Chapter 13 One Year Later - Christmas Day
Chapter thirteen
One Year Later - Christmas Day
Much like last year, I woke early and ran down the stairs and plopped in front of the tree. Just as I reached out for the first colorfully festive box, I heard Vince yelling from the top of the stairs. “You better not touch one box, Joey.”
Damn, he knew me well. I sat on my hands and pursed my lips, mostly to keep from laughing.
Vince walked into the room, camera in hand.
Since he’d taken up photography as a hobby, he was rarely without it.
Mostly, he took landscape and nature pictures, but I starred in more than a few.
Since I was used to being in front of the camera, it didn’t bother me.
In fact, it stoked my ego. I loved being the focus of his attention—literally.
Pictures of me aside, his work was incredible, and I’d spent the last two weeks sneaking around and getting a few of them printed and framed for him. They were now wrapped and under the tree with all of the lovelies waiting for me to open.
I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. “Now, Daddy? Now, can I open?”
“So impatient.” He rubbed my head, mussing my already messy hair. “Go ahead, but do it slowly.”
I scowled at him, not sure if I could do the slowly part. I was too excited. I grabbed the first one and tore it open.
It was two dinosaur masks. While I wasn’t into anything in particular, I liked having things I could share with my other little friends, so this was great. “Rawr! I can have Levi over and play dinos!”
“You can. We’ll call him later, if you want.”
“Yay!” I was so excited.
I simply loved my Daddy. Living with him this past year had been amazing. Even as great as his presents were, he was the real gift. He cared so much, and it showed in everything he’d done. Not only taking care of me as a little, but also in supporting me as a man and a partner.
We’d worked on decorating my playroom over the year, a little at a time, adding things I loved.
And all these new prezzies already had a spot waiting for them.
But beyond that, Vince’s house had become a real home for both of us.
We turned one of the guest rooms upstairs into an office.
I could work on my social media sites, and he could work on the business side of his photography, creating spaces to sell them.
Of course, with my SEO experience, I helped him out with that.
It was doing well so far, but it also wasn’t like his life depended on making a sale.
We also worked together on the Sage fundraiser event for the year in the office. That had been fun and productive.
And holy shit! The event turned out spectacular thanks to Jax Hoadley and his yacht.
We nearly doubled last year’s donations.
And Jax hadn’t lied, decorating the yacht had been a ton of fun, and all his friends helped out.
Even better, I considered them my friends too, which was the best part of working on the gala.
In fact, it felt as if everything I touched this year flourished as if I had a magic wand or something.
My social media company was going strong, and one of my biggest accounts was my old client, the sports drink company, CutBarb.
Their business had a significant fallout from my leaving Digitax.
I hadn’t sought them out, but they found me, and since I didn’t have a non-compete, I signed them on.
And Crow’s website NewYouFit4Life, came along with them.
But my favorite client was Afterglow, and now I was getting paid actual money instead of discounts.
Not only had we cleaned up their membership, but we had also significantly expanded it.
And we also started doing open-to-the-public events, complete with a stiff cover charge.
I’d also found a young writer in the scene willing to create a blog with a paid subscription.
That was part promotional and part another revenue stream.
It was still growing, but so far, the results were positive.
I’d not become a worldwide influencer. But I decided that maybe I didn’t need to be. My own business was doing well enough and keeping me super busy.
I opened more presents. A lot of them were for the pool, and more things I could play with my friends with. I even got a little blue Easy-Bake oven. Woot!
While I was tearing into mine, Vince collected his own stack.
“Open them, Daddy.” I wanted to see the look on his face when he opened the prints. But first, he had some clothes and a tie to get through. They were nice but boring. I couldn’t wait any longer and grabbed the one I wanted to see. “This one. Do this one.”
“Okay, Mr. Bossy.” He slid the present closer.
I stuck my tongue out at him.
He tore the paper and flipped the frame around. “Oh, my. Did you? Joey?”
“Haha! Got you. This one is my favorite.” It was the beach at sunset. I was standing with my feet in the water, and he caught my silhouette with deep red, yellow, and orange streaks through the dark blue sky.
“Mmm…I like this one too. I can’t believe you did this. Thank you.”
“Wait. There’s more. Get that one.” I leaned forward to reach it and nearly fell.
