“That makes two of us,” I reply, jostling the duffel of gifts I managed to procure in the post-Christmas craze that was my day yesterday. “I, uh, sat in my truck for a bit, debating on whether or not to come in,” I admit.
“We’re so glad you did,” Brooks says, sliding up behind his husband and smiling at me. “Breathe,” he adds pointedly. “You wereinvited, remember?”
I nod.
“Dad!” Taryn calls out, jumping up from the couch in the living room, just inside the front entry.
“Gordy?!” I hear Gannett, right before he practically plows Taryn, Brooks,andEvan over to get to the door. “Hey, man!” His blue eyes sparkle with excitement, rendering me frozen in place.
“Would’ya all just back out of the doorway and let the man in?” I hear Wagner loudly grumble from somewhere deeper inside the house. “Cripes, you fools all act like the Abominable Snowman just arrived to hang the star on the tree.”
The four of them move to the side, after Gannett grabs the bag from me. “What’s all this?” he whispers as I make my way inside.
“I thought this was Christmas. I brought gifts.”
His jaw drops. “You didn’t have to do that. This—this is so thoughtful.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t make a big deal out of it, Wee-Waters. It’s called being polite. And yeah, sometimes I can be.”
He nudges my ribs playfully, then apologizes quickly, “Ope, sorry. Broke rule number one. Thoughtechnically,” he drawls, “that was a condition oflivingwith you, which is no longer the case.”
No, but—fuck, don’t I hate admitting this—I wish it was.
I don’t know if it was the realization I made during the chat I had with Brooks, or if it’s because of just how quiet it got without all his nonsensical bullshit, but… I actually miss him. I will take this admission with me to the grave, but I sat out on the balcony with his damn bird this morning, feeding him scraps of my homemade protein waffles while he kept peeking in the windows—seeking out Gannett, no doubt. How a bird goes from grazing on discards to being fed premium human food is beyond me.
“Are you coming, or are you just going to stand there and hold down the welcome mat?” Gannett asks me, nodding towards the crowd of people all gathered around the tree next to the fireplace.
When I step into the living room, Brooks abandons his seat and sits on Evan’s lap. I thank him and take the empty chair. Gannett sits on the arm, next to me. Morgan passes him a gift from under the tree, which he then hands to me.
I look down at the tag.
He smirks when I peer up at him. “You got me something?”
He shrugs. “It’s not much. Didn’t know if you’d come today or not, but I figured I’d be ready, if you did.”
A foreign feeling slams into me as I register this being the first gift I’ve gotten from anyone other than Taryn or my mother. I’m not about material things, that’s not why the emotion registers the way it does. He says it’s not much, like it’s no big deal, but it’s a huge fuckin’ deal to me. It’s the significance that someonecaresenough to—fuck, the overwhelming feeling claws at my guts… I can’t even think about it.
I unwrap the present to reveal a box of Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes. A lump forms in my throat, memories slamming into me at full force. My eyes start to well with tears, forcing me to blink them away quickly before I totally break down over a box of snack cakes. How the hell did Gannett know—
“I figured I owed you, since Gulligan stole your last one,” he blurts out his explanation. From across the room, I see Brooks’ eyebrows scrunch in confusion, but he doesn’t say a word aloud.
“Can I have one of doze?” a little voice asks me, tugging at my pant leg, then adds, “Please?” I glance down to see it’s one of Gannett’s twins.
“Terra, hunny,” Gannett says, “good job using your manners, but Gordy really likes his treats. Don’t beg. Your Nanna made a whole new fruitcake, since naughty Noodles got his mitts on the last one.”
“It’s okay,” I say as I tear into the box, passing one to Terra, and then grab another for the other little girl who wears a matching pleading look.
“Thank you, Mr. Gordy,” Tati replies shyly, carefully tearing open her package—unlike the gremlin-esque way her sister tore into her own. I’ve met the twins less than a handful of times, but every time Tati has been the one I recognize as being too nervous to even say anything to me before Terra does.
“You’re welcome,” I tell them both. Then, I nod over to my duffel. “There’s more in there for you ladies. There’s something in there for everyone,” I add, thankful that I just so happened to also pick up a couple of extra random gift cards, in case there were more people here than I expected. Kind of like the two women I see sitting together on the loveseat. I hope, whoever they are, they like going to the cinema.
The girls tear open their packages, and to my relief, they seem to really like the Disney character blankets, dolls, and stuffies I managed to find in the thoroughly picked-over department store. Gannett said they were into Princesses, and I know a bunch of their other things got either smoke-damaged or mildewed and tossed out from his apartment. Whenever they get a new room over at Gannett’s, I thought the twinkling fairy lights would be a nice touch.
After both girls launch themselves at me with their giddy appreciation, Gannett blinks at me in awe. He mouths a sincerethank youat me while everyone else is distracted by opening up their gifts. If it'sregarding the fact that I let his girls jump on me and hug me, or for the notion that I brought them presents, I’m not sure.
Evan offers me a lop-sided grin, waving the Harley Davidson gift-card I got him and Brooks around. “Thank you, Gordy. I feel bad we didn’t get you anything…”
“Sure we did!” Brooks jumps up off the seat and roots around in the unlabeled, mismatched stocking on the mantle—one that looks like it was hung in haste. All the other stockings appear to be embroidered with the names of everyone here. I’m assuming Lizzy and Olivia are the two ladies I don’t recognize, which means they’re Brooks’ moms, if the way he addresses them are any tell.
