Black Belt Knockout

by Winter Travers

  I couldn’t wait for Sam and Sage to open their presents from me.

  I was fucking happy, and I didn’t want anything to change.

  *

  Chapter 18

  Sage

  “Now it’s Mom's turn.”

  Sam handed me a present, and I read the tag. “Uh-oh. This one says to Sam from Santa. Are you giving me one of your presents?”

  He snatched it back from me and shook his head. “Nope.”

  Roman grabbed a box from under the tree and handed it to Sam. “Try that one, little dude.”

  Sam thrust it at me and held his present tight to his chest.

  “Let Mama open hers and then you can do a few more, okay?” Sam nodded his head and plopped down on the couch. He patted the cushion next to him for Roman to sit.

  I was camped out in the recliner, watching Sam rip through his pile of presents. He had been going so fast he barely looked at the one he opened before he was eyeing up the next one.

  “Go ahead, baby. That one is from me.”

  I read the tag, memorizing Roman’s handwriting. For My Sage. Jesus, even on a tag for a present, the man was sweet.

  The box was rather small, and I ripped off the paper. I lifted off the lid and saw a single rectangular piece of paper inside. I didn’t know what to expect when I opened it, but I didn’t think it would be a single piece of paper.

  “Read it,” Roman egged me on.

  I lifted the paper out, and my breath caught. “Oh, my God,” I gasped.

  “What is it, Mama?” Sam asked.

  I swallowed and looked at Roman. “It’s a plane ticket.”

  “A plane ticket!” Sam exclaimed. “Where are we going?”

  Roman put his arm around Sam and pulled him close. “I just gave your mama a plane ticket to come to my tournament in Las Vegas with me.”

  My eyes roamed over the paper, and I looked up. “What about Sam?”

  “Well,” Roman drawled. “I talked to Mr. Kellan, and he said he would be more than happy to have you stay with him and Molly while we are gone.”

  Sam clapped his hands together and jumped up. “That’s awesome! Mr. Kellan is super cool.”

  “But…but what about work?” I glanced down at the ticket and saw it was for Wednesday to Sunday. “Roman, this is crazy.”

  “No, it’s not, Mama. That’s super cool. I get to go on vacation to Mr. Kellan’s house. That was a present to me too,” Sam cheered. He high-fived Roman and held up the box he had tucked under his arm. “Can I open this now?”

  Roman laughed, and I wiped my eyes. I was so about to cry.

  “Let ‘er rip, tater chip.” Roman ruffled his hair and stood up.

  He moved in front of me, and I looked up. “What are you doing?” I whispered. I had never been away from Sam for more than one night. Four nights away was insane.

  “I want you there with me.”

  “You’re crazy,” I whispered.

  He shrugged and held his hand out to me. “That may be, but I still want you in Vegas with me.”

  “Whoa cool!” Sam yelled. “I got more Legos, Mama.”

  “We’ll talk about this later.” Roman squeezed my hand and turned his attention back to Sam.

  I tucked the paper back into the box and set it next to my chair. Darn right, we were going to talk about it later.

  We all finished opening our presents, and while Sam had most of the living room filled with his toys, I had a nice pile of my own. Roman had listened when I told him I wanted an e-reader, and he had also bought me ten bath bombs so I could relax while Sam and he played their new Xbox. He had also gotten me a gift card to get books, tons of red licorice, and four movies I had mentioned in passing I wanted to see. Everything was perfect.

  Sam and I had gone shopping last weekend when Roman was working out and bought him some workout clothes, a kit to wash his car, and a coffee table book about karate. The thing he was completely surprised about was the brand new bo and carrying case Kellan and Tate had helped me pick out.

  When I had texted Molly telling her I had no clue what to get Roman, she called me up, put Kellan on the phone, and he told me to meet him at the dojo the next day. After pouring over twenty-three different colors, I had finally settled on one called Mystic Galaxy, and Kellan put the order in.