“I got it.”
The second one was the sunrise version of the beach.
It didn’t have me in it, but there was a flock of tropical birds flying by at just the right time to catch them in silhouette.
The sky was brightening but still a very light almost gray blue, with light yellows and oranges dancing across it. “They go well together.”
“They do. Where should we put them?”
I wanted to show them off. They were amazing. “In the foyer beside the doors to your workout room. Or…above the sofa.” I pointed to the wall in question.
“Not in the office?”
I screwed up my face. “No, Daddy. No one would see them.”
Vince smiled, his amber eyes practically growing. “I get you. I was thinking they would be inspiring, but yeah, let’s put them in the main room here.” He stood and held the sunrise picture against the wall. “Not bad. I’ll hang them later today.”
“I like it.” My stomach growled at that moment. “Oh…I hungry, Daddy.”
“We’re almost done with presents. Do you want to finish or go eat first?”
“Both.”
“Both?”
“Let’s grab ciminim-amum rolls.”
“And coffee?”
“Yes!” I jumped up and ran to the kitchen. We’d made cinnamon rolls the night before, so Vince heated them up for a few seconds in the microwave, while I poured our mugs. We met in the living room and ate while we opened the rest of our gifts.
There was nothing better than a holiday with the person you loved the best. And I enjoyed every second of it, because it was going to go downhill soon.
My mom finally called me a few weeks ago, and after apologizing, we invited them to have Christmas dinner. That included Tony. Despite our issues, they were family, and I missed them.
After breakfast, we cleaned up, put prezzies away, and started prepping for dinner.
Vince had turned the formal dining room into a workout space, which we used daily.
On the far side of the kitchen, he had a small round table in the breakfast nook, and of course, there was the kitchen island for places to eat.
I mentally counted where everyone could sit.
Mom and Aunt Sissy. Tony. Me and Vince, and my two cousins.
I didn’t think we’d all fit around that small table.
“Daddy, this is not going to work.” My cousins could sit with their brats at the counter, but that seemed rude.
The kids would sit there, but the rest of us? I didn’t know.
“I wouldn’t have let you invite them if I didn’t think it would work.”
“This table is too small.” We never ate there. We were at the counter, in the living room, or outside. “Oh, we can go outside.”
“Too cold. Wait a second.” He went into the garage. I stuck my head in to see what he was doing. He magically produced a long leaf for the table.
“You’re a wizard.”
“Not exactly. I knew it was here all along. Come on.” With the leaf in, we all could fit comfortably around the table. It’d be better to put the food on the island, buffet style. That thing was so big, it would hold all the food and the rugrats.
With that settled and the food arriving from the caterers any minute, I didn’t have much else to do. Before I could get myself in trouble, though, Vince caught on. “Go upstairs and get a shower and get dressed.”
“Yes, Daddy,” I huffed. I wanted to play, but he was right. I didn’t want to be unpresentable when my nightmares—I mean family—arrived.
Eventually, we were ready and they showed up. Mom swept in and hugged me until my eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head. She was followed by Aunt Sissy, her kids, Willow and Troy, and their kids.
“Where’s Tony?”
Mom turned and looked. “Here he is.”
Then Tony swept in and gave me a fist bump and a back-slapping bro hug. “Yo, bro. Merry Christmas.”
“Hi. Come in. Let me show y’all around.” We did a quick tour, and I promised to play pool with Tony and Troy upstairs later. We ended back in the kitchen, where Vince had everything laid out.
I introduced him and my family seemed a little cold or unsure.
Then Tony embarrassed the fuck out of me.
“So like you’re loaded, right? Ex-racecar driver and whatever.
” He flailed his hand as if to insinuate Vince’s nice big house meant he was rich.
“So what do you see in this guy…” He shook my shoulder.
Vince smiled, looking a little shark-like.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait for his response, which I could imagine would be scathing.
“Everything. Joey is everything.” I practically saw the hearts popping out of his eyes, and so did everyone else.
I hugged him. He couldn’t have said anything better as far as I was concerned.
“But you are rich. Right?” Tony asked bluntly.
“Yes. I’m very well off.”
“Okay then.” Tony looked like he was going to say something else, but Mom popped him on the back of his head.