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Written by: Nicky Smith Edited by: JD Kaster
CHAPTER NINE: CHRISTMASTIME
TREY'S POV
"Jessica, are you crazy? I'm not getting you all of this," I said looking at the insane list she'd given me.
"Why not?" she whined.
"Just because I'm tutoring Lane doesn't mean that I'm suddenly Daddy Warbucks or something," I said before shaking my head at her.
"Trey, don't you love me?" she asked as she cuddled up next to me and laid her head on my shoulder.
"If I have to get you all of this, then no," I said and she moved away from me and pouted.
"You're mean," she said with her arms folded.
"Why didn't you send Bear a list like this?" I asked as I stood up.
"I did. His was longer," she said and I knew she was probably telling the truth.
"What's with the sudden bout of materialism?" I asked and I noticed her expression change.
"I just figured that a long life isn't guaranteed so I should get the things I want now," she said but I kind of knew what she meant. I thought this Christmas would be a good one since I wasn't in a coma this time, but now the shadow of Marcus' death was looming.
"You mean you want all this stuff to distract you from what's going on," I said and she nodded after a few seconds.
"It's not fair that Marcus had to die so close to Christmas," Jessica said which was true. I still couldn't believe that I'd never see him again. He was an important part of Bear and I getting together so the loss was hard. I could only imagine how unbearable it must be for his family.
I expected Sean to be especially clingy with either Justice or me, but he wasn't. He stayed mostly to himself and Justice said he barely talked to her when they talked. It wasn't like him and I was worried.
"Here," Liberty said as she slapped a piece of paper against my chest.
"Where did you come from?" I asked because it was like she appeared out of nowhere.
"From my mommy and daddy," she said smartly after taking a seat next to Jessica.
"Well-," Jessica started before she was interrupted by Liberty holding a hand up in front of her face.
"Shut up," Liberty said shutting down whatever quip that Jessica was planning to let loose.
"What is this?" I asked as I started to unfold the piece of paper.
"You're gonna get that stuff for me for Christmas," she said as more of a command than a request.
"What the hell is wrong with the two of you? Do either of you plan to get me anything for Christmas?" I asked not able to hide my extreme annoyance of their selfish materialism. My sympathizing with Jessica had passed.
"You've got the money," Liberty said.
"Do you two care that maybe I want to do something special for Bear and my family because we didn't get to spend last Christmas together since I was in a coma?" I asked and I was glad that they seemed to have the ability to feel shame.
"I didn't think about that," Liberty said.
"I'm sorry Trey," Jessica said.
"Look, I'm gonna get you two something for Christmas but it's not gonna be anything on these lists. It's gonna be something from my heart that I want to give you. It's up to you if you can accept that or not," I said and they at least looked remorseful. I left before they thought of a comeback to my words as women had a knack of turning an argument that a man is winning around. I headed to my room where Dave was packing some clothes into a bag.
"Hey man, when are you gonna be heading home?" I asked as I dropped onto my bed.
"You trying to find out when the room's gonna be empty so you can invite Bear for some fun?" He asked with a teasing grin.
"No I'm not," I said which only served to make him laugh. I picked up a pillow from my bed and threw it at him which he barely managed to dodge.
"So, what's your plan for the break?" He asked as he went back to packing his bag.
"I'm just gonna hang out with my family and Bear. I don't think there's gonna be much desire for anything other than being with family this year," I said and he nodded in understanding.
"How's Sean doing?" He asked as he finished packing his bag.
"I can't really tell for sure. He hasn't really been talking to anyone so I don't know how he's doing," I said and he nodded.
"Well, I'm headed out. Tell Sean that I'm thinking about him," he said before grabbing his duffel bag and another bag that I knew held the presents he'd gotten for his family. He surprised me by giving me a hug which I returned. When we separated he gave me a head nod before leaving the room.
I took the time to check my own bags which I had already packed since I was leaving in two more days myself. I happened to look at Dave's desk and noticed that he'd forgotten a box. I picked it up and started out of the room to see if I could catch him when I looked at the box and saw that it had my name on it.
I was surprised that he'd gotten me something and I kicked myself for not thinking of getting him anything. I thought to open the box but decided I'd wait until Christmas day. I still had a week before Christmas and since I still had to get something for my friends, I'd get something for him too and overnight it to him.
I put Dave's gift on my desk and made sure I had my wallet before heading out to take care of some things. I made sure to check and make sure Liberty and Jessica were gone before leaving through the lobby.
I headed first to check on the presents that I had for Bear, for Wayne, and for my parents. When that was done I headed to the nearby branch of my bank to deposit my latest payment from Mr. Prescott. I kept the $500 bonus that I'd gotten from Lane as a Christmas present as I planned to use that for my shopping. I then headed over to the mall to check some things out. After about 3 hours I had gifts for my family, my friends, and several other people who I wanted to give something. I just hoped that everyone liked what I got them.
"What did you get me? What did you get me? What did you get me?" Jessica repeated over and over again as I was loading my stuff into my car for the trip home.
"None of your business, yet," I told her before shutting the trunk to stop her prying eyes. She couldn't see what I'd gotten her anyway as I made sure everything that could be wrapped was wrapped before leaving the mall.
"If you don't tell me I'm gonna run you off the road on our way home," she said with a mischievous grin.
"If you do that then you won't get your gift," I said while matching her grin.
"I can do so very carefully so as not to wreck the gifts," she said in response.
"You can't be sure of that," I countered which led to a staring contest which I won.
"I'll let you off this time," she said before stalking off towards her own car.
"I see Sean already left," Liberty said as she and Christian walked over to me.
"Yeah. I think he just needs some time," I said hoping that that was the case. Truth was though that I had no idea how long it'd be before Sean was himself again and we all really had no right to expect him to bounce right back. I planned to wait him out for however long it took.
