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“I can’t believe that our set list got messed up because of fucking Avril Lavigne!” Nick stabbed murderously at his eggs. “Who the hell does she think that she is, running over time and not listening to the production crew?”

“It was only a couple of songs.” Howie watched as Nick continued to scramble his already scrambled eggs. “I seriously doubt that the crowd even noticed.”

“It’s the principle of the thing!” Nick shot back. “We were headlining the show, not her.”

“I thought that her husband, what’s his name – Nickleback – was going to punch you in the face when you called her out backstage.” AJ laughed and speared a piece of sausage with his fork. “You should have seen the look on your face when he took a swing at you.”

“The name of the band is Nickleback.” Nick rolled his eyes. “I think his name is Chad – Chad something-or-other.”

“Regardless of what his name is, he almost sent you home with a black eye.” Kevin shook his head. “Was it really necessary for you to call Avril a Timbit-eating hoser?”

Nick shrugged. “Her beefy-ass husband was more upset about it than she was.”

“Really, Nick, you should have seen your own face!” AJ continued to cackle. “It was priceless!”

Brian looked up from his own eggs and took a sip of coffee to hide his laugher. He could tell that Nick was getting tired of being told that he had looked ridiculous ducking and weaving against Chad Kruger’s flying fists.

“I didn’t see you rushing over to help me.” Nick grumbled at AJ. “It was Howie, of all people, who came to my rescue.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Howie lowered the forkful of hash browns that he had been just about to place in his mouth. “I took a punch for you! You should be thanking me!”

“He actually hit you?” Leigh put her fork down on her plate and crossed her arms. “You never told me that he actually HIT you.”

“It was only a little punch.” Howie turned his attention to his wife. “He barely grazed my shoulder.”

Brian snorted, but he quickly covered it up with a cough when he saw that Howie was glaring at him. Howie truly had done Nick a massive favour. If Chad’s punch had connected with Nick’s face instead of with Howie’s shoulder, they would have all been eating breakfast in the emergency room. The force of the blow had practically knocked Howie to the ground. Brian had no idea how Howie was planning on explaining away the massive bruise that had surly already overtaken his upper arm.

“I still think that you owe me an apology for the Timbit-eating hoser comment.” Kayla jokingly added her two cents to the conversation.

Nick swivelled in Kayla’s direction and broke into a huge smile. “What? Do you, or do you not, love Timbits?”

“Yes.” Kayla conceded with a roll of her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean that all Canadians love Timbits.”

Brian looked across the table at Kayla and grinned. Kayla had announced her nationality to everyone at dinner the night before, when she had been forced to speak French to the clueless waiter. Everyone had taken it in stride, as she had obviously left out the information regarding Liliana’s father and had; therefore, downplayed her reason for moving to the States. As promised, Kayla had allowed Nick to privately share the real reason for her relocation with Brian after the show.

“How do you say idiot in French?” AJ interrupted.

“Imbécile.” Kayla supplied with a smile.

AJ grinned and turned to Nick. “Nick, tu es un imbécile.”

“That’s actually pretty good.” Kayla laughed. “I’m impressed.”

“AJ, tu es un jack-ass.” Nick scowled as he scooped a forkful of severely scrambled eggs into his mouth.

“You’re both idiots.” Kevin put an end to the bickering. “Let’s get going, we all have to catch a flight.”

“So, you’re going to your mom’s for Christmas?” Brian studied Nick’s face to gage his reaction as he asked the potentially disastrous question. It was no secret that Nick hadn’t been on the best of terms with his family for the past few years.

“Apparently.” Nick frowned as he glanced down at his boarding pass. “Aaron and Angel seem to think that it’s a good idea for us all to be together for the holidays.”

“And what do you think?” Brian checked to make sure that Baylee was still following them before he turned his attention back to Nick.

“I think that it’s going to be a shit show.” Nick sighed. “My mom will get loaded, BJ and Aaron will get high, and Angel will be on her phone the whole time.”

“It’s not too late for you to back out and come to Christmas with me and Kev.” Brian patted Nick reassuringly on the shoulder. “You know that my mom would love to have you.”

“I know.” Nick’s frown deepened. “But I also know that I gotta see my family. I also have to sort out a place of my own. I can’t spend the rest of my life in your guest room.”

Brian shrugged. “You can stay as long as you need to.”

The frown disappeared from Nick’s face. “You have no idea how much I appreciate that.”

“Come on, cuz!” Kevin’s voice reverberated through the waiting room. “We’re boarding!”

“I still have half an hour to kill.” Nick slapped his boarding papers against his palm. “Last again.”

