Cherished by You

by Steph Nuss

  After Grandma finished, she looked across the table at me and smiled. “Justin?”

  Taking a deep breath, I exhaled with a nod, acknowledging my turn. “I’m grateful for the people in my life who accept me for who I am.” My eyes found Tessa’s, and I reached out and threaded my fingers through hers. “Who love me in spite of my quirks.”

  She smiled, blinking back tears as she lifted our joined hands to her mouth and gave mine a kiss. Glancing back at my grandma and her brother, she laughed. “My turn?”

  “Yes,” Grandma answered, shooting me a wink.

  “I’m thankful to have a friend who opened his home and welcomed me without hesitation.” Tessa’s grip on my hand tightened as she spoke, her beautiful gray eyes full of appreciation as they gazed back at me. “But what I’m most thankful for this year is the man who opened his heart to me.”

  “Way to make a brother feel bad for wanting to live alone,” Trey quipped, before taking a drink of his wine.

  “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad!” Laughter ensued around the table as Tessa added, “Okay, I’m also thankful for a brother who pushed me to live a little this year by wanting to live on his own.”

  Trey nearly spit out his wine. “You can’t just add me in like that.”

  “Yes, I can,” she threw back, the smile on her face widening as she turned to Grandma. “Right, Mrs. J.?”

  The wrinkles on Grandma’s face stood out the harder she laughed. “There’s already one Jameson in the middle of this. Keep me out of it!”

  Tessa and Trey turned to me. “Well?”

  I glanced between the two of them, and pretended to think about the question while studying the burgundy liquid in my glass. “I think it’s Trey’s turn to tell us what he’s thankful for.”

  “Great answer,” Tessa said victoriously, smirking at Trey.

  “Okay, let’s see,” Trey contemplated aloud, relaxing back in his chair. His playful gaze jumped from Grandma to me, but eventually settled on Tessa. “I’m most thankful for my sister, who has always put me and my wants and needs before herself or anyone else. Until just a few seconds ago.”

  “Treylor,” Tessa begged, demanding his serious answer.

  “I know, I know,” he continued, rolling his eyes. “What I’m trying to say is, I’m thankful for everything you’ve done for me and everything you continue to do. You’ve worked so hard to give me the opportunities you weren’t given, and I just want you to know that I’m thankful for that.”

  With his response, tears took over Tessa’s eyes, and I took her hand in mine again to comfort her as she attempted to blink them away.

  Trey grabbed his napkin and placed it in his lap. “Look, I didn’t say that to make you cry, okay?”

  “I know.” Tessa ran her index finger under her eyes to catch any fallen tears. “It was just really sweet.”

  “It was very nice,” Grandma added, commending Trey by raising her drink to him.

  “Whatever,” Trey muttered around the lip of his wine glass. “Can we eat now? I’m starving.”

  Grandma laughed again. “Yes, let’s eat!”

  For the next ten minutes, the four of us filled our plates with turkey and the many sides spread across the table. Serving dishes were passed around. Condiments were asked for and received. I topped off everyone’s wine. And for a while, we ate and drank in comfortable silence, the only sound an occasional clanking of utensils hitting the porcelain plates.

  “So, Mrs. J., what do you guys usually do for the Christmas holiday?” Tessa asked, smothering her turkey in dark gravy.

  “Justin and I usually attend the Christmas Eve service at my church, and then we come back here for dinner. One of my favorite things during the Christmas holiday is seeing all the people who hardly ever come to mass during the rest of the year. Justin’s guilty of being one of them.”

  “Hey,” I scoffed, pointing my glass at her. “I attend more often than some of them.”

  “But you could attend more often,” she quipped, raising her brows teasingly.

  Trey laughed. “I don’t think we’ve ever been to church, have we Tessa?”

  Looking over at Tessa, I saw her pushing food around with her fork, her cheeks flushed a soft shade of red as she shook her head. “Nope.”

  “That’s okay,” I said, in hopes of steering away any shame she might feel. “It’s not for everyone. Plus, Grandma here really only goes for the social aspect of it. You know, to get all the gossip.”

  “Justin Jameson!” she chastised harshly, tossing her napkin onto the table. “You know that’s not true.”

  “You walk by the funeral home on your way to church just to see who’s on the menu,” I retorted.

  “On the menu?” Tessa asked, horrified, furrowing her brows.

  Grandma narrowed her eyes at me and then turned to them and explained. “The funeral home has this board outside where they list the names of the recently deceased and the date and time of their wakes.”

  “Seriously?” Trey asked, wide-eyed in disbelief.

  “Yep,” I answered, leaning back in my chair. “Grandma and her buddies call it the menu.”

  “That’s awesome!” he exclaimed with a chuckle.

  Tessa crinkled her nose as she stared at my grandma. “That’s kind of awful.”

  I nodded, further teasing Grandma. “So is making fun of all the irregular churchgoers.”

  “Oh, hush!” she snapped, grabbing her wine glass. “When you get to be my age, you’ll understand that walking by the menu is like flipping off death every Sunday morning.”