"It's weird seeing him like this. I haven't known him as long as you all have but in the time I have known him, he's always been the life of the party even when there wasn't a party," Christian said which was true. As long as I'd personally known Sean he was almost always upbeat and happy. Maybe it was time for him to take a break from that.
"Yeah," Liberty said.
"I guess I'll have to be the life of the party," I said trying for humor to lighten up the mood.
"Heaven help us," Liberty quipped which made us laugh a little.
"See you all later," Light yelled as she drove by with Maria in the passenger seat. She honked her horn and we waved.
Carter pulled up to pick up Christian and Liberty. Christian was spending the holidays with Carter as Christian's aunt and uncle were going to Florida for the holidays. The three of them were gonna spend a couple of days with Sed before coming home.
Liberty gave me a kiss on the cheek and Christian and I fist bumped before they got into Carter's car and he pulled off. Jessica honked her horn to get me moving so we could head home. I hopped in my car and shot Bear a quick text to let him know I was leaving before I pulled out.
I made a quick stop by Liam and Angel's place to give them the cards and gift cards I'd gotten them for Christmas and made the mistake of letting Jessica come in with me. She smelled the beef stew that Liam was cooking and wanted to stay until he finished. I threatened to leave her there but fortunately the stew was almost done. He gave her some to take with her so we could get back on the road.
Arriving at home was weird. I felt homesick even though I'd just been at home less than a month earlier for Marcus' funeral. Maybe this feeling happened any time you were away from home for an extended period of time.
I pulled into the driveway to see the house already decked out in decorations. Dad had gone all out this year as the house wasn't this done up two years ago and I'm sure that there were no decorations last year as I was in a coma, although I can't be sure.
I got out and laughed at myself as I actually took a deep cold breath. I looked around and Mr. Cryer who lived a few houses down from the house the Davises used to live in was on his roof putting up some reindeer. He looked up and saw me and waved and I waved back.
The new neighbors came out of the house with the kids running around. The dad headed for their car with the baby while the mom tried to wrangle the two girls. I don't know what got into me, but I found myself going over to meet them. The dad saw me first and studied me as I walked toward them.
"Hello there," I said as I reached him.
"Hello," he said back with a thick accent.
"Don't be so rude," the wife said sounding a lot more friendly.
"Sorry," he said sounding a bit less stiff.
"It's fine," I said and she looked a bit relieved. "I'm Trey," I said as I extended my hand and shook both of theirs.
"I'm Isabella and this is Luis," the wife said as she introduced the two of them.
"Nice to meet you," I said.
"You're Olivia and Evan's son aren't you?" Isabella asked as she studied me.
"Yeah I am," I answered. I didn't miss that Luis' posture seemed to relax. I chose to ignore what could be behind it though.
"I should have known immediately. I've seen your picture and I remember seeing you once before. Your mother talks about you all the time," she said.
"Yeah, I can imagine," I said feeling slightly sorry for how much Isabella and most likely Luis had to listen to my mother ramble on and on about me. I hoped it was good stuff at least although I had no reason to believe that my mother would say anything bad about me behind my back. My mind just seemed to work like that sometimes.
"Yes, she has said quite a few times that you have been avoiding coming home," Luis said and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. They noticed though and chuckled.
"Well I plan on coming home more often so she doesn't have to worry," I said just as the two girls ran up.
Isabella then introduced me to their kids Gabriella, Daniella and Joaquin which rounded out the Reyes-Ortiz family. They looked like a little happy family and Isabella looked happy to be talking about her kids. I guess most mothers were like that. After a few more minutes of talking, I decided to head on home and let them get going to where they were initially headed.
I walked back across the street and almost knocked on the door before I remembered that I lived there. I shook my head thankful that nobody was there to see as I'm sure Liberty would have said something.
I unlocked and opened the door and was assaulted with the smell of baking. I almost let loose a Homer Simpson inspired drool. I followed the smell into the kitchen to see several pies and cakes sitting on the counters around the kitchen and my mother engaged in making more.
"What is going on in here? Are we feeding the entire neighborhood for Christmas?" I asked and I guess the sound of my voice startled my mother as she kind of jumped.
"Boy, don't scare me like that," she said while holding a hand to her chest.
"You didn't hear me come in?" I asked as I walked over to her.
"I was in the baking zone," she said before pulling me into a hug.
"Where's everybody?" I asked after we ended the hug.
"Your father and brother are shopping for a tree along with your uncle and your sisters are out with my parents probably buying out a toy store," she said as went back to chopping apples.
"Good, I can get the presents in the house without any hassle," I said before turning to head back outside to do just that.
"I hope you didn't spend the little money you have on us. That money was for you to live on in school," mama said. I just smiled before leaving the kitchen. I still hadn't told my parents about the "job" I had tutoring Lane yet as I was waiting to save enough money to surprise them by reimbursing them for the money for my tuition they'd spent.
I unloaded the car and stashed everything upstairs. I had gotten everything wrapped at the mall so all I needed was the tree to put them under. I stashed the paintings in my closet and headed back downstairs and went back to the kitchen.
"So... what's with all the pies and cakes?" I asked before taking a piece of chopped apple and popping it into my mouth which earned me the side eye from my mother.
"I'm baking them for the local soup kitchen. They're doing a big dinner for those who need a meal for Christmas and I wanted to do something special for them," she said and I just had to give her another hug for being so thoughtful.
"Some help in here," came from the living room in the form of my dad's voice.
"He's talking to you," mama said while looking at me with a small smile and not budging.
"He doesn't even know I'm here," I said hoping she bought it.
"I'm sure he saw your car," she replied before gently pushing me in the direction of the living room.
