by Evelyn Sola
“My mom is freaking out more than normal. My brother is coming home for Christmas for the first time in I don’t know how many years. He’s a civil engineer in the Army and stationed in South Korea. Mom is making sure everything is perfect, and she’s driving me and Daddy nuts in the process.”
“Are you and your brother close? You’ve never mentioned him before.”
She eats for a bit, probably mulling over her words before she speaks again. She puts down her knife and fork and looks at me.
“Andrew’s six years older than I am. He was out of the house when I was twelve, so no. We’re not particularly close. He had his own friends and interests and didn’t have much time for me. I felt like an only child growing up.” She continues to tell me more about her brother.
I reach over and grab one of her curls and gently pull it.
“I bet you were really cute as a kid.”
She rolls her eyes and laughs. “I was chubby, had acne, wore glasses, and had braces. Plus, I was really, really awkward. My nickname in school was grandma because the kids said my voice sounded like an old lady’s. So, no. I was not cute at all.”
“I’m going to need lots of pictures, not just the family picture in your mom’s office. Better yet, video,” I tell her.
“No way!”
“Tell me more about Christmas with your family.”
“So, on Christmas Eve,” she says, “we order a ton of Chinese food and the four of us eat, dance to Christmas music, and play games. Some of the neighbors stop by. We open one present each, and then we eat the Christmas guacamole, made by yours truly. My mother insists we go to midnight mass each Christmas Eve. She pretends to be religious, but that’s the only time she insists we go. My dad cooks a feast for Christmas Day, and family stops by until late in the evening.”
“Tell me more about this Christmas guacamole,” I say. “And how come you’ve never made it for me?” I reach over and kiss her temple.
^^^^
“About dinner with my mother on Friday.” She looks up at me as she loads the dishwasher and I finish clearing the table. “My brother and his wife are coming. Their daughter might come too.”
She visibly swallows, and when she shuts the dishwasher door and turns it on, she looks up at me, clearly nervous. “Okay,” she finally says with a shoulder shrug. “I’m not worried about your mom. Moms love me.”
“Met a lot of moms, have you?” I ask.
“I’ve had two boyfriends, and their moms were crazy about me.”
I ignore the comment about the moms and focus on the boyfriends. “Two boyfriends. I will find them both, and I will kill them.” She’s taken aback by my words, but her eyes light up and she laughs.
“Maybe you should challenge them to a duel at dawn. Your generation does that, right?”
“Another joke about my age. I’ll have you know my generation is much smarter than yours. Those boyfriends you had weren’t too smart if they let you get away.”
“What do you need me to do to help, Romeo?”
“Nothing. I’m taking the day off, so I just want you to be here.” I walk up behind her and nuzzle in. “But there is something you can help me with now.” I grab her hand and place it on my hard cock. She turns to look at me, a flush on her cheeks. I lift her, and she wraps her legs around me.
CHAPTER 21
NICK
“You look handsome.” She gets on her toes and gently taps her lips with mine. I smile at her as she wanders around the first floor of the house, touching and adjusting to make sure everything looks perfect.
“Music, Nick! We need music.” A few seconds later, “All I Want for Christmas” starts to play, and all I can do is lean against the wall and watch as she dances to the music. She spins to face me and points at me as she dances, telling me that I’m all she wants for Christmas.
I check on dinner, but I keep one eye on her as she dances around my living room. The room that was empty just a few days ago is now filled with her. How a twenty-three-year-old owns me with nothing more than a look and a smile is something I’ll never understand, but I have no plans to try to understand the how and the why. She’s here, and all I need to do is keep it that way.
“Smells good,” she says as she slams her body into my back. She reaches around me and tries to stick her hand in the platter of lamb chops, but I manage to block her. When I turn to face her, she pouts dramatically. I roll my eyes but smile as I bend down to kiss her.
“What’s with the all black?” I pull back and take in her black pantsuit. “Where’s your Mrs. Claus outfit? I know you must have one.”
