Blaze and Lyra* Christmas Is Upon Us

BLAZE*

This month has been fantastic since Lyra, and I have connected. We learned early on that we didn't want to be separated. Within a week, Lyra had asked me to move in with her. It's an incredible feeling falling asleep and waking up to Lyra in my arms every morning. I make sure to be home every night by six o'clock, no longer working at all hours of the night.

Lyra and I take turns cooking dinner every other night with Jace and Vega, and we all sit down at the table and enjoy each other's company. All of the guys are ecstatic that I'm no longer an uptight ass hole. Church two weeks ago, Lyra and Jace went to the altar and got saved. So many incredible things have happened this month.

We had Thanksgiving at my parent's house. Let's say that my mother adored Lyra and was happy to spend longer than ten minutes with her. My mom was so happy for me to have finally met my soulmate. I got to know Lyra's parents a bit better since they happened to be there. Lyra's parents drop by twice a week for dinner, and that's nice as well.

However, last week, Lyra and I had a pregnancy scare. I want babies with her; I'll have a dozen with her if she wants it, but I want her to finish college first. Lyra started taking the pill after waking from the coma because her implant had been taken out during surgery. When that time came around to start her period, it didn't happen. So I took her to see her gynecologist. They took blood to see if she was pregnant because she wouldn't be far enough along for a pee test to be accurate. Lyra wasn't pregnant, thank goodness, and she could get a new Nexplanon implant in her arm. So I took her in two days later to have the implant put back in. We should be good on that front for three years.

Lyra came to work with me today because I knew I would be working in the office. I have a few interviews set up. I needed someone to take Vega's spot and train before Vega and Lyra returned to school. Man, I wish Taylor would magically appear in the doorway. No one has heard from Taylor since she left back in September. Lyra had been in a coma for a week, and things were crap that week. However, if Taylor walked in right now, the job would be hers.

God must have listened to my thoughts because Jace walked in a few minutes later.

"Blaze, you'll never guess who just walked through the door," Jace said excitedly. I quirked my eyebrows at him. I don't have time for this.

"Fine, don't guess. Taylor just walked in, and she has a baby with her. She needs to talk to you," Jace said.

"A baby?" I asked.

"Yeah, man, she never looked pregnant, so I don't know, maybe she babysits or something like that," Jace said and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, send her in, don't make her wait if she has a baby with her," I stated, and Jace walked out the door.

"Lyra, baby, do you want to go hang out with Vega for a little while? I'm not sure what's going on with Taylor, but it might be a private matter. You can come back after she leaves, though," I asked Lyra.

"Yes, that's fine, I understand," Lyra said as she got up from her chair and placed a quick kiss on my lips. Then walked out of the door.

A few minutes later, Taylor walked into the room. "Taylor, we've missed you around here; please have a seat. How can I help you?" I asked Taylor as she set the baby car seat down on the floor and sat in the chair across from me.

"Well, firstly, I want to apologize for leaving the way I did. I want to thank you, though, for the bonus you gave me with my last check. It's helped me get through these last couple of months. My ex was pressuring me to quit since I was pregnant. He was abusive towards me, and well, my brain was all over the place. Pregnancy hormones weren't good for me. My ex left me, though, just before my baby was born, and I had him a month early. I came not only to apologize but to ask if there was any way I could come back to work for you again?" Taylor explained.

Well, I'll be damned; Taylor coming back was the answer to all of my problems.

"I was thinking about you. Our current Secretary will be going back to school in a month and a half. I was hoping you would come back to us. You were amazing around here. I'm sorry we were all jerks and took everything you did around here for granted. Hell, we didn't even know you were pregnant. Congratulations, by the way, on your baby boy. When would you be available to start working?" I asked Taylor.

"Thank you, Blaze. I want to start back as soon as possible. I have my six-week check-up tomorrow and can start work next week," Taylor said.

"Everyone will be off next week for the Christmas Holidays. But you can start that next week after that. We'd love to have you back. Vega would love to have those last weeks off with her sister Lyra before they start back to school. Jace can get you up to speed once you return," I said.

"Thank you so much, Blaze; this is fantastic; I can't wait to be back. My mom will be babysitting Caleb, so I already have things squared away there; I'm so excited," Taylor said.

"Me as well. We'll see you then, Taylor," I said as I got up and shook her hand. Taylor collected her baby and walked out of the door.

Poor girl has been through a lot, and we guys haven't helped any. I'm so glad the bonus I gave Taylor helped her through the mess she's been through with her ex. He better be paying child support.

I walked over to Vega's office, and no one was there, so I walked over to Jace's office. Jace had some sketches sprawled out on the work table, and they were all talking excitedly about something.

"What's going on?" I asked. They all jumped in excitement, and I guess they didn't hear me walk in.

Lyra ran up and threw her hands around me, and hugged me tightly.

"Come look at the building sketches Jace has drawn up for Vega and me; It's an early Christmas present for us that he's been working on for a while; The plans are so unique, Blaze," Lyra explained while she pulled me towards the table.

"Well, they are amazing, but what exactly are they of?" I asked as I looked at the sketches.

"Our rehabilitation center we hope to have built by the time we graduate with our Master's Degree's," Lyra explained as she hopped around excitedly.

"Rehabilitation center, huh?" I said with a smile on my face.

