Teaching Tenderness_Forever in Middlebury

by Brittany Cournoyer

  I raised an eyebrow. “You don’t even want to know why?”

  “Not right now.”

  “Then why are you so upset?” I asked softly and squeezed his leg where my hand still rested.

  Jackson’s eyes turned glassy with tears. “I didn’t want her to come here at all. I don’t like that she upset you and Anthony, and that I was the reason for everyone getting so angry. None of that would’ve happened if I would’ve just seen her.”

  I gasped. “Jackson, none of this is your fault. Her leaving wasn’t your fault. Her showing up wasn’t your fault. You have nothing to feel guilty about. You didn’t want to see her, and that was a decision she has to accept. Don’t let what happened the other day undo everything you and Anthony worked so hard on. Anthony is so proud of you and all the progress you’ve made. Don’t lose that progress because of her.”

  “But what if I change my mind and do want to see her one day?” he asked, and his voice sounded thick with unshed tears.

  “Then that’s your right, and I won’t be upset about it. She’s your mom, just as much as I’m your dad, and I support any decision you make about her.”

  “Okay,” he sniffed.

  “Are you okay now?” I asked him and Jackson nodded. “Great. Now how about you show me what you made in art class,” I suggested.

  Jackson smiled and jumped off the bed. He pulled open a drawer on his desk and pulled out his special art project. When he showed me it, my face split into a huge grin, and I knew we were about to have the most unforgettable Christmas ever.

  Chapter 34

  Anthony

  It was finally Christmas morning, and for the first time in many years, I was actually looking forward to it. For the first time in the years since my father died, it was finally going to be a joyous occasion. After a brief discussion, it was decided that my mom, and my sister Sofia, along with her family, would come over to our house for the holidays. Since Sofia and her family were at her husband’s family for Thanksgiving, this would be the first time they’d meet Marcus and Jackson.

  My sister and I didn’t have the closest relationship. Of course, I loved her, and I loved my nieces, Isabella and Angelina. And hell, even her husband, Trevor, was pretty cool, and treated my sister and the kids like gold, but time just slipped away. So aside from the occasional text, we didn’t have much time for seeing each other. And the closeness that we had as kids, seemed to stretch until we were just siblings that came together for funerals, birthdays, weddings, and every other holiday. It was sad, really, because I knew the girls would absolutely adore Marcus and Jackson, but that was life.

  “Are you okay?” I asked Marcus as he adjusted the star on the Christmas tree for the twentieth time.

  “Fine,” he answered distractedly, and rearranged the small pile of gifts under the tree.

  All the gifts under the tree were the ones strictly put out for the family to open. We had a discussion with Jackson the night before and decided to have a more intimate gift-opening with the three of us after my family left. Jackson was completely fine with the idea. I think he just liked the fact that he got to open more gifts, but whatever the reason, Marcus and I were glad he easily agreed.

  “You’re not fine,” I said with a grin. “You’re nervous.”

  Marcus lifted his head, and looked at me over his shoulder. My breath caught in my throat as it tended to do whenever his gorgeous eyes met mine. How did I get so lucky to have such an amazing man in my life? I’d never known the exact answer to that question, but I didn’t dare tempt the fates that brought him and his wonderful son into my life. I was just thankful it happened.

  “No, I’m not,” he vehemently denied, snapping me out of my reverie. “I just want to make sure everything is perfect.”

  I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arm around his waist and used my free hand to turn his face to mine. “It is perfect. The house looks amazing. The food tastes great since you cooked it. And don’t forget the most important thing of all.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me and pursed his kissable lips. “Our family will be together?”

  “Besides that.” I slid my hand down his back and pinched his ass. “Later on you can unwrap me. I’ll even make sure to wear a gold bow.”

  Marcus laughed like I hoped he would and kissed me. “Best. Gift. Ever.” He punctuated each word with a peck to my lips.

  “Gross, dudes. And I thought I was the best gift you ever received,” Jackson said from the doorway.

