the nines and even had the kids dress supernice just so her family wouldn’t have anything to say. Well, more her mother than anything.
When her father took her mother back six months ago, Elli thought it was a bad idea, but apparently, she had turned over a new leaf. She acted nice as all get out and loved on her kids like she cared, but she could see in Olivia’s eyes that she didn’t care one bit. She just missed the money her daddy had. She hated thinking that of her mother, but it was the truth. The woman didn’t care one bit about Elli or her children; it was about the security her father offered her.
Victoria, well, Elli didn’t talk to her. Victoria didn’t try, and Elli wasn’t sure if she was good to the kids because she wanted to be or because she was trying to get money out of their father. Elli just wasn’t sure. Shea didn’t like any of them, but like the good sport he was, he sat through dinner and said nice things when he was asked something. Elli, on the other hand, only talked when she was talked to. Which wasn’t much.