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.
*