  “Of course you are, son of mine.” Marcus quickly reassured Jackson, who in turn rolled his eyes. “Is your room clean?”

  “Yes,” Jackson groaned and walked into the living room to flop down on the couch. “But I don’t want people in my room,” he whined.

  “I’m not saying there will be people in your room, but just in case. And be careful,” Marcus warned him and stalked over to the couch. “I just fluffed those pillows.”

  I couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped me. Tears escaped my eyes and I grabbed my stomach as I doubled over in pain. Suddenly, the doorbell rang to signal the arrival of my family, and I sobered up quickly. Marcus froze mid re-fluffing of the pillow, and Jackson sat up straighter on the couch. It was show time.

  *****

  “I really like him,” Sofia told me as she added a plate to the dishwasher.

  “I’m glad you do,” I told her, and handed her another plate I had just rinsed.

  Dinner had gone off without a hitch and Marcus had really outdone himself. The ham was succulent and juicy. The mashed potatoes were rich and creamy. The side casseroles added the perfect crunch. And the rolls were flawlessly buttered without the need to add more, unless you were throwing any cares about clogged arteries to the wind.

  “The food was delicious. I’m going to need to add a few extra miles to my jog for weeks,” she praised with a small laugh and grabbed the glasses I held out for her.

  “He was a nervous wreck that he’d screw something up. He’s been prepping for days,” I admitted to her.

  “Well, he had nothing to worry about. I barely had room for mom’s bourbon pecan pie and you know how I feel about that,” she told me and closed the dishwasher lid.

  I drained the water in the sink as she pressed the buttons to start the machine, I turned to her while I dried my hands off with a towel. “I’m glad you guys came today. I’ve missed you.”

  Sofia smiled solemnly. “I’ve missed you, too, Anthony. I know I haven’t been around much. Things have been hectic with the girls and now that I’m pregnant again, my energy level has just plummeted.”

  “I can understand that. Kids are bundles of ener—wait, what?” I realized what she just said to me. “You’re having another baby?”

  Sofia nodded with a wide grin, and rubbed her stomach. “Due in June. I wanted to find the right time to tell you, and it just kind of slipped out.”

  I stalked closer to her and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her against me. “I am so happy for you.”

  “Thank you. Just don’t say anything to Mom. Trevor and I are telling her later when we take her out to dinner.”

  I pulled back and stared at her in dismay. “I’m the first person you told?”

  She nodded again and tears welled in her eyes. “You’re my big brother. We may not be as close as we once were, but I wanted you to be the first person to know. Well, aside from my husband.”

  I hugged her again, at a complete loss of words. “Thank you.”

  Finally we pulled apart and Sofia took a few minutes to collect herself and fix her eye makeup. Then after a quick survey to make sure the kitchen was tidy, we joined the rest of the adults in the living room. Marcus had insisted on helping Sofia and I clean up, but we protested. We left him in the living room to get better acquainted with Trevor, while the kids, much to our amusement, went to go play in Jackson’s room. Guess it was a good thing he cleaned it, after all.

  “Kids, time for presents!” my mother, Cindy, yelled
down the hallway.

  A slamming door, followed by the thud of feet hitting the floor let us know the kids heard her. They were itching to open presents and were pretty irritated when we told them we had to clean up first.

  “Thank goodness,” Jackson huffed as he sat down on the couch at my feet.

  I leaned down and asked in his ear, “Surely, playing with them wasn’t that bad?”

  “No, they were fine. I just wasn’t sure how many times I could explain to them how not to die on the rainbow road. They killed my character so many times.” He sounded so devastated that I almost felt bad for him, but I knew he’d earn his lives back in no time.

