Chapter 11 Christmas Morning #2
“Want to call your family, Joey? Or they live locally, so we can go—”
“No.”
“No, what? They don’t live locally?” I was confused. He’d said most of them lived only thirty minutes or so away.
“Local enough, but no thank you to any of that.” He stirred his finger around in the air.
“Why? What’s going on?” I feared the worst. They abused him, hurt him. I had no idea, but they were stupid if they had.
Joey huffed. “I haven’t really even spoken to them since last year. So…fuck them.”
“Joey? Talk to me. I know you said you weren’t close with them, but they’re still family. Right?”
He slid off my lap and stretched out beside me on the sofa. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Tell me about them, then.”
“Mom, ugh. She did the best she could. Dad passed away when I was a teenager, and I was not an easy child.”
“Who is?”
“My younger brother, according to my family. But he’s also a dick.”
“In general or to you?”
I pulled his feet into my lap and rubbed them, trying to make him more comfortable.
Finally, he sighed. “My whole family—all conservatives in a conservative town. I am the antithesis of conservative.” He waited a moment, maybe gathering his thoughts, so I gave him the space he needed.
Finally, he sat up and held my hand, while his trembled.
“They weren’t nice to me last year. Mostly because of Tony. ”
“That’s your brother?”
He nodded. “He’s always been a jerk, even when we were kids. You’d swear he was the older brother, picking on me. But last year. Gah! He basically picked apart my life, threw it in my face and rubbed it in, while the family watched on with complete apathy.”
“That doesn’t sound nice.”
“It wasn’t, but not one of them reached out to me since. Not one. So, yeah. Fuck them.”
“Well, you don’t have to call them. If you do, do it because you want to and not because you think you have to for them. Obviously, they’re not interested in what’s best for you.”
“Good. I’m not going to call.” He crossed his arms over his chest in stubborn defiance. Well, I sure as hell wasn’t going to make him call them.
“You don’t have to have people in your life who are toxic, even if they’re family.”
“Thanks.” He leaned against my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm around him. That conversation left me wanting to make Joey feel special. He deserved it.
My plan started with a nice ham dinner for two. The food was delicious, but the company was better. We talked about our lives and interests, getting to know each other even more. But then, one last Christmas surprise that I’d held off on to make it better. “Come upstairs with me?”
“Sure.” He squeezed my hand when I grabbed his. “What’s going on?”
“You’ll see.”
He huffed a little, which was super cute, as I led him up the stairs and to the door closest to the back of the house.
It had an attached bathroom and a large closet, though not as big as the master, and I’d put a daybed in there as well as paint one of the walls a dark, navy blue.
There were also plenty of shelves and a big toy box, and most importantly, floor space where he could play.
It had been a challenge to do it secretly with as much time as we had been spending together, but I thought I’d pulled it off. “Ready?”
“Is this what I think it is?” He hesitated, shifting his weight from left to right and back.
“Go in and see.” I pushed the door open for him to enter.
He gasped as he went in and spun around. “How did you do this?”
“I’ll never tell.”
“Wow.” He ran around, inspecting the empty shelves and opening the also-empty toy box. “There’s nothing here.”
“Nope. It’s all downstairs right now, but I expect you’ll migrate everything up, including what you brought from your place.”
He jumped up and down. “Yes!” Then he jumped at me, and I caught him as he wrapped his legs around my waist. He was skinny but tall, and for half a second, I was afraid we’d fall. But I planted my feet and gripped him tightly.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” He punctuated his words with kisses on my face. “I love it. I almost forgot I had toys downstairs cuz I was so excited.” He kissed my nose and cheeks. Then I captured his lips.
“Do you want to start moving your things while I fix us some hot cocoa?”
“Oh. That sounds great. Can we drink it in front of the tree?”
“Of course.” We’d had the treat when we put up the decorations earlier in the week, and he’d enjoyed it. “And we still have marshmallows, too.”
“Yay. Let’s do it.” He rushed down the stairs.
“Walk, Joey. You’ll fall.” His steps slowed as I followed him down, and I heard him trying to stifle a giggle. “Silly boy.”
While I got our cocoa ready, he busied himself moving all the gifts he’d received for Christmas upstairs.
Plus, since I’d purposefully had him put his stuff from his apartment in the extra room downstairs, he needed to move that too.
It took a few trips, but before he finished, his phone binged, and I heard him answer. “Hello.”
After a few minutes of silence, he spoke again, and I wasn’t happy with his tone of voice. He was mad. “It’s none of your business. No. I don’t have to do anything. Fuck off.” I heard the phone drop, and I moved the hot water off the burner, turning it off, then rushed out to the living room.
“Joey? What’s wrong? Who was that?”
He looked like he was about to explode. “Tony, my stupid brother.”
“What did he say?” I already wanted to kill the man without knowing what he said or anything else about him. But if he put that expression on my Joey, he needed his ass beat.
“He. He.” Joey dropped to the floor. “I thought he was going to say they missed me. And he didn’t. He demanded to know where I was. He said I was a horrible person for putting my own selfish bullshit in front of the family.” Tears fell down his cheeks, and he sobbed.
“Joey.” I sat beside him and pulled him onto my lap, wrapping him in my arms. I let him cry as I rubbed his back and gently rocked him. I murmured softly. “He’s wrong. They should be missing you. You’re a jewel, and they didn’t treat you right. They don’t deserve your company. I’ve got you.”
When he finally cried himself out, and nothing was left but sniffles, he pulled away to look up at me but held onto my shoulders. His eyes were rimmed in red, and it broke my heart. “Thank you. I…” He rubbed his face over the side of his arm.
“Take your time, but you don’t have to say anything. I’ve always got your back.”
“I know. And that makes me happy. I guess I didn’t realize how hurt I’ve been over them. You know? Why can’t they be cool about things? Why can’t my brother not be such a jerk?”
I pulled him back into my arms and kissed the top of his head. “I don’t know the answers to that, but you have me. And Grant. And my folks. They love you.”
He exhaled loudly. “Thank you. That does help. I should know by now that the family you choose is nearly always better than the one you’re born into.”
“Not always, Joey. But maybe when it comes to your brother.”
Joey laughed hard and genuinely. “You’re right about that.”
“Good. Now, let’s get back to the cocoa, and then a long, hot bath before bed? How’s that sound?”
“Uh…perfect.”
“And you know what else?”
“What?”
I stood and pulled him to his feet as well. “I’m yours forever if you want me.”