Page 31 of A Little Christmas! Johnny
When you are ready to eat, come to the table.
Jingle Bells and North Pole Kisses,
Your Johnny
When I open the closet to hang up my coat, I laugh out loud. My boy got me a mother fucking Santa robe. Looking at the slippers that are now on my feet, they actually do resemble the kind of boots that you would expect to go with a cheap costume. Now all I need is a... A fuzzy red had with white trim falls out of the pocket of the robe while I put my arms in the sleeves.
I know I have the dopiest grin on my face when I walk through the archway, but I’m pretty sure I fell through a wormhole or something and ended up getting theIt’s a Wonderful Lifetreatment. Is this some sort of magical alternate reality?
The dining set that I picked up for thirty dollars at a yard sale looks like it should be featured in a magazine. I didn’t even know what size table cloth to get for it, let alone a table runner, placemats, and serving dishes. And since when do I have wine glasses and Christmas plates?
“Merry Christmas, Santa Daddy,” Johnny steps over to kiss me on the cheek while I’m still completely blown away by what I’m seeing. “The only thing left to serve is the drinks. I wasn’t sure if you’d want a beer or some of the wine that Russ left for us.”
Slowly, I lower myself down into the chair closest to me. Since there are only two places set, I figure I have a fifty-fifty shot at choosing the right seat.
“I’ll just have whatever you’re having,” I murmur while I take in the feast my boy has prepared for us. There’s pasta with cream sauce. There’s a tray of snow crab legs. There’s garlic bread. I even see a dish full of shrimp and sea scallops and another with sautéed mushrooms and tomatoes. When the hell did he have time to make all of thisanddecorate?
“I’m not drinking tonight,” Johnny calls out to me from the kitchen. “Cranberry ginger ale okay with you or do you want something else?”
“That’s fine,” I call back and snag a piece of garlic bread from the basket. He made homemade garlic knots last week and ended up having to hide them from Russel. My best friend is not getting any of this feast tonight. Thank all that is holy that Dave insists on his son going to his house for the holidays. I get my boy to myself for the whole week.
I am not prepared for what I see when he comes back into the room carrying a two liter bottle of pink ginger ale to fill up the wine glasses. I should have figured that with my robe and slippers that he would have something at least equally silly to wear. .
His attempt to style his hair tonight consists of a headband that has a felt elf hat hot glued to the top of it and red and white pipe cleaners wrapped around it. His slippers are absolutely adorable little red curly elf shoes with jingle bells. But the pajamas are the kicker. My boy loves his candy canes. He somehow found an adult pajama romper that is covered in cartoon candy canes with the sleeves striped up from wrist to shoulder as if his arms are candy canes. After he finishes filling my glass with ginger ale, he giggles and kisses me on the cheek again once I stop coughing. He doesn’t even have the decency toactconcerned while I’m choking on garlic bread.
I pick up the glass and take a sip while he heads over to his seat across the table. It’s become a habit to check out his ass, considering that’s damn near all I can think about now. My eyes drift down his back and I spit the damn pop all over the sideboard. As if they were afraid you’d miss it otherwise, the manufacturers of his damn outfit made sure the butt flap matched the sleeves and not the rest of the outfit.
Johnny’s giggles get a little wilder while I’m wiping up my mess. Either he’s going to kill me or make me the happiest man who ever existed. At this point it’s a toss up, but I’m all for it.
25
JOHNNY
I honestly thought Dexter saw my outfit when he first came into the dining room. I have never had so much fun surprising someone in my life – including the niblings. I know that he misses his parents especially hard on Christmas, so I wanted to make sure we make our first Christmas together one that is silly and magical enough that the sadness can’t come in. And dinner was a huge hit. We talked and laughed until most of the food was gone. All we left was some pasta and a couple pieces of garlic bread.
Daddy says that’s my lunch for when I go back to work in a couple of days. Jackson, Ricky, and a few other guys at the shop volunteered to work and be on call today and tomorrow so that Steve and I could both have the holidays with our loved ones. It was their present to the bosses.
Now that the food is put away and dishes are in the dishwasher, I have to enact phase two of my holly jolly hijinks. The question is, do I want sexy times or movie times? Dexter is sitting on the couch patting his stomach, so I think sexy times can wait for a little bit while dinner settles. After all, you should never exercise on a full tummy.
Since we’re going to be relaxing down here for now, I open the basement to let Peanut come hang out with us for movie snuggles. Of course, I take him outside to potty first, getting a few shouts of “Merry Christmas” from the neighbors driving past or coming home themselves. When we’re back inside, all three of us snuggle up under the blankets to watchRudolph the Red Nosed Reindeerand all of the other classics. I even managed to find thatClaymation Christmasthat he told me about. I’d never heard of it, but he told me that his parents had it on an old VHS tape from when they first got married and taped it from the TV and that they watched it every year until the tape was worn out.
After about fifteen minutes, Peanut is snoring in his own little blanket burrito, so I cuddle into Daddy. At some point, I must have dozed off myself because the next thing I know, I’m being carried up the stairs. I’m not exactly small and haven’t been since I had a major growth spurt at around ten years old. Now, I’m over six foot tall and easily over two hundred pounds. Dexter is fit, but I didn’t think he isthatfit.
“Easy, Baby. We’ve both had a long day, so I think a bath and sleep are in order.”
Hmmm. That sounds good.
Wait! The bedroom surprise! I was supposed to go up first and then...
26
DEXTER
Carrying my boy upstairs is a lot more of a challenge than I thought it would be. Although I’ve been going to the gym as often as I can squeeze it in for as long as I can remember, I haven’t had to lift two hundred pounds on the front of my body before. Getting up from the couch was difficult enough, but the stairs are damn near killing me – especially with the fucking garland on the railing making it hard to get a decent grip on the wood to steady myself on the way up. Despite the struggles, putting him to bed is the least I can do. He went to all of this trouble today to make sure I don’t get overwhelmed by my sad memories... I fucking love him so much.
On the last few steps, Johnny starts to stir in my arms. I do my best to soothe him so that we don’t tumble back down the stairs, and he quiets long enough for me to get us into the hallway upstairs. Then he starts squirming like he wants down. Part of me wants to hold him close forever, but my legs and arms are screaming at me that I’ve pushed beyond my limits. Dropping his legs so that we are standing face to face is the only concession I think I can give him right now. My arms feel likegumbands and I can’t seem to hold him back as he races to the bedroom door to block it.
“Give me two minutes, Daddy,” he calls back to me before rushing inside and slamming the door on me. I’m amused at his antics. My Baby Boy always seems to wake up a bit more Little than Big lately, and it’s something I love to see. It means he’s becoming more and more comfortable with me.
