The Christmas Rattle

Book 7: The Baxter Boys ~ Rattled

by Jane Charles

Genres: New Adult & College; Holiday books; Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Thirteen years they've waited.

Thirteen years since they were torn apart.

Dylan White's siblings were torn from him at the age of twelve following his parents' arrest, and it's taken him years to track them down. Now his sister Nina is living with him and together they are doing what they can to reunite the family. But with the youngest only being seventeen, it seems like an impossibility.

Perhaps with a little twist of fate, and a bit of holiday magic, Dylan will finally get the greatest gift of all: a family for Christmas.

Release date: December 15, 2017

Publisher: Night Shift Publishing

Print pages: 157

Sample

1

JADE

“Something’s going on.” Sophia, my foster sister, takes her seat at the dinner table. “Mom and Dad have been acting weird for almost a week now.”

Our parents are not our real parents, but we’ve been their foster kids longer than we’ve been in any other place, and together, that if feels like a family. They are our mom and dad where it really counts, which has nothing to do with blood, genes, or any of that.

“It’s a busy time of year,” Adam, the oldest of my foster brothers, reminds her. “After Thanksgiving, Dad needs to get ready for Advent and Christmas.”

Being a pastor at a non-denominational Christian Center, we don’t really see Dad much this time of year. Between Thanksgiving, Christmas programs, feeding the hungry, toy and clothing drive for the mission, and everything else, he’s on the go constantly. He usually naps a lot from December 26^th to the 31^st, unless there is a Sunday service or a crisis. And there’s always a crisis.

“Well, I wish they’d get in here. I’m starving,” Ethan, another foster sibling, complains.

“You’re always starving,” Bryce, the youngest foster brother, points out.

I don’t know how Ethan can eat so much. He’s about six foot at sixteen and his waist is probably only the size of my thigh. 

“Do you think she’d notice if I just took a piece of garlic bread?” Ethan tips back on his chair to try and see into the living room where our foster parents are having a quiet discussion. He keeps leaning and leaning and then he’s gone, right before there’s a thump on the floor on the other side of the table. He’s lucky he didn’t crack his head on anything.

“Idiot.” Adam snorts with a chuckle.

“Hey, Jade, go see what’s keeping them,” Bryce says.

I just give him a look. I’m not going to be the one to interrupt our foster parents.

Ethan straightens his chair and sits back at the table as Sophia leans to the side, trying to see into the living room too. “They’re too quiet,” she complains.

We just look at each other as tension starts to fill the room. Then, Adam starts singing Away in a Manger and Bryce joins in with beatboxing. It’s what we do when we’re nervous.

The five of us have been with Pastor and Mrs. Hartman for almost five years now. They got us all within the same month because we each had a crap home and it was time to move us. Their last fosters had aged out and the Hartmans were ready for some more. They could never have kids of their own, so they’ve always had five or six foster kids at a time.

We started singing together in youth group—attendance is a requirement, not that I mind all that much. We’d only been with the Hartmans for a couple of years when none of the musicians showed up for music one night, so we sang acapella. Nobody else, because they didn’t feel that comfortable, but we didn’t care. Bryce had started it out with the rest of us joining in and we were good. Real good. Then Bryce started beatboxing with Adam joining in. It was fun making our own music, so we kept singing like that around the house, at the Christian Center, anywhere. It also helped that we were all required to be in choir. We’d already been singing at school, but that group is also a lot larger.

Then someone introduced us to Pentatonix and it was all over. Well, not introduce as in person, but through YouTube. We studied them, then practiced, then studied again and practiced some more. Now we are trying other songs. Nothing original. None of us are that talented, but the people who show up at the Center for services seem to like our take on contemporary Christian music. Lately, all we’ve been working on is Christmas music for an upcoming fundraiser to support the Christian Center. We are so copying Pentatonix on the Christmas music. We aren’t nearly as good as they are but one day we hope to be.

