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Chapter Sixteen

"We also have one final present." My parents smiled together as they looked between Luca, Lucy and I.

We all knew what the one final present was. It was something we had spent a long time working towards. We were just waiting for the official notice of it all. As much as I wanted to keep this moment a private moment between just our family, I was happy to involve all parts of my life into this moment. Pierce, Ryatt, and Ryder deserved to be a part of this moment as much as Reece did.

As I studied the face of my mother, tears welled in her eyes. No amount of fight could have hidden the emotion within her. She was excited to share with the world the fact that she officially had three new children. Children who could officially carry the Leighton last name. Rid their past from their lives, if they wanted to.

"Charlee do you want to do the honors and open the present?" My dad, the quiet one of the bunch, spoke directly at me. I nodded my head as my mom handed me a box wrapped perfectly with a gold bow on top.

I pulled the tail of the bow letting the gold ribbon drop to the floor. I tore back the paper wrapped around the box that held the papers we had been waiting for since we arrived. I opened up the box, pulling the papers freely from the box, letting the box drop to the floor with the gold ribbon.

"What is it Charlee?" Ryatt said from between Pierce and I.

I smiled as I ran my fingers over the pages held tightly in my hand. "Luca, Lucy and I are official stuck with Reece as our brother for life." I laughed as I looked at Reece. I waited for him to flash his middle finger at me from across the table. Instead, I got a kick under the table, keeping it PG for the little ones.

"Reece is my brother?" Ryatt said questioning everything.

"No Ry." I kissed the top of her head not wanting her to get upset.

"Of course, I'm your brother." Reece said going against my words. Reece's words brought a full smile across my baby sister's face. "I'll be ready to kick any boys butt who tries to hurt your little heart."

"Ew boys have cooties!" Ryatt scrunched up her face earning a laugh from the entire table.

"Mom, Dad?" I said as I placed the papers onto the table in front of me. They motioned for me to continue. "Before I go back to school, can we do the last name thing?"

"Yeah!" Luca and Lucy said in unison, wanting to follow in their big sister's actions.

"Of course." Our parents said looking at each other. I knew it was going to be a long process but I was ready to finally embrace the next chapter in my life.

I wasn't ready to give up Baker. I didn't know if I would ever want to give that part of me up, but I was ready to bring my new life and old life together as one. My parents, I knew, would always understand that. Luca and Lucy though, they needed the full fresh start. I wanted them dropping Baker all together. They deserved to rid themselves of the past. They, like Ryatt and Ryder, deserved nothing more than to have a clean slate. I needed to make that clear when we started the last name changing process.

We finished up dinner with cookies for dessert. Luca wanted to surprise our guests with his favorite chocolate chip cookies. He knew that it wasn't a desert that normally was had for Christmas. But this was his first real Christmas and he was ready to start a new tradition with the big family Christmas we were about to endure every year.

After desserts were consumed, it was time for the Bradbury family to leave for the night. It was getting close to the little one's bed time and they needed to get home and relax for the night. With the Bradbury's leaving it was also the cue for the Hudson's to also leave, but I wasn't ready for Pierce to leave.

"Can Pierce spend the night?" I blurted out as everyone gathered by the front door to get their shoes and jackets on.

"Don't you think he should go have some time with his parents?" My dad spoke again, shocking me.

"Please?" I looked between both sets of parents.

"We have no problem with it." Pierce's mom spoke up seeing how much I wanted him to stay.

"He doesn't stay in your room." My dad spoke in a stern tone, setting his foot down.

"Deal." I grabbed Pierce's hand and pulled him towards my room, leaving the leaving families in our foyer.

As much as I loved the company of everyone, I needed alone time as well. Not just alone time with myself, but with the one person I needed in my every day. I felt as though I had barely gotten any time with him since my arrival to this new town. I knew that I had more time than I deserved with him, but nothing was like the time we shared together in the group home. I wanted to get that back.

"Someone's eager." Pierce laughed as I pulled him into my room, shutting the door behind us.

"I just miss you." I smiled up at him, standing on my tippy toes, planting a light kiss on his lips.

"Alright, what's gotten into you?" Pierce wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. "You seem," he paused as he searched for the right words, "extra clingy today."

"Christmas has always been overwhelming for me. Every year up until now, I always felt guilty for what I gave my siblings, which was honestly nothing. We never had a dinner, we couldn't. I even feel guilty for what I got them, got you, everything. It just never feels like enough. I feel like I could have done so much better. I don't know."

"Baker, you are doing everything you can, you always have. Stop looking down on everything you do. I'm pretty sure that no one would have ever thought of getting me what you got me. That was the best thing I've ever been given. So, stop, will you?" Pierce planted a soft kiss on the top of my head, squeezing me tightly in his arms.

I felt his breathing hitch as he held tightly onto me. I sighed, knowing exactly the reasoning behind the pain. I pulled my body from his, stopping the pain.

"Kingston, have you gone to the doctor?" I said running my hands up his shirt, running my fingers lightly across the pained skin.

Pierce answered me with silence.

"Babe, you really need to go." I sighed as I lifted his shirt from his body, revealing the permanently bruised skin to me.

"I'm fine." Pierce laid himself back onto my bed, pulling me with him. He placed my body on top of his.

My eyes stared at the purple-blue skin laced along his ribs. It had been weeks since the football game where the worst of the pain occurred. But still, he had no relief. The bruise by this time should have begun to fade, change color, something, anything. It still looked as prevalent as it did that day in the locker room.

"Baby girl, I promise, I am okay." Pierce's hands grabbed mine at an attempt to pull my focus to his face. It worked but only for a few seconds. His killer smile had me wanting him in all sorts of ways. His body had me wanting him in all sorts of ways.

I unlatched my hands from his, lowering my lips to his bruised skin. I balanced myself, placing my hands on either side of his torso. I placed soft, barely touching kisses, to his ribs, then slowly up his chest.

"Baker." Pierce let out a groan, trying to force my face to his with his hands. I obliged his needs moving my lips to his. It was Christmas, he deserved what he wanted didn't he?

Of course, he did. He deserved the world.