“Yeah, they will be here all through the weekend, then Cali for two weeks and then home through New Year’s. It will be nice to have more than just me at the house. Maybe I should get a cat or something. Become the crazy cat lady.” Paige had a cat on her sweater, a big black cat, with a pink butthole, like her embroidery. But the cat was dressed in a Santa hat and bells. Her skirt a red and green plaid that ended right before the knee, and lacy hose that looked like they had holly leaves etched into them.
“You’re very festive today,” Tommy said, his hand sliding down to touch her knee and the hose, surprised it was soft rather than coarse. “Are you warm enough?”
Her cheeks pinked a little. It wasn’t what he meant, but that was okay too. “Sure,” she agreed a bit breathily.
He tugged her in as close as their seatbelts would allow and tried to get his body to calm down. In the car, with an audience, wasn’t the best place to tease or play. Though he admitted he was feeling a bit daring at the idea he’d be sleeping at Bas’s house, possibly near Paige. They hadn’t talked about that yet, other than to say Bas had the room, and Tommy was safe with them. Mostly from himself, but also from paparazzi or surprise parental visits.
“I guess I’ll have to start Christmas shopping,” Tommy said. He hadn’t done that in years either. Sending people things through his manager had been easy, thoughtless. He always got Ru something. Last year it had been a limited-edition guitar. He had no idea where to start this year. “Is it okay to buy you guys presents, Mr. Corbin?”
“Within reason,” Mr. Corbin agreed. “I believe we plan to talk over all that during dinner. Last year Ru bought Adam a two-thousand-dollar pair of running shoes.”
“Oh, was that bad?” Tommy wondered. “Were they bad shoes?”
“Okay, shoes. Not worth that much in running terms. Adam eats through shoes as any hardcore runner might. But Ru didn’t know that. He listened to a sales clerk working on commission and bought something based on big names. Could have bought Adam three years worth of running shoes for that.”
“I think everyone is making lists this year,” Paige said. “No cars or houses or top of the line Hugo Boss suits allowed. Though I’ve heard you look divine in Boss.”
“I’m more partial to the handmade gifts,” Tommy said, thinking of the stitching Paige gave him, and the quilted blanket he’d gotten from Mrs. Corbin. “Not sure I’m all that crafty to make anyone anything myself.” One of his therapy classes was a craft-based thing, meant to stimulate creative brain waves. He’d tried everything, painting, stitching, a dozen types of crafts, but mostly he felt like he was all thumbs. The idea was more to stimulate the brain than actually achieve some crafting goal.
“We’ll figure it out,” Paige promised. She leaned against him and relaxed, settling in for the rest of the drive with her head on his shoulder. He was good with that.
The sight of the Corbin house, driveway full of cars, but the drive and walk shoveled, made Tommy’s stomach unclench a little. “Everything is locked down,” Mr. Corbin stated. “No alcohol in the house. All medications locked away. Even over the counter stuff will be out of sight.”
“At home too,” Paige agreed. “We triple checked. No temptation or stress.”
It had been a fear in the back of his mind. A ‘what if he encountered’ type of thing. “Thanks. I hope to be ready soon.”
“No reason to push the baby bird off a ledge,” Mr. Corbin stated as he shut off the car and got out. Tommy and Paige followed.
As soon as he walked in the door, Tommy found himself in a line of hugs. Ru, Adam, Bas, Dane, Mrs. Corbin, and even his mom. He was a little surprised to see her since they’d had a bit of a fight in therapy. She’d broken down and admitted she would be getting the help she needed. It had only been a week, but she looked a bit lighter and less like a puppet.
The living room furniture had been moved to allow for set up of the tree. It was a massive thing with long needles. There were boxes of brand-new ornaments everywhere, and a small box of ones that seemed to be someone’s collection.
The smell was divine. Like long forgotten Thanksgivings with turkey and pie, and all the trimmings. He followed his nose to the kitchen. Had Dane made a turkey?
“It’s a turkey breast,” Dane said as he followed Tommy. “I have your food chart here. And macro breakdown. I also know how to make your shake if you need it, but when I talked to your nutritionist, she said your nutrient levels are high enough that if you’re off a few days, you’ll still be okay.” Dane pulled out a list of printed forms, diagrams and macro nutrient counters. “Everything is homemade, gluten-free, low dairy,” he glanced over the kitchen. “I’ve been substituting coconut milk. And sweeteners that shouldn’t spike your blood sugar. Do you have your monitor on?”
Tommy held up his right arm and tapped the little round button thing he’d gotten used to. “Anything that spikes me more than thirty points will trigger a panic attack.”
Dane looked over his lists, sliding things around, and setting things off to the side. “No stuffing for you, even the gluten free is probably too much. The pumpkin pie should be okay, but I would say don’t take more than a nibble of the cherry.”
“Not much of a sweet tooth anymore anyway,” Tommy said. “I save all that stuff for Paige.”
“The candy is in a box in the fridge that says ‘Tommy don’t touch.’” Paige said opening the fridge to point at it. “Pastries from Dimitri’s too. He’ll be by later.” She opened the box and pulled out a chunk of chocolate orange slice.
“Dinner will be done soon,” Dane said.
She smiled at him, and finished stuffing more chocolate in her mouth. “I promise to eat lots of the yummy food you and Mrs. Corbin made.”
Tommy pulled her into a hug and dragged her out of Dane’s space and back toward the tree. His mom was digging through the box of ornaments. “These were all the ones we bought for you growing up,” she said. They had his name and the year on them. Changing from a baby to his toddler years, and even to things he enjoyed as he got older, like a keyboard and a microphone. “I thought they could be something for you to keep?”
Tommy nodded as he examined them, remembering most of them. “Thanks, Mom.”
She hugged him again. He was getting a lot of hugs, and that was okay. It was grounding, even while the noise was a bit more than he was used to. Bas was debating the lights with Ru. Something about colored versus single light. The box of lights said they did both, and it had to be programmed.
Bas’s gaze found Tommy. “Nope,” Tommy said immediately. “Not making that decision today. My decision capacity will be filled with the food I eat today. You and Ru sort that out.”
Bas laughed and leaned in close to kiss Tommy on the cheek. “Fine, let the gay boys spruce this place up. No one plans a holiday like us queers.”