I start singing “The cattle are lowing, the poor baby wakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes,” while snapping my fingers in the perfect rhythm. Sophia joins in, harmonizing with “be near me Lord Jesus.” By the time we are near the end of the song, I’d almost forgotten about the weirdness of my foster parents until I look up and they are both standing at the entrance to the dining room—crying. We aren’t that good or that bad, so something else is going on.

My foster brothers and sister notice and they slowly stop singing, tapping and everything else we do during the song.

“What’s wrong?” There’s an edge of anxiety in Sophia’s voice.

The two then share a worried, sad look.

Oh God, we’re being sent to another foster home. That has to be it. I should have known it was too good to be true—that I could stay here this long. I had hoped to make it until my eighteenth birthday—now less than a year away. Except, I have a year and a half of high school left. The Hartmans were going to let me stay with them my senior year, even though I’d be eighteen and they wouldn’t get anything for keeping me.

“I’m being transferred,” Dad says.

“Where?” Ethan asks.

“Colorado.”

We just stare at them.

“What does that mean for us?” Adam slowly asks.

“You’ll need to stay in New York. We can’t take you out of the state.”

I look around the table. My foster brothers and Sophia are as scared as me. I only have one year until I’m eighteen, Adam too. Ethan is sixteen and Sophia and Bryce are only fifteen.

“Can we stay together?” Sophia asks.

At least if we have each other it might not be so bad.

“That’s what we are hoping.” Mom takes a seat at the table and cuts into the lasagna while Dad takes some salad and passes the bowl.

“We have an appointment with Mrs. Kragen on Friday.”

“She scares me,” Ethan says.

“She’s nice,” Mom counters in a disapproving way.

I agree with Ethan. Mrs. Kragen scares the crap out of me. She has a way of looking at you over those gold-rimmed glasses that has you convinced that she can read your mind and know every bad thing you’ve ever done in your life. I’ve only had to deal with her a few times and thank goodness she was never my caseworker. Except, now, maybe she is since mine retired and I haven’t seen a new one. Not that I need to. Things are good here.

Or they were.

“We’ve tried to adopt before, but none of your parents or family are willing to give up their rights.”

Adam snorts. His dad is in prison for dealing and his mother’s dead from an overdose. Every time the man gets out and is cleaned up, he falls right back into the habit and ends up in jail again.

Ethan’s dad is non-existent, in that he has no clue who the sperm donor was, and his mother lost him because of neglect. She petitions the court about once a year to get her child back. They used to have supervised visits, but he gave up on her empty promises of things being good real soon because half the time when she showed up, she’d already been drinking that day. Ethan just stopped going because the bottle would always be more important than her son.

Bryce’s mom is a prostitute and left him alone too many times at night and even though he’s old enough to stay by himself now, he doesn’t want to go back to that and since his mom hasn’t changed her career, they aren’t giving him back either.

Sophia’s mom is homeless, can’t keep a job, and picks up with guys all the time. Bad guys. Ones that have left Sophia scared in ways I can’t imagine. She’s only talked about it a few times, usually after a nightmare. I’m not sure she’s ever talked to anyone else, except maybe her therapist.

As for me, well my mom and dad are in prison for drugs and neglect. They spent more time cooking meth in the basement than anything else. Unlike my foster siblings, I have real siblings. Two older brothers and an older sister, but I haven’t seen them since we were separated when I was six. They probably don’t even remember me.

That’s something I try not to think about.

I remember them though. Dylan, the oldest was the real parent in the house. He took care of us the best he could, even if he was only twelve. Dylan was the parent until they separated us. Noah, a few years younger than Dylan, was always the goofy one. I idolized both of my brothers. Then there was Nina, my older sister by a year and a half. We used to fight over music and who would get to have the Walkman. She liked to listen to Madonna and the Go Gos. I liked Cyndi Lauper. We were so sheltered and poor, that I didn’t even realize that the music we loved was from when my mom was a kid. Not that it matters. I still like Cyndi Lauper.

