Holiday Cheer from Andrew Grey and Amy Lane

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

ALEX SAVED his work and closed his laptop. He had gotten the store layout done and sent to Joe for his review. He had been determined to have it done before Christmas, and it was four o’clock Christmas Eve and it was done.

“Are you ready to start the celebrating?” Luther asked, slinking his arms over Alex’s shoulders and down his chest.

“I had to finish this,” he said. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy this past week.” He sighed and let some of the tension wash away. He was starting to get better at doing things like that. His main task was done, and Joe was largely going to take things from here.

“You know it’s okay.” Luther kissed the top of his head. “If you’re done, why don’t you put your work things away?” The tree was already lit, and at some point Luther had added cut greens with white lights threaded through them to the top of his fireplace. Those were on as well. Alex was happy to be able to leave work behind for a while, and it seemed Rudolph was too.

“Where did you get that?” Alex asked when he saw the red bow attached to Rudolph’s collar. He practically jumped up into Alex’s lap as soon as he pushed his chair away from the dining room table, where he’d been working the past few days. “Did Uncle Luther get that for you?” he asked and got frantic doggie kisses on the chin. He held Rudolph close, turning to watch happily as Luther dimmed the lights. Christmas music began to play, and Alex sighed, holding Rudolph and finally letting go of all the tension. It had been a long time since he’d been this content and, dare he say it… in love. It had only been a few weeks, and yet Alex was sure of how he felt. It seemed fast, but he was beginning to understand that when good things happened to him, he needed to embrace them rather than worrying them to death.

Luther bounded over as soon as he had the room the way he wanted. “Do you want to open our presents tonight or take them with us to my parents’?”

Alex shrugged, biting his lower lip and then releasing it. He wasn’t going to worry about meeting Luther’s family. After all, they raised Luther and he was pretty amazing, so chances were that they would be too. He had received an email from Luther’s mom to say hello and how excited she was that he and Rudolph were going to come. Alex thought it pretty amazing that she included an invitation for his dog too.

“What do you want to do?” Alex teased, but the excited way Luther’s eyes goggled every time he looked at the tree told Alex everything he wanted to know. “Let me guess, you shook every present when you were a kid, trying to figure out what it was.” God, he loved Luther’s playfulness. It made Alex want to play as well.

“Of course. Didn’t you?” Luther asked.

Alex rolled his eyes. “You met my mother, remember? She knew where everything was. There were no ‘Christmas shenanigans,’ as she put it, in her house.”

“Trying to figure out what your presents are is part of the fun.” Luther sat on the sofa, his long legs stretching out in front of him.

“Would you mind if we waited until tomorrow? That way I won’t be sitting at your folks’ watching everyone else open gifts with nothing to do.”

“Sure. Have you opened the stuff from your family?”

Alex shook his head. “I’ll do it in the morning.” There wasn’t much—two presents and a card—which was fine. They were out having fun, and honestly, he was happy for them. Heck, he was happy right here.

He lifted Rudolph, and the two of them sat down next to Luther. Rudolph pranced over both their laps before jumping down to sniff the packages. “I put the things for him up in the front closet.” Luther got up and returned with a chew bone squeaky toy that sent Rudolph into a fit of doggie rapture. He raced through the house with it in his mouth before settling under the table to try to rip it apart. “You got presents for my dog?”

“Of course I did. It’s his first Christmas with his new daddy, and I figured that if he was busy, then maybe we could be too.” Luther turned to Alex and kissed him as he pressed him down onto the cushions. “Are you sure you don’t want to open your present?”

Alex chuckled and drew Luther closer. “You are the best Christmas present I’ve ever gotten. How could anything else compare?”

Rudolph raced over and jumped onto the sofa near Alex’s head.

“Yeah, okay. You’re the best present too.” Alex smiled and got a doggie kiss across the lips.

“We can’t both be the best present,” Luther groused playfully.

“Sure you can. I got you both at the same time, so you’re both the best Christmas present I’ve ever had.” Alex paused, his belly clenching a little, but then he let it go. “Because love is the best gift of all.”

For a second he wondered if he might have rushed in too soon, but Luther kissed him hard, showing Alex that he truly had both given and received the best present possible.