From the North Pole to Indiana Chapter 10
This is a work of fiction; all characters' names are randomly generated, and the places in this story are complete works of fiction. If you disagree with two men loving each other, leave now. Yes, this is a Christmas story, so you are free to move on if you don't want to read it. However, if you're going to read it, I hope you'll enjoy it.
Copyright © 2021, 2022
From the North Pole to Indiana
Chapter 5, Part 2
Mick Date – Part Two
A couple hours after his last phone call, Mick started getting texts from his family. Each one congratulated him on his date. Mick knows his mom is good for gossiping about the good stuff in her kids' lives. She tends to do well with keeping secrets or sensitive things to herself. At any rate, she is a great mom despite her talking to everyone about her kids and their lives. Mick is glad to have her in her life.
***
Shea wastes no time in calling his partner in crime, Ethan Reid. Ethan and Shea are both conservation officers. They were buddies from the very beginning. Shea calls to tell Ethan about the date.
"Hey Shea, what's up?"
Shea is ready to burst as he gathers his thoughts.
"I had one of the best dates of tonight. Everything about it was perfect."
It's been a while since Shea bragged about a date with his friend.
"You know since you said "Everything was perfect," I have one question for you. What was so perfect about it. You can't leave me hanging, dude."
Shea doesn't intend to leave his friend wandering about the night.
"To start with, the guy is perfect; he's cute and intelligent, and there is a mystery. He loves baking. Earlier in the evening, we went to see Christmas light displays, and he was excited to see them. He never complained, even when I turned on the Christmas music. He even sang some of the songs with me. When we were done with the Christmas lights, he volunteered to make me his world-famous hot chocolate; it just might have been the best hot chocolate this guy has ever drunk."
Ethan is a bit stunned. His buddy has been trying to find someone to go with him to see the lights for years, but no one has, or they leave him after the date. Honestly, Ethan is happy for the guy. His friend's date must have been pretty good to get Shea this excited over it.
"I don't know what to think, Shea; I mean, any guy willing to sit through that date and still want to spend time with you either has a screw loose he is perfect for you."
Shea laughs at the "screw loose" comment, but he knows that Mick is perfect for him.
"You know you haven't told me his name?"
Realizing that he has left the name out of the conversation, he plans on fixing that mistake immediately.
"His name is Mick Owens."
Ethan picks up on the way that his friend said the name. Yupe, there is doubt it; Shea has the feels for Mick. He also is kind of curious about his friend's date. He can tell that Shea thinks highly of the guy, which speaks volumes about the man.
***
Shea wants to ask Mick to officially be his boyfriend, but he wants the night to be romantic. He considers his options and picks the bedsheet fort in the living room. Dinner for the night can be delivered. He doesn't want to ruin dinner and leave with a bad memory of the night. Maybe a movie, a romantic movie, would be excellent. Hopefully, Mick will enjoy the evening. When to do it is the real question. He scans over the calendar and picks Christmas Evening. Suddenly, it dons on him that he needs to check up on Sam Strickland, his neighbor.
***
Mr. Strickland has lived next door for as long as Shea has owned his house. When he moved in, Sam, Mr. Strickland's dear wife, was still alive, but she passed away three years ago. Shea was befriended by the elderly couple, and he hasn't looked back. He got them to agree to no presents; that way, there would be more money that could be used to spoil their grandkids. Shea moves the yard, has meals with Sam during the week and takes time out during the week to take Sam out to run errands. Sam looks forward to his visits because it's a friend coming over, not someone who has to be there. Shea knocks at the door and then waits quietly for Sam to answer the door.
"Who is it?"
Sam calls out through the closed door.
"It's Shea, Mr. Strickland."
Sam opens the door excitedly and welcomes the young man into the house. At first, they get caught up in life, and then Sam looks at Shea and smiles.
"You know, I was outside the other day with my grandson. He saw you and another young man get out of your car. Brax, Mr. Strickland's nephew, asked if the two of you were a couple. I told him that I wasn't sure. Would you mind chatting with Brax for a second if it isn't imposing?"
Brax is Sam's 17-year-old grandson who came out when he was 16. His grandpa made sure to get Brax and Shea together for many reasons, but one of those reasons is that he knows he can trust Brax. Shea won't take advantage of the kid. Brax has a mentor, someone he can talk to when he can't speak to his family. Shea smiles and nods at Sam. Sam gets Brax called, waits for his grandson to answer, and then hands the phone to Shea.
"Hey Grandpa!"
Shea chuckles because he knows that Brax is about to go beet red.
"Nope, it's Shea. Hey, your grandpa told me you have a question for me?"
Brax was right. Brax did blush for a few seconds.
"You know, you can always ask me a question."