"What's the deal with this huge tree?" I asked as I headed for the door and saw my dad, Calvin, and uncle Eric struggling to get the tree through the door.
"Just pull the tree," dad said in a strained voice.
"Why didn't one of you come on this side to help pull the tree before getting it wedged in there?" I asked and I assume this had come up since both Calvin and Eric were looking at dad.
"Stop looking at me and push the tree, and you stop asking questions and pull the tree," dad said sounding annoyed.
"Alright grumpy," I said deciding to not give him any harder of a time.
After struggling for about 20 minutes the 4 of us finally got the tree in the house and to the stand where the tree would sit. The tree was huge and definitely bigger than any we'd ever had. Mama came into the living room after we'd finished and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the tree.
"Evan... why is this tree so big?" She asked without taking her eyes off of it.
"I just thought I'd go it big this year is all," he said. She looked at it for a few more seconds before looking at him. They seemed to silently communicate something between each other because she smiled and walked away while shaking her head.
"Trey!" I heard in unison before I was attacked by my twin sisters.
"Hey girls," I said as I hugged them back.
"Where's Bear?" Carly asked after they got tired of hugging me and moved back.
"Wow, I was important for all of 5 seconds," I said which drew laughter from everyone else.
"Hey honey," Grams said as she walked in and headed right for me.
"Hey Grams," I said as I pulled her into a tight, but not too tight, hug.
"You boys go and help Anthony," Grams said to my dad, uncle, and brother while still holding me in a hug.
"What about him?" Calvin asked.
"Don't talk back," Grams ordered before shooing him along with Dad and Evan out the door.
"I can go help them Grams," I said but she didn't seem to be in any mood to let me go anytime soon.
"Grams, what's this?" Calvin asked as he came back in holding two big bags full of wrapped gifts.
"Those are Christmas presents dear," she said talking slowly to him. I managed in time to stop from laughing at the look on her face, but just barely.
"I know that. This stuff is wrapped though," he said sounding disappointed.
"Yeah, ain't it though," she said with a mischievous smile before finally releasing me from the hold she had on me.
The next 20 minutes was filled with bringing in all the stuff that the grandparents had bought at the mall and gramps getting the chance to give me his own version of my grandmother's hug. His didn't last as long but it did go on too long. I wasn't gonna say anything though as I was just happy that I had at least one set of grandparents that loved me no matter what.
Mama and Grams kind of argued about all the stuff the grandparents had bought while Calvin, the twins and I saw to getting the tree fixed. Dad, uncle Evan, and Gramps headed outside to finish putting up the lights. Calvin and I were shooed off after a while as Mama and Grams took over with the tree so we went outside to help Dad. When we were done, the house was covered in lights unlike any time before.
"Evan, don't you think you went overboard?" Mama asked as she came outside to check on the progress along with Grams and the twins.
"Nope," Dad said with a cheesy grin as he held the heavy duty extension cord that was running from inside to plug up the power strip that the lights was plugged into. He then plugged the strip in and the house lit up brighter than I'd ever seen it with different color lights, reindeer on the roof, three snowmen and two wire Christmas trees in the yard. It was so bright that I'm sure it could be seen from space.
"Damn, that's bright," Calvin said as we all covered our eyes from the glare.
"Watch your mouth," Dad said after giving Calvin a smack to the back of his head.
"Evan, that's too much," Mama said before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a pair of sunglasses. I found this suspicious.
"Year, maybe I went a little overboard," he said but didn't look that regretful.
"No it's great," Gramps said.
"It's like a star," Cara said.
"Stars are much brighter than this dummy," Carly corrected in that way that she had. Cara didn't respond instead choosing to give Carly the harshest glare she could under the glare of the lights.
"Come on and let's get inside before we all go blind," Mama said before ushering the twins back inside.
"You just don't want to be out here when the neighbors start complaining," Grams said while following her.
"No comment," Mama said.
"Son, are you alright?" Dad asked me surprising me.
"Huh?" I said as I was confused by the sudden question.
"You've been quiet," he said. I didn't realize I'd been especially quiet, but maybe I had been.
"I'm fine. Just enjoying being home I guess," I said. He studied me for a few moments before I guess deciding to believe me. He gave me a smile and a pat on the back before walking back into the house along with Gramps. Calvin and I followed after a minute of looking at the lights.
The days home before Christmas were spent with our families but my friends and I and Bear did talk to each other a lot, like we didn't see each other enough. Christmas was here though and I was awakened by jumping on my bed.
"Go away," I mumbled as I shielded my eyes with my arm. I was sleepy as Bear and I were on the phone with each other until 4 in the morning.
"It's Christmas," I heard spoken excitedly in unison by my sisters.
"Aren't you two too old to be this happy about Christmas?" I asked not trying to reign in my grouchiness.
"We're 9," Carly said matching my grumpiness with attitude.
"What do you two want?" I asked and that time I recognized that I needed to wake up because I was being needlessly grouchy.
"It's Christmas," Cara said.
"Don't you want to see your presents?" Carly asked. They were so innocent that I felt bad for my mood.
"Not right now," I said making sure to sound nicer. I laid back down but that didn't last even a little bit.
"Bear's downstairs," Cara said which got my attention immediately. I shot up immediately to the self-satisfied smirks on my not-so-innocent sisters' faces.
"I told you that's get him," Carly said to Cara.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.
"Yeah right. You look really alert all of a sudden," Carly said before her and Cara started laughing before climbing off my bed.
I laid there for a few minutes after my sisters, who were too clever for their own good, had left before finally deciding to get up and hit the bathroom to get myself cleaned up before going downstairs. After I'd taken a quick shower and brushed my teeth, I went to my room and got the hidden gift I had for my parents and headed downstairs.
"Merry Christmas bro," Zane said as he was the first person to see me as I made it downstairs.
