“There’s more,” he said, nodding toward the box.
“More?!” I exclaimed, already overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness. He nodded at me.
“You might as well get all the ugly crying out now, because absolutely no crying is permitted for the last part of your prize,” he declared.
I sniffed. “I do not ugly cry,” I declared. The snort from his direction defied my declaration, but I’d let him get away with it for now. I reached into the box and pulled out another blue and gold wrapped package.
This one was smaller, but as I opened it, I was again met with familiar sights. Photos of Mack and me in the military, photos of us on leave, the photo where he proposed, all the photos I'd carefully packed away. Then I paused, because I started seeing pictures I didn’t recognize, pictures of a child, no more than seven or eight. I’d never seen it before, but I’d recognize that face anywhere. These were pictures of Mack when he was a kid. I looked at Mason in amazement.
“Where did you get these?” I asked.
“Well,” he began, taking a deep breath. “I have a friend who is a private detective in California. He also has some friends in the military. He may or may not have found out the city where Mack enlisted, and he did some digging from there.” Mason nodded nervously at the envelope tucked between the pages of the photo album.
“Mack had an older sister and a younger half-brother. We found their contact information,” he said. His fingers had started twisting inhis hair, a sure sign of nerves. “I… You don’t have to contact them, if you don’t want to. I just… wanted you to have the option,” he said in a rush.
Again, I carefully set the photo album aside and pulled him into me, his flushed skin hot to my touch as my lips raced across his mouth, landing beside his ear.
“Thank you,” I breathed.
“You… you’re not mad?” He asked nervously.
“Baby, this is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me,” I said.
The corner of his mouth twitched and he sighed in relief. “I was a little worried I might have overstepped…” he explained.
“Nuh uh. Couldn’t happen.” I said, peppering his flushed skin with kisses. “You are the man I love. There is nothing that has to do with me that doesn’t also touch you.”
After looking through the photos for a few minutes, we moved the photo album and art to one of the dresser tops then stumbled our way back to the bed, bodies entwined. We shared another scorching kiss, before Mason pulled away, breathless.
“Um, wow,” he gasped, trying to catch his breath. “There’s one more present…”
“Mason,no, it’s too much…” I began. This was already more than I could have ever dreamed.
“Well, that’s okay, it’s not really foryou, anyway,” he began. I looked at him confused. He grinned and handed me the last gift, a small blue bag covered with gold flecks -just like his eyes, I thought. I reached into the bag and pulled out a box of condoms and a new bottle of lube.
I looked at him, confused, and he laughed at me. “Okay, well maybe part of it is for you,” he began. I grinned and handed him the condoms and started to open the lube.
“Sexy fun time, now?” I asked expectantly, starting to pour some on my fingers as I itched to get my hands on our cocks.
“Um, no,” he said, stopping me. Again, I looked at him in confusion.
“I don’t understand,” I said, looking at him as he sat next to me, one hand nervously twisting in his hair.
Mason had insisted we use condoms until the next round of STD test results came back. The doctors hadn’t thought there was much risk after his initial testing, and I would have been fine skipping it, but he was insistent. He would not jeopardize my health for anything.
“It’s… that’s… um,” he stuttered, then suddenly reached out and grabbed the lube out of my hands, thrusting the condoms into them instead. “That’s… for me. These are for you.”
It took me a minute to realize what he was saying. I felt my eyes go wide and my lips form an O in surprise.
“Mason,” I began stupidly, then watched as he blushed and looked around the room and pursed his lips. Anywhere, but at me.
“Mason!” I said again, more urgently this time. His gaze sprang to mine, and I admired the way his cheeks flooded with color and the way it made his eyes stand out startlingly.
“Mason… Are you saying… Are you saying you want me… to make love… to you?” I asked. This time, there was no hesitation in his face and he nodded vehemently.
“Are you sure?” I began, and he kept nodding, but I stopped him.
“Wait, Mason, you don’t have to do this. I love everything we have done together. You don’t have to rush into this, and if you are never ready, I’m fine with it, really,” I whispered, my hand moving to the one he had wound tightly in his hair and gently stroking it until it relaxed and let go of the raven curl.
