Kismet Chapter 15
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Chapter Fifteen
I got up this morning and for once instead of worrying about some work-related issue I worried about the fact that it was only a week, seven days, until Christmas. December 18th – how in the hell did it get to be December 18th so fast? I'd made a few trips after work and such; picked up gifts for some of my people, but still haven't found anything for Jax or Mason. I don't know why I'd let myself get swept up into this Christmas shit, I normally don't. But now, here I am stressing over not wanting to get anything cheesy for those two. I also didn't want to get anything they expect, I was making it harder on myself than it had to be. On top of that, I was overwhelmed. When we were discussing a party, more of a gathering for Christmas, I had agreed to making several desserts including a Lane Cake made from my mother's 70- or 80-year-old recipe. Now I can't see how I'm possibly going to have the time to do all this stuff and buy the presents I still hadn't gotten yet. Worst of all, I won't be able to stay in bed and have a lazy off-day bout of lovemaking. In fact, I had to get up and leave a penis that so obviously wanted my attention in order to grab Cheryl and CJ and be submitted to the tortures of last-weekend-before-Christmas shopping. So, I reluctantly jumped out of bed leaving that tantalizing tent in the covers and made myself get in the shower and then get dressed.
I backed out and all the way down to Cheryl's. CJ and she were waiting for me by the door and ran out to the car in the drizzling rain, clouds of steam trailing from them. Cheryl said that Mason had spent the night over at Oskar's; love to be a fly on that wall, I thought. It was 38-degrees and drizzling rain, but you could bet your ass there would be no white Christmas because – Alabama. We took off to join the crowds of crazy people who were packing all the stores. We had all agreed on a $50 limit on our gifts; mainly because none of us had tons of money. I had absolutely no idea what to buy for Jax. I could think of things he needed like a new MacBook, but nothing that fit into the $50 range we'd set. Cheryl suggested clothes; I hated buying practical gifts, but time running out. Cheryl told me to go to Burlington Coat Factory since we knew that Jax needed a winter coat; the thin jacket he'd been wearing wasn't very good. After a little shopping, we lucked out and found one we both agreed would look good on him for just $2 over our price range. We got it boxed and gift-wrapped at the store. I got a certain game controller for CJ that Cheryl said he'd been wanting since his birthday. Finally, for Mason, I got a new bicycle seat. He said the one I had on the bike I'd given him hurt his butt so I got him a gel cushioned seat. While we were at the little strip mall, we saw a novelty shop and went in. They had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles poster, with all the turtles putting their fists in the air together and the slogan on the poster said `Turtle' over the top and `Power' curved under the bottom. I got one of them in the tube and got it for Mason too. Cheryl didn't get it, but that was okay. Afterward I played chauffer for Cheryl for a little while before begging off the rest of day so that I could go home and get started on my cooking. We ducked into Cheryl's before I went home so I could get the unwrapped gifts wrapped. Afterwards I took the gifts home and stashed them under the giant Christmas tree. While I was in floor, I checked the water level in the stand and added some.
"Dad, mom asked if I can stay with you for a little while, her and CJ are going to shop for a present for me" Mason said as he burst in the front door.
"Sure, you can help me cook" I said. He went to the door and gave a thumbs up, then closed the door and came over to be my helper. I started off with the hardest part first, the Lane Cake. We broke and separated a dozen eggs, I went in the pantry and pulled down the big, heavy Kitchen Aid stand mixer and started making the cake mixture with a lot of butter and a lot of sugar being blended until it was a smooth mixture. Suffice it to say, it was a long, drawn-out process.
"I thought you were staying over with Oskar?" I asked between ingredients.
"I was, but I had to leave because they're getting ready to go home for Christmas" he said.
"Home, as in Germany?" I asked.
"Yeah, Oskar said Bavaria. A town called Regensburg" he said "They're leaving tonight because Mrs. Hoffman wants to shop at the Christmas markets before Christmas."
"Did you have a good time over there?" I nosed.
"Oh yeah, dad. Oskar showed me some fun stuff" he said.
"I'll bet he did" I said.
"Have you ever had somebody put your turtle in their mouth?" he asked.
"Yeah, I have" I answered.
"It's like the greatest thing ever" he went on.
I interrupted him to put eight egg whites in a bowl and start to beat them until the points stand up. I had him slowly alternate adding the milk and flour to the butter/sugar mixture until it was all in. Once my egg whites were ready, I went over to his station and added the vanilla to the mixture, then turned off the stand mixer and detached the bowl so I could fold the egg whites in carefully.
"Did you do it back?" I asked.
"Duh" he said "you don't leave your buddy hanging. That's what Oskar says."
"He didn't make you do anything did he?" I asked.
"Dad, that's like asking if somebody made me eat chocolate" he answered, as if my whole premise was stupid. Satisfied that he wasn't being coerced, I let it go.