"You too," I said as I passed him. His extreme interest in what I had in my hand was very noticeable.
"Where's Nicole?" I asked as I ignored his eyeing the wrapped gift.
"She's with her parents," he said while nor looking at me. I just smirked at him and headed to the living room.
All the family was in the living room around the tree and Mama had sit out a big tray of cinnamon rolls, a pot of coffee, and a pitcher of orange juice. I joined them and I could tell that they wanted to know what I had wrapped up and who it was for as this was their first time seeing it.
I ignored them and looked for my gifts. I got a some clothes from my grandparents including a jacket that I'd wanted to get myself when I was shopping for everyone else but decided against it because of the cost which had me looking at my grandparents with a shocked look. They only shrugged though.
I got a couple pairs of shoes and a new cellphone from my parents. Again I'd wanted to get the Note 4 but chosen at the last second not to get it so again I was happy with my gift. Zane and Calvin had teamed up together to get me a whole geek horde of comics and manga.
I got them each a few video games, my grandparents a crystal chess set as they liked to play chess with each other, my sisters some toys, and my parents something special. I know they were still eyeing the big wrapped thing I'd brought downstairs with me and I figured it was finally time to give it to them.
"Ma, I got something for you," Zane said as he handed my mother a gift box which looked like it contained some type of clothes. I was curious with the big deal he was making.
"Thank you honey," she said before unwrapping the box. Her eyes went wide when she saw what was in it. "Oh my god! This is Prada!" she said excitedly as she practically yanked it out of the box and started twirling around with it.
"No way," both Calvin and I said simultaneously.
"Top that," Zane said quietly to the two of us.
"Zane, how did you afford this?" Dad asked which was a good question. Zane was a cop and that definitely didn't allow for buying Prada. Then again, nobody had questioned how I was able to afford all the stuff I'd gotten so far so maybe it was best if I didn't question Zane.
"I got a hookup is all I'll say," Zane said while still smiling that self serving smile.
"That's confiscated from a crime scene," Calvin blurted out. The look on Zane's face made me think he wasn't lying. I wasn't the only one who noticed.
"Zane..." Mama said as more of a question than anything.
"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Zane said but the look on his face all but confirmed what Calvin had said.
"Please tell me nobody wore this," Mama asked while holding the blouse at arm's length between her index finger and thumb.
"No. It belonged to a wholesaler who was arrested for... well I better not say. The point is that the blouse went for real cheap at the Police auction and since it was brand new, I got it for you," Zane explained. He sounded sincere so I chose to believe him.
"Okay, I'm gonna choose to believe you," Mama said.
"Meanwhile, you'll take a trip to the Dry Cleaners," Gramps said and Grams snickered in response.
"Nobody asked you to say anything," Mama said before she sat back down.
"Now that amateur hour is over, it's my turn," I said before walking over and getting the gift for my parents. They looked at the big flat gift before pulling the paper off to reveal the painting underneath.
"Oh sweetie, how did you do this?" Mama asked with a voice full of emotion. I'd gotten their wedding photo and taken it to a friend from the GSA and paid her to paint that picture for me. I'd actually commissioned 3 from her and was surprised that she'd finished on time as I was worried I'd burdened her with too much to do in a short time.
"A friend of mine at school painted it for me from that picture," I said. They were both transfixed by the painting. I'm not surprised though as it was even better than I thought it'd be.
"I thought I'd lost this picture," Mama said with emotion in her voice.
"I've had it a long time," I said and they both turned to me and pulled me into a crushing hug. I didn't expect such a reaction but it made me happy that they liked it so much.
"Thanks son," Dad said before we all separated. He took the painting and started looking for a place to hang it. Mama took this time to pinch one of my cheeks. It was a cheesy moment but I still relished it.
"No fair. I can't compete with that," Calvin pouted.
"Oh hush boy. You know I'll like whatever you get me," Mama said
"Say Trey, how did you afford all of this stuff?" Gramps asked and I guess he was the first one to notice.
"Yeah. You shouldn't be able to buy all this," Calvin grumbled.
"I didn't think about that," Mama said and I could tell she was gearing up to give me a stern talking to.
"Son, I hope you didn't spend all of your money. That money was for school," Dad said referring to the check that they'd given me before I left for school to take care of my incidental expenses at school.
"All I'll say is that you don't need to worry," I said as vaguely as possible. They looked thoroughly suspicious which I almost laughed at.
"Oh, I get it now. Your sugar daddy Bear financed all this," Calvin said. I know he was joking but for some reason what he'd said pissed me off.
"What'd you say?" I asked not able to hide my feelings.
"Well I just-" he started before I interrupted.
"Don't worry about where I got the money. Just know that my "sugar daddy Bear" didn't do a dammed thing," I snapped before I could stop myself.
"Alright dude, chill," Zane said as he casually took a step between us. I guess I was more pissed than I knew.
"Trey..." Mama dragged out sounding worried.
"Mama, don't worry. I'm not selling drugs and I'm not whoring myself out. I promise you'll know soon enough what's up," I said. They looked to want to drag this out further but thankfully the doorbell rang.
"I-I'll get that," Gramps said after a few seconds of silence. He came back a minute later with Bear in tow carrying quite a load of stuff.
"Merry Christmas everyone," he said with that smile that I fell in love with every time I saw it.
"You too honey," Grams said as she walked over to him. He got a hug once he sat down his gifts.
"What you get me?" Calvin asked seeming to have forgotten the previous conversation.
"Lil bro, you really have no tact," Zane said but he was doing a bad job of trying to look uninterested in what Bear had.
We all sat down and talked with Bear for a little bit. Everyone opened their presents from Bear and he opened his from my parents, grandparents and sisters. I gave my brothers serious glares for daring to be expecting something from Bear without having gotten him anything themselves.
