Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
They had spent the twenty-third making love, putting up the tree, making love, decorating, and making love some more.
The outside lights had been almost more trouble than they were worth, until Auggie’s face had lit up when he’d seen them after dark.
Thor would do pretty much anything to keep that expression on Auggie’s face.
The twenty-fourth had been dedicated to making love, reading, singing goofy Christmas songs and watching even goofier Christmas movies, and Thor couldn’t remember a holiday he’d enjoyed more.
He woke up before Auggie on Christmas morning and he was too excited to give Auggie his gift to get back to sleep, so he went downstairs and made blueberry pancakes and mimosas.
He was going to set them on a tray and bring them upstairs for breakfast in bed, but just as he was putting everything on the tray, Auggie came padding downstairs in bare feet and his robe, hair tousled deliciously.
Thor wanted to paint him like this, all beautiful and morning soft.
He simply stared for a long moment, taking Auggie in.
Auggie froze. “Do I have drool on chin?” He wiped at his face.
“No. You look so lovely this morning.”
Auggie blushed, and he opened his mouth—to protest, Thor was sure—but then he snapped it closed again and didn’t say anything.
Oh, good boy. Auggie was learning, and even if he still thought it, he hadn’t said it out loud. That was a step in the right direction.
“I was going to bring breakfast up, but you’re here now, so you wanna eat in the kitchen or in the den with the tree and a fire?”
“Oh, the tree and fire, please.”
Thor was discovering that Auggie was quite the hedonist, if given permission to be.
He ached for the man who found all these things an unusual indulgence, but he knew he could give Auggie all those things now.
Especially because so much that Auggie thought was special treatment was just decent treatment.
“You wanna grab the maple syrup and the napkins?” They hadn’t quite fit on the tray, and he’d been planning to stuff them into the pockets of the robe he was wearing, but this was better.
Auggie grabbed those and followed him into the den. Thor turned on the lights on the tree and then went and started the fire, which he’d left ready to be lit the night before for just this reason.
“It’s so cozy.” Auggie stood next to the coffee table, looking around with something close to awe mixed with yearning on his face.
“It is. And it’s ours.”
“Yours, I’m just a guest here,” Auggie noted, a sad little twist to his lips.
Thor shook his head. “No, I want this to be yours too.”
“Until new years.”
Man, Auggie’s glass really was half empty.
“Stop that,” he ordered. “And sit.”
Auggie looked surprised but sat without protest.
Thor went to the tree and pulled out the small wrapped box he’d slipped under the tree last night after he’d finished setting up the fire for this morning. He handed it over.
“Merry Christmas.”
“But I didn’t get you anything!” Auggie looked distraught.
“You did.”
“What?”
“Yourself.”
Auggie shook his head. “No. You’ve been so good to me, this whole thing has been like a gift to me, not to you.”
“But that’s the thing, Auggie. I feel like I’ve been given the most wonderful gift and that’s you, here with me.”
“People don’t say stuff like that to me, Thor.”
“I’m not people, Auggie. I’m your lover. Your Daddy.”
Auggie bit his lower lip, and Thor could see him fighting not to protest.
He gently tugged it from between Auggie’s lips. “And you deserve it, Auggie. You deserve all this. You deserve me. You are enough, just as you are. I promise you.”
He wiped the tear off Auggie’s cheek. “I want these to be happy tears.”
Auggie nodded and took a hiccupping breath. “They are.”
“Good.” He pulled Auggie close and hugged him tightly. “I have you. I want to always have you, if you’ll let me. Now open your gift.”
Auggie carefully undid the paper, then opened the box, his breath catching when he did. “This is the key to…”
“The house. I want you to live here with me so we can be together. So that when I’m busy, I can still come home to you. And when you have to work, you can come home to me.”
“You didn’t have this made in the last two days,” Auggie said slowly, wheels clearly turning in his brain.
“Nope. I had it made the day after you stayed overnight.”
“So you want me to move in. Already? Are you sure?”
“I do, and I am. But if you’re not, you can just use it to come over whenever you want. I have faith that you’ll eventually believe what I say and that we’ll be together forever. My forever boy.”
“Oh. Oh. Oh.” Auggie flew into his arms, holding on tightly to him. Thor hugged his boy, holding him just as hard.
“I love you, boy,” he murmured softly.
Auggie drew back enough to look up at him, eyes shining. “I love you too.” Then Auggie took a deep breath and added, “Daddy.”