Page 78 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

Less than twenty minutes later, Bobby joined him on the floor, fresh from the shower in a clean pair of sweats.

“How’d it go today?” Tommy wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know the truth, but he asked every day anyway.

Bobby seemed to know how Tommy felt, and his answer was almost always the same. “Nothing too major, usual bullshit.” He laughed then and added, “I got a Christmas card from a woman whose son I hauled in last month for trying to shoplift a bottle of booze. She said he’s been doing well ever since and thanked me for putting the fear of God into him.”

“That’s a lot better than the one who tried to slug ya for it the other day.”

“Agreed.” Bobby reached for the nearest box and lifted the lid. “Did you buy more stuff?” He pulled back the tissue paper and found a fancy velvet dress inside. The box was huge because of the fluffy skirt. Tommy figured Carrie could wear it for their Christmas dinner. He didn’t know what a lamb roast would cost, or what the hell it was even called, but he was going to find out tomorrow.

Tommy shrugged. “I had coupons for that store on the mall, so I got Carrie a few things.”

Glancing around, Bobby asked, “Why are there two Xboxes?”

“Santa thought the older kids should get something too.”

Bobby was obviously confused. “Why two, though?”

“They were on special, ya know? And they came with free games. Collin wanted to donate something nice to the toy drive at school, and tomorrow is the last day before winter break.”

“What the hell happened to you today?”

Tommy laughed and passed Bobby a roll of wrapping paper. “My grinch heart grew three sizes, apparently.”

Bobby didn’t quite cackle, but it was close enough. “You mean you spent the afternoon with my mother.”

“Afternoon, hell. She had me in less than a half hour.”

The next day, Bobby was off, and Tommy didn’t have to go in until eight. They spent the morning in bed and then moved all the presents—all but Santa’s contribution—into Judy’s living room. When the kids came home from school, half the living room was piled high with presents. Davey dove straight for the tree and started sorting through the packages, shaking the ones with his name on them.

Colleen looked like she was going to cry. “This is too much, Tommy.”

“Yeah, well.” Tommy pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. He almost told her not to expect it every year or to just enjoy it while it lasted, but instead, he said, “It’s all socks and underwear. Don’t get too excited.”

“That’s a lot of socks and underwear.” Colleen laughed and hugged him tight.

Judy watched the kids sort through the presents and laughed when Zoe kept saying, “Open dis one!” Mostly she looked at Tommy with a bright smile on her face and something close to smug triumph in her eyes.

Bobby picked Zoe up and kissed her cheek. “You can’t open any of them for almost a week, Zoe.” She giggled and squirmed out of his arms.

Tommy hadn’t considered what a pain in the ass it would be keeping the twins—not to mention Davey and Collin—off the presents until Christmas morning. “Maybe we should put up a fence or something.”

“Maybe we should let them enjoy it,” Bobby whispered against Tommy’s ear.

“Maybe so, copper.” He relaxed against Bobby and reminded himself that he wasn’t spoiling them; he was making up for a lot of lost years. “Oh, before I forget,” Tommy said loudly so everyone could hear. He pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket and handed it to Davey. “Here’s my list. One of everything should do.”

Davey looked at it and laughed. “A trip to Mexico. I’ll get right on that, Tommy.”

Tommy had put everything he could think of on that stupid list. Cologne that some salesgirl had sprayed on him because Bobby smelled him all afternoon after that. A new wallet. More pictures of the kids. Handprints from Max and Zoe. Small stuff the kids could do for free and big stuff he knew he wouldn’t get, but what the hell. He was trying to lead by example. “Well, someone told me I should dream big. I bet I could dream up something big on a beach.”

Colleen snatched the list out of Davey’s hand, and Mike leaned over her shoulder to read it with her. Only the babies were still interested in the pile of presents under the tree. Jesus.

Bobby took a deep breath against Tommy’s neck and whispered, “I’m going to need to see your ID. You’re doing a piss-poor impersonation of my Tom.”

Tommy laughed and turned in Bobby’s arms. “Oh, I’m still yours. It’s not my fault your mother is right every damn time I turn around.”

“You should say that louder so she can hear,” Bobby laughed softly and kissed Tommy again before going on. “Then we wouldn’t have to buy her something for Christmas.”

Tommy couldn’t help but grin. “I already got her somethin’.”

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