Bazel rolled his eyes. “No, silly. I want doggie family. Evie needs friends.”
“Sweetheart, we can look at getting another dog. But we have to be careful and see how Evie reacts to them. Okay? This is her home first, and while she’s very well trained, she can be a little stubborn when she wants to be.”
“Okay. We be careful,” Bazel agreed, then bit his lower lip. “If this home, can I….” He looked around the rather austere rooms.
“You can make any changes you want. But how about if we make them together, okay?” Atlas added.
“Yes. Okay. I not go crazy or something. But yard is pretty. House need to be pretty.” He smiled, and Atlas tugged him down.
“I think you’re pretty, so how about we go upstairs and I can get a really close look.” He loved it when Atlas got all growly. It made his insides shake and made him feel warm all over. Bazel kissed him, and then Atlas held him tighter, lifting him into his arms as he got to his feet. Bazel wound his legs around Atlas’s waist as he carried him upstairs.
“You really strong. I like that.” He kissed Atlas as they reached the top of the stairs. Then Atlas carried him into the bedroom that was now their bedroom and looked deeply into his eyes. Love shone in them, and Bazel basked in it. That was the one thing he had never thought possible back home. That love was something that could ever come to him, that it was something he deserved. And now he reveled in it and freely gave it right back to the man who had taken his heart and treated it as though it were a precious gift. That alone was worth all the danger and hardship, and he would protect that with everything he had.
Epilogue
AS SOONas Bazel found out he was able to work, he set about getting to it. The first thing he did was get a job at one of the local warehouses filling online orders. It was hard work and meant he was on his feet all day. But he seemed to like it and was especially proud the first time he got an American paycheck. Atlas had taken a picture of him smiling as he held it. Bazel started to spend time with Ruth, who seemed to take to him like a duck to water. Soon she had hired him to clean up her yard, and by the fall, he had it trimmed and cleaned out, and had even added some fall color with mums spread in pots sitting on top of where he planted daffodils to give her something flowering in the spring.
“Two of Ruth’s friends want me to help with their gardens in the spring. I showed them pictures of your garden and Ruth’s, and they said that’s what they want their flowerbeds to look like.” Bazel practically vibrated with excitement.
“If you’re going to do this, we need to get you some proper tools and gardening equipment,” Atlas told him, and they formed a business partnership of sorts. Atlas took him to the big home improvement store and got him a leaf blower, edger, weed eater, and even a proper lawn mower, all of which used the same battery packs because Bazel wanted to market his service as eco-friendly. It tickled Atlas no end when Bazel came home from the library with books on marketing and devised an entire strategyfor his business, sitting at the kitchen table with Evie right next to his chair.
The first cold of winter knocked Bazel for a bit of a loop. He had not been prepared for how cold it got. And the first really cold morning, he came downstairs dressed with a blanket draped around him. “When will this stop?” he’d asked.
“Next year. It’s winter, it gets cold. That’s why we got you all those clothes last week.” He helped Bazel learn to layer his clothing and did his very best to keep him nice and toasty warm at night, which got them through to December and Christmas.
“Why does everyone put up trees and put lights everywhere?” Bazel asked on their way home from the store for the third time. “This Christmas thing is a lot of fun.”
“You question things a lot for someone who has painted every room in the house because it will make them prettier….” He had vetoed painting the living room lavender and the dining room pink and convinced Bazel that a soft yellow or pale green worked much better with the furniture. Thankfully he had agreed, because Atlas was not particularly keen to live in Barbie’s Dream House.
“Yes, and lights make everything pretty,” Bazel told him, bouncing in the seat. “I want to string them in the trees in the yard so next spring, it can look like magic fairies.” All Atlas did was smile and let him do what he wanted, because Bazel made him damned happy and his efforts usually resulted in something pretty spectacular. He was already planning a fountain of some type in the yard come spring.
“Okay. But this is enough. Christmas is next week.”
“Yes, and I have present for you. Chris said it was what people do at Christmas. She told me all about Santa Claus, and I read the whole story at the library. So I have to be your Santa.” If he got any more excited, Atlas wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
The truth was that Bazel’s present had been picked out and was just waiting for Christmas delivery. Well, his main present. Atlas had outdone himself with the shopping this year, and there were even gifts that he needed to put under the tree from his parents, who were coming to visit over New Year’s. Atlas was a little nervous about the whole thing, while Bazel just seemed to take it all in stride, the way he did so many things. Maybe he simply knew what was important. After all, having Bazel in his life had shown Atlas what was important and what not to stress about.
“IT’S HERE.It’s Christmas,” Bazel said with all the enthusiasm of a kid. Atlas had been careful to make sure they celebrated what he called the Santa Claus part of Christmas rather than the religious part of the holiday. Bazel didn’t seem interested in any sort of religious observance, at least not at this point, and Atlas felt that was something that was strictly up to him. They had talked about it, and Atlas offered to get Bazel whatever he wanted and to make a space for his observances if he wished, but Bazel only shook his head each time it was mentioned and grew distant, so he backed away. Any talk of religion seemed to remind Bazel of his family. Everything in its own time.
“Yes, it is.” He got out of bed and dressed in comfortable clothes before following Bazel downstairs. Atlas turned on all the lights and fed Evie quickly before they settled on the living room floor with their small stash of gifts under the tree.
“Where did all these come from?” Bazel asked. “And don’t say Santa.” He gave Atlas that impish smile that he’d been developing the last few months.
“Well, these are from my parents.” He handed one to Bazel, who ripped into the package with unbridled enthusiasm. Thepaper went flying. He opened the small box and pulled out a couple pieces of paper.
“What this?” He rolled his eyes. “Another card?” He now had a box of them that he kept in the drawer beside the bed.
“Yes. But this one, we can take to Lowe’s, and you can buy whatever you want with it. Mom wasn’t sure what you needed or wanted, so she got the gift card to help with your business.” He handed Bazel another gift, this one from his father. It was bigger and much heavier. Bazel tore it open as well, his eyes widening, and then he grinned.
“Your dad got me a….” He looked at it again.
“It’s a chainsaw. You use it to take limbs off trees and things. I’ll show you how to use it safely. Okay? But you’ll need one.” He passed out smaller gifts, including socks and underwear, because it was what every guy got.
“Wait, you need to open.” He plopped a box on Atlas’s lap. The wrap was all askew, and as he tore into it, he realized he now knew where all the tape had gone. He chuckled to himself as he revealed a small statue of a man who looked a lot like Bazel, sitting under a palm tree at an oasis.
“Where did you get this?”
“Grace at the library, she help me find it on internet. Man in Shippensburg have it, and she take me to look and buy it. I think it pretty and go right there.” He’d obviously picked out just the spot.