  “This thing is amazing.” He rolled his hand, and I watched the light from the tree reflect off it. “You never see the same color twice.”

  He was right. I didn’t know how they made it, but it really was amazing.

  “Spin it!” Sam called. He was half lying under the tree with his presents spread out around him while he looked at one of the video games Roman had gotten him.

  Roman stood up and walked into the kitchen. “I’ll try not to hit the light,” he laughed.

  He rubbed his hand on his pants and licked his lips. “This is the first time you’ve seen a bo in my hand, isn’t it?” he asked me.

  It was.

  “I see him do it all the time,” Sam bragged.

  “Now I’m all nervous. Better do something impressive.”

  Just having the bo in his hand impressed me.

  His cocky smile spread across his lips. “Don’t blink. You might miss it.”

  And there was that cocky attitude that somehow turned me on.

  I moved my hand out of Sam’s view and flipped him the bird. “Get to it, ninja.”

  Roman winked, tossed the bo into the air, and spun around. He caught it in the air and dropped down to one knee.

  “Yea!” Sam yelled. “Do it again.”

  I had to agree. I wanted to see that again, too.

  This time, he managed to throw it higher, barely missing the ceiling, and spun around two times before he caught it.

  “That’s amazing,” Sam said in awe.

  Even though he had seen Roman do this before, he was still excited by it.

  “Okay, I have to say, that was amazing.”

  Roman spun the bo and smiled. “That's cause you got me a kick a-s-s bo, baby. I’ve been looking at this thing for a couple of months. I just could never pull the trigger on it.”

  “Really? After I had ordered it, I was afraid you weren't going to like it.”

  “Love it. Best present ever. Everything you got me was perfect. Now I can tell SKW they can keep whatever bo they were going to give me because I have the one I want.”

  I beamed with joy, knowing I had gotten something he loved and would use all the time. “Awesome.”

  “Do I have to go to Grandma and Grandpa’s? Can’t they come here?” Sam asked from the floor. He had rolled over onto his back and was holding one of his Lego boxes up looking at the picture. “I want them to see all the toys I got.”

  “Yup, you need to go over there. Maybe they got you some new toys, too.”

  “I suppose. Are you coming too, Ro?” Sam sat up and grabbed another box to stare at.

  “Um, I’m going with your mama to drop you off.”

  “Can’t you come in?”

  “Not this time, little dude. Your grandma and grandpa want to see you, not me.”

  Now that was the truth. I had been dreading today, knowing I was just dropping Sam off. “Run and get dressed, bud. You know you’re going to have fun over there.”

  Sam ran off to his bedroom, and I stood up to follow him.

  “Sage,” Roman called. “You okay with Vegas?”

  I tilted my head to the side and smiled. “I think so. I haven’t been on vacation for years. I don’t think I’ll know what to do without Sam underfoot.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll keep you occupied. Just pack, and leave the rest up to me.”

  “That’s doable,” I laughed.

  “Go get Sam dressed, we’ll drop him off, and then I’ve got a surprise for you.”

  I looked down at the pile of presents next to my chair. “I think you’ve done enough.”

  He shook his head and spun his bo. “It’s never enough, baby,
but it’s a good start.”

  The man was hopeless. I walked down the hallway to Sam’s room shaking my head. He was crazy.

  *

  Chapter 19

  Roman

  “Ugh. Drive.”

  I shifted the car into reverse and backed out of Sam’s grandparents’ driveway. “What happened?” I pulled onto the road and headed in the direction of our next destination.

  “Sam freaked out. I had told him I wasn’t going to stay, but when I went to leave, he grabbed onto my leg and wouldn’t let go.”

  “Oh shit.”

  “Yeah. He finally let go after I promised we would be back to pick him up after he opened his presents. Dale lured him over to the tree, and I took off before he noticed.”

  I pulled up to a red light and looked at Sage. Her face was pale, and she had her hands clasped in her lap. “You want to go back and get him now?”

