Pawliday Love

2. How to Ruin Christmas in One Easy Step

CHAPTER TWO

HOW TO RUIN CHRISTMAS IN ONE EASY STEP

SEBASTIAN

I royally screwed up.

The sound of her broken voice echoed in my ears long after Frances disappeared down the hall. I set the takeout container on the counter, appetite gone, and rubbed a hand over my face. The tension in my shoulders, already knotted from the day, twisted tighter.

I’d known Frank was upset the second I walked through the door, but I hadn’t realized how much until now.

Leaning against the counter, I let out a long sigh. The apartment was quiet, save for the faint hum of Christmas music still playing from the speaker. The tree sat in the corner, semi-undecorated, its crooked branches glinting with lights Frankie must’ve strung up earlier.

She wanted this to be special. For Joey. For us. And I’d been too wrapped up in work and my own hang-ups to notice.

My chest tightened as I thought about her standing there, trying so hard to hold everything together. Frankie wasn’t just big on Christmas; she lived for it. And me? I didn’t know what to do with the holidays.

Growing up, they were just another day. Sure, there were a few years when Mom tried to make it something special, but that fell apart once Dad got home and opened his mouth. After that, Christmas meant cold dinners and quiet rooms. By the time I was old enough to do something about it, I’d stopped caring.

But Frances cared. She cared enough for the both of us, and I’d let her down.

How could I fix it?

“Mrow,” Remmy chirped at me from the arm of the couch, his green eyes fixed on me.

“Hey, buddy,” I greeted. He cocked his head, giving me the angriest glare I’d gotten from him in a long time.

“You’re mad at me too, huh?” I asked. He didn’t deign me worthy of an answer, instead looking away to clean his paw. I laid my head back on the couch and stared at the ceiling.

“How do I fix this, Rem?” I asked, as if the little shit would answer.

A thump sounded and I looked over to see he was stalking toward the ornaments on the coffee table.

“Not a chance, Gremlin,” I muttered, sitting up to move them, but I was too late.

Remmy struck, sending ornaments flying every which way. I scrambled to catch them, missing a few that thankfully landed on the carpet without shattering. Setting the bulbs down, I turned to glare at the little golden goblin. I was about to scold him more when I noticed the ornament swinging from his mouth.

“Rem, come on. Your mom will be more pissed if you break any of these.” I took a slow step toward him, then another. He was within arm's reach when he took off toward the tree. A string of curses fell from my mouth as I turned to go after him, his orange tail disappearing inside the now-wobbling tree.

It swayed dangerously, ready to fall, but I caught it and righted it just in time.

“Gremlin!” I gritted. “Are you trying to get me killed?!”

“Mrow.” A yes, if I ever heard one.

“Asshole,” I grumbled.

Remmy poked his head out, still holding the ornament as I held the tree in place. I was sure he was going to bolt again, but instead, he batted my arm. I raised a brow. Surely he wasn’t giving in already. Slowly, I lowered my hand toward his face. It had to be a trap. There was no way he was going to give me the?—

The ornament dropped into my palm.

“Oh, uh, thanks, bud,” I said. I turned to set it behind me so I could fix the tree, when he pawed my hand. This time, I actually looked at the ornament.

It was Joey’s first Christmas ornament. Everything came pouring back, and it hit me just how badly I’d fucked up.

I didn’t have much time to dwell on it because the orange demon sprang from the tree with a loud “Mrow,” causing it to shake. Thankfully, I was holding it in place, so it didn’t topple over.

Once I was sure the tree would stand on its own, I carefully backed away. I looked at the fluff ball, now underneath the tree on his back with his belly exposed. I’d fallen for that trap before and wasn’t about to make that mistake again. I was fairly sure I still had a scar on my hand from him.

Looking down at the small object in my hand again, I knew what I had to do. First, though, I needed to make sure the tree didn’t fall anymore. The last thing I needed was it collapsing on Joey or Frances. I went into the office, grabbed a small spindle of rope I had in the desk drawer, and headed back to secure the tree. Once that was done, I got to work.

Pulling off my tie and rolling up my sleeves, I crouched in front of the boxes of decorations.

As I started hanging the ornaments, I thought about Frankie and how much she loved this stuff. The tree didn’t mean much to me, but to her, it was everything.

If I couldn’t give her the perfect Christmas, I could at least give her this.

Behind me, Remmy knocked something down, letting out a low, amused meow.

“Don’t start,” I muttered, glancing over at him. He flicked his tail, looking far too pleased with himself.