I'm Not Your Protege, Just Your Kid

Zack's P.O.V

Gabby and I stumbled into my house, laughing like crazy and trying to catch our breath. When we walked into the family room, I was blown away. Hanging from the ceiling were Christmas decorations that slightly swayed from the air being blown out from the vents. Going up the railing by the stairs was a garland that had lights on it. Another garland was hanging up on the wall and three stockings were hanging underneath it. The tree was lit up and under it were neatly wrapped presents with colorful bows sitting on top.

"Wow, the kids did all of this?" Gabby asked as she put the shopping bags in her hands down on the couch.

Before I could answer footsteps came thundering down the stairs. I turned and saw Jayden and Devon coming down the stairs in their pajamas.

"Hey guys, you finally decided to come home?" Jayden asked and peeked at the clock and saw that it was nearing 10 p.m.

"Yup, sorry," I apologized.

"No problem. Anyways, how do you like the place?" Devon asked.

"It looks awesome," I complimented and soaked in all of the decorations once more.

"I know, I did all the work," Jayden grinned.

"No you didn't. All you did was watch T.V while I nearly broke my neck climbing that damn ladder," Devon pushed her.

"Same thing," she shrugged. "Oh, what's in the bags?" she casually walked over to the couch and peered inside. "Oh," her face fell at the sight of groceries.

Good thing I left the kids presents outside in the trunk.

"Would you like some cranberries?" I chuckled.

"No thanks," she huffed.

"Sorry Jayden, that's just the stuff I'm going to use tomorrow for dinner," Gabby apologized.

"Oh, what are you making?" Devon asked.

"Just some chicken alfredo pasta," she shrugged.

"My favorite!" Jayden and Devon said at the same time.

"There goes the Italian in you guys," I chuckled and ruffled their hair.

"Well, duh, Zack," Jayden rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, mom was fully Italian so most of our heritage is from there," Devon added.

"Hey Zack, I have to get going now, it's getting late," Gabby piped up.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow around eight so you can come prepare the food?" I asked and walked her to the door.

"Yup, and I'll just get ready here if that's alright?"

"Yeah, that's fine," I smiled.

"Okay, good night, Zack," she smiled and pecked me on the lips.

"Good night, Gabby," I smiled back and watched her get into her car.

I shut the door and walked back to the family room. I saw that the kids went back upstairs and I shut off all the lights. Before I took off the Christmas tree I looked at the presents underneath. All of the guys had a present addressed to them in Jayden and Devon's handwriting, even Gabby had one. I tried looking for mine, but I couldn't find a present with my name on it. I sighed and took off the tree lights with the same thought on my mind that;s been nagging me all day; where the hell did the kids get money from?

xxx

I woke up to someone shaking me awake. I groaned into my pillow and opened one eye and saw Jayden hovering over me.

"What?" I snapped, still tired.

"Merry Christmas to you too, asshole," she rolled her eyes.

"What do you want?" I sighed.

"Gabby's here," she said and stalked out of my room, slamming my bedroom door after her.

I rolled over in bed and let out a huge yawn, stretching in the process. I scratched my head and got out of bed and went into my bathroom to clean myself up a bit before greeting Gabby.

I walked outside and saw Jayden and Devon both sitting on the couch watching cartoons -scratch that- texting while the T.V. played in the background.

"Merry Christmas," I said.

"Merry Christmas," Devon answered and momentarily looked up from his phone to smile at me. Jayden on the other hand kept quiet and carried on texting like I didn't even say anything. I sighed and went into the kitchen where Gabby was starting to prepare her dish.

"Good morning," Gabby smiled at me once I stepped in the kitchen.

"Good morning," I mumbled and shuffled over to the fridge. I took out the carton of eggnog and poured myself a glass.

"You want to watch the Christmas parade with me?" she asked.

"Sure," I shrugged.

She left the noodles to boil on the stove and walked outside where I left Jayden and Devon. They hadn't moved an inch from their spot and didn't even complain when Gabby took the remote and turned the channel.

"I'm so nervous," Gabby said once I parked my car outside of my parents house.

"How come?" I asked.

"What if your parents don't want me here?" she asked as she carefully got out of the car with her dish in her hands.

"You have nothing to worry about. As long as you're not Gena, they'll love you," Devon smiled at her.

"Yeah, he's right," I shrugged and rang the doorbell.

Zina opened the door and smiled at me. "Hey, big bro," she hugged me. "Whose this?" she looked at Gabby.

"My long time friend, Gabby," I smiled and ushered her inside.

"Nice to meet you," Gabby said. "I would shake your hand, but my hands are full with my dish right now," she chuckled.

"Oh, you cooked?" Zina looked surprised.

"Yes,"

"Nice pick, Zack. She's a lot better then Gena," she rolled her eyes at the mention of Gena. She closed the door and looked up at Jayden and Devon.

"Hey Aunt Z," Devon said and bent down to hug her tiny frame.