  I patted his shoulder and sat back against the cushion. Marcus agreed to pass out the presents, and in no time, we were all covered in ripped wrapping paper. Even though he had a trash bag ready to collect shredded, festive paper, it was pretty pointless. Isabella and Angelina were only seven and nine, so they were pretty anxious to rip into their gifts. The rest of us followed suit and joined in. We all oohed and ahhed over our gifts, and even Marcus seemed touched that my mom, sister, and brother-in-law thought of him by gifting him some new ties. My family gave Jackson some video games and DVDs, and I got some teacher things I’d had my eye on. I wasn’t sure what to give my nieces, so my sister sent me some links online and I ordered them a few dolls and accessories while the rest of the adults got gift cards. All in all, it was a great day. But it wasn’t over just yet.

  After my family said their goodbyes and promised to keep in touch, I ushered them out the door. I returned to find Marcus picking up the scraps of wrapping paper and noticed that Jackson was missing.

  “Where’s Jackson?” I asked, and bent over to snag a ball of the paper and launched it at Marcus. I couldn’t stifle a laugh when I watched it bounce off his head.

  “Went to his room to grab his present,” Marcus replied with a chuckle as he snagged the wadded up paper ball and shoved it into the trash bag.

  “That’s right. I’ll go grab ours.” I quickly left and walked to our bedroom where the presents were laid out on the bed. After loading them in my arms, I went back to find Marcus and Jackson seated on the couch, talking quietly.

  “What are you two whispering about?” I asked and set the presents under the tree.

  “Nothing. Just wondering if I can pass them out?” Jackson asked.

  “Sure.”

  Jackson hopped off the couch and handed Marcus the box that I had wrapped for him, and then surprised me when he handed me a rectangular shaped gift, before sitting on the floor with gifts of his own.

  Marcus went first and ripped the paper off, making sure to put the trash in the bag, and popped open the box. He laughed when he pulled out the camping bag I had embroidered with his name.

  “Wow, are you saying you want me to go camping with you again?” he asked with a sexy smirk.

  I shrugged. “Look inside.”

  Marcus unzipped the bag and laughed again when he saw the essentials I had stuffed inside, like a thermos, first-aid kid, a poncho, and a flashlight. “This is great.”

  “Look in the first pocket,” I said softly and nibbled on my bottom lip.

  I watched his nimble fingers pull the zipper open and reach inside. He pulled out the box that contained the compass. He looked at me expectantly, and I nodded in encouragement for him to open it.

  “Turn it over,” I whispered after he pulled it out.

  Marcus furrowed his brow and flipped the compass over in his hand. His lips parted as he read what I had engraved. My heart will always point to you.

  His finger traced over the letters as he reread what was etched into the metal before he leaned over and kissed me. “Thank you. I love it.”

  “Gross, you two,” Jackson muttered. “And it’s my turn!”

  Marcus pulled back, and we laughed as we watched Jackson open up his gifts. I wasn’t sure what to get him, so Marcus and I went in on our gifts together. Marcus got Jackson a new easel that he’d, all but hinted he wanted, and I gave Jackson some art supplies. He was ecstatic and instantly wanted to set it up, but Marcus had hold him off until we were all finished.

  “Your turn,” Jackson said eagerly and pointed to the gift on my lap.

  I slid my finger into the paper and pulled away the red, snowman covered wrapping and my breath hitched. Inside was a silver picture frame that held a collage of photos. I noticed they were from the camping trip we had gone on. There were candid shots that Jackson had clearly snapped of Marcus and me. A few of me with Jackson. And some of all three of us. And on the top, written in silver script was the word Family. But it was the center picture that had my eyes welling with tears. It was a candid shot I didn’t even know Marcus had taken. Jackson and I were seated together at the dining room table during one of our earlier tutoring sessions. In front of us was an open book, and our heads were close together as Jackson read aloud to me.

  “It’s beautiful,” I rasped out. “I absolutely love it.”

  “Where do you want to put it?” Marcus asked me.

  “I’m not sure. What do you think, Jackson?” I asked him, wanting to make sure I included him.

  “Right there,” he said, and pointed above the fireplace mantel.

  I agreed and carried the photo to the fireplace and replaced the beach landscape with the new pictures of our family. It looked perfect.

  “We have one more present for you,” Jackson said excitedly and handed me another festively wrapped gift.

