Page 11 of Dreaming of an Omega Christmas
I put my hot chocolate down and grabbed the star, pulling it out of the wrapping almost too quickly. I didn't know what I was going to do now. Of all the guys to get involved with, why on earth did I pick Falkanar?
I shook the star loose from the wrappings, turned to the tree and stretched up on my tippy toes, trying to reach that top. I was too short, but fortunately there was a chair nearby. I scrambled up it and stretched, precariously balanced as I reached for the tree.
“Whoa,” Falkanar said. He came over and I bit back a gasp as he reached up and put his hands around my waist to steady me. “You're either going to damage yourself or the tree,” he chuckled.
I tried to ignore just how warm his hands felt through my sweater and focused on freeing a bulb from the string and plugging in the star. It lit up brightly and, to my delight, started twinkling just like the lights. I set it securely on top of the tree and Falkanar offered a hand to help me climb down. I accepted, but once I was back on the floor neither one of us seemed willing to let go.
“There there's still some decorating left to do,” I said softly.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Thank you for letting me share this with you.” He squeezed my hand gratefully.
I just couldn't stop myself. I leaned forward to plan to kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for joining me,” I said.
We both stepped back as one. I cleared my throat and he shoved his hands in his pockets, as if he didn't trust himself not to hold mine again.
“What now?” he asked.
“Well,” I said. “The outdoor lights should probably wait until tomorrow. But there's a wreath for the front door, the candles for the windows, and all the random stuff I bought to set up around the house.”
“Why don't you put that stuff where you want it,” Falkanar suggested. “And I'll take care of the wreath and the candles.”
“Great.”
We parted, almost awkwardly, to go to our respective tasks. Falkanar went to upstairs first with the candles for the windows. I went into the kitchen to switch out the potholders and the dish towels with my new festive ones. He came down to set up the candles in the front window, while I was stuffing a throw pillow into a holiday case. When I was done, I moved the things from the mantle on to one of the bookshelves and started to set up a length of evergreen swag and some snow globes. The sound of the front door opening caught my attention and I turned, wondering who was coming, or if Falkanar had suddenly decided to leave. To my relief, he was fitting the wreath hanger over the top of the door and getting the wreath set up.
“I'm going to see how this looks,” he said, stepping outside and closing the door.
I nodded and glanced over to one of the candles on the windowsill, merrily flickering away. I bit back a smile. My house really looked Christmasy. I hung up a dark green stocking with a T on it, and then reached into my shopping bag and hesitated. It felt right when I bought it on an impulse, but now it felt strange to hang it after that kiss. Although, if I didn't hang it now, I wasn't sure when I'd get another chance. I quickly pulled out a matching stocking, this one dark red with an embroidered F, and hung it next to mine. They looked right, hanging together there. And yet I immediately regretted getting the stockings.
I knew that when Falkanar left, I'd either leave it up and miss him even more. Or take it down and have one lone, pathetic stocking hanging there. Before I could decide whether or not I wanted just to yank them down before he saw them, the door opened and then closed again.
“You should go outside and take a look, Travis,” he said. “It looks amazing with the candles.”
“You chose them.”
“Then, I chose perfectly,” Falkanar laughed. He came over to join me. “And it looks great in here. I love the snow globes. It…” He trailed off and I knew he had seen the stocking.
“I know you won't actually be here,” I said quickly. “But since we were doing all the shopping together and stuff, I just thought…”
He reached out and brushed his fingers across the bright white faux fur cuff. “Thank you. It's sweet,” he said, cutting off my rambling. “Thank you.”
I nodded to him with a smile. And once again, we found ourselves standing there somewhat awkwardly. The entire day felt like something that a couple would have done together. And yet not only did I hardly know him, we were most certainly not a couple. Yet.
“It's probably dinnertime,” I said quickly, forcing myself to turn away from him. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to follow me into the kitchen after that declaration.
I realized partway through dinner that I forgot to stop the Christmas music from playing, but it added a nice ambiance to what was otherwise a silent, quite awkward meal. I was pretty sure he was thinking about the kiss. I knowIcouldn't stop thinking about it.
After dinner, we headed into the living room on our way upstairs. As I passed through the doorway I paused, taking in the sight of my decorations and tree. Someone, probably me out of habit, had turned off the living room light on the way into the kitchen and now the entire room was illuminated solely by the lights on the Christmas tree, the candles in the windows, and a few smoldering embers in the fireplace. I smiled at it for a moment, feeling another burst feelinghome.
And then Falkanar ran into me and I stumbled.
“Sorry,” he gasped. “I didn't realize you were stopping.”
“No, it's my fault,” I said, feeling more embarrassed than anything else. “I stopped to admire the decorations.”
He chuckled and a small smile crossed his face. “It looks good,” he agreed.
We exchanged another look and I wondered if he was thinking about the kiss again. Then we headed upstairs. Somewhere along the way, I forgot that he had placed candles upstairs as well. I was surprised and delighted when I walked into my bedroom and saw the single light flickering away in my window. I realized I hadn't gone outside like he suggested and made a mental note to do it tomorrow night
