Love & Football

Chapter 20

:: Emma's POV ::

I walked into JJ's house with arms full of groceries, kicking the door shut behind myself. I was busy getting everything into place to pull of my major surprise for him, a family Christmas. JJ was at practice and Noah was finishing his day at school before the two week holiday break. I only had a small window of opportunity to complete all of my tasks, I had to transport all of the presents from my place to JJ's and put them under the tree that Noah and I had insisted JJ needed no matter how much he told us he didn't. Little did he know there were big plans for that tree. I was so glad that I had stored all of Noah's presents at JJ's from day one to keep him from finding anything; I would've spent half the day just playing Santa. Transferring presents for one place to the next.

After speaking with Connie and getting a full run down of what the boys like to eat and drink, I made a stop at the grocery store. There was going to be a house full of large football players, I needed to make sure there was going to be enough food to go around. I know how much food the littlest football player in the house can put away. Lord knows the combination of the four of them is going to pretty much be the equivalent of feeding a small army; I am happy to say that I am armed and ready. Bring them on. I had more than enough wine for Connie and me; we were going to be significantly outnumbered by males. Like I said, I'm armed and ready.

As I was organizing the pantry my phone went off. I was almost certain it was JJ, it seemed to be around the time he would text me to tell me that he either was done with practice or that he was going to stay and train longer. I decided to finish with the pantry before going to check it, the way I looked at it, if he was on his way home, me getting these groceries put away was much more important and time was crucial. When I grabbed my phone from my purse I noticed there wasn't just one message, but two.

JJ: Be home in an hour. Love you

Connie: Flight got in early we have landed in Houston. We should be there within the hour.

Oh my God. I laughed as I shook my head; there was a good chance that JJ would be arriving at the house around the same time as his family. Talk about surprise. Not exactly how I had envisioned it going but I was going to have to take what I could get. After all the traveling I couldn't ask JJ's family to occupy themselves until I was ready for them, that would not be very hospitable on my part.

I shoved my phone into my pocket and set off to tackle the next thing on my list, making up all the guest beds and getting the sleeping arrangements worked out. I love everything about JJ's house, it's amazing and beautiful and very much a bachelor pad. I had agreed to move into his place, and at times I wanted to kick myself. We all know about my frantic neat freak tenancies, I couldn't even imagine cleaning a house two and a half times the size of mine; and I thought mine was big. Every time I looked at the large chef's kitchen and the amazing backyard, the extra cleaning I would be doing would be worth it. JJ insisted that we could keep around the maid service he had hired to come in and clean once a week, I declined the offer. I never trusted that they cleaned efficiently, or at least not the way they claim to.

"Emma!"

I froze as I heard JJ's voice coming from the downstairs. I quickly looked at the clock on the bedside table as I finished smoothing the comforter. 2:27. He was definitely home much sooner than I had expected and thankfully I had just finished the last bed.

"Upstairs!" I called back as I quickly slipped out of the guest room as if I had never walked into it, "I'm coming!"

I straightened myself out and skipped down the stairs, curious to find out what brought my boyfriend home to me so soon. I walked into the kitchen to find JJ standing between the fridge doors, his eyes endlessly scanning as he shut them to turn and look at me.

"Did you go grocery shopping?" He asked, seeming almost confused by the massive overstock taking over his fridge.

"Yeah." I nodded as I stepped closer to him, "I figured if Noah and I were moving in that I'd buy some food. You know how much he eats."

"Does Noah also drink Miller Lite? Because I know you don't." He laughed as he came around center island to meet me.

"Well... it's the holidays, I wasn't sure if my parents would be coming by or any friends of ours. I wanted to be prepared." I saved myself on that one as I wrapped my arms around his waist, "You know how I get about hosting."

"Uh huh." JJ pressed his lips to mine in a brief but very sweet exchange, "Well you could feed the entire Texans football team with all the food in there."

I laughed at his comment, but for way more reasons than he even knew. Little did he know I did plan on feeding a small football team. I tried my best to not let him on to my surprise but it was proving to be harder and harder. I just hoped he wasn't thinking too much into the new found changes around here.

"Did you decide not to stay longer?" I looked up at him, curious as to why he came home early, he's very dedicated, he would never just decide he's leaving before he was finished.

"Power outage in the field house. They told us to go." He shrugged his shoulders as I slipped from his grip, "I'll go back later or in the morning."

"I'm sure you will." I giggled as I cleared off the table of my belongings; I hate a cluttered table, "Just don't work yourself too hard. You know I worry about that."

"I promise if I feel that I can't handle it, I will take it easy." He reassured me for the millionth time that he wouldn't push himself harder than he could handle. I loved that about him, he never got tired of easing my worries, "Don't we have to get Noah from school?"

"No. My dad wanted to pick him up and take him for sundaes." I responded as I smirked, knowing he couldn't see and knowing why my dad was actually picking Noah up for me.

"Oh yeah?" JJ wrapped his arms around me, pressing his body against me from behind; enveloping me in his grip, "Does that mean you wanna join me in the shower?"

His lips grazed my ear and planted themselves on my neck and I instantly melted against him. He made it so easy and as much as I wanted that shower, I knew his family would be here any minute. I turned myself in his arms and he immediately captured my lips. The kiss was definitely passionate and was easily on the verge of heating up and leading to places that I very much wanted it to lead, but knew I didn't have the time to allow those things to transpire. I was more than grateful that the doorbell sounded, but the anxiety that coursed through my body was unreal. This was most likely the moment I had been waiting for.

"Ugh, whoever it is has bad timing." He groaned and I smiled against his lips as we slowly slipped out of one another's grasp. He took off towards the foyer and I followed closely behind, so eager to see his reaction to those on the other side of the door.

"Mom?" He pulled the door open and I felt my heart race the moment he looked at me in surprise then back at the doorway, "Wh-what are you guys doin here?"

JJ stepped out of the way as Connie walked in followed by his brothers, TJ and Derek and his father John. The men all carried suitcases that they set down in order to greet JJ and I just had to smile. This was making me so much happier than anyone could even imagine. I know that JJ acts as if he's used to holidays away from family and that it doesn't bother him but I know that it does. I know it kills him on the inside and this was proof of that. It was tough for him to connect with his parents as it was but connecting with his brothers was even harder. All three boys are so focused on their football that it doesn't leave much free time to catch up. I love him so much that it hurts and I would do anything on this planet to make him happy, and in this moment it meant giving him a family Christmas.