I woke up before Gary. I hadn’t taken any pills last night and my leg was reminding me. I was very aware of how many pills I was taking and I didn’t want to abuse it, so going one day without wouldn’t kill me. I was half-tempted to roll back over and snuggle into Gary again, but it was Christmas morning! I wanted to make it special.

So I quickly got dressed and snuck out of the room. I made eggs and bacon and fresh coffee, and the smell brought a still half-sleeping Kat out of her room. I handed her a cup of coffee. “Merry Christmas.”

She blinked and looked up. “Oh, it is! Merry Christmas.” She gave me a hug. “This smells amazing. Where’s Gary?”

“Still asleep.”

“Well, go wake him up,” she said. “I’ll set the table.”

I walked into our room, and I knew I’d have to take an aspirin or something for my leg at some point. Maybe sex last night had been too much, but if all I had to take was an aspirin, I’d count it is a win. There was no way I was abstaining from sex again; I’d waited long enough, and so had Gary.

I sat on the bed. “Hey, sleepyhead,” I said, rubbing his arm.

He opened his eyes and smiled when he saw me. “Morning.”

“Merry Christmas.”

He took my hand and kissed my knuckles. “Merry Christmas.”

“I cooked breakfast,” I said.

“You did?” he asked, sitting up. “Is that what I can smell?”

“Yes,” Kat called out. “Now get your ass out of bed before it gets cold.”

Gary laughed, and after he’d used the bathroom, I met him at the table with his coffee. “Thank you, baby.”

My cheeks flushed at his words, and Kat groaned as she sat down. “You guys are killing me with the love.”

“Well, I’m not even remotely sorry!” Gary said, grinning.

We sat and ate our breakfast, and the chatting and smiles never eased up. Gary made a second pot of coffee, and when all the food was gone, Kat stood up. “I have small gifts for you both,” she said. “Shall we sit in the living room? We can clean up breakfast afterward.”

“I have something too,” Gary said.

They each disappeared into their bedrooms, and I went to the end kitchen cabinet that no one ever looked in. I’d hidden their gifts behind a green glass pitcher and an old tin breadbox that I’m pretty sure my grandmother had once. And when I walked back into the living room, we each stood there with wrapped gifts in our hands.

“I didn’t have much money, but I wanted to get you both something,” I said. I gave Kat hers first, then gave Gary his.

Gary kissed my forehead and Kat gave me a teary smile. “You are the sweetest thing,” she said. Then she held out a small box to each of us. “For you both.”

I took her gift to me and sat on the sofa with my leg outstretched, hung my cane over the armrest, Gary sat beside me, and Kat sat on the floor in front of the Christmas tree. She opened her gift from me. “It’s not much,” I said, a little embarrassed. “But I thought it was pretty, and it reminded me of you.”

She lifted out the necklace and inspected the amber amulet at the end of the long chain. “Oh, Richard, it’s beautiful! Thank you!”

“You’re welcome. And Merry Christmas.”

She got a little teary and slipped the necklace over her head. “Merry Christmas to you too.”

Then she opened the gift Gary had gotten her. It was her favorite perfume. “Oh my God, how did you know I was running out?”

“I heard you mumble something about it the other day, and I saw it at the drugstore.”

Gary began to open his gift from me. “Maybe you should wait,” I said quickly, nervously. “Maybe until we’re alone…”

“Is it something of a personal, bedroom nature?” Kat asked with a laugh. “Because I’m not a prude.”

I could feel my face turn bright red. “Oh no, nothing like that,” I said. “It’s just… I don’t know what Gary will think…” I cringed. “He might not appreciate an audience.”

Gary stopped unwrapping the small box. “Okay. I can wait.”

I let out a breath of relief. “But here,” he said, handing me my gift. “You can open yours.”

“Open mine first!” Kat said. “Then I’ll start cleaning up the kitchen and give you guys some privacy.”

I lifted her gift for me. It was a decent size box, the wrapping paper had green Christmas trees and candy canes with a red bow, and it made me smile. Inside was a shirt box with two brand new button-down shirts: one blue striped and one solid blue. They looked pricey and very cool.

“I wanted you to have something new and groovy in your wardrobe,” she said. “Something to make you feel good when you wear it.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. “Kat, this is too much! This is more than I imagined and very thoughtful of you, but they must have cost a fortune.”