  “What?” I asked in confusion.

  “Just open it,” Marcus told me, and I noticed he sounded a bit nervous.

  I shook my head and ripped the paper off the gift. I noticed it was wrapped upside down, and I quickly turned it over and my heart stopped.

  It was a drawing. A beautiful, charcoal drawing of a set of wedding bands that were intertwined. My gaze slowly roamed over the rings and when I read the words, I brought my hand up to my mouth to stifle my gasp. There, written about the rings, were the most perfect words I’d ever seen.

  Will you marry my dad?

  I sniffled, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill and looked over at Marcus. Marcus who was now down on one knee, holding an opened box with a silver band in it.

  “Marcus,” I breathed out.

  “Anthony, I know we haven’t been together very long. I know things have probably moved extremely fast. But I also know I love you more than my next breath. I love that you love, not only me, but my son as well. And I love that he loves you just as much. I can’t imagine spending another day without you, and I’d be honored if you’d make me the happiest man on Earth by agreeing to be my husband.”

  I reached out for his free hand and laced our fingers together. “I do love you. I love you both,” I sniffed as the tears started to flow down my cheeks.

  Marcus’s eyes stared deep into mine. “Anthony Matteo Capriotti, will you marry me?”

  My heart soared. It sprouted wings and took flight. That was the only way I could describe it. This man, this beautiful fucking man wanted to marry me. His son wanted me to be his step-dad. How did I get so fucking lucky?

  “Yes, yes of course, I’ll marry you,” I said with a laugh before I pounced on him.

  “Let me put the ring on,” Marcus replied with a laugh before he took the ring out of the velvet covered cushion and slid it on my finger.

  “A perfect fit,” I said in awe at the silver band that was on my hand.

  “Just like we are,” Marcus mused and kissed me, before I reached over and grabbed Jackson. I pulled him toward us so I could wrap one of my arms around him, hugging my new family close.

  How true those words were. We really were a perfect fit. And I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with Marcus and Jackson proving how right he was.

  Epilogue

  Jackson

  “How did the drawing go over?” my art teacher, Mr. Tyler asked me as he peered over my shoulder.

  I looked up from my draw
ing. “It went great. Dad asked Anthony to marry him and, of course¸ Anthony said yes,” I told him with a grin.

  “That’s great to hear,” Mr. Tyler said and looked down at my charcoal drawing of a lion. “This looks amazing. Let me know if you have any questions, okay?”

  “Will do,” I replied and ran my finger over a particularly thick line.

  Mr. Tyler gave me a brief smile before he moved over to the next table. I really enjoyed my class, and Mr. Tyler was an amazing teacher, but I couldn’t help but notice how… sad he seemed. His smile never reached his eyes like my dad’s or Anthony’s did. And whenever my dad or Anthony came to pick me up from the class, I noticed that he seemed almost scared of them. It was so weird, because Dad or Anthony wouldn’t hurt a fly.

  I shrugged off my thoughts and went back to shading in an area on the lion’s mane. My finger was completely black from smudging the lines and bits of charcoal had flaked off on the table. Charcoal drawing was a messy thing, but I loved it. And I loved that my dad wanted me to help when he asked Anthony to marry him.

  For some odd reason, my dad was worried I’d be upset over him marrying Anthony. So one night, when Anthony was at a meeting for work, he sat me down and talked to me about it.

  “Hey, Jackson, I wanted to talk to you about something,” my dad said to me after I finished up my homework.

  “What’s up?” I asked and closed my text book.

  “It’s about Anthony.” He sat down in the chair beside me and I noticed that he looked worried.

  “What about him? Is he moving out?” I liked having Anthony there. I didn’t want him to leave. Just the thought of it had me upset.

  “You really like him, don’t you?” he asked and I nodded. “That’s good to know. And no, he’s not moving out. I actually wanted to ask your opinion about something.”

  “What?” I asked, relieved to know that Anthony wasn’t moving out.

  “How would you feel if I asked Anthony to marry me?”