Page 80 of The Perfect Spiral
In case you can’t tell, my mom loves Christmas.
Sitting at the dining table, we laugh, mess around, and tell awful jokes that make the holidays worth coming home for.
There is so much food spread on the table. I go over to help Eden and Noah with their food by cutting it up into small portions for them.
“If you eat everything off your plate, you can have one of Delilah’s cupcakes, alright?” Bobbing their little heads in agreement, I couldn’t help but laugh at them.
Usually, the Carters would come around to ours or us to theirs for desserts, this year it was them coming to us.
We would all drink and hang out with each other, watch movies, pull the crackers, and be in the biggest food comas on the couch.
I found myself questioning, would they really come over, even after all the chaos that had unfolded? You’re not that special, Alex... I chided myself.
Chapter 28
The bell chimed from the kitchen as I was busy packing leftovers into containers for the week—or rather, for the next day, considering my brothers’ voracious appetites.
Loud greetings echoed through the kitchen door, but I continued my task, undeterred. The door swung open, and Boomer, our family dog, skidded across the kitchen tiles, making a beeline for me. He began to playfully nibble at my feet just as Sam and Tyson entered the kitchen.
“All I’m saying, bro, is you need to get your shit together before the next game, or the coach will drop your ass. You haven’t been playing well at all! Your arm is not in good shape right now,” Tyson admonished the person trailing behind him.
“I know, I know. I just have some things on my mind right now. I’ll be fine before the next game! Just hitting a rough patch right now,” Knox responded, entering the kitchen with little Adam cradled in his arms.
“Alex!” My eyes shot up to the little boy nestled in the arms of the towering Knox. Dressed in a red sweater, crisp white shirt, and tiny navy slacks, Adam looked absolutely adorable.
He wiggled his little hands at me, signaling for me to take him from Knox. I wiped my hands on a towel and moved towards them.
“Well, doesn’t my boyfriend look adorable in his little outfit!” I cooed, opening my arms to take Adam. I lifted him out of Knox’s arms and cradled him in my own.
Adam gave me a tight hug, and I returned it, placing my hand on the back of his head.
“I missed you, Alex!” He beamed at me as he pulled back, but remained comfortably seated in my arms. I adjusted my weight to keep myself stable with him in my arms and shifted him over to my hip.
“I missed you too, little bud! I hope Santa was good to you this year. I know you’ve been such a good boy.”
I walked back to the counter to pick up the containers and put them into the refrigerator so the food wouldn’t start to smell.
“Yeah! I got a toy car and a real one! I got a surfboard too from Uncle Knox! Now you can teach me to surf,” Adam excitedly shared his Christmas haul.
I hadn’t looked at Knox the entire time he’d been in the kitchen. It was a little awkward, I won’t lie, but it was really my fault.
“You got a real car? What? Are you serious?” I finally looked up at Knox, giving him a disbelieving look. He simply shook his head at me, explaining it was a mini hummer type of thing.
“Of course I’ll teach you how to surf, Adam. How about this summer? In Savannah?” He nodded enthusiastically at my suggestion. I tossed my phone to Sam.
“Here, take a pic of me and my boyfriend. You know, for my followers and whatnot.” I smirked at her, teasing her about her earlier comment. I received a glare and an eye roll in return.
She took a few pictures of me with Adam in my arms, capturing our shared affection. I couldn’t resist taking a photo with Adam in his adorable outfit.
We scrolled through each of the photos, and Adam picked out his favorite—the one where he was kissing me on my cheek.
“That one! That one!” he yelled, pointing at the screen. I uploaded it to my Instagram with the caption ‘Me and my boyfriend?#couplegoals’.
As soon as I uploaded it, the likes started pouring in. Some people really have no chill. Who was the first to like it?
Yep. Knox. I looked up to see him engrossed in his phone, a smirk slowly spreading across his face as if he knew I was watching him.
People started tagging him in the post, just like they did with Sam’s picture. Wes even commented on it.