“You deserve it.” She smiled warmly at me. “Gary told me your shirt size, but I have the receipts if you need.”

“No, they’re perfect. Thank you.”

Then Gary held up his gift for me. “For you.”

I took the box, its paper covered in blue snowmen, and unwrapped it. Inside was a cardboard box that I had to open, and inside that were two silver photo frames. They weren’t brand new, but they sure were beautiful. “I thought we could put our photos from Woodstock and Vietnam in them. They’d look great on our dresser or on our bedside tables.”

“Gary, they’re perfect.” The sentiment, how he called everything he owned ‘ours’ made my heart squeeze.

But in the bottom of the cardboard box was something else. Oh my God. “It’s the cigar box from the thrift store,” I said, lifting it out.

“Kat told me you had your eye on it.”

“I did,” I whispered in reply. The box had some patterned carvings and a little brass latch. It was a handsome piece, and as soon as I saw it in the store, I knew what it would be perfect for. “I thought I could keep all my letters from you in it,” I said to him. “That you wrote to me in Vietnam. And maybe my dog tags.”

“Oh, Richard,” he said, reaching out for my hand. “That’s perfect! I wondered what you had in mind for it.”

I lifted the lid of the wooden box. “It’s been well used, a bit scratched and banged up, but so am I. And I thought that’s what made it perfect for my letters. They’re my most treasured possession.” I shot an apologetic look at Kat. “I mean, the shirts are great—”

She put her hand up and laughed. “Oh, please. If someone wrote me love letters from the other side of the world for a year, they’d be my favorite possession too.” She got to her feet and quickly stacked up some plates from the table. “I’ll leave you to open your gift,” she said with a huge grin and disappeared into the kitchen.

“Can I open it now?” Gary asked quietly.

I nodded. “I just… they seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I’m not sure…”

He was puzzled but undid the tissue paper wrapping to pull out a small jewelry box. He wore an odd smile as he opened it, and I suddenly felt a little ill. “If you don’t like it, it doesn’t matter. I mean, it doesn’t have to mean anything, and the lady at the thrift store gave me a bit of a bargain because I wanted two.”

He looked from the two men’s onyx signet rings to me. “Why two?”

“One for you and one for me.” I swallowed hard. “I know it’s probably lame that I bought myself one for your Christmas gift, but it’s not like we can walk down the street holding hands or anything, but if we both wear these it’ll be our way of showing we’re in love without the world knowing, and we’ll know what it means but no one else will, and men wear these all the time so no one will think it’s queer—”

He slid his free hand around my neck and pulled me in for a bruising kiss, and when he pulled back he was a little teary. “That’s the most perfect thing I’ve ever heard. Richard, that’s… perfect.” Both rings were similar: a solid silver band with a black onyx square face. They were a little banged up and were hardly flawless, but what they signified was. Gary took the smaller one out, and lifting my right hand, he slid the ring down my ring finger. Then he did the same with his. “Richard,” he whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I whispered back to him. “Do you like it?”

He shook his head. “No. I love it.” He looked at his ring, then to me again, then at the ring on my hand. “Merry Christmas, Richard.”

He spoke with such love and emotion it made me blush. “Merry Christmas.”

Kat cleared her throat, and we both glanced up to see her leaning against the kitchen doorframe. “Could you two be any cuter?”

I fell into Gary’s arms and ducked my head, and Gary laughed as he slung his arm around me.

“Dishes are done,” Kat said. “I need to get showered and ready to go. I’d ask if you two needed anything, but I think we all know you’re not leaving the apartment today.”

Gary laughed. “Have a great Christmas with your aunt.”

Later after Kat was gone, we each took a shower, and when I came out to the living room, Gary had the mattress off our bed on the floor in the living room in front of the TV. There were blankets and pillows, snacks, drinks, and lube.

“Make sure the front door’s locked,” he said with a gleam in his eye.

I slid the latch in place. “Kat definitely won’t be home tonight?”

“Nope. Not until tomorrow morning.”

“So we have all day.”

“And all night.”

I held out my hand and showed him the two aspirin. “Do you think we can wait until these kick in?”

“Is your leg sore?” he asked, ducking into the kitchen. He reappeared with a glass of water and handed it to me. “We don’t have to do anything. They’re showing Christmas movies and cartoons all day long.”