After about 30 minutes Mama and Grams decided they'd better get started on finishing Christmas dinner. They'd started the night before and only had a few things left to do. I took this time to gather Bear and drag him upstairs to give him my present.
When we were behind closed and locked doors though that thought temporarily vanished as he pinned me against the door to my room. A tentative kiss turned into a heated one that had us clawing at each other. After what had to be a solid 5 minutes or so we broke off to get some air into our lungs.
"Damn I missed you," he said as we rested our foreheads against each other.
"You too big guy," I said which caused his already brilliant smile to get even bigger.
"Let's stay in here the rest of the day," he said all the time never letting up on the intense gaze he was giving me.
"Okay, but my mother is cooking dinner," I said knowing he'd at least reconsider his request and I was proven right by the look that appeared on his face.
"Uh..." he dragged out which drew a laugh from me.
"Come on piggy," I told him as I led him over to my bed and gently pushed him to sit down. I started to head for the closet where I had his gift but he pulled me back and handed me the long box he'd brought upstairs with him.
"Merry Christmas baby," he said looking proud of himself. I just had to see what was in the box.
"What's in it?" I asked stupidly instead of opening it.
"Open it and see," he said with a causal smile.
"Is this a dildo?" I asked and he busted out laughing.
"I don't think they make `em that long," he said after recovering a bit.
"I don't know. I think I saw one this long before," I joked. Honestly though I don't think I'd want to see one that needed a box as big as the one I was holding then.
"Just open the box," he said with a bit of impatience in his voice. I tore the paper off the box and opened it to find... a toy light saber. I was a bit disappointed but tried to keep it off my face.
"Wow, thank you," I said. I'm sure he could hear how fake my tone was and tell the smile on my face was also very fake.
"Pick it up," he said not looking phased by my apparent disappointment. I did as he said and the light saber had a surprising heft for a toy. I examined it and my eyes went wide.
"This is a real light saber," I said in a shocked whisper.
"Well, not "real" real. You're not gonna be slicing anything up with that, but yeah it is real," he said looking proud of himself. I examined the thing and it looked so awesome. I found a button and pushed it and it lit up with the sound effect from the movies and hummed just like in the movies.
"Oh my god," I whispered still in a bit if shock. Bear looked to be enjoying himself almost as much I was just watching me. "Luke, I am your father," I said in my best Darth Vader impression as I swung the light saber around like I was a real Jedi.
"I should have known you'd identify with Darth Vader?" he said with an amused expression.
"Shut up," I said before I went back to pretending I was a Jedi.
"So I take it you like it?" he asked with a cheesy grin.
"Hell yeah I like," I said.
"Then bring your light saber over and thank me," he said with obvious innuendo.
"Which one?" I asked playing along.
"You pick," he said with a teasing grin. I walked over and thanked him with a long kiss.
"Now, my turn," I said as I stepped back from him. I went to the closet and pulled out the second of the paintings I'd commissioned. I brought it over and sat it in front of him. The curious look on his face was priceless.
"What is it? It looks like a painting or something," he said but I didn't respond. I just slid it over to him. He looked back and forth between me and the painting a few times before pulling the paper off. The look that appeared on his face was what I was hoping for. I was especially satisfied with the result of this one.
"You like?" I asked as a formality because I could already see the truth on his face and in his eyes.
"It's beautiful," he whispered with a voice choked with emotion.
"I'm glad you like it," I said feeling strangely bashful all of a sudden. He got up and pulled me in for a deep kiss.
"I love it," he said and I could see a new found level of affection towards me in his eyes. "When did you learn how to paint though?" he asked and I had to laugh. I also understood a little bit more of his reaction.
"I didn't paint this," I said. He sat back down and pulled me down to sit next to him. "A friend of mine from school who I met in the GSA painted it," I said and his brow furrowed with a frown.
"A friend?" He asked as I'm sure he was expecting it to be another guy.
"Yes, a friend. Her name is Tania," I said and tried to hide my amusement as his expression changed almost immediately.
"Oh," he said trying to play off his obvious jealousy but I saw it clearly and he knew it.
"I actually sketched this during the time that I was being an idiot and avoiding you all back during junior year of high school. The night after Marcus' funeral I couldn't sleep so I ended up looking through my sketches and I found this one plus one I wanted to give to Wayne. I decided that I'd get Tania to make a painting from the sketches and was fortunate that she was able to do so quickly," I explained.
"I feel kind of bad now that I got you a light saber and you got me this incredibly thoughtful and personal gift," he said, but I didn't agree with him.
"No, don't feel that way. I LOVE my gift. You know the geek in me is sqealing with glee right now and I ain't even trying to shut him up," I said which made him laugh.
"You're wonderful, you know that, right?" He said while looking at me with pride.
"Yeah I guess," I said trying to shrug it off.
"No I mean it. You're so thoughtful and caring," he said and while I was appreciating his stroking of my ego, it was also a little weird.
"Yeah well, I am a genius," I said and he rolled his eyes. That effectively ended the mushy moment. We kissed again briefly but ended it as the doorbell rang.
"Trey, you've got company," Calvin yelled up at me.
"A'ight, I'm coming," I answered. I heard Bear snicker and I looked at him to see what he found funny.
"What're you laughing about?" I asked as I headed for the closet to get the last painting. I was gonna take it downstairs to have it on hand when I got ready to go over the Mellows' place later.
"You're coming..." he said as he waggled his eyebrows. It took me a moment to catch on.
"Shut up," I said as I slapped him across the chest. He giggled as I left him standing there to head downstairs.
"Merry Christmas boo-boo," Liberty said as I made it downstairs.
"You too," I said as I made it to her and Jessica.
"What'd you get me?" Jessica blurted.
