Holiday Cheer from Andrew Grey and Amy Lane

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

GREGORY HANSEN let himself into his sister’s house, closed the door behind him, and headed right up the wide, imposing stairs. The brand-new house more closely resembled a hotel lobby than a home, but he kept that to himself because Annalise would take his head off if he said anything. Under normal circumstances, she could be trying when she wanted to be. But lately, as she wound toward the end of her third pregnancy… well, Gregory wanted to get out of the house with his balls intact, thank you very much.

“Is that you, Greggy?” she called from her room. No one else ever called him that, and he corrected the rest of the planet when they heard her use that nickname. He let her get away with it out of simple love and gratitude. After their parents had died in a plane crash when he was fifteen, she had raised him and seen to it that he had the best life she could give him. Annalise sent him to college, using the last of their parents’ life insurance to pay the tuition, all four years of it. There was no grumbling that he was getting her share. She did it because, while she might be gruff, she had the biggest heart of anyone Gregory knew. It was just that few people outside the family ever got to see it.

“I’m here,” Gregory said when he reached the top of the stairs, not wanting to yell. “I came over as soon as I got out of work.” He reached the bedroom door and gasped. Annalise looked like hell. Her cheeks were drawn, her hair flopping down the sides of her head. No matter what, Annalise always looked her best, so this was a shock, even to him, who had seen his sister in rough times and some of her happiest. “What happened?”

“I’m tired, and the doctor says that this baby is… problematic. There are a few complications. So I’m apparently on near complete bed rest.” She wiped a tissue over her forehead, which glistened with sweat. “Would you get me a glass of water?”

“Sure.” He hurried away and returned with water and ice from the kitchen. He placed the large, covered travel mug next to the bed, then helped her sit up and grabbed one of her hairbrushes to run it slowly through her hair.

Annalise took a deep breath and began to cry. “Oh God, don’t mind me. I’m just a mess.” She cried harder, and just as quickly as it started, it ended.

Gregory continued brushing her hair, then got one of her hair clips and put it in place so her hair would stay. “What does Jonathan say?”

“He’s going to take some time off when the baby comes, but until then, he needs to keep working because they’ll only give him so long.” She wiped her eyes and sighed.

“I can stay and help.” Lord knows she had done enough for him.

“No. Jonathan’s mother is going to come in a week or so, and she’ll stay with me until the baby comes. She wants to spend time with James and Kevin, and she said she’ll help make sure everything is ready for Christmas.” Annalise reached for the nightstand and picked up a manila folder. “This is where I need your help.” She handed it to him.

“What’s this?”

“You remember…, Cynthia’s getting married in two weeks. A big Christmas-themed extravaganza. She and her parents are going all out, and I’m supposed to be the matron of honor. More like giving birth to a turkey of honor at this rate.” She rubbed her hand over her belly, and Gregory did the same, smiling when he felt the baby kick.

“This one is going to play soccer,” he said with a smile, and thankfully Annalise flashed a quick one back.

“As long as it isn’t with one of my kidneys, I really don’t care what he does, just so he makes an appearance on time and is healthy.” No test was necessary. Her husband Jonathan’s family had only ever had boys going back at least six generations and probably longer, so it seemed Annalise was going to be awash in an even bigger sea of testosterone, no matter what.

“I asked the doctor, and he said that as long as I get plenty of rest, I should be able to go to at least some of the wedding.” Cynthia was his sister’s best friend, and she was like a sister to both of them. She had looked for love everywhere and found it in the man who moved into the house right behind hers. “Part of what I agreed to do was to plan the bachelorette party. I arranged the location and I already sent out all the invitations, but I can’t do the rest.” She took his hand. “Gregory, I need you to do this for me.”

He opened his mouth to tell her no way in hell, but she seemed so hurt and worried and tired. “I don’t know anything about these sorts of things.”

“It’s a party for a bunch of women. That’s all. I made a list of the things that need to be done. Just please help me with this. This is a big deal. Friends of Cynthia and mine that we haven’t seen in ten years are coming into Mechanicsburg just for this. I had planned something really special… but I agreed to do it before I got pregnant this time, and it means so much to Cynthia.” She wiped her eyes again, and Gregory agreed to it without any more argument.

“As long as I don’t have to be there or serve as the entertainment.”

Annalise’s expression shifted from tired to wicked in about ten seconds. “You might want to be there. I found a stripper. The guy is big, buff, and hunky as all hell. I hired him out of one of the gay clubs in Harrisburg, so it’s likely he bats for your team. Though he said he dances at a ladies’ club in York too, so maybe he’s an equal opportunity butt-waver.” She flashed him a grin, and Gregory rolled his eyes.

“I’ll help you with the shower. Cynthia was always nice to me, even after you and Jonathan had two fits and a hemorrhage when I came out to you sophomore year in college.” Gregory snickered, because, looking back, it was so funny. At the time it had been ghastly, with both of them staring at him like he had two heads. Things had improved for all of them over time.

“I feel like shit over that. Well, actually I feel like shit in general, but I do regret how we acted. We just didn’t know.” She squeezed his hand. “We know different now.”

He nodded. “And Cynthia was there for me.”

Annalise nodded. “She gave me hell and told me to put on my big-girl panties and get the f… over it. If anyone else would have said that, I’d have snatched them bald, but her I listened to, and I’m glad I did. I was closed-minded.” She cleared her throat, reached for the bottle of antacids, and chewed on one. “Look, I made it pretty easy. Just follow the list. I already paid for the room, and the bartender is already hired, along with the entertainment. The rest of the stuff is listed.”