She pulls out of my arms and does a twirl in the kitchen.
“This is my meet the mother outfit. I think it makes me look older. What do you think?” She spins again, and when she stops, I grab her and pull her into my body. When I look down into her brown eyes, I feel something in my belly I’ve never felt before. Not with Paige, who I was willing to marry, or any other girlfriend from the past.
“You’re beautiful, and you don’t need to look older. Just be you. Be yourself, sweetness.” I place a soft kiss on her forehead.
“Are you sure? I want her to take us seriously.” I spin her around, elated at what she just said.
“My mom will love you. Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay. They better be ready for Miranda Moore, the super-sized Christmas edition.” Before I can even ask her what she means, she’s sprinting out of the kitchen and running up the stairs. I shake my head, eager to see what she changes into. If it’s anything like last night’s outfit my family is in for a treat.
I let out a loud chuckle at the memory of her showing up here for dinner yesterday. She was wearing another pantsuit then, too, but this one was green and decorated with Christmas lights. Luckily, it didn’t light up. She also came bearing gifts; matching Christmas pajamas for us, even though we always sleep naked.
A few minutes later, after grabbing a beer, I hear the clicking of heels against the hardwood floor. My phone buzzes inside my pocket, and when I pull it out, there’s a message from my mother. After reading it, I look up to see Miranda standing in front of me, hands on her hips as she waits for my reaction.
I hold my hand out to her, and she takes it. I pull her in to me and dip her dramatically before I kiss her.
“That’s more like it.” I nod approvingly as the red V-neck top that she has tucked into a red skirt. The skirt reaches her knees, but it flares and has white fur trim around the bottom. On the front of the skirt is a Christmas tree decorated with Christmas lights. Red ankle boots complete the outfit. “This is you.”
She smiles and spins for me. “Business upstairs,” she says, pointing at the red top. “And party downstairs.” This time she points at the skirt.
“Well, I plan on partying on both floors later tonight.” The doorbell rings before she can respond. “But the guests have arrived. My mother just texted saying she has a surprise for me.”
I take her hand, and as we walk to the door, she asks, “What do you think the surprise is?”
“No idea. With my mother, it can be anything.”
“I have a surprise for you too. I want you to have it now, though,” she says, her eyes bright and teasing.
“Now?” I look from her to the door.
“I love you. Surprise!” Just as she says it, the bell rings again. She reaches up and plants a kiss on my mouth. When she pulls away, she smiles as she winks at me. She jumps when I slap her on the ass.
“You minx.”
I drop her hand to open the door, and the surprise is looking at me right in the face. His smile is wide, but when he sees my companion, he tilts his head as if confused.
“Uncle Joe, you’re using your cane.” I open the door so my uncle, mother, and stepfather can walk in. Right behind them is my brother, Henry, and his wife, Gwen, along with their daughter Stephanie.
“I guess the gang’s all here,” I say, ready to make the introductions, but Uncle Joe talks fi
rst.
“Nicky, did you invite people from the office here tonight?” He looks around the house, craning his neck to see if anyone else is here.
“Nope.” I pull Miranda to me, who appears to be in shock, and I wrap my arm around her waist. Uncle Joe arches an eyebrow at the gesture, but I see when realization dawns on him. “Uncle Joe, you already know Miranda. Miranda, meet my mother, Allison, and her husband, Becker. This is my brother, Henry, that I told you about and his lovely wife, Gwen. This here is my niece, Stephanie. Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Miranda.”
Uncle Joe beckons me over while everyone hugs Miranda and engages her in conversation. As expected, Becker and Henry make a beeline for the bar while the women talk.
“When I asked you to dance with her, I didn’t mean bring her home. Does her mother know?” He speaks over me without giving me time to answer. “Never mind. You are two reasonable adults. It’s none of my business.” He points a finger at my face. “But Mona is my most loyal employee and a mama bear. A grizzly. Don’t piss her off.”
