“Oh, that. Sammy already handled that.”
“Really?”
“Yep. All sitting here ready to be snuck in once your man falls asleep tonight.”
My man.
That was still new. But, God, I loved it.
“Oh, well, thank her for me. That was really sweet. She didn’t have to do that.”
“Sure she did. You’re laid up. She watched gift-wrapping videos and everything to make sure she got it right. They look awesome.”
“Wow. Okay. Great. Thanks.”
“Yep. Off to do the sex now,” she said before hanging up.
“What?” Venezio asked.
“That was such a weird call.”
And as I was rolling back to the living room, I heard their door open and the two of them moving down the hall. I heard the tap of dog nails too. Those sounded a little fast and light for chonky Meatball, but who knew; maybe he really had to go.
“She’s probably stressed about all the family shit she has going on,” he reasoned.
“I guess. So, you get to learn to make pie tonight,” I told him.
“What kind am I making?” he asked.
“It’s cute that you think it will just be one kind. This isChristmas, Venezio. We get all the pies.”
“Well, put me to work then.”
Venezio - 5 Days
I was tired to the fucking bone.
I have a lifetime of sleeplessness, of working myself as hard as possible to make sure my future looked nothing like my past. And yet nothing made me as tired as creating the ‘magic of Christmas.’
Still, I had to admit, I kind of enjoyed it.
Especially with Steph perched up on the counter, giving me instructions, laughing at my mistakes, and singing loudly to the Christmas carols on the stereo.
And we hadn’t even gotten to the Christmas meal yet. Though Stephanie made sure we did a lot of the prepping ahead of time so it would be a so-called ‘easy meal.’
Still, though, as I lay in bed beside her, there was this strange, bubbling feeling in my stomach. Like champagne bubbles. It took an embarrassingly long time to realize it was excitement.
For Christmas.
For the first time in my life.
“Merry Christmas,” Steph mumbled, making me look down to find her looking up at me with sleepy eyes and messy hair.
“Merry Christmas, babe.”
“How long have you been up?”
“A while.”