“Okay. I’ll take care of it. You just take care of yourself, and I won’t ask for much in return. Maybe name the baby after me. Though ‘Studmuffin Larson’ doesn’t sound too good.” He jumped back as Annalise took a halfhearted swipe at him.

“Go take care of things and let me rest.” She lay back down, and Gregory pulled the curtains closed before leaving the room. “And, Greggy, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He went down the stairs, grabbed his coat from the rack, and pulled it on before heading out into the snow and yuck, driving back to his small apartment above the music supply store in town.

He made a call and put his phone on speaker. “Well, you’ll never guess what I’m going to be doing for the next few weeks.” He tried to make it sound really interesting.

“Entering the Mr. Tight Ass contest at Broncos?” Will retorted. “You know, we should go see that on Saturday. It should be something. Last year the guys mostly showed off their assets without the benefit of Lycra, and let me tell you, it was like a religious experience.” He could practically see Will fanning himself.

“Nope. I was at Annalise’s. She’s on bed rest because of the pregnancy, and I have to plan her best friend’s bachelorette party. Can you imagine how thrilling that’s going to be?” Gregory tossed the file on the passenger seat to concentrate on his driving.

“Oh my God! Will there be strippers? Some of those guys are hot, and I heard they may swing it for the ladies, but when they go home, the butt swings all the way back to the gay side.” Will cackled like the loon he was.

“Annalise already hired him. She gave me a list and asked me to finish planning the party. I have no idea what the heck I’m supposed to do. You remember the last party I had. Half the people got sick from some dodgy cheese dip, and I ended up hosing down my bathroom for the next week. I don’t know anything at all about this stuff.” There were some parts of gay life that everyone else seemed to get and for which Gregory seemed to have been passed over. Party throwing was one of them.

“You know I’d help you, but I’m leaving town for work in two days and I’ll be gone almost until the holidays. It’s business, but two weeks in sunny southern California and away from this crap? I’m so ready.” Will sounded way too happy.

“Thanks a bunch.” The one person Gregory was hoping would be able to help him navigate what for him was going to be a pain in the ass, and he was going to be heading to the sun. And to make it worse, Gregory couldn’t be mad at him. “Some guys get all the luck.”

“Dude, it’s a party. Just look at what your sister gave you, get the stuff together, haul it over to the venue, and let the ladies put everything together. Just act helpless, and they’ll come to your rescue.” Will spoke as though what he said was obvious.

“You’ve seen how my sister does things.” Annalise threw parties where everything was perfect, from the bows on the backs of the chairs to the centerpieces, and even the punch had the perfect amount of everything. Sometimes he wondered if his sister stayed up all night measuring tassels so they hung evenly and finding wine that made the perfect sangria. She was like a party goddess, and these ladies were expecting that when they arrived. Not whatever the hell Gregory was going to be able to pull together. “Thanks for nothing. I know you’re going to be gone, but you were my last hope.” He sighed. “I guess I’m on my own. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Where are you headed? I could come over if you want.” That was a nice offer, but Gregory knew Will needed time to pack and get ready for his trip. Besides, he was going to need to figure this out.

“The weather is awful. Stay home. I’m going to have a few beers, eat some dinner, and then check out this list and see how godawful it really is.” Gregory said goodbye and ended the call. He sighed and glanced at the folder of doom, finished driving the mile or so home, and parked in his spot behind the building. Gregory trudged through the now-half-gray, slushy mess to the back door and went inside and up the stairs. At least he had the apartment at the front of the building. He unlocked the door and went inside the partially lit apartment. Even though he had one with the front windows, it was already getting dark, and Gregory had to turn on the lights in order to see.

He heated some dinner in the microwave and sat on the secondhand sofa to eat it, turning on the HD television. He had basic cable, so the picture wasn’t too bad, and he sat back with a beer, trying to relax. Gregory sent his sister a message to tell her that he had made it to his apartment in one piece, and then once he had finished, he pulled open the folder to see what his sister wanted.

Good God. There were party favors to get and assemble, decorations that he needed to buy the supplies for, and apparently twenty bows to tie, one for each favor. His sister had even supplied diagrams and websites for instruction. “How am I going to do this?”

Some of the things were doable. He could arrange to buy the bar supplies, since they were serving limited kinds of drinks, it seemed. But the food? The list was overwhelming, even with the recipes Annalise had provided. There was no way in the world he was going to be able to do this. Gregory was a danger in the kitchen. He could do simple things, but he had never baked. That was Annalise’s specialty, and she had banned him from her kitchen when he nearly burned it down making french fries once.

“A cake….” Thank God he didn’t have to make that. She had given him the name of the bakery she wanted it from, so he pulled out his phone to check their hours and get it ordered. Everything that it should say was there, so all he had to do—

“I’m sorry,” the recording began. “Due to a death in the family, the Dutch Bakery will be closed for the next week and will reopen December first. However, due to this closure, we can take no additional orders for the holiday season. Thank you.”

Great. Gregory messaged his sister as to what she wanted him to do and received a reply.

This is Jonathan. Please call me.

Gregory dialed his number, and Jonathan answered. “Gregory, Annalise is sleeping and I’m not sure how well she is right now.” He was clearly scared. “I’m thinking of taking her to the hospital if she isn’t any better soon.”

Oh God. “What’s wrong? She was tired but talking when I was there.”

“That’s good. I’m going to let her sleep, but I’m really worried.” Jonathan was not a drama queen in any way. He was steady as a rock.

“Call me if you need to take her in, and let me know if you need anything. And take good care of her.” He ended the call and set his phone to the side. He finished going down the list until the last item on the second page made him stop to make sure he was seeing it right.

Oh God, how in the heck was he going to get those ?