"Well hello to you too," I said sarcastically.
"I can't take you anywhere," Liberty said after giving her the stink eye for a few seconds.
"Shut up," Jessica said with a hand in Liberty's face. "Now, what'd you get me?" Jessica asked returning her attention to me. I shook my head amused with her antics and went to the tree to grab the boxes that I'd gotten for them.
They both looked at their similar boxes before opening them and looking at what I'd gotten them. I'd gotten them both charm bracelets with little charms that represented things that were special to me and shared between us. They each had different things on their bracelets though.
"Oh boo-boo, this is so cute," Liberty said as she started trying to get her bracelet on.
"Is this popcorn supposed to be from our first date?" Jessica asked and I was happy that she knew what it meant.
"Yup," I said. She got up and hugged me which I returned. Liberty got in on the mix as well. We separated after a few moments and they sat back down.
"Your turn Bear," Jessica said as she and Liberty looked at him.
"I didn't bring em with me. I'll give em to you later," he said which earned him a death stare from the ladies.
"So Trey, what did this jackass get you?" Liberty said as she mock glared at him. I decided to mess with them.
"Something big, long and heavy," I said seductively before I looked at him and winked. He tried his best to keep a straight face.
"You don't say?" I heard from behind me. I didn't want to turn around because I knew who it was. I had to do so though.
"Gramps, I didn't know you were standing there," I said feeling really embarrassed. I heard unsuccessfully stifled snickering from behind me coming from Jessica, Liberty, and Bear.
"So, what was it you got from Bear again?" he asked. His face was unreadable so I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"Uh, see, he... it was..." I said as I stuttered trying to get something out.
"Where do you get that from?" he asked and more stifled snickering came from my idiots.
"I don't know," I said giving up. He did too as his face cracked and he busted out laughing as well as my ex-friends and ex-fiance. They started mocking me especially when Dad, Calvin, and Zane came to see what all the noise was about.
"So, what did you get from Bear, really?" Liberty asked which started more laughter. I took that time to go and get my present and get something from my closet that I hadn't used in years. I went back downstairs and jumped off the landing in my best action pose while holding my light saber and wearing my robe that made me look like Obi Wan Kenobi.
"Any more backtalk?" I asked in my best commanding tone.
"Okay, that was kinda cool," Calvin said. He then took the light saber and he and Zane played with it for a while. Jessica got a text and when she pulled out her phone I noticed it was different than the one I'd seen when we were at school.
"Is that a new phone?" I asked and realized too late that I'd fallen into a trap.
"Why yes. This is the wonder and beautiful Samsung Galaxy S5," she said acting like she was Vanna White or one of The Price is Right models.
"Cool. I got the Galaxy Note 4," I said as I showed it to her.
"Samsung? No see, what you want it the beautiful and luxurious iPhone 6. Not only is it amazing, but it's newer than that Samsung trash," Liberty said while displaying her new iPhone which earned her a sneer from me and Jessica.
"It's so weird that I'm just now finding out how deranged you are," I joked.
"Yeah, it is. You obviously have not been paying attention," Liberty said playing along... I think.
"Where's Justice?" Bear asked and surprised me with the fact that I didn't even think about her and wonder where she was myself.
"She went over to Sean's house early," Liberty said.
"Oh," I said unable to hide the sadness that creeped into my tone.
"Girls, are you staying for dinner?" Mama asked from the kitchen entryway.
"Damn, I can't," Jessica said actually sounding pissed.
"Yeah, me either," Liberty said sounding disappointed.
"Okay," Mama dragged out before she ducked back into the kitchen. I tried not to laugh because she made it sound like they were missing out on some delicious fare, which they were judging by the smells that all of a sudden started doing wonderful things to my nose.
"I hate Alvis so much," Jessica said with real sounding bitterness.
"Yeah," Liberty added likely thinking about Christian. I snickered at their misfortune.
"You know that you could always eat here and then go over to their houses," Bear said and I agreed.
"If I eat here I'm not gonna wanna eat Alvis' mother's cooking. I'll be too full," Jessica said admitting that she planned on gorging on my mother's cooking.
"Same," Liberty admitted about Mrs. Matthews cooking.
"Here you go girls," Grams said as she appeared from the kitchen with two wrapped plates of food. I swear Jessica sniffed the plate so hard that she had to have taken all the smell out of whatever was in the plate.
"Have you ever considered having a white granddaughter?" Jessica asked and I laughed as I remembered her asking my mother a similar question.
"Oh sweetie, I already do," Grams said before turning to pinch Bear's cheek and I swear she actually skipped from the room. I'd never seen my grandmother skip before. I didn't think a 67 year old woman could skip.
"Your grandmother just called me a white girl," Bear said. He said it so softly that it broke the dam of suppressed laughter from everyone in the room and we all busted out laughing.
"Aw, it's okay Bear, or maybe I should say goldilocks," I said and that brought another round of laughter.
"You're all not funny," Bear pouted.
"Whatever you say little white girl," Liberty said.
"Do you really think I'm a girl?" Bear asked in his deepest, sexiest voice as he leaned near my ear. I wasn't able to stop the involuntary shudder.
"What's going on Trey?" Dad asked to my embarrassment.
"Nothing! Go on about your business," I said gruffly. That didn't do me any favors as now the laughter was directed at me.
"Well, I'd love to stick around and see you get more embarrassed lil bro but I've got places to be," Zane said.
He ran into the kitchen and after a minute came back out with a couple of plates. He hugged Dad and fist bumped me and Calvin before rushing out. He had work early and wanted to spend some time alone with Nicole.