  Trey smacked the tabletop with his hand, his face beet red from laughing so hard. “I’m sorry. I just keep picturing a bunch of old ladies ordering from the dead people’s menu. ‘I’d like a Reuben with a Caesar salad, and a Tom Collins to wash it all down. No, you better make that a Shirley Temple. I never liked that bitch.’”

  The three of us instantly cracked up, breathlessly entertained by Trey’s imitation of Grandma and her friends. My cheeks tightened the more I laughed, and Tessa’s face turned the same color as Trey’s. Even Grandma was wiping her eyes as our amusement finally simmered.

  Once we settled down, we went back to eating our dinner, quietly stuffing ourselves with the delicious food, heaping more portions onto our plates, and allowing our faces to relax back to normal.

  Then Grandma broke through the silence. “But like I was saying, you two are more than welcome to join us for Christmas.”

  And the laughter started up all over again.

  ***

  By the time Tessa and I got home, we were stuffed and tired. We changed into sweats and fell into my bed together, too tired to do anything else but cuddle, which was fine with me. I found out very soon after we started dating that being around Tessa stimulated me, dominating me in a whole other way than when we were just living together as friends. My mind continuously thought of her like a song it had on repeat; her voice was a harmonious tune I could listen to forever. Her tousled brown hair twisted up into a bun made my fingers itch to run through it and make it messier. With her face free of makeup, her naturally pale skin held the same soft glow as the moon peeking through the window. She had the ability to make sweats and an old tee look just as sexy as a tight dress and heels, and I found myself falling for her effortless beauty and low maintenance ways more and more every day.

  “What are you smiling about?” she asked curiously, running her hand up my chest.

  “You,” I answered, pressing my lips to her temple. “And how beautiful you are just like this.”

  She laughed and shook her head slightly. “Don’t be cute right now. I feel like I’ve gained ten pounds, so I don’t feel beautiful.”

  Turning on my side, I faced her and tightened my arms around her waist. “I don’t feel so hot either. I probably didn’t need that third piece of pie.”

  “But it was so good,” she giggled, nuzzling my neck. “All of the food was good. I’m going to have to spend the next few
weeks working off the food from Thanksgiving to prepare for the Christmas meal.”

  The thought of us spending Christmas together made my chest tighten, but in a good way. It also prompted me to make a mental note to go Christmas shopping for her gift. I wanted us to spend every holiday together. I never knew what it was like to spend a holiday with a girlfriend, but today, after saying what we were thankful for, I knew Tessa Wilder was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my holidays with. “I want us to spend Christmas together.”

  She pulled back from me slightly so she could get a good look at my face. “I want that, too. Your Grandma’s cooking is amazing, and she’s so funny. I’d love to spend Christmas with you guys.”

  “Then why were you so nervous earlier today?” I asked, finally voicing the question that had been bugging me most of the day. “You’ve known my grandma for years. Why would you be nervous about spending the holiday with her?”

  She exhaled a sigh and rested her head back on the pillow. “Well, I was mostly nervous because of Trey and his mouth. I didn’t raise him to be disrespectful, but somehow he grew up into this charming young man without a filter. Most of the time, he uses his sarcasm and humor to entertain, but sometimes people can find it insulting.”

  “Janice Jameson doesn’t insult that easily,” I said, making her smile. “Neither do I.”

  “I know,” she laughed, tangling her legs with mine. “But I was also worried your parents might show up, and that’s who I was most nervous for him to be around because I don’t know them.”

  I propped myself up on my elbow and ran my hand along her side as I recalled the last time I saw my parents. “You don’t have to worry about them ever showing up to anything.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “John and Leslie Jameson are very self-centered people. Always have been, always will be,” I stated, as the last memory of them played in my mind. “The last time I saw them was when they dropped me off at my grandma’s because they’d been invited on an expedition to the North Pole to study string theory. While they were gone, which was a total of six months, they never once called to check on me or to say hi. During that time, I graduated from middle school and tested out of high school, so Grandma was stuck with helping me choose a college to attend. My parents were Harvard alums, but I knew I didn’t want to go there. I didn’t want to become like them. So, I chose NYU because it was a college close to Grandma. I also chose to major in psychology because I enjoyed studying people.

  “When my parents got back and heard about my choices, I overheard them fighting about it with Grandma, even though she never swayed me in making my decisions like they would’ve, had they been home. Grandma was upset with the way they neglected me, claiming she didn’t raise her son to choose work over his family. But in the end, they gave Grandma full custody of me, and I haven’t seen them since.”

  “I’m so sorry, Justin,” she said, rubbing my arm. “I had no idea you guys had such a falling out with them.”

  “Don’t be,” I stated, shaking my head. “We’re better off without each other, and I’ve made my peace with that. They can focus on their work, and I can be who I want to be. Grandma, on the other hand, is still upset about it all, so we don’t discuss them.”

  “Understandable.” Her hand moved into my hair and brushed it off of my face. “Can I ask why you have their textbooks on your bookshelf?”

