Chapter 15
Roman
“It’s perfect.”
I tilted my head to the side and tried to see what Sage saw. “It’s lopsided.”
She scoffed. “No, it’s not. Stop tilting your head that way. It’s crooked because your head is crooked.”
“Momma, Ro! I want this one!”
Sage and I turned around to see Sam pointing at a perfect tree. If Sage’s living room was twice the size, and she had twenty-foot ceilings.
“Um, that’s a pretty tree, honey, but I don’t think that will fit in our house unless we blow the roof off and break down the wall,” Sage laughed.
“Then we need a bigger house.” Sam’s head was tilted back, taking in the pretty tree with his hands on his hips. “Next year, we’ll get you, big guy.”
“Did he just talk to the tree?” Sage whispered.
I put my arm around her waist and pulled her to my side. “Pretty sure he did, but I have to admit, your kid has good taste in trees.”
“Roman,” she hissed. “Don’t encourage him. There is no way in this lifetime I’ll be able to afford a house big enough for that tree.”
I sized up the tree. “Next tree, we will totally get that one, little dude.” I pressed a kiss to Sage’s cheek and called Sam over to help me look for a different tree.
“Don’t get his hopes up, Roman,” she whispered.
I threw a wink at her over my shoulder and grabbed Sam’s hand. “I’d never do that, baby.”
This time next year, Sage, Sam, the baby, and I would definitely be living in a bigger house.
That was a f-u-c-k-i-n-g promise.
*
Sage
I was beyond exhausted. Not only had Sam, Roman, and I picked out, bought, hauled, and put up the Christmas tree, we had also Black Friday shopped before.
Sam and Roman were camped out on the couch with hot chocolate while watching Scooby Doo.
In usual fashion, I was obsessing over the ornaments on the tree, trying to get them just right.
“Woman, would you just leave it alone and come sit down. I can tell you’re tired.”
I glared at Roman over my shoulder and gently placed the small green ornament on the branch. “There,” I sang. “It’s perfect now.”
“Yeah, perfect until five minutes from now you start obsessing again.”
No, I was done. All the important ornaments were front and center. Hung perfectly where anyone could see them. Christmas was my favorite time of year, and then the day after Thanksgiving was always magical to me.
I put my hands on my hips and smiled at our hard work. “Tomorrow, I’ll haul out the manger and other decorations.”
“Momma says the little baby in the hay looked just like me when I was born,” Sam bragged.
“What? No. I bet you were even cuter when you were born.” Roman ruffled his hair and tossed the remote on the coffee table.
“You just told him he was cuter than Jesus.”
Roman shrugged and stood up, grabbing the empty cups of cocoa. “Like you aren’t thinking the same thing.”
I was, but I didn’t want Sam to know that. He spouted out things all the time, and I didn’t need one of them to be he was cuter than Jesus.
“Can we have pizza for dinner?”
I looked at the time, seeing it was already past six. “Sounds like a plan to me.” Anything to get me out of cooking tonight sounded like a good idea. “Good with you?” I asked Roman.
“Anchovy pizza sounds delicious.”
Sam gagged and tossed a pillow at Roman. “That’s gross.”
I had to agree, that didn’t sound appealing at all.
“Fine, fine,” Roman pouted. “We can do sausage and anchovy.”
“Or, you can get your anchovy pizza and eat it in the hallway,” I laughed.
Roman dumped the cups in the sink and held a hand to his heart. “Man, kicked out just because I love the little fishes.”
“I really hope you are joking,” I laughed.
“One must never joke about anchovies.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled to Luigi's number. “Well, I can tell you right now, you better keep your anchovy breath away from me, unless you want to see my sausage and pepperoni pizza come back up.”
Roman winced. “Fine, fine. I guess I’ll just have whatever you boring guys are having.”
“Sausage and pepperoni for the win!” Sam shouted.
“I knew you would see it our way.”
“Hey, Ro?”
Roman leaned against the counter and crossed his feet. “What’s up, little dude?”
“You wanna play Sensei Says while we wait for the pizza?”
“I think that sounds like a darn good idea. We can play in your room while momma orders the pizza.”
Sam pumped his fist in the air and charged down the hallway to his room.
“You’re too good to him,” I mumbled as he walked by.
He trailed his hand around my waist and pulled me to his side. “He deserves it.”
“Hmm, I don’t know if you’ll be saying that when he’s constantly bugging you to play, Sensei Says.”
He shrugged and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “He’ll grow out of it. Maybe I’ll get him an Xbox for Christmas. I could totally play that for hours with him.”
“You get him that, then you’re going to have to get me earplugs, an e-reader, and a shit ton of bubble bath so I can relax peacefully in the tub while you two play games all night.”
“That is so doable.”
“Wait, what?” Shit, I was only joking. “Roman,” I called to his retreating back. “He’s too young for an Xbox.”
He put his hands in the air. “I’m just gonna do what you told me to do. Xbox, bath shit, and an e-reader. It’s all up here.” He put a finger to his head and disappeared into Sam’s room.
I plopped down in the recliner and hung my head. What on Earth had I just done? “What if I order you an anchovy pizza? Will you forget everything I just said?”
“Not a chance in h-e-l-l, baby.”
“F-u-c-k,” I whispered.
“Heard that!” Roman hollered.
I stuck my tongue out toward Sam’s room and connected the call to Luigi's.
Damn that man.
*