Page 25 of Christmas Luvin

“He’sgoing out of town forChristmas?”Iasked.

“He’sgoing toNewYorkwith his dad and his other kids.I’mgoing toPhilly.Myboyfriend’s family is there,” she let me know, andInodded.

“Areyou about to leave right now?”Iasked.

“Notright now.Hisdad is on the way to get him, and thenI’mgoing to the airport,” she responded.

Taylortugged my arm, and whenIlooked at him, he was pointing to the gift bags thatI’dbrought inside.Ilaughed, knowing what he wanted, soIput him down, grabbed the gift bags, and led the way to the living room.

Isat on the rug, and he sat next to me.Ihanded him the smallest bag first, and he pulled out the wrapping tissue first, then the small box that held hisSpidermantouch-screen watch.Itplayed music, took pictures, and there were games and stuff on it too.Taylorwas jumping up and down as he forced the watch into my hand, wanting me to open it.

“Holdon.Lookin the other bags,”Isaid, going for the next bag and handing it to him.

Hewas so excited and moving so fast.Inthat bag, he pulled out a couple fewSpidermansweatsuits, two hats, and someSpidermanunderwear.Becausehe didn’t have the words to express how happy he was, he made sounds as he jumped up and down, showing his excitement.Hewent through the other bags, pulling out his toys, and once he had everything out, he sat next to me and put the toys in my hand for me to open.Oncethe toys were opened,Ismiled asIwatched him play with them.

Olivacame over, and instead of sitting on the floor with us, she opted to sit on the couch.

“Heloves you.You’regood with him.I’mhis own mother, andIdon’t think he’s ever been this happy to see me,” she let me know, followed by a forced laugh.

Icould have said something slick along the lines of how she was always leaving him with her mother while she went out and partied, butIkept that comment to myself.Ijust smiled and nodded.

“Whereare you going forChristmas?” she wanted to know.

“Georgia.That’swhere my dad and the rest of my family up there is,”Istated.

Therewas a long pause, and then she cleared her throat.

“Look,Bria, we didn’t know your dad was alive.Itwasn’t right the stuff thatSirenasaid to you, but that’s what our mother told us years ago, so she was just repeating what was told to her.I’mhappy you found your father and that you have a relationship with him.Iknow how much that means to you,” she responded.

“Thankyou,”Isaid and left it at that.

Shenodded, and shortly after, there was a knock on the door.Iassumed it wasTate.Shestood up from the couch to get the door for him, andIstarted putting the clothes and stuff back in the gift bags sinceTaylorwas getting ready to leave.FromwhereIsat, allIhad to do was turn my head, andIcould see the front door.Icould tell that things betweenTateandOliviawere still bad because the two of them hardly ever got along.Ijust wanted to know how the hell they tolerated each other enough to conceive a whole child because they were always beefing.

Whenthe front door opened, he literally didn’t say two words to her, and she didn’t say anything to him.Tatejust walked pastOliviaand came into the living room.Hepaused when he saw me.Icould tell he was shocked to see me because it had been a while since the two of us had seen each other.

“What’sgood,Bria?” he greeted.

“Hey,”Isaid, standing up.

Thatwas my cue to hug my cousin and leave.Ijust didn’t need anything to get awkward.

“LasttimeIsaw you, you was getting ready for the bar.Iheard you passed, and you’re officially a lawyer now.Congratson all of that,” he said with a smile on his face.

See,Ididn’t know if he was saying that stuff to be genuine or to pissOliviaoff since she’d gotten mad at him in the past for him speaking to me.Therewas no denying the fact that the two of them were beefing, andIwasn’t sure if he was overly speaking to me only to rub in the fact that he hadn’t spoken to her, andIdidn’t want any parts of that mess.

“Thankyou.Taylor, let me get a hug before you go.Whenyou get back,I’mgoing to come back and see you.We’regoing to have us an ice cream date, okay?”Iasked, and his little head nodded up and down with a smile on his face.

Ipulled his little body to me, bending down soIcould be level with him, andIkissed his little cheeks.Heclung to me so tightly that he made it hard for me to let him go, butIeventually did.Ihad to walk pastTateto get to the front door, soIsaid bye to him and went to the door whereOliviawas still standing.

“I’lltext you after the holidays to see when it’ll be a good time to come and see him again.Havea safe trip,”Isaid.

“Okay, thank you.Havea safe trip as well.MerryChristmas,Bria,” she responded.

“MerryChristmas.”

Withthat,Iwalked out the door, rushing my ass to the elevator, soIwouldn’t be stuck riding down withTate.Iwas glad shit didn’t go left betweenOliviaand me today.Ididn’t know if she andIwould ever get to a point where we were cool, but for now, allIreally cared about was the relationship with my little cousin.Nothingelse mattered.NowthatIhad seen him,Icould get ready for my trip toGeorgiatomorrow to see my dad and the rest of my family.

Iwas so excited to be around them.Carmen, me, and the rest of our cousins were all on a call earlier in the week, talking about the fun we were going to have.Thiswas honestly the bestChristmasI’dever had in my life.Thisyear,Igot to be around pure love and joy, andIloved that for me.

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