Brax loves that about Shea. What's nice about this guy is that Brax can come to him with those questions that only another guy could answer well; another guy who is gay or bi could answer.
"Were you out on a date last night, or was the other guy just a friend?"
Brax has always been good at reading between the lines and is very observant, so the older man isn't surprised that he saw him with his date.
"Yeah, that was my date; I think he might be the one. I'm going to ask him to be my boyfriend on Christmas Eve. What do you think about that?"
Brax is excited for his friend and mentor.
"I think that is super cool. I hope he says yes. I have to go, Shea. Here is my grandpa."
Brax says goodbye to his friend, and Sam gladly takes the phone from his grandson.
"Thanks for answering his question."
Shea is always happy to answer any question Brax has, and he's glad to help Sam.
"Before I let you go, is there anything you need?"
Shea couldn't just leave without seeing if Mr. Strickland needed anything.
"If you don't mind, I do need some groceries."
Shea doesn't mind helping his friend out. It's no big deal to him to help out his elderly neighbor.
"Get me a list, and I'll get it done for you."
Sam smiles as he gets up to get his grocery list. He disappears for a few minutes and then comes back with his list.
"Here, Shea, this is my list."
Shea accepts the list from Sam. He looks over the list and immediately smiles. The list has a few items that Shea knows were on the list for his grandchildren.
"Shea, I think I am going to sleep."
Shea stands up to leave. He has the list in his hands and heads off toward the front door.
"Bye, Shea, be good!"
Sam is up and ready to head off to bed. Shea leaves and heads home.
***
While Shea is visiting Sam, Mick calls April to give her the details of his date tonight. He knows that she is going to love it. He places the call and then waits for her to answer.
"Hey Mick, how are you?"
She is ready to hear all about the date. Mick can't wait to tell her about his time with Shea.
"I had my date with Shea, and it was great. We saw so many beautiful homes with beautiful light displays. After the light, we went to Shea's house, where I made him my world-famous hot chocolate. After the hot chocolate, Shea brought me home, and he walked me to my door. More importantly, we kissed, and it was amazing."
April is glad that her best friend has found a man who seems like a really nice guy based on Mick's words. It's almost painful, Only because she has been in a rut lately.
"Sounds like you had a great night? I trust your hunk behaved himself?"
She is trying to picture what bad boy Shea would look like. Her friend pulls her out of her imagination.
"He was incredible, funny, and sexy. He was all into the Christmas lights. It was a beautiful night."
April has to figure out how to find herself a guy like Mick's. She is happy for now to live through her friend's dates.
"I'm going to let you go, Mick. I need to get going. See you at work."
She doesn't want to hear anymore. Her brain is fried.
"I'll talk to you later. Have a good night!"
Mick says good night and then ends the call.
***
Mick grabs his journal because he doesn't want to forget any of the night's events. The night was too incredible. Years down the road, he'll be able to read tonight's entry and have a record of his time with the guy in his life. He doesn't want to forget how one guy made him feel loved. Mick's brain feels so much better now and feels good about the night. Mick puts everything away. Now, we join Shea as his mind runs for miles.
***
While Mick was writing in his journal, Shea sat in bed while his brain stewed over the little things. First, he's worried that Mr. and Mrs. Owens won't like him. Considering that Mrs. and Mr. Claus already like him, he already got it made. He's worried they'll find some fault that he can't fix. It's worrisome to him. Would Mick stay with him if they don't like him? He's hoping he'll be lucky, and Mrs. Owens and Mr. Owens will like him enough to accept him into the family.
***
He's also worried that something will somehow ruin what he has with Mick. He's really scared that it will be his fault. He wants his relationship to be something he can be proud of and make Mick happy. He knows he can't force Mick to stay in a relationship if it goes wrong. He'll have to do his best to keep this thing between Mick and him alive and healthy. Course, Mick will need to do his part as well. He just wants to make him happy.
***
Shea decides to quit his mind, and he decides to do some reading. He grabs his e-reader and opens the cover on it. Selecting the book he's been reading for the past couple days, he starts reading right from where he left off. His mind needs to be occupied. Reading seems to be the one thing that quiets his mind. It helps that he can step into someone else's life while he reads. After reading for an hour, he decides to text Mick.
***
He grabs his phone and starts texting his guy.
"Thanks for a wonderful evening. When can I have some more of your world-famous hot chocolate?"
It seems like an eternity passed between when he sent his text and when Mick sent a response.
"You're welcome, but I should be thanking you. I had a lot of fun. Any time you want that hot chocolate, you just stop by when I'm home."
Shea almost left to stop by Micks for his new favorite drink. It's late, so he decides against going over for a drink. It's tempting, though; very tempting.
***
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