Liberty and Jessica finally remembered that they hadn't given me my gifts so they each handed me a box. I opened the one from Liberty to see a digital picture frame with a bunch of pictures of me and her from when we were young up to one we'd taken about a week ago. I gave her a big hug which she returned. I opened Jessica's gift to see a framed colored drawing of me and Bear as super heroes. Bear was in a blue and gray suit with a red A on the front and a blueish gray cape. My colors were reversed except for the gray and I had a B on my suit
I laughed as did Bear but it was really well done. She said she'd found a graphic artist and gotten it done a few weeks ago. Bear asked what the letters meant and we laughed when she said 'Alphaman and Betaman'. It was way too corny but cool at the same time. Calvin asked her what our powers were and she said that she hadn't figured it out yet.
They left soon after that heading off to see their respective boyfriends. We then sat down to dinner and enjoyed some lively conversation. Every now and then I'd catch one of my parents looking at me with these weird looks. They weren't bad, just wistful. I finally realized that they were probably just happy that I was home as they probably didn't expect me to be sitting around the table at Christmas again after what had happened a year ago.
After dinner I ran upstairs to get ready to go over to Sean's place. I got a text from Carter telling me that they'd be over to Sean's place later so I made sure that Bear got his gift from me along with the ones for the Mellows and loaded them in his truck.
When I got back downstairs Mama and Grams had fixed a load of food for me to take over to Sean and his family. We loaded that into Bear's truck and hopped in and headed over there. Bear stopped by his house before going over to Sean's place to get his gifts as well and we headed over.
When we arrived at Sean's place there were several cars out front. One belonged to Veronica and one was Marcus' truck but I didn't recognize the others though. We got out and I got the food while Bear handled the gifts. We made it to the door and knocked. After a few minutes a little girl answered.
"Hello, how may I help you?" She asked sounding so polite.
"I got this Millie," Alex said as he stepped up to the door. She said okay and skipped off into the house.
"Hey Alex," I said and cringed a little bit when I heard how careful I was sounding. In my defense though the last time I'd seen Alex he was a very angry kid.
"Hey," he said without much enthusiasm.
"Can we come in?" I asked as I wasn't sure if he was gonna let us in with the way he seemed to be standing guard at the door.
"Sure," he said and stepped back to let us in. We barely made it in before we were spotted my Mrs. Mellow. She looked much better than the last time I'd seen her.
"Hello boys," she said before trying to give us each a hug around the loads we were carrying.
"How are you doing Mrs. Mellow?" I asked and again I cringed at how serious I'd sounded when she was probably trying to be upbeat and not get dragged back down into her bad feelings today.
"I'm doing okay right now Trey. I don't know how long it'll last so I'm gonna get the most out of it," she said honestly with what looked like a genuine smile. I admired her strength and attitude.
"I'm glad you are doing much better. I really care a lot about you all," I said and at first I thought I'd said the wrong thing based on her expression, but she just smiled after a moment and pinched my cheek.
"Let me help you with that," she said as she took some of the bowls I had in my arms. "Bear, you can unload that in the living room she said before turning and heading for the kitchen. I followed her and found a few women and a young guy in the kitchen.
"Hello," I said politely to everyone in the kitchen. I knew one of the women was Veronica's mother.
"Trey, you know my sister Darlene. This is my other sister Diane, my cousin May and her son Collin," Mrs. Mellow said as she gestured to each of them. "Everyone, this is Sean's other half Trey," she said as she laid a hand on my shoulder.
"What now?" May asked. I noticed her son raised a curious eyebrow. He was also eyeing me with noticeable interest. I guess Veronica was right about which side of the family the gay gene came from.
"You know what she means," Darlene said before rolling her eyes. Deanne gave May a sly glare before turning back to me.
"Sean's in the living room so go on in there and try to cheer him up some," Deanne said.
"If his girlfriend can't do it then I don't see what he's gonna do," May said. I don't think I liked her for some reason.
"Okay..." I said as I watched these ladies. I got the feeling that something wasn't being said but it wasn't my business.
"I'll go with you," Collin said as he followed me very closely.
"Hey Trey," Wayne said as I entered the living room. In there were Mr. Mellow with Veronica's dad and a few other guys on one side of the room looking at the giant TV. On the other side of the room were Bear, Sean, Justice, Veronica, Wayne, and three little kids including the girl who'd answered the door. Wayne's sister and brother were even there which I was happy to see. Alex wasn't anywhere to be seen though.
"Hey," I said. I was careful about saying Merry Christmas as I didn't want to get anyone upset. I walked over and took the only open seat which was next to Sean. I wondered if it had been left that way on purpose as Bear was sitting on the floor next to Veronica. When I looked at him he just winked though so I guess he had intended for me to sit there.
It was weird being there as it was obvious that the specter of grief still hung over the family. While Mr. and Mrs. Mellow looked to be dealing with things okay, Wayne look to be doing okay too. Sean and Alex though were a different story. Alex looked distant and Sean looked empty. He barely resembled the larger than life guy who'd forced himself into my life and made himself a part of it.
I missed that Sean who I hadn't seen since his brother died, but I had to remember that I'd be pretty much the same way of I'd lost either of my brothers, or basically any of my family. I took ahold of his hand to see what he's do. After a minute he squeezed mine so I knew somebody was there at least.
"I got you something," I said.
"I don't want anything," he said in kind of a monotone.
"You'll want this," I said and I was encouraged with the look of interest on his face.
"Yeah man, it's something you've been wanting for a long time," Bear said and I cut a shocked glance at him. He just winked though.
"You all are never gonna let me live that down are you?" Sean asked, but he did sound a bit livelier.
"Nope," Bear said with a smirk.
"What did you get me?" He asked and with so much attention suddenly on me I started to feel a bit self-conscious. I pushed it aside though. I got up and got the painting and the two sketches that I'd also had framed.
