“Ay, Jing-a-di-jing hee haw hee haw. It's Dominick the Donkey!”
Of course he picked themostridiculous song of them all. I’d never heard it until I moved to New England, but it became an instant favorite.
“You’re evil,” I deadpan, though I can’t keep the corner of my mouth from lifting.
“Jing-a-di-jing hee haw hee haw. The Italian Christmas Donkey!” He raises his brows in time with the music, making his mask shift.
Giggling, I can’t help but join in on all the “la-la-las,” Seth’s diabolical plan to distract me succeeding.
As we sing songs about the joys of the season, I can’t help but think about how lucky I am. And anyway, isn’t that what the holidays are about? Being grateful for the ones you love?
Grateful barely even begins to cover how I feel about Seth, but itisan entirely true, entirely amazing start. I sing along, stealing glimpses at him every chance I get. This trip is a big deal for him, too. It’s a big deal for us.
Before I know it, I'm pulling into the parking garage. As soon as I turn off the car, the music stops abruptly, and the sudden silence crowds in on me.
I didn't like planes before my attack, and though I'm used to leaving the housenow, I'm now confronted with one million new mini-bosses on the way to the final boss of this trip: the plane ride.
Reviewing the plan, I know that we've checked in online, we've picked our seats online, and all we have to do is go to the counter and drop off our bags. It's a tiny airport, so security should be a non-issue, and Seth has promised me Dunks as a little treat.
He's got his own money since he started publishing comics online. It started as a joke, because he was trying to explain this weird dream he visited once. He ended up drawing it, and I told him he should post it online. He doesn’t make a ton of money, but I’m honestly shocked at how quickly it’s catching on. I tell him he should spend it on himself, but he loves it when he can treat me to something that I wouldn't normally get myself. He’s made it his own personal mission to ensure I have all the “sexy goth girl” clothes, as he calls them, that my heart could possibly desire.
Today, I'll settle for a Boston cream.
I can do this.
I know I can.
I can go to the airport, I can walk through those doors.
I can defeat all the stupid little mini-bosses on the way to actually getting on the plane. I can sit for four hours on that fucking plane and finally get to hug my family again.
Seth sees me hesitating, because of course he does, and nudges me with his shoulder. "Do you need the mask to stay on?”
“No.” I shake my head, somewhat surprised that it's true. “I know you can be my personal attack nightmare in seconds if I need it. But, I also don't want us to have any issues getting through security.” The mask dissolves from his face, and suddenly he looks human. He's still super tall, and mega thick, like he could win one of those strongman competitions, and I know we'll get stares the whole way through the airport. Seth isn't the kind of guy that you forget easily. He'sgot a dimple in his cheek when he smiles, just one, which somehow makes it even more dangerous.
We sometimes get a few sidelong looks because of our disparate appearances, me a plus-sized woman, and him a muscular hunk of a man, but I ignore them. Being by Seth’s side, knowing his devotion to me and how obsessed he is with my body, it’s easy not to care.
So, I squeeze his hand back and nod. “Let's do this.”
My mom screams as soon as we step out of the doors when we arrive in Salt Lake, and I barely have time to register it before she's wrapped me up in a hug. She squeezes me so tight, smelling like the vanilla lavender perfume she's always favored. The scent draws me back to being a little girl, so excited about Christmas morning.
She holds me at arm’s length, and I know that I probably look a mess after the flight. My hair is up in a messy bun, and who knows what happened to my makeup since I fell asleep on Seth’s shoulder.
"Look at you!" she exclaims, her own long brown hair cascading down her shoulders even though she's wearing expensive activewear like she's about to go to the gym. "You look amazing, Muffin!" She pulls back from our hug and holds her arms out to Seth. "And you! Seth! It's so nice to meet you!"
"It's wonderful to meet you too, Mrs. Kimball.”
"Oh, stop, please call me Sue." She hugs him, mouthing, “he'ssotall!” to me.
I wink at her and chuckle a little bit, because she hasnoidea how tall he actually is. He’s shaved off a good six inches of this form to sell the whole “of course I’m a human” thing.
Sharp honks alert us towhere my dad stands next to the car. "Are we gonna go home or are we gonna stand at the airport all day?" he chides.
On the drive back to our house, I smile at how festively everything is decorated, the jokes my dad and Seth make on the drive home, and at myself. I did this. I'm home for Christmas.
The next several days are a whirlwind of people and presents, food and festivities. I get to snuggle so many nieces and nephews, including little Parker. I’m the only one who doesn’t live in Utah, so it’s no surprise that everyone is over so often. I wish I had a little more one-on-one time with Seth, but it’s no different from what we knew to expect.
Since we aren't married, I'm sleeping in my childhood bedroom, and Seth is in the guest room. My mom was so adorably awkward when she said she knew that we lived together, and that we could do whatever we wanted in our own house, but while we were in hers, we’d abide by her and Dad's rules. We knew that’d be the case, so we haven't raised a stink about it.
