Elise is mulling something over in her mind, I can tell and I know it's not about JC asking her out. I bump her shoulder, gaining her attention and a small half smile. "What's going on down there in your noggin?"

"Wondering what he got the kids and I for Christmas, hopefully not jewelry. Deven, you've been amazing to me and the kids and I don't even know why. JC has been great to us as well. Doog and his family are my family."

"Except for when you two were teenagers," I fire back, poking the tip of her nose and she rolls her eyes. 

"Shut up," she giggles, turning away. 

"Mikkaila?" JC calls her from the living room. 

"JC?" she playfully retorts. 

"Could you come here, please?"

She groans, teasing him. "Fine."

I watch him pull her close to his body, talking to her in a quiet tone and she tosses her head back to giggle again. She hasn't been this happy or giggly since her divorce party, but they like each other. She's extremely independent, she doesn't rely on anyone but me for help really and when she does, it usually Nick's family she asks for help from. 

I check on the kids and come back to the place JC and Elise had been standing, finding them gone and I instinctively check the deck once I notice their jackets aren't on the coat rack hooks. "That's where you love birds disappeared to," I tease, pulling my sweater closed in the front as I step onto the deck. 

"Sorry, I wanted to talk to her alone for a few minutes," JC explains to me, rubbing her back. He whispers something in her ear and she softly sniffles, getting to her feet with both our help. Her nose is bright red, her cheeks are a deep rose and her eyes look puffy like she had been out here crying with him. "Come on, Mikkaila." He embraces her, reassuring her as best as he possibly can. 

"Stay with me?" she requests, her face pressed against his chest and has her sleeve covered arms around his waist. 

"I will," he agrees, trying to soothe her. 

'What happened?' I mouth. 

'I just learned about her mom,' he silently replies, kissing the top of her head. 'Can you get Nick or Aaron, please?'

I nod and march inside to find one of them, spotting them together. "JC needs you guys," I inform them, grabbing their sweatshirt sleeves and pulling them behind me to where Elise and JC are on the deck, her body shaking with sobs. 

"What?" Aaron can be so dense sometimes. 

"Why?" Nick demands, stopping at the door to the deck. I look at him, narrowing my eyes. He folds his arms.

"He just learned about her mom and he's trying to coax her inside to get out of the cold, but she won't move and he doesn't know what else to do. She's crying and he's attempting his best to calm her down, nothing is working," I summarize. Before I get another sound to escape me, they rapidly stride out the door and I follow, discovering them hugging her from either side of her tiny frame while she holds tight to JC.

"It's alright, Boog. She's not in pain anymore; she's watching over us now. I know it's been rough for you, but we're all here for you and love you," Nick assures her. 

"We have always been there for you, Kai, and nobody and nothing will ever change that. Please, come inside and warm up," Aaron comments, the last part pleading. She sniffles a handful of times more and nods her head, moments later she's following the two brothers into the house and gently tugging JC with her by his hand. Their fingers are tangled together. He is genuinely concerned. Once she's sitting in the living room, Nick and Aaron are whispering to her about something.

"I promise you're gonna like it at least," Nick tells her. 

"It's something you two knuckleheads did, so I don't know about that," she quips. 

"Come on out," Aaron calls over his shoulder. 

Two women come into the room; one is blonde and the other brunette, both women have the same exact eyes as Elise. "Mikkaila?" the blonde inquires, my eyes traveling to my best friend. 

"Halina? Jessica?" she blurts out, shocked. 

"Yes, Mikkaila," the brunette replies, smiling like her baby sister. She jumps up and quickly closes the space between her and her half sisters whom she's never met before, the same ones she talks to online and via texts and phone calls all the time.

"I've wanted to meet you since I was thirteen!" She's crying, excited and happy as they embrace each other. 

"We've felt the same way since we found out about you, baby sister," the blonde comments. 

It's been a couple hours of them chatting so fast, my head is spinning and their kids have all met each other and their respective aunts. Nick, JC and Aaron are quietly talking between themselves and the kids have gone into their rooms to hang out, leaving me to entertain myself. She's introduced me to her sisters and them to me. "We should find a hotel," Jessica reminds Halina, twirling a strand of her brown hair around a finger. 

"Hold that thought," she tells them, walking over to JC. 

"What's up?" he asks her, seeing her out of the corner of his eye. 

"Nick, can they stay with you? It's only while they're here," she fires off, folding her hands together and giving him the pout. 

He pretends to consider it. "JC, now would be a great time to show her and the kids."

JC nods, rising to his feet and grabbing the four smallest presents under the tree. "Mickie, Leilani and Grahm," he calls out, all their 9 kids coming from wherever they were to the front room in a rush. The three he called by name stop in front of him and he doles out the four gifts in his hands. I watch as they rip open the paper, opening the boxes and Elise holds up a set of keys.

"What are these?" she demands. 

"House keys," he replies. 

"To what?"

"Boots and jackets everyone," he commands everyone. None of us waste time getting ready and congregate in the middle of the living room. "All set?" We all look at each other and nod, thrilled to find out what house the keys go to. 

He guides us all on foot up the rest of Walton, turns left and goes down Milk Street two streets away and stops in front of a triple decker. "You got Maddie's old place?" 

"I own this one and come over here," he beams, dragging her with him by her gloved hands. "Close your eyes, Elise." I know she did as he requested, guiding her along the side of the building and stopping in the tiny backyard at the edge of a smaller house's driveway. "Open them, mami."

She looks around, her light jade eyes shining. "What about this one?" she demands, pointing to the smaller one. 

"I own this one, too."

"What? Why?"

"The house behind us is for company until the kids are old enough to be on their own and they can use one of these apartments as their first and the one in front of us is my personal home. You and the kids have keys to both, welcome to them at any given time. Your sisters, nieces and nephews can stay here while they visit."

She immediately jumps into his arms, kissing his lips quickly and hugging him tightly as he chuckles about it. "Thank you!"

Her sisters and I laugh, her kids shouting their thanks as well and he smiles from ear to ear. "Told you," I comment, my hands diving into my pockets to warm them. 

"You were right," he agrees. Elise and her sisters look between us, their expressions are exactly the same and it's my turn to laugh with JC.

"What?" they question at the same time. 

"Your faces matched perfectly," he replies, holding Elise tightly. 

"And why'd Deven say 'told you'?" Elise demands to know, snuggling her body closer to his in this nipple freezing weather. 

"She said she wouldn't tell you and that she knew you'd appreciate if I allowed your sisters, nieces and nephews stay in the triple decker."

"How long have you known they were coming?"

"About a month."

"How long have you had these places?"

"Almost as long." He kisses the top of her head. "Merry Christmas, Mikkaila."

"Merry Christmas, Josh." He looks confused for a moment, but lets it pass. "It's cold as fuck and I vote we go home."

"Come see what the inside of the houses look like."

"I know what the inside of both look like, I had friends that lived in them."

"I meant your sisters, mami," he laughs.