I poured the mix into four cake pans that I'd already greased and made sure it looked like even amounts in each one, then put them in the oven. I was done with the easy part now. We took a break and sat down at the kitchen table.
"Do you and my Uncle Mike do stuff like that?" he asked.
"Never mind what me and Uncle Mike do" I said "we're practically married and we're grown-ups. There's a difference, kiddo."
He looked like he was thinking about what I'd said for a minute, then he asked "Do you like Uncle Mike like brothers or something?"
"I love your Uncle Mike, but not like a brother. I love him the same way moms and dads love each other" I told him, not sure how to put it so that he would understand. He sat, resting his chin on his hand for another long minute and looked up and said "the way I like Oskar isn't the same way I feel about CJ, is it love?"
"Well, buddy, I'd say you've got a heavy crush on Oskar. It may be really something like love, but it may be because he's the first one you've really done much stuff with. Your mind can confuse the two sometimes" it was hard explaining the difference between love and lust to a pre-adolescent. "Just hang in there buddy; the older you get, the clearer it will get to you." He nodded and seemed satisfied. The bell on the oven time went off and I went over to take the cake pans out and put them on the rack.
"Why aren't you taking them out of the pans?" he asked.
"They have to cool first, so they don't stick" I answered.
After five or six minutes I went back over and flipped the pans so the cake was sitting on the racks. Now the layers had to cool down completely before the next stage, so I decided to start on my next project; Hershey kiss cookies. We mixed the dough and put the cookies together very quickly and threw them into the oven. While they were baking, I started preparing for the Lane cake filling. I started quartering the candied cherries, by the time I was done I was sticky up to my wrists. I went to wash my hands and the oven timer went off for the cookies. I dug around and found another cooling rack to put the cookies on, then went back to my other task. I measured out the candied cherries I'd cut up, then the chopped pecans, raisins and coconut; 1 ½ cup of each into a large mixing bowl. Then started the most time-consuming task. I pulled down the double boiler and put in a shit ton of butter, sugar and eight egg yolks and excruciatingly slowly stirred over the medium heat until it dissolved. This is where I was glad to have my helper. I brought a stool over to the stove and stirred for a while, then he climbed up and kept it going; making sure to keep stirring so the eggs didn't start to cook. Toward the end I took it back over and got the hand mixer ready so that when it was completely liquified I poured in the bourbon and started mixing it in with the hand mixer. Once that was done, the liquored mixture was poured into the fruit/pecan/coconut mix and stirred in making the filling.
Cheryl and CJ came in and Cheryl said "Wow! It smells fantastic in here!" I put her to work pulling the Tupperware cake keeper out of the pantry and laying the first layer of cake on it. I came over and spooned the mixture onto the layer and smoothed it out. She laid the next layer and we repeated the process until all four layers were covered, then I started slopping the remaining mixture onto the sides. Once done, I put the air-tight lid on it and put the keeper into the space in the refrigerator that CJ cleaned out for me.
"Damn, that looks like a lot of work" Cheryl said looking at the mountain of dirty dishes.
"Tell me about it" I said. She helped me load the dishwasher and I poured us both some coke and added in a little of the Knob Creek I'd used in the cake and brought it over to the table.
"Did you and CJ finish your shopping?" I asked.
"Most of it, but tomorrow CJ and Mason may hang out with you guys. Jeremy and I will have to get the last one" she said.
"Not a problem, they're always welcome" I said.
Finally, after all the hard work had been done Jax came in with Jeremy.
"Where have you guys been all day?" I asked.
"Buying last minute present for our loved ones" Jax said, with a wink.
Jeremy said "I need some gift-wrapping expertise down the street." Cheryl downed the rest of her bourbon and coke and they left to go wrap. As soon as she left Jax jumped up and went to the back door and retrieved a sack off the top of the garbage can and brought it in.
"Jeremy's gift for Cheryl" he said "help me wrap it for him."
"I want to see" Mason said.
"No chance, not until Christmas" Jax told him. We went upstairs into the bedroom where I'd stashed the wrapping paper and tape. Jax pulled out a folded box, a very pretty Christmas designed gift bag, a teddy bear with a zippered compartment in its back, and a small rectangular box that said Jared on it. I could tell it wasn't a ring, obviously. Jax opened the box and it was a white gold bracelet with amethysts set in intervals around the band and what appeared to be diamonds between. Jax said they weren't diamonds; they were white topaz. Purple is Cheryl's favorite color; I knew she'd love it.
"That looks like more than a $50 gift" I said.
"Yeah, $50x20" Jax snorted. "Jeremy sucks at the price limit game."
"Over $1000? Jesus, I didn't know they'd gotten that serious" I said.