Nina also read to me when I couldn’t sleep, and we’d dance in the living room. I can’t even remember what my parents looked like because I saw them so little. But I still remember my brothers and sister, not that they’d look the same now. It’s been almost thirteen years and none of us are little kids anymore.

As sick as the day the police came, I still remember it as clearly as if it happened yesterday. Dylan tried to keep us together, but we were torn apart and carried out of the house. I grabbed the purple bunny that Dylan had given me, and I had the Walkman with the Cyndi Lauper cassette tape mom had recorded a long time ago. I still have them both. It’s all I have left of my family.

Sometimes I wonder what happened to them and then I shut down those memories. All I know is that Nina turned eighteen the first of the year, but I haven’t heard from her. Dylan and Noah are old enough to come get me, but since they didn’t, I assume either they’ve forgotten about me or have just moved on, which is what I’ll do.

Maybe I’ll look for them when I’m old enough, but I doubt it. If they wanted me, they would have come looking and since they didn’t, why should I look for them?

“When do you leave?” Ethan asks, a catch in his voice.

“The second week in December.” Mom’s eyes fill with tears. “We’ll just be doing Christmas earlier this year and do everything in our power to keep you kids together.”

Mom can try all she wants but there isn’t a family out there that’s going to want to take on five teenagers who have been in the foster system most of their lives, like us. So many people want the little ones, never the teens because they assume we’re bringing trouble and damage that nobody wants to deal with.

 

2

NOAH

 

The snow is light outside, but I can’t bring myself to get up and leave. Only five more blocks and I’m there. Instead, I’ve been sitting in this bakery for two hours, getting up the nerve to see my brother and sister face to face for the first time since I was nine years old.

It’s not like we’re strangers. We’ve talked a lot since we finally found each other last spring, but I decided to surprise them, which I am now thinking is a really bad idea. What if they’re busy? What if they’re not home? What if they tell me that I should have called first?

I glance at my watch. I really should go before the bakery decides to charge me rent. Grabbing my backpack, I throw it on and then get my crutches secured under my arm.

It’s now or never.

A blonde woman rushes past me, apologizing as she goes, but stops long enough to hold the door for me.

She pauses outside of the bakery and pulls on gloves. My crutch hits a patch of ice and I slide into her. Now it’s my turn to apologize.

“Are you okay?” Her brown eyes fill with worry.

“I’m fine,” I assure her. My pride might be a little bruised, but that’s about it. I’m still trying to get used to these things.

“You didn’t hurt me.” She glances around. “Where are you headed?”

“Just down a few blocks.”

“These sidewalks can be treacherous.” She notices my wrapped foot and ankle, which I can’t put any weight on. “Do you need any help?”

“I’ll be fine.”

She bites her lip. “You sure?”

Even if I did, if I start to fall, I’d be taking her with me, not her keeping me upright. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine.” I’m not much of a soldier if I can’t make it a few blocks on crutches.

“Okay. Be careful.” Then she starts heading in the same direction as I’m was going, slipping a few times and she’s not even walking fast. Salt has been thrown onto the sidewalks but there are still a lot of icy patches.

This is going to be a bitch.

My crutch slides a few times, but at least I don’t end up on my ass. It sucks that I don’t have two working legs right now, but my right ankle was nearly shattered when I landed wrong during training. That’s why I’m back in the States. I’m on leave until rehab is over so I asked to take it here, where I could see my family.

The decision was made on a whim and I hope to hell it’s not a mistake. Until about twenty-four hours ago, I was in Germany. That’s where I’d been sent after I screwed up my ankle during training in Italy. When they started talking therapy, I asked if I could do that in New York City, where my family lives. Well, I know two of my siblings live here.

My brother, Dylan, knows about the injury, the surgeries, and that I’m facing a lot of rehab and that if it doesn’t heal as good as I need it to, I’m not sure where that’s going to leave my Army career.

