Page 28 of Little Saint Nautilus

Once we got everything in, I cleared some space in one corner for the tree, and then we sat down to eat. Watching Nemo eat tacos made my favorite food ten times better. We discovered he liked the crunchy tacos because it reminded him of eating through a shell, and surprisingly, he liked the fish the least, because it didn’t taste like fish. He made the most obscene sound when he bit into the al pastõr tacos; marinated pork with a bright flavor.

Nemo caught me looking and wiped the corner of his mouth. “Everything okay?”

“Perfect. Just perfect. I am really enjoying watching you discover different foods. You get this euphoric look on your face and, if I’m being honest, it’s sexy as hell.”

Nemo grinned. “I appreciate your honesty.”

I chuckled and then he took another bite of his taco, emphasizing the groan. For someone so new to the human world, he was a natural tease. I threw my napkin at him. “Brat.”

“I’m not sure what that means, but you’re smiling, so I’m happy to brat.”

A laugh popped out of me. “I bet you would.”

He finished his last bite of food and pushed his plate away. “I don’t think I can eat another bite. Thank you for the tacos. I like them very much.”

“Me too. In fact, they are such a favorite, there’s a social tradition of Taco Tuesday. It’s not required to have them every Tuesday, but it’s a fun option.”

Nemo’s eyes brightened. “Oh, I think that’s a tradition I would like. How long is it until the next Tuesday?”

“Well, I hate to break it to you, but Tuesday is Christmas Eve and we’ll be going to my grandfather’s, so we might have to wait for tacos.”

“Oh. Well, I think a meal with your family is a good reason to defy tradition.”

I pulled him out of his chair and gave him a kiss. “I think so, too. I’ve never brought a partner home for the holidays before.”

Nemo looked up at me with those big brown eyes. “You haven’t?”

“Nope. I’ve never had someone I was interested in enough to share the occasion with.”

“Is it okay that I will be there?” Nemo asked in a hushed tone.

“Absolutely. I’m quite smitten with you, Nemo.” It hadn’t even been an entire day, but at the same time, I felt like Nemo had been in my life for years. Nothing about it was logical, but his very existence was illogical. Now thathe was here, it was easy to see him here in the next week, and beyond.

“I think I am smitten, too, Cory.” This man… he made my heart feel so full.

“What do you think? Are you ready to do the tree?”

“Oh, yes! I am very excited to put my seahorse in a tree.” Nemo giggled.Giggled. Fuck, it was the cutest sound.

“It’s going to look great.”

I opened the box for the tree and assembled it. Luckily, this one was pre-lit, so it would be easier to put together. After it was standing, I showed Nemo how to fluff out the branches to make it look fuller.

“It’s a tree!” Nemo exclaimed with excitement.

“Yup, now we get to decorate it.”

“How do we do that?”

“It’s super easy. You just use the ribbon on the ornament and put the branch through it. You can put them wherever you want on the tree, but I would recommend putting your favorite ones where you can see them easily.”

He went straight for the seahorse like I knew he would. Nemo studied the tree for several minutes, finally placing the ornament right in the center. One by one, we added each ornament to the tree, then rainbow tinsel, and a star on top.

Nemo stared at it. “It’s beautiful.”

I knelt on my good knee, preparing to plug the tree in. “Just wait, little one. Why don’t you turn the lights off for me?”

“But I want to look at it longer?” Nemo whined.

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