Chapter Six

James' POV:

"Look out!" I shouted as Katie swerved around a bicyclist. I clung to the arms of the seat. She revved the engine with a Cheshire smile.

"Your car is awesome!" she cried. She drifted slightly around a corner.

"Careful!" I warned. She rolled her eyes and sped up. She had hit the gas the minute we had left LA for the hills. She had begged me to let her drive my Dodge Charger, claiming that she had gotten better while at college. She was wrong.

"You have a beast at your fingertips!" she spun the wheel to the right and we slipped slightly across into the oncoming lane. I accepted that today was the day I would die.

"I see you haven't forgotten anything." I smiled. She looked away from the road for the first time and locked eyes with me.

"Something tells me you haven't driven your cars like this in a while." She guessed.

"It was no fun without you screaming in the seat next to me." I admitted. "Except now I think it's reversed. Maybe I taught you too much about cars."

"You're wasting this car if you're not driving it like this at least once a week." She decided.

"You mean driving it in the middle of nowhere?" I began to notice that we were well past any gas stations or houses even. "Where are we even going? You said shopping."

"We will be shopping." She smiled evilly. "Almost there." After five more minutes she pulled off to the side of the road and stopped the car. I looked over at her.

"Is this the part where you kill me?" I joked. She playfully slapped my shoulder.

"Get out of the car." She ordered.

"Yes, Ma'am." I slid out and caught the keys she tossed to me.

"Let's go." She pointed off into the forest. I looked at her like she was crazy. "This year, we're getting a real Christmas tree."

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Katie's POV:

"Katie, come back here!" James came running after me through the field that separated us from the tall fir trees that grew together a ways off. "Katie!"

"I told you, no one will know." I promised.

"It's illegal!" he came stumbling up next to me. "And where'd you get the saw?" he looked at the old fashioned saw in my hands.

"It was my dad's, and it's only illegal if someone catches us."

"That's definitely not the way legality works." He took the saw from me. I kept walking. "Why can't you just live with a fake tree like over half of the United States?"

"Because we had a real Christmas tree in Minnesota." I slowed as we approached the first trees. "Look for the young ones." I commanded.

"We haven't had a real Christmas tree in years. Why now?" he prodded.

"Because just because our kid is being raised in LA, that doesn't mean I want him to miss out on true Christmas experience. He deserves real trees. He deserves the childhood we had." I sighed. I watched him process the words. Then he straightened up and began looking through the trees for a good one. I smiled to myself.

"What do you think of this one?" he called me over.

"Too dry." I shook my head. "But I found one over here." I led him back in my direction. I had forgotten how fun it was to participate in this tradition. Especially with James. He had been there when I was little and now we were doing it for Nick. It wasn't as cold, and the whole family wasn't here, and ok it was slightly illegal, but it was a real tree we were getting. Together.

"I found the perfect one." James appeared next to me and took my hand. I hadn't held his hand in years. But it felt just as natural. We felt older, but we still had young hands. Young hearts. "What do you think?" he presented the tree he found.

"It's perfect!" I cried. He looked pleased with himself. "You were right!"

"I know." He winked.

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James' POV:

Cutting down the tree was actually the easy part. The hard part was carrying it back to the car.

"Stop holding it so high!" Katie complained.

"Stop being so short." I teased. She kicked the back of my leg. "Ow!"

"Oops." She giggled. I shoved the tree back slightly. "That went in my mouth!" she spat.

"Oops."

"It's poking my boob!" she whined.

"It's poking mine too."

"Oh shut up." She snickered. "You're not funny.

"Yes I am. But lucky for you we're almost to the car." I tossed the tree on the top of the Charger and stood back to catch my breath. "Next year, we're bringing Kendall to help."

"I'm not good enough?" she faked hurt.

"Not at all." I scoffed. "You dragged me out here then made me do all the work."

"Isn't that how it's always been?" she smiled.

"It is." I nodded. "Glad to know you haven't changed."

"I have." She argued.

"We're not starting this." I shook my head and had her hand me the straps to wrap around the tree to keep it in place.

"There's no roof rack." Katie grimaced. Shoot.

"You might have said something before we left the house." I grumbled. "Now how are we taking the stupid thing home?"

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Kendall's POV:

"Surprise!" Katie cried as I walked in the door with Logan and Carlos. I looked into the living room. "We just finished decorating it."

"A tree!" Nick was shouting. Lucy was picking up tinsel that was already falling off. And James was holding the star.

"You actually went out and bought one?" I laughed. "Classic Katie."

"Welllll, actually….." Katie bit her lip. James looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"They cut it down in the hills." Lucy laughed. I gawked at the two of them. "And look how cute it is! It's great!"

"That's so illegal!" I cried. James started laughing now too.

"I tried to tell her." He chuckled.

"I wanted Nick to know what it felt like to decorate a real tree. Like we did when we were little." Katie explained to me. "Please say you like it. It reminds me of Minnesota. That smell of Christmas."

"How'd you get it home?" I wondered.

"Don't ask." James sighed.

"It looks great." I decided. "Hopefully the cops don't come looking for us."

"I saved the star for you." James handed it to me. "And Nick." And then I understood. I was supposed to lift Nick up to put the star on the tree. This was a tough moment for me. But I knew what to do in the end.

"Nick, take the star to your Uncle James." I handed Nick the star. James looked up in surprise. "He'll pick you up and you can put the star on top."

"Really?" Nick looked at James in anticipation.

"Kendall-" James started.

"James, it's fine." I nodded.

