Story Excerpt
Hot Mess 8: A Very Hot Mess Christmas

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Lany

"One little, two little, three little munchkins," I sang out as I counted heads. Seven kids in all.

We were good.

"Okay, is everyone ready to go?" I knew I was, simply if it was to get people moving. We'd been getting ready to go for over an hour now. Granted, there were a lot people to get ready—Me, Sal, and our brood of kids. Angelo and his son Cole.

And, strangely enough, Officer Sam Brodsky. I hadn't expected him to want to go with us to find a Christmas tree.

We'd invited my parents along, but my mother had looked at me with such horror, I'd quickly said we'd go shopping at Bloomingdales later in the week instead.

My father had just chuckled and shook his head at me as if asking my mother to drive a couple hours out of the city to go hunt down the perfect Christmas tree was something I should have known my mother would freak over.

The traitor.

"Okay, everyone out to the cars."

"Can I ride with you?"

I glanced down at Cole, who stood next to Mikey. Ercole Delvecchio had grown so much since I first met him when he was a toddler. He was five now, the same age as Mikey, which made sense as they were best buds.

"Ask your dad and make sure it's okay with him."

Cole beamed up at me. "I already did and he said I had to ask you."

"Okay." I smiled. "If you ride with us, Mikey can ride with your dad."

Yes, I was evil.

"Oh." Cole's face fell.

"Or, you could both hurry out to the car before anyone else and make sure you get seats right next to each other."

Cole and Mikey were off like a shot.

Evil, but damn smart too.

That was two down.

Now, I just needed to figure out how to get the rest of them moving along.

I never realized just how much time I took to get ready to go anywhere until we adopted the twins. With babies in the house, there wasn't a lot of time to primp. I'd had to cut back on my daily beauty preparations.

Now, with six kids to get ready to go, I barely had time to pull a brush through my hair. I can't even remember the last time I'd spent more than a few minutes in front of the mirror, let alone went to a salon or spa.

It was a good thing Sal loved me.

"Lincoln, are you sure you don't want to go?"

I still couldn't believe we had Lincoln Thomas staying in our house. Having no idea who the man was, I'd googled him when we arrived home from our recent vacation to the Bahamas. I had been shocked at what I found.

Lincoln Thomas, lead singer for the band Trixx, was known worldwide. He'd won more awards than anyone I knew and was considered one of the top singers in his industry.

Unfortunately, as we had all recently learned, with that fame came a boatload of crap I wouldn't have wished on anyone. Lincoln had been betrayed by his manager then kidnapped and tortured by an insane fan who wanted to keep him all to herself. I had been shot in the ensuing chaos and several of my friends had been injured and kidnapped.

It hadn't been a fun vacation.

The man gave me a small wobbly smile. "No, I'm good. I'm just going to go back to the guesthouse and read a book or something."

"Okay."

What else could I say?

I winced as I watched the man's shoulders hunch as he walked away. Lincoln was damaged on a level I was well acquainted with. I'd been kidnapped, whipped, and tortured just like he had, only, I had Sal to love on me afterwards and chase my demons away. Lincoln had no one, which was why he was staying with us for the time being.

The man needed a place to heal.

"I've packed you enough food to keep the kids happy on the road."

I brightened as I took the small cooler from our new housekeeper and cook. "Thank you, Mrs. Martinez."

We had also brought her and her son back from the Bahamas. I'd taken my father's suggestion and hired the woman to work for us. We now had homemade food anytime we wanted it, day or not.

Her son, Dalton, was learning what it took to care for an estate in the city instead of a villa in the Bahamas, and going to the university the rest of the time.

Mrs. Martinez's eyes twinkled. "There's a cupcake in there for you too, dear."

I beamed. "Thank you, Mrs. Martinez."

For some reason I couldn't fathom, the older woman had taken a liking to me. I wasn't arguing. She made the best cupcakes.

"Have fun our your day out. I will have dinner on the table at seven."

"Yes, ma'am."

I knew not to be late. Mrs. Martinez might cook like a dream and always have something around for us to munch on, but meals were set at very certain times.

After watching Mrs. Martinez walk away, I clapped my hands together and shouted, "The car is leaving in five minutes, with or without you."

I knew that wouldn't phase Emily as she didn't really want to go. She wanted to stay home and chat with her friends.

Not happening.

This was a family outing and we were all going.

"If you stay here, you'll be doing chores until we get back."

I smiled as five kids trudged past me and out the front door.

Worked every time.

"Sal!"

"Coming."

My eyebrows lifted when I realized he was coming out of his office and not down the stairs from the bedroom, which was where he'd been the last time I'd seen him. "Trouble?"

"No, baby. I wanted to make sure Clarke knew I'd be unavailable for the rest of the weekend."

The corners of my mouth lifted. "Really?"

Sal stopped right in front of me. His hand curled around the side of my face. "I promised you an entire weekend to prepare for Christmas, didn't I?"

"Yeah." But I never thought it would actually happen.

"So, now Clarke knows not to call me." Sal's grin made my heart beat a little faster. "Even if the city burns down."

"Can you do that?"

I could hope.