“I won’t. We’re going to tell her soon.” He gives me a curt nod. There’s more I want to say, but Miranda’s words from a few minutes ago won’t leave my thoughts. I don’t have much time to mull it over because Becker calls everyone into the kitchen for drinks.
“Nicky,” my mother says. “This place is beautiful. Last time I was here, it was empty.”
“Miranda helped, and by helped, I mean she picked out everything. You want a tour?”
Everyone except Uncle Joe jumps at the tour. I look at Miranda again, who is taking big sips of Becker’s mistletoe martini. In fact, she finishes the drink in record time and helps herself to another.
“I’ll stay and keep Joe company,” she volunteers, now halfway through her next drink.
“Okay, sweetness. I’ll go show off your decorating skills.” I bend down and kiss her temple and discreetly squeeze her ass. “We’re going to talk about what you said as soon as I kick these people out.” She looks at me, her eyes wide, and shrugs.
CHAPTER 22
MIRANDA
“I told Nicky that I’m not going to ask if your mother knows where you are. You’re both adults, but I haven’t seen my nephew this happy in a long time. The entire car ride here, his mother was worried we’d have to eat dinner while seated on the floor, and then we walk into this.” Joe waves his free hand around the place while holding on to his cane with the other. “If I didn’t have this cane for support, I would have fallen over when I saw you.”
I smile at him and reach over to get him one of those delicious drinks that Becker made.
“Come on. I’ll show you around the first floor.” I link my arm with his and we walk down the hall. I show him every nook and cranny down here, including Nick’s office. I leave out the part about Nick laying my naked body on his desk and feasting between my legs for what seemed like hours.
Soon the others come back, and they find us in Nick’s office. He links our fingers together, and we walk back to the kitchen where appetizers are eaten, and more drinks are served.
His family is loud and boisterous as they tell stories from their past. His mother sits next to me, always with a ready smile and a story from her Nicky’s childhood.
“Nicky, this dinner is wonderful,” Allison says. “The student has surpassed the master.” She holds her glass and raises it to him. Everyone at the table agrees.
“You taught him to cook?” I ask. “Thank you! He’s a master in the kitchen.”
Allison smiles and tells me the story about teaching a teenaged Nicholas to cook.
“He didn’t want to do it. He had quite a mouth on him at thirteen. He told me we had people to cook, and he didn’t understand why he had to learn. Well, let’s just say, for the next week, if he wanted to eat, he had to make it himself. It took only about three days for him to fall in love with cooking. He had no problems helping after that.” She leans over her son, wraps her arm around his bicep, and lays her head on his shoulder. It’s a sweet gesture between mother and son, and I melt when he kisses the top of her head.
“Well,” I say, after mouthing a thank you to Becker for handing me another drink, “let me thank you personally. He’s a great cook.” Nick looks at me and winks. “I absolutely love a man who can cook.” I smile innocently at him and bat my eyelashes after elongating the word love.
Everyone starts talking again, and Nick looks at me as I drink. He moves from his mother and comes to sit next to me, wrapping his arm around my waist.
“You think you’re pretty cute, don’t you?” he whispers in my ear. All I do is smile and shrug. “Okay. You are, but I want you to know two things. First, I’m a master in more than the kitchen. You’ll be climbing the walls in the bedroom very soon. And second, you’re so going to pay for teasing me.”
“Tease you about what, Nicky?” I ask. He growls, leans down, and bites my earlobe. “You keep drinking those and you’re going to pay for it in the morning.”
“These taste like juice. I doubt they have much alcohol.” To prove my point, I offer him a sip.
“Keep telling yourself that. You don’t know Becker very well.”
“I’ll have you know, I’m half Jamaican. It takes a lot more than something like this to get me drunk.” I raise my now empty glass, and right on cue, Becker comes back with a tray full of fresh drinks. I stand up and grab one, unsure why the room seems a little unsteady. We clink our glasses together right before Nick pulls me back onto his lap.
“You’re lucky you didn’t make me spill my drink, Nicky,” I sass.