We stuffed the bracelet box into the teddy bear and zipped it up, put the bear into the gift bag, arranged tissue around the top, then put the whole thing into the box and wrapped it. I topped it off with a bow and a tag saying `To: Cheryl From: Jeremy'. I texted and asked her if was safe for the boys to come home yet. She texted back that it was, so I handed the gift to CJ and told his to handle it with care on the way home.
Sunday morning when Cheryl and Jeremy left to finish their shopping, CJ and Mason came in carrying more wrapped gifts to put under our tree. It was about 10 o'clock already, I suggested we go out and get Sunday brunch at the Ranch House in Vestavia. As we passed the Galleria, we could tell Christmas panic shopping was in full swing; the parking lot was packed. After eating we went back and I finished the last of my Christmas cooking. Now I could coast the rest of the way to Christmas. On the way home, Mason asked if I could pick up Oliver on the way back home, he was going to spend the night.
"Did you clear that with your mom?" I asked.
"Oh. Let me ask her" he said, making me roll my eyes. A minute or so later, I heard him get a text alert.
"She said it's okay since we're out of school for Christmas" he said.
"Give me directions" he started telling me where to go. The house was in a nice subdivision called Tannehill Valley Estates; you went through a covered bridge to go in. When we pulled up, Mason jumped out and went to the door. The two boys came out and I popped the trunk so Oliver could put his backpack in. Back at the house, Mason started pulling Oliver toward the stairs. I said "No, you two can stay down here with the rest of us." I could tell that wasn't what Mason wanted to hear, but I felt like he was getting a little too crazy with the exploration too fast. Jax turned on the PlayStation and set them up with a game and they were satisfied, at least for now.
I heard CJ on the phone with Cheryl asking if he could spend the night over at his friend Jeff's house. She must have told him yes, because he went over to his house and got a bag ready. When he came back, he told us what I already figured out, he was going off for the night. I figured it had at least a little to do with Oliver staying over at his house. Fifteen minutes later a car pulled up and a kid knocked on the door, CJ said bye and they took off. After CJ left, I went up and got into my lounging clothes, I figured I was safe from having to go back out for the day. When I came back down the two younger boys were picking up their stuff and had turned the game off.
"Cheryl said to send the brats over, they're home" Jax said. Mason came and hugged me and said goodbye and they left for Cheryl's house. As I was locking up, I felt my shorts being dragged down. I reached back to slap Momo away, but my hand encountered Jax's wrist instead of cat paws. He turned me around and sucked the head of my dick until I was rock-hard. It was the first time we'd been able to be alone in several days. I pushed him back and led him to the sofa, jerking his pants down before I pushed him to sit down. I pulled his shoes off and started wrestling with his jeans, trying to get them off his feet. I pulled his underwear off one foot and pushed his legs apart so I could gain access to my toy box. I leaned in and managed to suck both his balls into my mouth; a substantial feat. I released them and took his cock in their place and bobbed on it while staring into his eyes. He held my head with both hands and guided my actions. My knees were starting to hurt so we repositioned, I got up on the sofa with him and suckled his meat like a hungry baby. I lightly ran my hands all over his torso under his shirt while I sucked feeling his abs tighten up just before he started shooting a monster load into me. He lay there panting for a minute, then determined to reciprocate, he turned me around and started sucking me. I was on the verge of exploding when my fucking phone rang. The ID was from work, so I had to answer it. Emergency, I had to go. I ended the call. Jax wouldn't let me up until he jacked me rapid-fire until my spring sprung and he swallowed my milk greedily. I ran upstairs and got dressed again, kissed him passionately, and took off for Tuscaloosa.
Only five days until Christmas, and Elvis was dead again. Official cause of death was the heart attack that technically ended his life, but what caused the heart attack was the fact that somehow, he had managed to get hold of a plastic trash can liner, pulled it over his head and tied it off. Nobody noticed what was going on until they saw him collapsed in the floor of his room. A crash team was sent in and they tried to revive him, but the loss of oxygen had precipitated the heart attack; he was old with a weak heart and from all appearances, was ready to die. I looked over his file and was saddened to see: No relatives located. If nobody was found, he would end up an indigent burial by the county. As I looked at his body in the morgue, I kept thinking of the Elvis song "Are you lonesome tonight, do you miss me tonight...". After the mountain of paperwork, I took a rest in the lounge and a few hours later started my week.
Wednesday, Dr. Benton informed me that due to staffing issues I would have to work Christmas Day; he himself would work Christmas Eve. Our Christmas plans had been made around doing everything on Christmas Day, I called Jax and asked him to see what he could work out and let me know. I'd probably be stuck here most of my waking hours since it would be nearly impossible to find anybody to come in this close to a holiday. Jax texted me back in an hour or so. After contacting everybody, just about everybody had already made plans for Christmas Eve. I texted him back and told him he'd have to represent us both Christmas Day. He said that we could have an intimate Christmas on Christmas Eve, just the two of us; after all the buildup from Jax, Christmas was still a downer for me. I went back to work and tried not to think about any of it. I had to stay until midnight when my relief, the next most senior intern came in. I got home at 12:40 and dragged my weary bones upstairs; I was practically asleep by the time I got undressed. On a hunch, I set the alarm on my phone for 8am. I didn't know if my internal alarm could function under present conditions.
