Page 28 of Wrapped Up In Tinsel

“Thanks, Terry, I feel the same way. Now I’ve got a date to get to. Take care.” I waved goodbye to Santa one last time and hurried out to my car through heavy rain.

I’m leaving work now. Do you think you’ll make it home first?

Hey babe, I don’t think so. You go and get our seats, and I’ll meet you there. See you soon. Xo

After stopping by the house to put Teddy out to go to the bathroom, I was back on the road and driving to Rocklin. Since it was Christmas Eve traffic sucked, but today I didn’t mind. Everyone was hopefully going to see someone they cared about or someone who cared about them, and that was okay. It didn’t really take me too much longer to get there, and I hoped Garrett was as lucky as I had been.

This theatre was the first in the area to offer dining with a movie, so it had been popular, and judging by the crowd that was walking toward the entrance it looked like nothing had changed. I scanned the app on my phone at the entrance and made my way to the theater the movie was playing in. After asking for directions, I found our seats and had just sat down when Garrett sat down next to me.

“Well, hello there,” he said in a gravely, sexy as hell voice. “Mind if I sit here?”

“Actually, I do, I’m waiting for my boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend, you say?”

“Yes, and he’s the jealous type,” I said, and looked behind him like I was expecting someone to walk up.

“Oh, is he? Well then challenge accepted,” he said before plopping down in the seat and kissing me. “I’m starving, let’s look at the menu.” The next two hours were filled with food—lots of food—plenty of laughs, and stolen kisses and snuggles. It was the best Christmas Eve I’d ever had, and I hoped this was the first of many. “We should do this every year.”

“You read my mind. I love that idea.” The movie ended and we walked out of the theatre. He’d parked close to me but it still was hard to leave him so he could drive his own car. Even knowing we’d be home soon didn’t matter. I wanted to be with him every moment I could.

Thirty minutes later when we pulled into the driveway, we walked into the house together. As usual Teddy was happy ascould be to see us, and later that night after we returned from his parents’, when we made love I realized I was just as happy as Teddy was, and that was saying something.

Twenty-Eight

Garrett

“It’s Christmas!” I yelledand jumped on the bed wearing only my briefs and a Santa hat as soon as the sun was up.

“Garrett, what are you doing?” Steve groaned and made a half-hearted attempt at throwing a pillow.

“Come on, let’s see if Santa came,” I said and dragged him out of bed. He plopped on the couch, and I turned on the lights on the tree. “Oh, look there’s something for you.” I handed him a package and set another in front of Teddy because he had a few gifts under the tree, and he knew exactly how to open them.

I pulled a blanket over me and watched as Steve opened the gift I’d given him. “Garrett, what is this?” he said before folding in half, laughing. It was a Christmas ornament and in the centerof the glass disc was a close-up photo of his face with his elf hat on. Tinsel was written in silver script along the bottom. I’d taken it on one of the occasions I’d seen him at the mall.

“You’re my cute little elf and I think you’ll look extra special on the tree.” He looked at it again and laughed.

“Please tell me you ordered one of these for my parents.”

“Of course, and mine too,” I said. He jumped up and grabbed a gift from way in the back of the tree and handed it to me.

“This is for you,” he said.

It was heavy and wrapped beautifully. “I don’t want to open it,” I said.

“Open it, I want to see if you like it.”

I tore at the paper and was surprised to see it was the same journal I’d bought my grandfather. “How did you know?”

“I noticed. It was one of the first things I loved about you. The fact you were so careful about what you chose for him and put so much thought into it. I wasn’t sure if you’d use a journal but it’s a pretty cool looking one,” he rambled before I stopped him with a kiss.

“I love it, and yes, I use a journal. Not the way he does but I do use one. Thank you,” I whispered before kissing him again.

We lounged around a while longer and watched Teddy tear open all of his gifts and play with the paper more than the toy, but he loved it and that’s all that mattered. Once we had a coffee, the two of us made breakfast casserole and heated up some cinnamon rolls. It all felt so normal and like we did this every year, and in that moment, I knew I wanted this every year and hoped he did too.

We finally showered and were ready to make the rounds to our families. The gifts Steve had helped me choose for the white elephant gifts were perfect, and we were both as competitive there as we had been at game day. “Oh, this is for you too,” I said and handed my parents the package when we were getting ready to leave. Mom tore it open and the two of them laughed at the elf ornament before hugging Steve and welcoming him to the family.

“It’s official, you’re one of us now,” Jess said and laughed again at the ornament.

---