Brian chuckled and pulled his younger friend into a tight hug. “Merry Christmas, Nick.”

“Merry Christmas, Bri.” Nick returned the sentiment as he patted Brian roughly on the back.

The two of them pulled out of their embrace and hurried to catch up with Kristin, Kevin, Kayla and the kids. Baylee was moseying along beside them, hurrying to finish his text messages before getting on the plane. Nick quickly embraced Kevin and Kristin and wished them a ‘Merry Christmas’. He then bent down to say goodbye to Lily, Max, and Mason, before standing back up and ruffling Baylee’s hair.

“Bye, Uncle Nick.” Baylee pulled his eyes away from his phone long enough to give Nick a quick hug. “When are you coming back?”

“I’ll be back after Christmas.” Nick assured him. “Try not to give your dad a hard time while I’m gone.”

Baylee rolled his eyes. “I’ll try.”

Brian smirked at his son’s response and ushered Baylee towards the gate. He knew that the chance of Baylee being on his best behaviour over the holidays was slim to none. Brian handed their boarding passes to the lady at the gate and glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Nick pull Kayla into a long hug. Nick’s hands were wound tightly around her back and he was whispering something in her ear. Brian saw Kayla smile up at Nick as they pulled away, her hand reaching up to caress his cheek. Brian’s stomach flipped as he watched the exchange. He knew that he had no right to be upset about whatever was going on between Nick and Kayla, but he was having a hard time convincing himself that Nick’s pursuit of the pretty redhead was still a good idea.

Brian quickly looked away as Kayla turned around and headed towards the gate, holding Liliana by the hand. He hoped that she hadn’t noticed that he had been watching her exchange with Nick. “You ready to go?”

“Yup.” Kayla smiled and handed the woman her boarding pass. “I can’t wait to be home.”

“Ba!”’ Liliana let out a happy squeal and tugged on Brian’s jeans. “Ba!”

“Good girl, Lily.” Brian encouraged as he bent down and pulled her into his arms. “I’m Brian.”

Kayla shook her head as they followed Baylee onto the plane. “If you keep picking her up like that, you’re never going to be able to get rid of her.”

“I don’t mind.” Brian grinned.

Brian did a quick scan of the plane and noticed that Kevin and Kristin had been seated near the back with the boys. He gave his cousin a small wave as he directed Baylee to a row of three seats near the front of the plane. As before, Baylee took the window and Brian sat in the middle, leaving the aisle seat for Kayla.

“I have these for you.” Kayla handed Brian two envelopes once they were situated. “One is a copy of the report that I just wrote and the other is a copy of the character reference that AJ submitted.”

Brian accepted the envelopes from Kayla and smiled gratefully. “I’m assuming that I passed the on-the-road assessment.”

“With flying colours.” Kayla reassured him. “I made sure to leave out the bit about Nick and Chad’s little disagreement.”

Brian’s stomach dropped. He hadn’t even thought about how damaging that situation could have been for him. If Peggy had been the one conducting the assessment, he would have been up the creek without a paddle. “Thank you.”

Kayla shrugged. “You’re a good dad, Brian. You deserve to be Baylee’s primary guardian.”

“Aren’t you going to get in trouble?” Brian worried. “What if someone finds out?”

Kayla shrugged again. “It will be our secret.”

Brain stared into Kayla’s expansive blue eyes. “What are you doing for Christmas?” The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them.

“For Christmas?” Kayla repeated. She looked slightly confused. “Nothing. I mean, my aunt and uncle are on vacation.”

“What about your parents?” Brian asked. “Are they coming to visit?”

Kayla shook her head. “They’re both teaching at an international school in Norway. They have been for the past few years. The cost of the flight is too high at Christmas, so they always come to visit in the spring.”

“So, that means that you have no reason to not spend it with me?” Brian grinned. His heart was racing as he waited for Kayla to respond. He knew that he shouldn’t have asked her, that it wasn’t fair to Nick. Brian quickly backpedalled to make his invitation seem less personal. “I mean, with me and Baylee and Kevin – with our family.”

“You want me to spend Christmas with you?” Kayla stalled for time as she looked into Brian’s eager face. Rochelle’s statement about Howie telling Leigh that Brian may be interested in her was running through her mind on a loop.

“Yeah.” Brian’s face had now taken on a more anxious expression. “Lily can come too, of course.”

“I – well – I – okay.” Kayla felt as though her heart was going to beat right out of her chest. “I’d like that.”

“Good.” Brian looked positively relieved as he leaned back in his seat to prepare for takeoff. “Did I already tell you that I hate this part of the flight?”