"Hey D," she patted his back. "Don't you look handsome,"

Jayden scoffed and Zina turned to her. "Wow, someone looks beautiful," she looked Jayden up and down.

She was completely right. Jayden looked very pretty and mature in her outfit.

"I guess," Jayden shrugged and pulled down her jacket.

"I still don't see why you're wearing heels. You're the last person who needs it,"

"Oh be quiet before I stomp you down," Jayden joked around.

All five of us traveled into the house and saw Matt sitting on the couch. He nodded his head at us and gave me a confused look when he saw Gabby instead of Gena.

"Where can I put this?" Gabby asked.

"Oh, just put it on the table," Zina said.

Gabby nodded and bent over slightly to put her large dish on the table. My eyes scanned her long tanned legs underneath her dress.

"Perv," Zina slapped my chest.

"Zack! You're finally home," mom said while walking out the kitchen and drying her hands off on a hand towel that was slung over her shoulder. Dad soon followed behind and smiled at us.

"Mom, dad, you guys remember Gabby, right?" I asked.

"Gabby?" mom asked. "Oh my gosh dear, it's been so long!" she exclaimed and pulled her in for a hug. "You look so gorgeous,"

"Thank you, Mrs. Baker," she blushed.

Mom turned to Jayden who was back to texting. "You too grown up to give your old grandmother a hug now?" she asked.

"Hey, Grandma," Jayden smiled and bent down to hug mom. "Hey, Grandpa," she waved.

xxx

The only sound being made in the car were the Christmas songs being sung on the radio. Everyone was stuffed with holiday food and about to fall asleep while I drove home. The only thing keeping them up was the thought of finally opening their presents when they got home. I finally pulled into the driveway and we all piled out the car.

I unlocked the door and the kids trudged up the stairs to change into their pajamas and come back down to open presents.

"I missed your family," Gabby smiled as she took off her heels and sat down on the couch with me.

"It was pretty clear that they missed you as well," I chuckled and remembered how everyone's attention was on Gabby through the majority of dinner.

"Your family's awesome," she sighed and placed her head on my shoulder.

I rubbed her arm and yawned when I heard the kids coming back downstairs. "You guys ready?" I asked.

"Yup," Devon smiled.

Jayden just merely nodded her head and sat down on the floor next to Devon and the tree. I got up from the couch and grabbed Devon's gift from Gabby.

He ripped off the paper and his jaw dropped to the ground when he saw the new iTouch looking at him.

"Thanks so much, Gabby," he smiled.

"No problem, sweetie,"

I took out the next present that I saw and handed it to Jayden. "This one's from me," I said. She nodded and carefully unwrapped the gift on her lap. There wasn't really much of a reaction from her when she revealed the laptop that I purchased for her yesterday.

"Thanks," she weakly smiled and placed it aside.

We continued to pass presents along for the next few minutes until it was only the guys presents sitting under the tree.

"Hold on, we have to go get your present," Jayden smiled at me and dragged Devon with her. I waited until their footsteps faded to turn to Gabby with a worried expression on my face.

"What's wrong?" Gabby asked me.

"I still want to know where they got money from to buy everyone presents,"

"Zack," she sighed.

"How did they get it? They're not old enough to get into their bank accounts yet and they don't have jobs," I pointed out.

"Zack, just let it go," she sighed and bit her lip. It looked like she was holding something from me.

"You're hiding something from me," I accused.

"No I'm not," she looked everywhere else but at me.

"Oh gosh, they stole money didn't they?" I snapped.

"We didn't steal anything, asshole," I heard Jayden say from behind me. "It's nice to know that you trust us," she sarcastically said while glaring at me and holding a large gift in her hand.

"Where'd you get the money from then?" I challenged.

"You really wanna know?" Devon asked, he wore the same glare.

"Yes, I would," I stood up now.

"While you were sleeping the other day, we picked up the mail and saw that Ms. Brown sent us two first class plane tickets to come visit her in Detroit. I told Ms. Brown that I wanted to cash them in and use the extra money to buy everyone a gift and fly out to visit her later on in the year," Jayden explained.

"Yeah, and we made Gabby drive us to the airport so we could do that. I guess we should've just went to Detroit and stayed there like we wanted," Devon finished.

"And we didn't spend money on your stupid gift, Zack. We know you weren't part of our earlier days so we put together a photo album for you with our old baby photo's, but you can go ahead and burn it now," Jayden hissed and flung the large present on the floor at my feet.

"Merry Christmas, asshole," Devon said and walked up the stairs.

Jayden continued to stand there with a glare on her face.

"Jayden, I'm sor-"

"Save it," she cut me off. "You're a shitty ass father for not trusting your kids. You should stop judging us by our track records for once," with that final word she turned and went upstairs to join Devon. I heard her enter her room and shut the door, leaving me standing there feeling like shit.

I fucked up big time.