  She chewed on her lip. “No. I know he’s fine with them. I just hate leaving him like that. I literally snuck out of the house when his back was turned.”

  “Mary say anything to you?” I had never met the woman, but as of right now, I wasn’t a fan of hers. She had been giving Sage the cold shoulder and barely talking to her when she would drop off or pick up Sam. I understood the woman missed her son, but she had to see Sage was going to move on with her life.

  “Hello, yes, okay, and goodbye.”

  “Wow, that’s two more words than she normally says to you, baby. I think she’s starting to thaw against you.”

  She slugged me in the shoulder. “Ass.”

  “That I am. Remember you like it.”

  “Where are we going?”

  I drove three more miles without answering her question and pulled into the parking lot of The Wok.

  She turned in her seat. “Um, what are we doing?”

  “Well, I know you said you didn’t want to cook today, and Kellan said he didn’t want to go through what he did for Thanksgiving, so we decided to go out to eat for Christmas.”

  She glanced out the window and laughed. “And the only things open on Christmas are gas stations and Chinese restaurants.”

  “Dante wanted to get a shit ton of doughnuts and play foosball, but Kennedy vetoed that right away.”

  “Thank God for Kennedy.”

  Kellan’s black Rover pulled up next to Sage, and he rolled down the window.

  I hit the button to roll down the window.

  “Merry Christmas, mofos!”

  Sage looked over at me. “Mofos?” she laughed.

  “We gonna eat or sit in the car all day? I’m craving some dumplings and those tasty chicken sticks.”

  Molly leaned forward in her seat and waved. “Hey! He’s been bugging me about chicken on a stick since we woke up this morning.”

  “Then I guess we better go eat,” Sage hollered back.

  I grabbed her hand before she opened her door. “You sure this is okay?” This really wasn’t a place you normally ate on Christmas, and I knew Sage was all about traditions.

  She laughed and nodded her head. “I’m with you, our friends, and about to eat some of the best Chinese food in the state. I’m good, Roman.”

  She slid out of the car and hugged Molly as Dante and Kennedy pulled up. I hopped out of the car before Dante unleashed his assholeness and ruined Christmas.

  “Hmm, I should have known the cookie Nazi was going to be here.” Dante leaned against his car and crossed his arms over his chest.

  Sage turned to look at him and plastered a smile on her face. I couldn’t even tell if it was fake or not. “Hello, Dante. Merry Christmas,” she called.

  We all froze, not knowing what was going to happen next.

  “Uh, Merry Christmas, Sage,” Dante replied, surprised.

  “Did you get what you wanted for Christmas?”

  Dante turned to look at Kennedy. “If you say one smart ass comment, you are not getting any Chinese, and you’re walking home.”

  He gulped and turned back to Sage. “Got some new sparring gloves and a new mouth guard I’ve been eyeing up. How about you?”

  “Roman got me a plane ticket to go watch him at his tournament in Vegas.”

  Dante nodded. “That’s a pretty cool tournament. You guys should have fun.”

  Sage smiled and turned to me with her hand held out. I laced my fingers through hers and waited to see if the world was going to end. Sage and Dante had just had a conversation without either of them insulting the other.

  “Well, now that I’ve seen the impossible, let’s get in and eat some chicken on a stick.” Kellan put his arm around Molly’s shoulders and pulled her toward the restaurant.

  “Did you fall and hit your head when you dropped off Sam?”

  Sage laughed and fell into step behind Kellan and Molly. “No. I just figured on today of all days, I can try to not hate on Dante.”

  “It’s a Christmas miracle.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” she whispered. “Come Tuesday, I have a plan to hide all of the cookies and replace them with dog treats that look like cookies.”

  I busted out laughing and felt sorry for one second for Dante. “Make him feel comfortable, and then feed him dog food. Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

  She smiled sweetly at me. “Just try me.” A car pulled up into the parking lot, and Tate, Hadley, and Ryker got out. “Wow, I think Ryker had a growth spurt.”