I’ve also spent a lot of time talking to Nina, one of my younger sisters. She lives with Dylan now. Those two found each other after Dylan found me. None of us should have been missing. Our former caseworker allowed us to be ripped from each other, sent to different homes, and then refused to provide any contact information because it was for the best. Not knowing what happened to my siblings, especially as close as we were, was not for the best.

My gut tightens. I should have called. At least warned them.

The only person we haven’t found is the youngest, Jade. But she’s seventeen and with any luck, as soon as she becomes an adult, someone will give us an address. We do know that she’s happy and healthy, but because of notations in her file from a psychologist—notes that nobody has been allowed to read—it was decided that’s it’s best that we don’t disrupt Jade’s life at this time by Dylan fighting for custody. That is the only reason we backed off demanding to know where she is. Though, after being lied to by my previous caseworker, I’m not sure I trust anyone who works with the system, or trust that they are telling us the truth about the psychologist’s recommendation. However, Dylan’s working on getting visitation, it’s just taking forever to get.

The woman who tried to help me earlier starts sliding toward the street and she doesn’t have a walk signal. My pulse kicks up as I try to hurry after her to help, but I can’t get there in time. Luckily, she grabs a pole to keep her from sliding into the street. When I reach her, she’s hugging the pole like it’s a lifesaver.

“This is worse than I thought,” she says.

“You okay?”

“I just need to make it another block.”

That’s about as far as I have to go, I think.

“Do you live around here?” she asks. “I don’t remember seeing you."

“Visiting my brother.”

She smiles. “Oh, that’s nice.” The light changes to give us a walk. I glance to make sure no cars are coming because I don’t trust they won’t slide on the ice two, then hold out my elbow and grip of the crutch with my other hand. Maybe we do need each other to navigate the rest of the sidewalk.

“Is it not going well?” she asks as we slowly navigate crossing the street. “You did sit in the bakery for two hours. Or did you just need to get out?”

“Not exactly. He doesn’t know I’m coming.”

We make it safely across the street and carefully up the little slope before we’re on even ground again, but she hasn’t let go of my arm.

“I thought I’d surprise him. He doesn’t even know I’m in the states. Now I’m rethinking it.”

“I’m sure he’s going to love seeing you,” she assures me even though she can’t know my brother and knows nothing about me.

“I hope.” I pull a slip of paper out of my pocket to make sure I have the address right.

“That’s where you’re going?”

She’s looking at me all strange then takes a step back and studies me, especially at my injured ankle, then starts smiling. “Noah?”

How the hell does she know me?

“Noah White? Dylan’s brother. Screwed up your ankle in a jump?”

She knows a hell of a lot.

“Who are you?”

She laughs. “Noelle. I’m married to Sean, who used to live with Dylan. I’m heading there now.” She latches on to my arm again. “Oh. My. God. I can’t believe this. Dylan and Nina are going to be ecstatic to see you.”

“I probably should have called.”

“Hell no!” She declares and grins wider. “This is going to be the best surprise ever.”

I’ve got to take her word for it, but I am feeling a lot better.

We stop outside of a brownstone that looks like all the other brownstones on the block and I stare at the steps leading to the door. Steps, another thing I’m not good at yet. At least this part of the walk is free of ice.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t move.” She’s gone before I can stop her, skipping up to the door and throwing it open.

“Hey Dylan, I need your help.”

There’s movement inside but I can’t hear what anyone is saying.

“A found this poor guy wandering around outside and he really needs a place out of the cold and since Sean’s room is empty, I thought he could use it.”

“Noelle, what have you done?” A big, bald guy who I recognize as Sean, because of Facebook, comes to the door. He sees me and then starts grinning.

“Nina,” he calls. “You should help your brother.”

Faces fill the window. They’re probably wondering why he’s calling for my sister when Sean could probably pick me up and carry me inside. Most of the faces I recognize as being friends of Dylan’s. A minute later Dylan is standing at the entry, then Nina is beside them.