"Hold onto it tightly." James instructed Nick. "Here we go." He lifted his son up and held him so he could place the star just right. I met Lucy's eye and she was smiling contentedly. And then I saw Katie. She was standing back, holding Carlos' hand. And there were tears on her cheeks. As James lowered Nick back to the ground, I saw him notice Katie too. We all clapped for Nick.

"What a beautiful tree." Lucy smiled. "Thank you Katie and James for getting it."

"It was Katie, really." James smiled at her. "She has that wicked way of getting you involved without you knowing it."

"Mommy, when will the baby come out of your stomach?" Nick plopped into Lucy's lap.

"Not for a while, Sweetie." Lucy played with his hair.

"Are you excited to be an older brother?" Logan asked Nicholas.

"Yeah." Nick nodded. "But I don't know how to be one."

"You'll learn pretty fast." Kendall laughed. "Aunt Katie came and I learned to be a big brother."

"And we all learned to be Aunt Katie's brothers when we lived with her." Carlos chuckled. "Except she's not so little anymore."

"Aunt Katie, they are all your brother?" Nick asked.

"No no." Katie knelt down and admired her son's face. He looked just like James. "Only Kendall. Uncle Carlos and Logan only take care of me like they're my brother."

"And how does Uncle James take care of you?" Nick looked at James. James blushed. Katie stuttered slightly. "Like mommy and daddy!" Nick guessed. He looked at me and I didn't know what to say. I watched Katie and James blush and avoid eye contact, but the truth is I couldn't correct Nick. He was right. James' love for Katie was something that spanned beyond brotherly love. He would protect Katie with his life. One time a guy at the Palm Woods school called Katie fat and James got suspended for beating him up. Another time Katie got her period earlier than expected at a dance and James helped her hide it and took her home safely. James was the only other guy I trusted to treat Katie better than me.

"Your mommy and daddy are married." James said after a while.

"You and Aunt Katie get married." Nick offered. James' mouth fell open wide. Carlos started laughing. Katie hid her face in her hands.

"I'll put him to bed." Katie offered to Lucy. Lucy nodded. "Let's go to sleep, Nicholas." Katie offered him her hand and started leading him down the hall.

"Uncle James too!" Nick cried. I watched as James dutifully followed Katie and his son out of the room. Logan looked at me.

"That kid knows way more than we give him credit for." His eyebrows were practically at his hairline.

"I believe that if they are meant to be together, they'll decide to try again." Lucy spoke quietly.

"Katie doesn't seem so sure." Carlos admitted. "She was crying."

"We saw." Logan nodded.

"Katie is prideful. She's used to doing this all on her own. She doesn't like the idea of having to admit that she wants a partner. That she's lonely." I explained.

"And she is lonely." Carlos sighed. "Poor thing."

"James better win her back." Lucy stood and stretched. "If he lets her get away again, he won't have the energy to try a third time."

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Katie's POV:

"What song do you want tonight, buddy?" James asked after Nick was tucked into bed. We were each sitting on one side of the bed, leaning over our son. I tried not to show how much I was feeling this moment.

"Yours." Nick decided.

"Which one?" James asked.

"Ball over again." Nick smiled. James looked at me and laughed a little.

"All Over Again it is." He started to hum. I watched his eyes close as he let the melody of the music pour out of him. He still had it. He would always be a musician. "still got that same look that sets me off.'Cause there's just something about you.I got these feelings to let it show 'cause I wouldn't let you go.I shouldn't of let you go." His beautiful voice slowly faded out as he finished the first verse.

"Katie sing too." Nick nudged me with his foot. I quietly shook my head.

"No, bud, Katie doesn't sing." James spoke up.

"Yes she does. She sings to me." Nick argued. Darn that kid. Oh wait. I made him. Darn me.

"Does she?" James looked at me with a smirk on his face.

"If I sing, will you promise to go to sleep?" I asked Nick.

"Promise." He nodded. I sighed and looked at James. "It's like I'm falling in love all over again.For the first time and I know that it feels right." James' eyes softened as my voice eased Nick's busy mind. What I wasn't expecting was him to join me.

"I think I'm falling in love all over again.Love at first sight, do you know how I feel." We finished together softly and for a moment we let ourselves look at each other. Wow, I had missed him. And all the work he went through today on behalf of me and that tree was so sweet. And when he had lifted Nick up to the tree with the star, I had gotten a first glimpse of what it could have looked like if I had told James that I was pregnant back when it all started.

"What are you thinking about, Aunt Katie?" Nick asked sleepily.

"You, baby." I brushed some hair out of his face. "I love you."

"I love you too." He whispered. "And so does Uncle James. He told me not to tell you though, so sh." I looked back at James and I saw him glaring at Nick. I laughed to myself.

"Sleep well, kiddo." James kissed Nick's head as I stood up. "And tomorrow I need to teach you the meaning of the word 'secret' ok?"

"Ok." Nick nodded and closed his eyes. James and I tiptoed out of his room and closed the door. We stood alone in the dark hallway together.

"You have a beautiful voice." His voice was husky and for just a second I wanted to feel him pressed against me.

"You told Nick you loved me?" I asked softly, brushing my hand across his face. He froze and looked down at me tenderly.

"Yes." He whispered. "I told him that the only thing I wanted for Christmas was to hear you tell me you love me."

"You're sleep deprived." I brought my hand back to my side. "You won't remember any of this."

"I think you're hoping I won't."

"Go to bed."

"Your pants are see through." He pointed. I gasped and looked down, only then realizing that I was wearing jeans. I looked back up to see him running down the hall. James Diamond a father? Funny that he could still act like a child. I smiled and thought of my crazy guys. They all acted like kids. And that was one of the many reasons I loved them.