“Okay. But why are we here?”
“You’ll see.” Jason pulled his hand again. “Come on.”
Sean knew when to give in and just followed along the pathway until they came to the back of the house, their approach lit by a security floodlight that came on automatically as they neared. Huge glass windows framed a room that was dimly lit. Jason pulled a key from his pocket and opened the external door before encouraging Sean inside. It was like opening the door to a magical world, and Sean stood there in shock.
The room was long and rectangular and one side of it was attached to the house. The other three sides were largely windows, reminiscent of a conservatory, but he could see little through the glass because of the darkness beyond. Inside, candles were lit and flickering over every available surface like a fairyland. But what really captured Sean’s attention was the purpose of the room—a huge indoor swimming pool took up most of the space. It wasn’t as large as the pool at the gym—the one he no longer used—but was large enough to swim laps without having to turn every few strokes.
Sean became aware of Jason standing quietly at his side. He turned to look at him.
“I know you aren’t comfortable to wear swimming trunks in public—not yet anyway—and I know how much you miss swimming.” He took Sean’s hands. “Remember when you said that swimming was the thing that calmed and centred you?”
Sean nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well, I want you to have that again.” Jason gestured to the room, to the pool. “This is a safe space for you to swim.”
“You arranged this?” He had to swallow past the lump in his throat.
Jason nodded. “For tonight. And for any other time you want to come swimming. Roger’s parents are older and don’t use the pool. It’s yours anytime you want it.”
Sean didn’t know what to say. His eyes filled and his sinuses prickled. He tried to smile through his emotions, hoping Jason could read the gratitude in his eyes.
Jason returned the smile, then released his hand and crossed the tiles to a small table, returning with something in his hands. He passed him a pair of swim trunks. “Do you like your present, baby?”
It was the most magical and romantic moment of his life. Sean threw himself into Jason’s arms, hardly daring to believe this wonderful man had given him the most perfect gift. Sean knew there was only one gift he had to give to Jason, and he gave it freely….
“I love you,” he whispered as they stood there, wrapped in each other’s arms.
I love you.
Epilogue
The first Christmas together…
“I have one more for you,”Sean said with a mischievous smile.
Jason raised his eyebrows, and the lights from the tree glinted in his bright blue eyes. “Really? Jeez, babe, you sure know how to spoil a guy.”
Sean laughed. “Yeah, says the man who just gave me a trip to Hawaii.”
“Maybe that was more for me, rather than you,” Jason teased. “After all, Hawaii is known for its surfing.”
“And its hiking, and volcanoes, and there’ll be heaps of opportunities for photography—” Sean stopped talking as he caught the balled-up wad of colourful paper Jason threw at him. Sean swallowed hard as he looked at the man who’d done so much to give him back a part of his life that had been missing for so long. Last Christmas, Sean wouldn’t have dreamt of taking a holiday in the sun, of doing any activity involving exposing his scars. Jason had changed all that. He smiled at the man on the floor, sitting amongst the torn wrapping paper and empty boxes. “I’m looking forward to spending time at the beach. Maybe you can each teach me to surf?”
Jason’s grin lit up his whole face. “I’d like that.”
Sean tossed the paper ball back at Jason before picking up an envelope from the coffee table. Sean sat down on the floor in front of Jason and met his eyes.
“Here you go,” Sean said, as he passed him the white envelope.
Jason leaned forward and gave Sean a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.” Jason slipped his finger into the corner of the envelope, ripped the flap, and pulled the card out. Jason looked adorable as his bright blue eyes widened in surprise.
“Holy shit, babe! I can’t believe you remembered.”
“I saved every one of our emails.” Sean said, flushing as he admitted to keeping the emails he and Jason had exchanged when they’d first started seeing each other. He cherished the emails that gave Sean a glimpse of the man Jason was: his fears, passions, and dreams.
“Aww... you big softie.” Jason leaned across and gave Sean another brief kiss, this time on his lips. Just a soft touch before he brought his mouth to Sean’s ear and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone, but I kept those emails, too.” Jason sat up straight again and winked at Sean. Jason waved the gift certificate around in the air. “I’m really going to do it. I'm going to throw myself out of a perfectly good aeroplane.”
“And I’ll be waiting for you on the ground with open arms.”