Tears fill my eyes as Nina screams my name and hurries down the steps. Dylan is right after her, moving slower, looking like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. In a blink, they are both on me, almost knocking me on my ass, but I don’t care. Their hugs are something I didn’t know how much I needed until they were there.

Damn! I’m crying. That, I wasn’t expecting, but I don’t care. This is my family and I’ve missed them for thirteen years. Dylan’s shoulders are shaking and so are Nina’s and we just hold to each other outside of the brownstone.

A moment later Dylan pulls back and wipes his eye with the back of his sleeve. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? We would have gotten you from the airport.”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, you did that.” He laughs. “Let’s get inside.”

“So, it’s okay that I just dropped in?”

“I’m going to forget you even asked that question. My home…” he looks at Nina. “Our home will always be your home too.”

 

3

DYLAN

 

I can’t believe my brother is here. Nothing could have made me happier.

Well, one thing—if Jade would have been standing next to him. My family is now three-fourths complete. Only one more year and Jade can leave foster care. I gave up trying to get her. Not that I don’t want her with us, but knowing that a psychologist believes that she should be with her foster family, who are great people according to Mrs. Kragen, and that her unit shouldn’t be disturbed convinced me to back off. Nina and Noah agreed. We don’t like it, but we also don’t know what Jade’s been through and we don’t want to make it worse. If it were just a caseworker’s opinion, I would have pushed in the courts, but it was a psychologist’s opinion. Not that I read the report, because that’s not allowed, but Mrs. Kragen did, and it was her opinion that we wait to gain custody, but she has recommended to the court that we have visitation. Except, at the rate the family law court is moving, she’ll be 18 before we get an answer.

We agreed, and it’s killing me.

At least next year we’ll finally have her.

The living room, dining room, and kitchen are full of people. Only a year ago it was only me, Alex, Christian, Sean, Ryan, and Zach living here with frequent visits from Joy, Mia, Alyssa, Kate, and Zoe. My closest friends—family from Baxter the Academy of Arts. Then Alex brought Kelsey home for Thanksgiving, then she introduced me to Mary, the most amazing, beautiful, and messy woman in the world, and she’s all mine. Mary introduced Christian to Bethany and their baby is due in only a few weeks. I got Nina back and she lives here too. So much change in one year and now Noah is here.

It doesn’t get much better than this, especially with everyone here for what is supposed to be cookie decorating that turned into a competition. Guys in the kitchen and girls in the dining room. We were smoking them with our artistry, which we knew would be short-lived as soon as Noelle got here. She’s the pastry chef and owns a house across the street. Sean slept there for four months but didn’t officially move in until they married last month. I thought I fell hard and fast when I met Mary, but Sean fell faster than any of us and didn’t waste any time in putting a ring on her finger.

He was the first and only one of us to marry so far. And even though neither one of them wanted a big celebration, Noelle’s dad insisted on the white dress, tuxedos for guys, church, flowers, and reception. It had been a shitty year because Noelle’s mom had been killed in January and Noelle had to pick up her life and move back to the states to take care of her half-brother who was only nine. Her dad, and grandfather, insisted on all the bells and whistles—a celebration of love after the darkness they’d all been through.

That was the one and only time I’ve ever been in a tux, any of us really, and I’m not sure when and if I’ll ever be in one again.

Because Sean wanted all of us standing with him, except Ryan who was the official photographer, Noelle had the girls who had gone to school with us as her attendants. Until she had to fly home because of her mother’s murder, Noelle had been living in Paris for almost four years, and that’s where all of her close friends are, including her best friend. None of them could get back on short notice, and Sean wasn’t willing to wait. Noelle didn’t want to wait either and only went along with the big wedding and reception for her family.