  That was an understatement. It was like the kid turned seventeen and he grew a foot and sprouted a full-on face of hair. “Yeah, he definitely did.”

  “Who am I going to mess with now?” I overheard Dante complain to Kennedy.

  “Did you ever think maybe you don’t need to mess with anyone?” she chided.

  “You know, princess, sometimes I don’t like the words that come out of your mouth.”

  I turned around and saw Kennedy flip him the bird. “And sometimes, I can’t believe you’re older than me. You have the gray hair, but I seriously think you’re sixteen.”

  He grabbed her by the arm, put a shoulder into her stomach, and lifted her up. “I’ll show you sixteen, little girl.”

  He jogged past us while Kennedy smacked his back, demanding to be put down. “If you drop me, I am going to kick your ass, Dante Craig.”

  I wrapped my arm around Sage and pulled her close. “So is this how you pictured your Christmas?”

  “Well, I have to say, it’s not your traditional Christmas, but I wouldn’t change anything for the world.”

  “The only thing I would change is having Sam here with us.”

  A sad smile crossed her lips. “Me too. I have to say, he’s as big of a fan of the chicken on a stick as Kellan.”

  “We’ll get him some.”

  “Thank you, Roman.” She leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to my lips. “This really is the best Christmas ever.”

  She pulled me into the restaurant, and I silently vowed to make every Christmas with her better than the last.

  She was worth that and so much more.

  *

  Chapter 20

  Sage

  “When is Ro coming over?”

  I looked up from my e-reader and smiled. “Tomorrow, honey. Right now, he’s competing.”

  “When are we going to be able to watch him? He said we would be able to.”

  “That’s only if he makes it to the night show.” At least, I think that was what Roman had called it. I had talked to him a couple times today, and he sounded confident he was going to win a couple of his divisions and move on to the show that was live streamed.

  “When will we know? Can we call him? I miss him.”

  I sighed and patted the couch next to me. “Why don’t you come sit next to me, and we can text him.” The last thing I wanted to do was call him in the middle of his division.

  How’s it going?

  Sam looked at the screen. “What’d ya say?”

  “I asked him how it’s going.”

  He sig
hed and sat back on the couch. “Tell him we miss him.”

  Sam misses you.

  “That’s my name. I said to put we miss him.”

  I rolled my eyes. And I do too. “Is that better?” I asked, holding the phone up for him to see.

  “Mama, you know I can’t read.”

  I ruffled his hair and put my arm around him. “What do you want for dinner?”

  “Pizza and pickles.”

  My stomach rolled at the suggestion. “Um, how about one or the other.” My phone dinged in my hand, and we both looked at it.

  Calling you.

  The screen lit up with Roman’s face, and Sam grabbed it from my hand. “Ro!” he yelled. He hit the connect button, and put it to his ear. “Hiiiii!”

  Damn kid.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Did you do your bo?”

  “When?”

  “I’ll tell Mama.”

  “We miss you.”

  “Bye Ro!”

  He thrust the phone at me and ran down the hallway to his room.

  “Roman?”

  I heard his laugh on the other end of the phone. “I’m here, baby.”

  “I was afraid you might have hung up.”

  “Nah, I wanted to talk to you.”

  I curled my feet underneath me. “So, how did you do?”

  “Well, I dropped in extreme. Got third in traditional. Second in both open hand and CMX but managed to pull out the win in musical.”

  “What? Roman, that’s amazing!”

  He chuckled. “It’s not bad for being off the circuit for over a year. I shouldn’t have dropped, but these damn lights fuck with ya.”

  “Does that mean we’ll get to watch you later?”

  “Yeah. The night show starts at seven.”

  I glanced at the clock and saw it was half-past five. “It’ll be on that website you told me about, right?”

  “SKW will have it on their page. You should be able to watch it. I told Sam.”

  “Is that what he was supposed to tell me?” I laughed.

  “Yeah.”

  “He handed me the phone and ran off to his room to play.”