Page 54 of Karma Kitty Christmas
She gave him a grateful glance. “You’re the second-best brother a girl could have,” she said sincerely.
“I’m proud of that,” Isaac said, and then he kissed Luca’s cheek. “But you know Luca’s a lot to live up to.”
He sat down and stared at his own dessert, which was not looking nearly as tasty now. “When were you guys going to do this?”
“Well, my birthday’s Saturday,” Allegra said. “And according to Nonna, my parents don’t do anything on Saturday nights, and we know they haven’t moved….”
She shrugged, and Isaac got the picture.
“You’re doing this on your birthday?” he said, almost horrified. “Baby—I feel like maybe, since, you know, you can’t get shitfaced afterwards, maybe you should do it the day after your birthday. Like, have a great birthday—Sophia and Pop Pop are coming over on Saturday. Now that I’m out of the weeds, I have all sorts of plans for afternoon dinner and a cake and another dessert like this one and a whole celebration thing that revolves aroundyouand not the stranger in your uterus, you know?”
Allegra turned dewy eyes to him. “Really? Like what?”
“Well, Roxy and Brian and the kids were coming over, and Marcelle and Sheryl wanted to come, and—”
“Your students?” Allegra asked wistfully. “They can come?”
“You’re pregnant, honey. If we can keep Nonna and Pop Pop from serving wine—”
“Leave that to me,” Luca said. “I know you can lose your job.”
Isaac gave him a grateful glance. “And Jimmy Bob and his niece.”
Luca and Allegra exchanged glances. “You planned all this already?” Luca asked, sounding a little blown away.
“Well, yes.” Isaac gave him his most hopeful smile. “You guys, I’m so grateful for you. Both of you. And Luca, I know your birthday is in early March, but Allegra, this is a big birthday. I wanted you to know I appreciate you. You’re a good roommate. I’m… I know I’m not an officialanythingin your life, but I’m looking forward to your babyso much. And the baby is going to be here in December, which is always a whirlwind, and I wanted a day to celebrateyou.”
Allegra mopped her face with one of Isaac’s cloth napkins, but Isaac didn’t care, not even when she blew her nose.
“I think that sounds awesome,” she sobbed, and Luca shifted his chair next to her so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders.
“I think my boyfriend is kind of the best,” Luca said, meeting his eyes. Luca’s eyes were shiny, and he seemed to be having trouble swallowing. Isaac handed him another cloth napkin, and Luca wiped his eyes and blew his nose with it, the same way his sister had, and Isaac realized that hetrulydidn’t care. Not even if he had to throw the napkins away. Love wasn’t having cloth napkins that lasted a millennium. Love was giving something to people you cared about that meant so much it made them cry.
How had Isaac not known that before?
His parents had lovedhimlike that. Unconditionally. Without blinking—not at his obsession withThe Nationalin high school, not at his unrequited love for Gavin Rossdale and Katy Perry. He had a sudden moment, a memory, of the last birthday he’d ever spent with them.
It had been his twenty-second, and he’d been about to graduate from college and start the teaching credential program, and they’d taken him and his college roommate to Disneyland, and they had eaten dinner in the restaurant that looked out overthe bayou in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. And as exciting as that had been….
His mother, holding his hand as they brought him his dessert with the sparklers in it. “Oh, honey—this went so fast. Thanks for letting us celebrate this with you.”
“Mom….” Isaac had given his roommate—a sweet straight boy named Rob, who had stayed up late gaming with him through their entire senior year—an embarrassed glance.
“No,” his father said, also looking surprisingly wobbly for a man who didn’t get excited at much of anything except a new sports stadium in Sacramento. “She’s right. You grew up so fast. Thanks so much for letting us celebrate with you.”
He’d smiled then, and gotten a little wobbly himself, and the whole time he was thinking,This is stupid. I’m only twenty-two—hell, they’re only forty-five. We’ll be celebrating for a long, long time.
Except they’d had less than a year, and the year after they’d passed, he’d been with Todd, and Todd had “wanted Isaac all to himself.”
And except for Roxy’s kids, Isaac had given up on birthdays, until now. Now… now he knew that life went fast, and the people youreallywanted to celebrate weren’t always there to be loved.
It was amazing how much celebration you could throw into your world when you realized what was important.
That night, in bed, Luca had held Isaac close like he always did—always—not on birthdays or special occasions or when Isaac had done something nice or was sad.
Always.
But tonight, Luca told him haltingly, not only about how his parents had kicked him out, buthow his parents had kicked him out. How he’d trusted in his childhood, trusted in their love, and they’d betrayed him, and then Allegra, in the worst way possible.