I downed the pills and got myself laid down on the makeshift bed. “Oh no, we’ll definitely be doing something,” I said. “How much lube did you bring out?”

“The whole bottle,” he answered.

“That’s a good start.” I patted the mattress beside me.

Gary grinned and stepped on the mattress, but then he stopped. He walked over to the tree, and taking the Christmas angel, he turned her around so she faced the wall. “Don’t want to scare her.”

I burst out laughing. “No, we don’t. Now get down here with me and do to me all the things you want to do. If I can’t walk at all tomorrow, I won’t be disappointed.”

Gary snorted, but he got himself comfy beside me and pulled the blankets up. We watched TV for all of thirty seconds before his hand began to wander. “Those pills kicked in yet?”

I guided his hand down to my crotch. “It doesn’t hurt here.”

He chuckled and hummed as he kissed me. “I’m glad to hear that.”

He made love to me, with a slow tenderness that left no room of doubt how he felt about me. He was gentle, thorough, and he made sure he met my every need, more than once.

Afterward, I was so sated and so sleepy, we dozed on and off. We watched more TV, we laughed, we ate leftovers from our Christmas Eve dinner, and we made love again.

Gary called his parents, and Pauly phoned us. He’d settled in well at MIT and was living proof that if anyone could convince the genius squad of Boston’s mathematical elite to willingly eat hash Christmas brownies, it was Pauly.

By early evening, we ended up showering again, this time together, and when I was completely naked on the mattress in the living room, Gary kissed every inch of me. Even my injured leg.

“Can you feel that?” he asked, kissing one of my dented scars.

“Not on the skin. I can feel pressure, but the superficial nerves are too damaged,” I answered. “Or so the doctor said.”

He licked across my hip toward my hard-on, smiling, his eyes on mine. “Can you feel that?”

I nodded. “Oh yeah.”

So he slipped the head of my cock into his mouth and tongued the frenulum before he pulled off. “And that?”

“God, yes,” I breathed. “How can I want more? After all you’ve done to me today, I thought I’d had enough for a week.”

He fisted the base and licked up my length. “This tells me otherwise.”

“I want more,” I admitted. “I’m so turned on right now, and you feel so good, I never want it to end.”

He crawled up my body so he could kiss me. His erection rubbed against mine and it felt sublime, but then he slowly lifted my injured leg, bringing my knee up toward my chest. “Does that hurt?”

“A little, but it’s okay.”

“I want to make love to you, face-to-face,” he whispered. “I want to see it in your eyes when I’m inside you, when you come.”

My bones turned to hot mush at his words, and my cock throbbed between us. I certainly couldn’t feel any pain in my leg. “God yes, please, Gary.”

And when I was ready and when Gary applied enough lube for the both of us, he kissed me and stared right into my eyes as he finally pressed inside me. He cradled my face and watched my eyes as he pushed, inch by inch, into my body. In the most carnal of ways, in the most intimate of ways, he made love to me.

He kissed me, he rocked and thrust, careful of my leg, but taking what he wanted and giving me everything I needed. And I could see it in his eyes too. How good it felt for him, how much he loved me, and how I turned him on.

It was incredible.

He had to keep his weight off me so he didn’t put pressure on my leg, and he urged me to stroke myself. “I want to watch you come,” he murmured.

I slipped my hand between us and he lifted off me a little, changing the angle of his thrusts. Like he’d found some magic switch inside me, I saw fireworks behind my eyelids. “Oh my God. Do that again!”

So he did, over and over, and I fucked my fist and my orgasm ripped through me —like wildfire, white-hot and uncontained. I came in long spurts, covering my belly and chest, and I felt like I could come for days. And then Gary’s eyes rolled closed. He thrust hard one final time and cried out as he came inside me.

He collapsed on top of me and I relished his weight, his breath at my neck, his pulse I could feel against me, inside me.

He rolled us onto our sides, held me so damn tight in his arms. “I love you,” he murmured.

“Love you too,” I replied.

“Merry Christmas.” His voice was barely a breath.

“Merry Christmas.”

“Should I turn the angel back around?”

I chuckled. “Not yet.”

Gary propped his head up and gave me a crazy look. “You want more?”

I leaned in and kissed him. “I want it all.”