  I laughed lightly and nodded. “I’m still proud of them, even if they can’t be proud of me and the work I do. They don’t consider psychology a science, so they’ll always be disappointed by the fact that I didn’t follow in their footsteps and study physics. I also know that they still care about me, even if the only way they know how to show it is by putting money into a trust. They’re not bad people, just bad parents. Some people weren’t meant to be parents, and they’re the perfect example. There are a thousand awful things they could be doing, so I’m glad they choose work instead of engaging in other activities that could potentially harm themselves or others. I still love them because they’re my parents; I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. So, I buy their work and put it on my shelf.”

  She laughed. “You’ve never read any of it?”

  “God, no. Why would I? Maybe when they write an autobiography and explain why they are the way they are, I’ll read it.”

  “So, you haven’t reached out to them since?” she asked, inquisitively.

  “Nope.” I slipped a hand underneath her shirt and trailed my fingers up and down her spine. “I have no desire to have them in my life now. I already have everyone I need.”

  “Is that so?” she asked, linking her arms around my neck as she arched into my touch.

  I nodded and covered her lips with mine for a slow, easy kiss. “You, Grandma, and all of our friends, including Trey, are all I need right now.”

  She perked a brow, even with her eyes still shut from our kiss. “Right now? You say that like you’ve thought about the future.”

  Of course I’d been thinking about my future. Ever since she moved in. The first time I’d seen her naked. That brief second right before I grabbed her face and kissed her for the first time. The moment I told her I was falling for her. Every minute spent with her shined a light on my future, and she stood right in its spotlight.

  “I have.” I flushed her body up against mine and held her close, the two of us sharing the same pillow with sleep just minutes away from abducting us.

  Her soft hands settled on my chest and she quietly asked, “Am I in your future?”

  Closing my eyes, I smiled and kissed her forehead. “You’re my leading lady.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tonight was the night!

  In a few minutes, Elly and Carter would walk through the door of Judge’s, eager to find out the gender of their baby. Everyone else—their families, friends, and colleagues—was already here, standing around the bar with drinks in their hands and placing their bets on the gender of Baby Jennings. So far, a majority of people were betting on a girl, while Fletcher was still hounding me for any sort of hint at which way he should bet.

  “Blink once if it’s a boy. Twice if it’s a girl,” he said, as I double-checked the flagged banner hanging above the archway. The banner had red and blue flags to match the color scheme Elly and Carter had chosen for their gender-neutral nursery. The flags displayed alternating baby pictures of the proud parents from their infant days.

  “Fletcher,” I warned, rolling my eyes. “For the last time, I’m not telling you. Just go with your gut.”

  “My gut says girl,” he stated, glancing over at Harper and Maverick, who were showing off Seghen. “Didn’t Justin say something about the odds being greater for a girl?”

  Justin laughed behind me as his arms wrapped around my waist. “The odds are still fifty-fifty, man. What I said was, there is a correlation with a Jennings’ first child being a girl. Harper was the first child in her family, and then she also had a girl. Elly was the first and only child in her family. Those aren’t odds. It’s just a correlation.”

  “Well, that’s not helpful at all!” Fletcher exclaimed. “I bet she’s already told you since you’re sleeping together now.”

  He shook his head and laughed. “I swear, she didn’t tell me.”

  “But he did try his best,” I added, laying a kiss on his cheek. “I’m going to go do a sweep to make sure everything’s ready to go. They should be here soon.”

  “Everything already looks perfect, Tessa,” he said, smiling proudly as I walked away. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Just one more check.” I skipped back to him, jumped into his arms, and kissed him hard, wrapping my arms around his neck and kicking one leg up in the air. “You know how these obsessive-compulsive things go.”

  “Yes, I do.” He gave my ass a light spank as I walked toward the obstacles I had set up.

  For Elly and Carter’s gender reveal party, I went with a sports theme and called it The Jennings Olympics, si
nce they’re both athletic. I even had shirts made for Carter and Elly that had the American Gladiators’ stars and stripes triangular logo on the front with JENNINGS OLYMPICS taking the place of the show title. The backs were customized with the nicknames “Daddy Diaper Changer” and “Mommy Milk Maker.” Elly damn near peed her pants when I gave them to her at work and told her to wear them to the party.

  As I went through each station I had set up throughout the bar, I watched the reveal play out in my head to make sure everything would work properly. If it didn’t, the reveal wouldn’t go as planned, and I couldn’t have that happen. Thankfully, Fletcher let me move some of the bar’s furniture around and decorate however I wanted. I converted the stage into the first two obstacles Carter and Elly would have to complete to make it to the final challenge, which was located on a smaller platform toward the back of the bar. With Justin and Cash’s help, we moved the pool tables and set up for the final reveal. I’d flagged off most of the stage area and created a flagged aisle for Carter and Elly to easily use to get to the back obstacle as well as an aisle that led from the entrance up to the stage. The object was simple: complete an obstacle to reveal a word. The last obstacle would give them the sex of their baby.

  After I finished triple-checking it all, I headed back toward the bar where Justin sat with Fletcher and Bayler. Cash was helping out behind the bar, and Paige sat on the other side of Justin nursing a drink.

  “Hey!” Bayler exclaimed, wiggling in her seat and waving her phone. “I just got a text from Elly saying they are close.”

  “Ooh, good to know,” I said, as I waved Cash down. “Hey, Bayler just said they’re close.”