“Yeah? What would you have done if I did? And I think maybe you left your Jamaican half upstairs when you went to go change because whatever half is here right now is drunk,” he whispers in my ear. “But don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.”
“Yeah, you will,” I say, bumping my nose to his.
“I so need a boyfriend,” Stephanie says while looking at us.
This causes her father, who looks like an older and chunkier version of Nick, to groan and shake his head. “You’re seventeen. The last thing you need is a boyfriend,” Henry says to his daughter.
Neither one of us responds as we gaze into each other’s eyes. I lift my free hand and run it through his hair, intentionally messing it up. When I finally look away, it’s only to find his mother watching us with a smile on her face.
“Tell me more about Nicky when he was younger, Allison. Did he have a lot of girlfriends?”
She leans back in her chair as if she’s deep in thought.
“He had a few. I’m a little biased. He was always so handsome, but I was relieved I didn’t have the type of son who had a different girlfriend every week. Whoever he was with, he was only with that one person. You’re not a mom yet, but when you are, all you will want is for your child to be happy.” She reaches over and grabs my hand, surprising me. “I like the way you look at my son, Miranda.” She kisses the top of my hand before dropping it. I slide it right back in Nick’s hair. I can feel the change in his body as I start to stroke his scalp. He leans closer to me and I finish my drink before I put my forehead to his.
“He is pretty cute,” I say before I start to laugh. Nick laughs too as he pulls away and takes the empty glass from me. “And I just love—” I stop talking and smirk at Nick. He holds his breath as he looks at me, brows arched as he waits for me to finish. “His eyes. I love his eyes.”
“You’re such a tease, but maybe you’ve had enough, sweets.” He kisses my cheek and then starts to rub the back of my neck. “You’re so going to get it later.”
“No!” My voice is loud even to my own ears. Nick, shocked by my outburst, chuckles at me. “They’re not that strong.” Becker hands me another drink. Nick tries to take it from me, but I move it away. The movement is awkward and part of the drink splashes on my shirt. “Thank you, Becker,” I say, nodding at him.
“You’re welcome, darling.” He winks at me, and I think I try to wink back,
but my eye feels heavy, and I leave it closed longer than a wink requires.
“You guys want to know the first thing Nicky asked me the night we met?” Everyone turns to me as they wait for me to speak. “He followed me to the bar and asked me if I’m old enough to drink.” I throw my head back and laugh.
“Smooth, son,” Allison says. “You know, he has his father’s eyes. He looks just like him, but thankfully, his personality is more like mine and Joe’s.”
“He likes younger women just like dear old dad,” Henry says, raising his glass to us. An unexpected laugh escapes my lips and I hiccup. The movement causes my drink to spill again, landing on Nick’s shirt this time. He takes the drink away from me and puts it out of my reach.
“You should have seen her the night of the party. She kept smelling the wine and putting it back,” Nick says as he strokes my hair. “I never stood a chance.”
“Nicky,” I say, putting my forehead to his. “Neither did I.” He plants a kiss to my forehead, and I hear the women in the room swoon.
“Nick, son,” Becker says, slapping him on the back. “You always pick the prettiest girlfriends. I thought Paige was a looker until I saw Miranda. Damn. And unlike Paige, you have a personality, sweetheart.”
The room goes quiet as everyone looks at me, probably waiting for my reaction, but Mr. Bain speaks up before I can say anything.
“Becker, shut up and stop embarrassing the girl. Someone, play some music.”
“Oh, I want to hear more about Paige,” I tell everyone.
“Oh, please, no,” Nick says.
“Well, darling,” Becker says. “She had a real stick up her ass.”
“Stick?” Joe says. “More like a two by four.” Everyone is stunned speechless for a few seconds, then we all burst into laughter at the same time.
“Ice queen bitch,” Stephanie says. “Sorry, Uncle Nick, but she was. Remember when we came to Chicago to visit you? We came by your place and she couldn’t even bother to come out of the bedroom.” Stephanie rolls her eyes at the memory.
