It was early in the morning when I had woken up. Maybe about 6 am. Brycie was probably making breakfast for Alan since he had to leave early for a movie thing, while I decided to study in my new Bible that I had received from Spencer the day before. I was studying in the book of James. I studied for about 15 minutes before there was a knock on my door.

"Come in" I said, then looked at Alan as he stood by the doorframe.

"Hey kid" he said.

"Hey, I thought you had to leave?" I asked him. He shifted his weight to his right leg.

"I do. I'm leaving now, but Brycie wanted me to tell you that she's finished making waffles if you want any" he finished, then my stomach growled in hunger. We both laughed and I stood up.

"I guess I better feed the beast" I said as I walked out and Alan followed close behind. I stepped off the stairs and almost immediately saw the beautiful Christmas tree that I had helped Brycie with a couple days ago since Christmas Day is just nine days away. I entered the decorated kitchen where I saw Brycie, Kelsey, Fallon, and their husbands, Jewel and Joey, and Spencer.

"Hey guys" I murmured. They all responded with quiet hellos, then continued what they were doing.

"We'll I'm gonna head out so I won't be late, so I'll see you guys later" he said then kissed Brycie and left. Then the room was filled with silence, but the low roar of thunder broke that uncomfortable silence.

"It's thundering" I said stating the obvious. I then sat down and enjoyed the delicious waffles. The four men then spoke all at once.

"Yeah" then they looked at each other and laughed. I joined them. I was then asked a question.

"So Riley, are you planning on going to college?" Chad asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, once I can afford it" I replied.

"What are you going to major in?" Caleb questioned.  I didn't even think about the answer to his question.

"Photography definitely" I answered as lightning struck. I looked out the window as the thunder sounded again. I looked back to the guys as Spencer asked me another question.

"Are you any good?" I nodded.

"I'd show you, but my camera is back at home" I went quieter towards the end of my sentence and looked down. The next few minutes were filled with more silence until...

"What happened" Joey spoke up. I looked up at him confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. He looked up from his phone and straight into my eyes.

"With your family. Like what made you come here?" He asked a deeper question. I looked around not really wanting to answer, but decided to anyway.

"Well, you see, my parents are atheists and I was trying to hide my relationship with God, but one day I was in my room reading my Bible and my sister stepped in and was about to ask me something when she saw my Bible. She ran out and told my parents. My dad took the Bible from me and burned it in the fire place" I paused to wipe a tear from my eye "he then kicked me out of my house with nothing and I just walked in the cold December air. Then several hours later Alan and Brycie found me" I finished.

"Sounds rough. I'm sorry if that question made you upset" Joey said. I shook my head.

"No, its fine. Someone was bound to ask sooner or later, I'm just glad it was sooner" I stated. The sound of the rain filled the silence. Then Jewel stood up, walked over to where I was sitting and wrapped her arms around me. I didn't hesitate to hug back. Soon I felt more arms around me and quiet words of prayer. At that moment I felt really loved. So much more love than my biological family showed me. After everyone separated from the hug Brycie made a suggestion.

"Well now that all that sappy stuff is over, why don't you all help with decorating the house since Christmas is almost here" we all nodded and got to work. This place is going to look beautiful when we're done. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me and these wonderful people.

*************************(a/n)*************************

Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter. I hope you enjoyed this and I will be back, hopefully, very soon with another chapter. Until then my beautiful ninja.