It wasn’t like she didn’t have anyone there for her. Hell, the bride’s side of the church was filled with family—the Baxters. We all thought it was going to be uncomfortable at first, given they are the same family who owns the high school we attended, but they were great and the friendliest group of people that I’d ever met. We already knew Noelle’s second cousin, Mrs. Robak, because she’s the one in charge of Baxter Academy of Art, but the rest of them wanted to meet us. Sean had told them we were all former students and I guess they don’t have many who come back and visit the school after graduation. They were all curious about our lives—not in a nosey or judgmental way, but happy for us, as if we were the proof of why Baxter needs to continue.

 Sean’s side of the church didn’t even have a third of the people Noelle’s did. It was a reminder that most of us don’t have a family. We’re foster kids and orphans, though a lot of the people he works with came up to help celebrate. I don’t think Sean cared that he didn’t have any family, as in blood family, because we were all there. And, outside of my siblings—Noah, Nina, and Jade, my Baxter family is all I’ll want with me when I get married.

Marriage hasn’t been far from my mind where Mary is concerned. I love her with my entire being and there is no doubt that I want to spend the rest of my life with her, I just haven’t found the right time, or the right words, to ask. When it happens, it’s got to be perfect, which is why I have the ring with me always, hidden away in my messenger bag, waiting for the right moment.

Nina grabs a cookie and bites into it as she plops down in the chair next to where Noah is. The two of us forgot the cookies as soon as our brother got here.

She was supposed to work at the gym but called her boss, Miguel, right away. He took her off the schedule until Monday. Miguel lost his brother earlier in the year and hadn’t seen him in a long time so he insisted that she take the time off before she could even ask for the day.

We got Noah settled on the couch and his foot up on the coffee table with a pillow beneath it. Mary and Bethany, both nurses, fussed over him, checked his bandage, incisions, everything because he’d been flying and basically up and moving for twenty-four hours. They were concerned about the swelling in his foot, which was to be expected, according to them, but as a precaution, they basically did an exam and asked if he moved around on the long flight and all kinds of things until they were satisfied that Noah hadn’t damaged himself in some way by traveling so soon after surgery.

We talked for a long time, but Noah fell asleep within half an hour of taking his meds. I tried to get him to take my room, but he wasn’t up to doing the stairs.

“Happy?” Mary asks as she comes up and puts an arm around me.

“More than I can express.” I still get a little choked up that my brother is actually here.

“That’s it.” Noelle stands and brushes off her hands. “Cookies are decorated. We just need to leave them for the icing to air-dry. She starts lining them up on the dining room table. The ones the girls did. “Bring yours out, guys.”

My roommates come in with theirs and Noelle takes over, setting them in a row just like she did the girls. Then she grabs the bowls of leftover icing. “Time to clean.”

“What? No judging,” Sean asks.

“We can’t because we won’t be impartial. I thought we’d leave it up to Nina, Dylan, and Noah, when he wakes up since they didn’t participate.”

I walk over to the table and glance over them. I can pick Noelle’s out because they are neater and prettier.

“No. Dylan and Nina know who did what because they know which side of the table you set them on,” Zach complains.

“Okay, then Noah can judge.” She grins. “Now, let’s get the kitchen cleaned so Dylan doesn’t get on our ass.” She winks at me as she pushes them to the kitchen.

“I wonder if she’s like that at Adeline’s.” That’s the bakery where she works and where she met Noah. He sat there for two hours getting up the nerve to just show up here. If I would have known he was so close, I would have gone to get him.

Someone rings the doorbell and I glance at Mary. We aren’t expecting anyone. “Maybe it's Jade,” I joke as I head to the door, wishing it were true. Then the day really would be perfect.

I open the door and take a step back when I see Mrs. Kragen and an older couple.

She doesn’t even wait to be invited in, but steps inside and goes into the living room where Noah is still sleeping.

The older couple stays on the stoop.

“Come in, please.” I turn to the caseworker. “It’s nice to see you, Mrs. Kragen. This is a surprise.” Are my hopes for getting Jade back sooner than later a possibility?

“Dylan, this is Mr. and Mrs. Hartman. They’ve been Jade’s foster parents and wanted to meet you.”