Veronica went to the kitchen when I said that I had something for Mr. and Mrs. Mellow as well. Mrs. Mellow came back with her sisters and cousin in tow. I wasn't all that happy about that but it didn't really matter. I gave the big painting to Wayne and gave one of the two framed sketches to Mr. and Mrs. Mellow and the other to Sean.
They each unwrapped their gifts and at first I was worried with the expressions on their face but when Wayne got up to hug me I was relieved that at least I'd done good with him. Mrs. Mellow also hugged me while Mr. Mellow tried to hold back tears. Sean just stared at the sketch I'd given him without saying anything.
His sketch was of him and Marcus standing next to each other at his end of summer party. They were both laughing at something I can't remember. What I could remember though was the looks on their faces and I just knew I had to sketch it. The sketch I gave to Mr. and Mrs. Mellow was one that I'd sketched from the first time I'd truly met Marcus. Him standing there looking like the Lord of the Manor next to the mantle was an image that was easy to remember.
I wanted to get that one painted as well but I didn't want to overload Tania. I'd paid her but still I wanted to be considerate. The one I'd had painted was the one of the sketch that had inspired all of this which I'd given to Wayne.
"I didn't know you painted," Veronica said as she looked at each of the sketches.
"I don't. I sketched that one and had a friend from school make a painting of it. I wanted her to do those sketches too but she only had a month and I had her also do one for my parents and I didn't want to overburden her," I explained.
"We understand," Mr. Mellow said.
"This is beautiful even without being a painting. Thank you so much," Mrs. Mellow said before hugging me again. Everyone looked like they thought my sketches were good which made me happy. Even if I didn't plan on a career in art or anything, it was nice to see that I could probably do okay for myself.
Well I guess I should say almost everyone liked them. Mrs. Mellow cousin didn't look impressed in the least. The look on her face kind of pissed me off. I was also annoyed by the fact that her son had been eyeing me weirdly ever since he'd seen me. For some reason it really creeped me out the way he looked at me. I tried to put them out of my mind though.
Sean seemed to cheer up if just a little after he got his gift. I gave Justice and Veronica their gifts which they seemed to like. The mood in the house wasn't festive but it was still not depressive. I realized that it'd be a long time before they were in a good place again, but I was happy that at least they looked like they were getting there, if even slowly.
Liberty, Carter, and Christian came over after a while followed by Jessica and surprisingly Dale a little while after that. I didn't even know he was in town, but I was glad that he was there as he was one of Sean's oldest friends and he didn't get the chance to come to the funeral. The older adults let us have the living room and I was happy to see that Sean looked quite a bit better than when I'd arrived.
Later I talked to Alex for a while and he apologized for how he's acted the last time I'd seen him. We talked about how he felt about losing his big brother and I could relate to what he was feeling. I told him that he didn't need to apologize and instead I apologized to him because it took until I was giving Sean, his parents, and Wayne their presents to realize that I didn't get anything for Alex.
He said it was fine and that he wasn't in much of a mood for presents at the moment. I still apologized and promised I'd think of something good to give him that would be a good reminder of Marcus. He nodded and went silent for a little bit. I didn't like that this was making him grow up much sooner than he should have been but I really had no control over it.
Bear and I stayed until ten when we decided to get home along with Liberty, Jessica, Carter, and Dale. I finally got a hug from Sean and a thanks again for the sketch of him and Marcus. Everyone said goodbye except May and her son. I just chose to ignore them, especially the wink Collin gave me that he was thankful Bear hadn't seen, as we left the house.
Bear took me home and after a long kiss goodnight I hopped out of the truck and shook my head at the crazy lights again that we had put up on the house. I took out my phone and snapped a pic of it before heading inside.
After talking with the family for a while and eating more cake and pie than I needed, I headed upstairs to my room. I dropped onto my bed suddenly exhausted from the long and bittersweet day. I made a note to do something special for Alex before getting into bed. Just before I drifted off I got a text on my phone. I knew it was from Bear before looking because he seemed to know when to send them. I smiled at the text that said "Always". I replied the same to him before falling asleep with a smile on my face.
*********************************************************** Author's Note:
Hello all, I want to start off by saying that I am truly sorry that I'm so late in releasing this chapter. A few things came up and I decided that I needed to take some time to myself. When I went back to writing this chapter, what I had originally started to write didn't really look right so I reworked what I had already written and went from there. There have been several changes to this chapter including one last minute one, but I hope you all like it.
In this chapter it's Christmastime and Trey decides to get personal gifts for most everyone. Jessica and Liberty are at first greedy but they seem to enjoy the gifts Trey gives them. Trey meets the new neighbors living in the Davis' old house. What will come from them?....
The Mellow family is still grieving Marcus' death as well as Trey and his friends as they felt close to Marcus too. Trey decides to give them art of Marcus to remember him by which is received well. Trey and his friends spend some of Christmas with the Mellows and for the most part things as good, except for Sean's cousin who seems way too interested in Trey. What will come of that?....
Again, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and forgive the painfully long delay for release of this chapter. Send any comments to me at thestoryguy9783@gmail.com and you can follow me on twitter at @StoryGuyNick.
************************************************************** Editor's Note:
Well guys its was a long time coming but we finally got another one, its was Christmas time for Trey and the others and he gives and gets some amazing presents. The most amazing one is the Light Saber, I wonder if Bear made that somehow.
The Mellows are still greiving the death of Marcus but seem to being doing okay for now, and Sean seems to be coming back after getting the sketch from Trey. Hopefully he can get back to being the same Sean that we all knew, though it will take time. We meet some of Sean's relitives as well and two of them are suspicious.
Again sorry for the long wait on the chapter guys, let Nicky and myself know what you guys think so far. You can reach him at the email above and me at jd.kaster1987@gmail.com.
So until the next chapter,
JDK