"Yes; For wounded soldiers and people who have PTSD and other psychological and mental disorders. Vega and I will be at the forefront of the psychology department. We will need to hire a few more doctors, of course, and then we'll have the floor dedicated to people needing physical therapy after their injuries. I had no idea Jace had been working on this. Isn't it exciting, Blaze?" Lyra asked me.

"Most definitely love; wow, this is amazing, Jace; how many years do you two have before you both graduate? I thought you both were going for a Doctorate?" I asked.

"Well, hopefully within a year and a half. We'll go full-time through the Summer. We had just finished the Summer Semester before I got in the accident. On our way to having a week off before the fall semester starts. We can work while earning our Doctorate. We've been planning this for a long time, can you tell. Vega and I have had a steady 4.0 GPA through high school and college. School comes so easily for us, so we're going to work our butts off to get done," Lyra explained.

"Well, alright then. That means we'll need to dive in and get it started soon. We'll need to find a perfect place to build it. We'll have to wait on permits. Do you think your parents could help?" I asked the girls.

"I'm sure that would be fine," Vega said.

"Great, change of subject, we are no longer in need of a Secretary. Taylor's coming back. Vega, you'll be happy to know she's starting after Christmas. So this will be your last week working. You can drag Lyra to go shopping for two weeks until school starts," I said, chuckling.

"Perfect, Thank you, Blaze," Vega said.

I bent down to kiss Lyra quickly and turned to leave Jace's office.

"You guys continue with what you all are doing. I will call the people who were coming in for interviews and let them know the position has been filled," I said and walked out the door, and they all went back to talking about building plans.

A Rehabilitation Center seemed exciting; a rehabilitation hospital would get our foot in the door to building massive structures like hospitals, clinics, and so much more. It seems another dream of mine was becoming a reality. Or would soon become a reality anyway. I'm also excited for Lyra and Vega; hopefully, it won't take us long to find a lot and get permits. We would all need to cross our fingers and pray that things would work out perfectly, and money may also be an issue, but this is something I could talk about with Lyra and Vega's parents. I would also be willing to invest some funds into the project-anything for Lyra and Vega.

*********CHRISTMAS*********

LYRA*

I can't believe Christmas has arrived already. Vega had me shopping all week. Jace had been running around like a chicken with its head cut off, getting the house ready for our family Christmas party. I have no idea what's wrong with the man; Jace is usually level-headed. We decided to have everyone here since it's our first Christmas in our new home. All of the Cunninghams would be here, along with our mom and dad.

Vega and I had finished wrapping presents and placed them all under the tree. We've left a few in our rooms for us to open in the morning on Christmas.

Jace and Blaze are smoking a brisket outside in the smoker, and Vega and I are about to start on the ham. Each couple or person would bring a side dish and a dessert. We are providing the meets and drinks. The brisket the guys choose is monstrous; Blaze said it cost around one hundred and fifty dollars; freaking insane; the ham they got from the store is also quite big. It'll take the ham about three hours in the oven before the ham is done, perfect timing for when everyone begins to arrive.

It's now three o'clock in the afternoon, Vega and I have prepared the ham, and I've just slid the ham into the oven. Now it's time to get things ready for the family Christmas party. We got raffle tickets ready for the Chinese Christmas we'll be having. The guys came inside to help us set up the table and chairs we bought for the event. Vega and I placed table cloths on both tables and went ahead and set up the place settings for everyone. If Conner and Wade brought a guest with them, there should be around eighteen people here tonight, including us. We set up the stereo to play Christmas music. Then got the logs ready so that Jace or Blaze could start a fire before everyone started to arrive.

By the time we've gotten everything set up, it's already four-thirty. Vega and I retreated to our rooms to take showers and get ready.

***

Dinner was terrific; Jace and Blaze did a fantastic job on the brisket. We had squash casserole, green bean casserole, loaded mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie casserole, you name it, we had it; Vega and I had a little bit of everything.

Tanner brought his girlfriend Mae, who is so perfect; she is a tall, beautiful Asian woman with a heart of gold; she's also downright hilarious. She fits in excellent with our little group here. We will have a triple date with them on New Year; I'm so excited. Conner and Wade brought dates; I'm having difficulty remembering their names. Poor girls wouldn't be around long; Conner and Wade are such players.

Everyone sat around and talked with one another while their food settled. Chinese Christmas exchange was hilarious. I'm pretty sure Conner and Wade got the mankinis and liquor. I happened to get one, but Conner stole it from me, and no one else wanted it after that. My face had to of been beet red, and everyone in the room laughed. Wade got the other one. Their dates looked horrified, poor girls. Everyone took turns singing Christmas music on the karaoke machine. All in all, it was a fantastic night.

It's now around ten o'clock, and everyone's getting ready to leave. Jace ran up the stairs real fast and came back down sweating and all red-faced. What in the world?

"Before everyone leaves, I have something to say," Jace said nervously.

Jace walked over to Vega and kneeled on one knee before her. My God; Is Jace about to propose to Vega? My mouth dropped open at the thought. Vega looked at me questioningly like I should know what was going on. I, however, had no idea. I just shrugged my shoulders at her. Blaze smiled at me when I looked to him for answers.

"Vega Riley, I've loved you since the first time I saw you dancing on that dance floor. Every day I grow more deeply in love with you. You have my heart and soul. I want to spend the rest of my life with you until my last breath. Will you make me the happiest man on earth by becoming my wife? Will you marry me, Vega?" Jace asked as he opened the jewelry box and held it in front of Vega.