Christmas with the Reeds (Reed Brothers) by Tammy Falkner

Pete
    I stand outside the prison, and jam my hands in my pockets. I was kind of hoping that someone else would show up for Josh, but no one has. I’ve been watching to be sure no family or friends come to pick him up.
    I never wanted to be here again. I spent two years inside this facility. But looking back, I wouldn’t change the direction my life took, because if it did, I never would have found Reagan.
    My phone dings in my pocket and I pull it out.
    Reagan: Where are you?
    Me: Waiting for Josh.
    Reagan: Oh. Okay. I have Josh’s suit.
    Me: Oh, good. Bring it to Paul’s.
    Reagan: He might not want to hang with the family tonight, Pete. He might want to go home.
    Me: He doesn’t have a home, princess.
    I can almost hear her sigh through the airwaves.
    Reagan: Yes, he does.
    Me: How’s Kennedy?
    Reagan: Hungry, as usual. I put her in a green dress and she had a red felt bow in her hair.
    Me: Had?
    Reagan: As in past tense. I think she ate it.
    Me: Can babies eat felt?
    Reagan: I guess we’ll find out.
    I can’t help it. I laugh.
    The door to the prison opens and I see a wheelchair roll out onto the sidewalk.
    Me: See you in a few. Josh just came out.
    Reagan: Love you.
    Me: Love you more.
    Josh rolls himself down the ramp and stops right in front of me.
    “Josh,” I say with a nod.
    “Pete.” He nods back. “Fancy meeting you here,” he says, his eyes narrowing.
    I shrug. “I was in the neighborhood.”
    “Sure you were.”
    I stand silently until Josh opens his mouth to speak, and I suddenly feel like I need to cut him off. “You have plans tonight?” I ask.
    He jerks a thumb toward the prison. “Well, I was going to hang out here and see if they’ll let me back in. Three squares and a cot ain’t that bad, you know?” He shivers. “It’s cold out.”
    “There’s a convenience store on the corner you could rob. I bet they’d let you right back in.”
    He finally grins. Then he sobers. “Why are you here, Pete?”
    “You’re family, Josh. This is what family does.”
    He shakes his head. “I am not a Reed.”
    “You might as well be.”
    “But I’m not.”
    I throw up my hands. “Look,” I say, “you might not want us, but you’ve got us. All of us. You went back to jail for us.”
    “No, I didn’t,” he says quietly.
    “Yes, you did,” I argue.
    His voice is loud and sure when he speaks. “I went to see Bone so I could get revenge. You just happened to be there. I just happened to shoot him between the eyes. Revenge, Pete. Not sacrifice. Not a good deed. I killed someone. And I meant to do it.”
    “Thank God you were there,” I bite out. I remember that day. The crack of Bone’s gun. The reverb from Josh’s. The way we all fell to the floor. The silence while we waited to see who was dead. The deafening roar of the quiet while we counted our heartbeats.
    “God didn’t have anything to do with that day,” he tells me.
    “You see it one way. I see it another.” I throw up my hands again. “Either way, we’re all alive and you’re out of jail, and we need a favor.”
    “What kind of favor?”
    I laugh. “Don’t worry. All you have to do is wear tights and look pretty.”
    “Tights?”
    I nod. “Yep. You in?”
    “Hell, I don’t have anywhere to go anyway,” he says. My heart lurches. He does have a place to go. He just doesn’t know it yet.

Paul
    Friday has had way too much fun putting together the costumes for tonight. “What the fuck, Friday?” I ask as she tosses me a pair of red and green striped tights.
    “Daddy said f—,” Hayley sings out, but Friday covers her mouth really quickly. She scowls at me.
    “I thought she was in her room,” I say, trying to defend myself. I look down at the tights. “I am not wearing these.” I toss them onto the coffee table.
    “You’re all wearing them. And the elf shorts. And the pointy hat.”
    The door opens and my four brothers walk into the room together, and they have Josh and Daniel with them. My heart stalls