At some point in the night, Jax had wrapped himself around me. I didn't mind other than I woke up needed to pee really bad. I started untwisting the pretzel I was in so I could make a bathroom run. Jax's hand found my crotch, but I brushed him away knowing I had to get back to sleep so I could make it through another 12+ hour day. I lay back down after relieving my bladder and it felt like I slept about a minute before the musical alarm on the phone was going off. I swiped it to silence the alarm and crept out of bed and into the shower. By 8:30 I was on the road again for another long shift. The only saving grace was, whatever time I got off today, I would be off tomorrow for my holiday on Christmas Eve.
My scheduled shift was supposed to be 9am to 9pm and ended up turning into a 9am-11pm, only 14 hours. I crawled into the bed and was dead to the world. I had a nightmare and woke up in a cold sweat around 3:30 with my heart beating out of my chest. It dissipated so fast I couldn't remember anything about it except it had something to do with my Elvis patient's suicide. When I sat up in the bed, Jax turned on the lamp and asked if I was okay. I told him to hold me for a minute, then one thing led to another and one thorough pounding later I was able to sleep well again.
When I woke up it was a very uncharacteristic 10:15am. I got up and went to the bathroom and when I came back, I found Jax with a tray and breakfast in bed for me. Afterward, he drew a tub of hot water and we wedged both ourselves in. We bathed each other and kissed a lot, got dressed and went downstairs. I made myself a cup of coffee while he cleaned the dishes. We sat and cuddled under a throw blanket and watched Christmas shows until lunchtime. We just had a small lunch, he had plans to have a mini-Christmas dinner with me tonight. There were a few things he'd written down that he'd need for the festivities tomorrow, so we made a quick trip to Piggly Wiggly before they closed. We got back home about 3pm, it was kind of overcast and dim so he went ahead and turned on all the Christmas lights.
We started making our little Christmas dinner about five. Some of the dishes we'd made ahead of time had overrun into extra bowls; we made our little meal from those. We had some dressing with gravy, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls and he picked up a small chunk of pre-cooked smoked turkey breast. Jax lit a candelabra of red and green candles on the kitchen table and we started our romantic Christmas dinner. As an afterthought, I got back up and made us hot cocoa with Bailey's Irish Cream added in for a kick. I came back and handed Jax his mug and stole a kiss before sitting back down. For dessert we ate a piece of Claxton fruit cake somebody had given us.
We washed our dishes and went back to the living room. We were both sleepy from all the food so when we cuddled back under the blanket to watch the Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol; we both nodded off. We were jarred awake to the sound of the front door being opened. CJ walked in, followed by Mason, Cheryl and Jeremy.
"The party at Jeremy's family broke up early so we came to see you since you'll be out of commission tomorrow" Cheryl said. They all sat down with Mason squeezing in close to me and sharing our small blanket. They gave me their gifts but I said I wanted to take them to open at work tomorrow so I could have at least a little Christmas on Christmas. They stayed with us till about 10 o'clock. Mason wanted to spend the night, but I told him I had to be at work at midnight, so he hugged me and went with the rest of the crew. Jax and I watched some more TV until I had to leave right after 11. My Christmas was a double shift that wouldn't end until midnight Christmas night. With the help of some sympathetic nurses, I was able to get a few naps in, and I took an hour to eat and open my gifts. The big box from Cheryl was a very nice electric wok with a note inside saying "We've had your Alabama and Italian food, now it's time you learn how to make Chinese." Jeremy's package contained a bottle of Ardbeg; he and I had gotten into several conversations about our shared love of Scotch. The kids were actually exempted from buying gifts, since Christmas is really more for them than us, however I seemed to have ranked a gift from each one. From CJ I got a bracelet made of strips of leather with a ceramic disc woven in that said BFF. I'd never had a BFF before – sweet! Mason's gift was wrapped in paper that had turtles all over it, their shells decorated with Christmas lights. I opened the box and inside was a coffee mug with a big heart and #1 Dad underneath it. Best kid ever I thought. I opened the gift from Jax last, it was just a card that said: "Sorry, I couldn't think of anything that fit in the limit, so I did this instead". There was a piece of paper inside from a travel agent. It was a receipt from a payment plan trip to Alaska; the payment amount was $50. Still quite a little balance left on there, but I didn't care. My Christmas was salvaged.
I looked at the clock; 4:30am, only 7 ½ hours to go. Merry Christmas to all! I wished silently.
Lambodara 6/24/21
Some people just can't follow simple rules.