Page 218 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“I’m ready for the lights,” Austin exclaimed as we stopped walking. Cayden laughed.
“In a minute, buddy,” he told him. He bent down and kissed Austin on his forehead. It was a treat, watching the two of them interact together. I knew that Cayden had to have been a good father but seeing him in action cemented the idea in my brain. Cayden was a great father.
All of a sudden, the tree began to light up with soft, white lights. The crowd was quiet as the lights traveled up the tree until the whole tree was lit up. It was gorgeous to see – a large pine tree, covered in Christmas lights against the night sky. As I looked at the tree, I felt Cayden grab my hand. It felt nice and warm. I didn’t even want to fight against it. I wanted to hold his hand. I wanted to be a part of this family moment with him.
Christmas music began to come over the speakers as the crowd applauded. I had lived in Miami my entire life but had never participated in this particular ceremony before. It was beautiful. Some of the crowd began to take pictures. Austin ran in circles around Cayden, me, and Cayden’s parents. He was very excited.
“Can we go home and wait for Santa?” he asked Cayden. Cayden laughed. I wasn’t sure what our plans were next. I had planned to stay out with Cayden for a while, but I wasn’t sure I was comfortable spending Christmas Eve and the following morning with his family.
“Actually, honey, I’ll take you back to my house,” Alice said, grabbing Austin’s hand. “We can get ready for bed and set Santa’s cookies and milk out. How does that sound?”
“Yay!” Austin squealed. His good mood was infectious. Alice leaned into me and Cayden.
“You two should spend some alone time together,” she whispered. “Merry Christmas.” She gave me another hug. I could see where Cayden got his warm personality from. Alice may have been the warmest person I had ever met. She made me feel welcome and made all of my insecurities disappear. She was a far cry from my own mother, and I was grateful for that.
Cayden squeezed my hand as his parents and Austin walked away. We didn’t say anything for a while, we just stood, holding hands and looking at the tree until most of the people had left. I hadn’t wanted to leave. It felt perfect standing there, holding hands on Christmas Eve. It was the first time I remembered feeling so safe and secure so close to the holiday.
“Thank you for coming,” Cayden said. “I hope it went okay for you.”
“It was great,” I told him. “Thank you for inviting me. I hope Austin liked me.”
He laughed.
“I’m sure he does,” Cayden said. “My mom really seems to like you, too. I would say that you did pretty well.”
I smiled and looked up at him. He had no idea how badly I needed a night like this. Although it may have been a small moment of time for him, for me, it was a game-changing evening. I suddenly knew who I needed and wanted to be with.
CHAPTER 31
CAYDEN
“What do you want to do now?” I asked Tiffany. I hadn’t expected my mother to offer to take Austin back to her house, but I was grateful that she had given Tiffany and I some time alone. We needed it. Tiffany shrugged as we walked down the street back to my parents’ house.
“Shit.” I suddenly remembered that I had left one of Austin’s present from Santa at my house. I would need to go back to get it, so he had it in the morning.
“What’s wrong?” Tiffany asked. I shook my head.
“I forgot one of Austin’s presents at my house,” I told her. “Do you mind if we go and get it? We can hang out at my apartment for a little while.”
She looked at me and smiled.
“That sounds great,” she said. “I could use a nightcap.”
We reached my parents’ house and decided to drive separately to my apartment. Tiffany would leave from there and I would go back to my parents’ house to wake up there with Austin. As I got into my car, I couldn’t erase the smile from my face, even if I tried. I was so excited that everything had gone great with Tiffany and my family. I didn’t expect anything to go wrong, but I knew better than to assume that things would go as planned. Luckily, this time they had.
We got to my house and both got out of our cars. I took Tiffany’s hand again as we walked into my apartment. Her hand felt good wrapped in mine. It was almost as if they fit together perfectly. As we walked into my apartment, I began to turn the lights on.
“I’ll be right back,” I told Tiffany. I wanted to grab the present before I got distracted. I knew that once Tiffany and I were alone that I would want to fuck her. It had been too long, and I was craving her. I went into my room and reached up on the top shelf in the closet. I retrieved the dinosaur toy and took it back out to the kitchen.
“I poured myself a drink,” Tiffany said. She was seated at the bar on a barstool. I thought about going over and bending her over the barstool, but I refrained.
“Good,” I said. I walked over to the bar and poured myself a glass of whiskey. I sipped the liquid, enjoying the warm burn down my throat.
“I hope my mother wasn’t too much,” I said, sitting down next to Tiffany. She shook her head.
“Not at all,” she said. “She is an absolute sweetheart. I can see where you get your personality from.”
I smiled. It wasn’t the first time that I had heard that I was like my mother. It was something that I had accepted proudly. My mom was the best. I was glad that I could be compared to her.
