22
Pacey
We put the gingerbread cookies in the oven and then laid on the couch.
The cold weather outside made us so lazy. I laid my head on Adam’s lap, looking up at his sharp jawline and luscious stubble.
He looked like a painting. Even though we’d been hanging out so much, I still couldn’t believe that he was in my home again, drinking peppermint tea out of my favorite mug.
“You don’t have a Christmas tree,” Adam pointed out.
“No, I didn’t think of getting one since I moved here,” I said.
“Why not?” He asked, looking at me with his icy blue eyes.
“It’s always such a hassle to bring it in the house. Cadence eats the pine needles, then it takes so much work to decorate it, and after a month or two, it goes in the trash.”
“I thought you liked Christmas,” he said.
“It’s alright, I always get nervous about it.”
“Why?”
“Well, I just hate seeing my extended family.”
“Ahh, I always thought you liked it. The couple times I spent with you on Christmas in high school, it was just your parents and you at your place.”
“Yeah, we do that on Christmas Eve. But we also go to my grandparents’ on Christmas Day where the whole family is there, and that’s the part that I hate. All that small talk, asking if I have a girlfriend and stuff. It’s annoying.”
“Gotcha, just like how I hate going to my mom’s Christmas party. Well...my favorite recent memories of Christmas have always been spending it with you.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yeah, when I’d hang out at your place on Christmas Eve,” Adam said, looking out the window. “Your parents would get me presents like I was their son. Before that, it was really shitty with my mom all fucked up and stuff.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “I remember my mom asking if you wanted to join us for Christmas. I didn’t understand why you wouldn’t spend it with your mom at the time because I was young. But now it makes more sense to me.”
“Yeah, I’ve always been grateful for your parents for that. It was so fucking nice seeing them the other night. Your parents are gems.”
“I know, I’m really lucky to have them in my life, especially because I still live in the same city and they help me out a lot.”
“I see my mom all the time now too, even though she doesn’t permanently live in Los Angeles. But I can’t help but compare my relationship with her and my relationship with your parents. Even though I hadn’t seen your parents in so many years, they feel more like family to me.”
I smiled, then thought of an idea. “Why don’t you spend Christmas Eve with us this year? I know you said you have other plans, but the option is always there for you. It’ll just be my parents and me…and Cadence.”
I could see his wheels turning, then he looked back at me.
“What would I tell my mom?” Adam asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t want to steal you away from her, but you know you’re welcome to join us anytime.”
“Thanks, Pace. I’ll think about it for sure.”
I got up off his lap, and stretched, his eyes traced down my body.
“You wanna go get a tree?” I asked.
“What? Right now? There’s nothing open on Christmas Eve.”
“You’re right, but there’s a forest in the back that has some trees, and I have a hacksaw in my shed,” I smiled.
“You’re a crazy motherfucker, but let’s do it.”
I knew that Christmas meant more to Adam than it did for me, even though he acted like it wasn’t all that important to him.
We got dressed and headed out through the back door. I opened the shed and pulled out the hacksaw I had used to construct a bench in the summer that was now on the front porch.
The alleyway towards the forest was lined with snow-covered cars. The street was silent except for whistling of the wind.
I let Cadence off his leash and he sniffed the lamp posts as we made our way to the forest.
The snow on the ground had accumulated since Adam first arrived. We were almost knee deep in it.
Adam stuck his tongue out, trying to get a snowflake to land in his mouth. I couldn’t help but smile at how happy he looked. We got to the edge of the forest of pine trees and walked along a path.
“Is this even legal?” Adam asked.
I smiled. “When did you care about if things are legal or not?”
“Well, aren’t you the vegan who’s all, let’s hold hands and save the planet together?”
I rolled my eyes. “Do you want a tree or not?”
“I do, I do,” he admitted.
I saw a small tree that was surrounded by larger ones. Most of the leaves on that tree were brown from the big trees blocking all the sun.
We both glanced over at each other, then back at the tree that wasn’t much taller than Cadence.
“It’s perfect,” we said at the same time, then laughed.
I brought the saw to its trunk and it didn’t take much effort to hack into it.
“Timber!” I shouted as the tiny tree dropped onto the snow.
Adam picked it up and carried it over his shoulder. We made our way back to the house.
When we got inside, Adam stood the tree up next to the fireplace.
“What a beauty,” he said, arms on his hips as he admired it from a distance.
A tuft of dead pine needles fell off a branch and onto the ground.
“You have any ornaments?” He asked.
I shook my head. But then, I remembered the gingerbread cookies cooling on the counter in the kitchen. I grabbed one that was cut out into a star and balanced it on the highest branch of the tree.
“It’s perfect,” Adam said like a proud dad. “You have any alcohol? We should celebrate.”
“No, I don’t drink often at home, and I wasn’t planning on having any before going to my parents’ place,” I looked at the time. “We should probably get going before we miss dinner. I’m surprised they haven’t called me yet. Have you decided what you want to do?”
He thought for a moment. There was a pained expression on his face, trying to make a decision on where he wanted to spend Christmas Eve.
Before he could answer, the lights in the house flickered, then turned back on.
“That was weird,” I said.
It flickered again, then the whole house went dark, except for the flame of the candle sitting on my coffee table.
My phone rang, and I answered it. It was my parents.
“Hello?” I said.
“Hey honey, where are you? The power just went out at our house,” my dad said. “Thank god the turkey just finished cooking!”
“Damn, you too? It’s out here as well.”
“You’re still at home? Dinner is almost ready!”
“I’ll head over soon, dad. I’m here with Adam and we lost track of time.”
“Have you looked outside yet? The weather is getting really bad, I think it might be some kind of snowstorm.”
I glanced out my window into the dark streets. Not even the streetlights were on. We were outside not very long ago, but the snow had now reached as high as the cars parked on the street.
“I was going to take the streetcar over, or take a taxi soon.”
“Streetcars won’t be running in this kind of weather, I don’t even know about taxis when the roads are this bad.”
I looked over at Adam who was leaning on the windowsill looking outside. Cadence was right next to him on his hind legs, his front paws rested on the window sill.
“I think we’re fucked,” Adam said.
“Dad, I’ll give you a call back to see what we can do. Also, it’s possible that Adam might join us tonight.”
“That’s great, we’ll set the table for four, well five including Cadence. Hope to see you boys soon,” he said.
I scrolled through my phone to check for updates from the city. The mayor had sent a tweet announcing we were having a city-wide power outage. Great. He said that the problem was going to be resolved soon which probably meant that we were screwed.