Chapter 21 #3
“Do you think I could give them an ultimatum? The fishing rod or hugs? Have you ever seen those vests they make for small dogs with spikes on them so that a larger dog or predator can’t grab them? I’m thinking about wearing one of those to your mom’s.”
“Just tell her you don’t like hugs. You’re a big, strong man who is never afraid to say what you think. I’m confident you can.”
“I must suffer to gain your love,” he says.
I laugh and hurry after him, laden down with far more presents than I remember packing in the vehicle. “You have all of my love, I promise.”
We set the presents down and join the line just as it’s coming to an end.
“Perfect timing,” I say, grabbing a plate and handing it to Liam.
He still makes me go first to get some food before heading over to the table where I discover that there aren’t two seats together.
Liam seems to realize this with absolute horror and begins looking for other places to sit, like our vehicle where he’ll eat as he drives home.
“I’ll move over so you guys can sit together,” Mom offers, and everyone shuffles a bit so we can sit next to each other. As we eat, Grandma seems to notice that Tom is missing.
“Where’s Tom?” Grandma asks. Everyone looks at my aunt and uncle, who seem to pretend that they didn’t hear the woman. Grandma’s expression eventually makes my uncle break.
“He wasn’t feeling well,” he says.
“Ah, I’ll have to give him a call.”
I grimace a bit as I glance over at Liam and Layla, who both look extremely smug. A part of me questions if I even see a smidgen of smugness coming from my father. My mother has far too good of a poker face to give anything away while we eat.
When we’re finished, we shift right into presents. There I am, drowning in them while everyone else has one or two.
“Hon, I didn’t need this much,” I whisper to Liam.
“Wow, Gabriel, is it your bridal shower or something?” Layla asks.
“Ha. Ha. Funny,” I say as I realize her toddler Harper doesn’t even have as many presents as I do.
“Open this one last,” Liam says, setting his hand on something that hopefully isn’t a wedding ring. Although, I don’t see Liam proposing to me in front of a crowd.
“Okay,” I agree as I start with presents from my parents. My mom and dad got me some clothes and a pen holder in the shape of a cat for my desk at work, and Layla got me a pillow with Lucille’s face plastered all over it. “Look, Liam.”
“I’m looking,” he says.
“You’re not looking impressed!”
“No, no, I’m totally impressed. This is my impressed face. This is actually my ‘I’m jealous you got a pillow and I didn’t’ face.”
Layla’s expression tells me that Liam is about to get his wish. I grab the present Layla got for him and put it in his hands. He squeezes it and feels the give of the pillow beneath the wrapping paper before promptly putting it back under the tree.
“No! Liam, open it!”
Layla, who knows Liam’s attitude toward the cats, laughs. “We’re going to make you a cat dad somehow.”
Liam opens it and I chuckle as I see the huge photo of Butter looking absolutely disgusted about life, especially because Liam seems to be wearing the exact same expression.
“Layla, these are precious, I love them,” I say. “Liam does too, even if he pretends he doesn’t.”
Buddy walks onto the scene, curious what’s going on as he sniffs the wrapping paper getting tossed here and there.
“Buddy, come here,” Liam says, holding out his present to him. Buddy sniffs it, and when Liam opens a flap and aims it at Buddy’s mouth, the dog rips the edge off.
“What did you get him?” I ask while the dog shreds the remaining paper.
“I thought he needed another blanket since he liked the last one so much.”
“If you got him another Tiffany blanket, you’re taking it back.”
“I had it in my cart and then decided you’d probably yell at me, so I got him this instead,” he says.
“It’s a heated pet pad.” And then he gets to work setting that up.
The moment it’s heated up, he calls the dog over to it, and Buddy immediately lies down and begins rubbing his back on it as he flips this way and that with wrapping paper in his mouth.
He’s in bliss.
I tell Liam, “Stop playing with the dog and open your presents.”
“I don’t know how,” he teases.
“Yes, you do. Sit, sit.” I got him some mundane things like clothes, an electric blanket—which I know Butter will adore—and some books. And while he told me to use his credit card and buy whatever I wanted, I felt awkward doing so, which means everything I got him was within my price range.
Even though I’m sure his presents for me cost significantly more, he acts like he adores every single one, though I can’t tell whether it’s because he actually really likes them or because I got them for him.
“I got one more present for you, but I wanted to give it to you later,” I say.
“What the fuck is this?” Layla exclaims.
Mom’s eyes snap over to her. “Language, dear.”
“Oh… sorry. But what is this?”
“What is what?” I ask, but Liam stuffs something in my hand first.
“You didn’t want a new car or a diner. And I couldn’t get you a ring, but you mentioned that you missed getting to go on vacations with your family,” Liam says as I open it and pull out a printed copy of an itinerary for a European trip.
I glance at it then stare at Liam. “Are you serious?”
“Of course.”
“Honey, this is too much,” Mom protests.
“I’m game,” Dad says as he hugs his fishing pole while holding the ticket.
“I just need the dates that work for all of you and it’s all set,” Liam tells us.
“Are you going?” I tease, knowing him well enough to know that he’d have preferred to book it for us and stay home.
“Grudgingly. The real question is if you can leave your cat that long.”
I hesitate as I realize how terrifying that sounds. “My baby.”
“Oh my god, you can ditch that creature for a European trip! She’ll be fine!” Layla exclaims. “I’d ditch my husband if I had to.”
That makes me laugh because Liam got him a ticket too. “Liam, this is too much.”
“Nah.”
“It really is.”
“It’s good to get to spend time with your family,” he says, since he doesn’t have that option anymore. It was taken from him… so much was taken from him, but I really, really hope I can give him the love he needs.
Liam nudges me. “Open your other gifts.”
“There’s more?” I ask. “Liam, this is plenty.”
He shrugs, so I open the clothes and a blanket I’d been eyeing as well as a surplus of cat toys that delight me—even though he’s convinced Lucille doesn’t like cat toys.
But he doesn’t seem to care about anything but the last item.
I pick it up and eye it, wondering if he ignored me and placed a ring in this large box.
I pull the wrapping paper off and open the box to find that it’s filled with 8x10 photographs. I slide them out and immediately find myself beaming at the photograph of Lucille rearing up to catch a toy, dressed in clothes that look absolutely adorable on her.
“Oh. My… god,” I breathe as I flip to the next one of her with a paw right on Butter’s face while she sticks her tongue out for a treat.
And then one of her crunching on the treat, teeth on display.
Each one seems cuter than the last, and I’m not sure I can handle how amazing they all are.
It’s picture after picture of the best photographs I’ve ever seen of the two cats.
And the very final one is Liam grudgingly holding them both.
“Liam—”
“The only rule is that none of them can be hung up.”
“They’re all getting hung up! Liam, this is the cutest and best thing I’ve ever seen.
This is just… I have to show everyone. Mom, look at what Liam got me,” I enthuse, feeling like a kid as I giddily rush over to show off my present to my parents.
Liam’s eyes trail after me and the smug look on his face makes me want to dash back over and kiss him. It’s so foolish. But I love it so much.
“I’ve never seen your cat look cute before,” Layla comments while she looks at them from over my shoulder.
“She’s always cute!”
“She’s always possessed,” Layla says. “Liam, how in the world did you get that cat to the photographer’s?”
Liam comes over and points at Lucille’s head in one of the photographs. “That spot right there? That’s where my blood was photoshopped out. These pictures took true blood, sweat, and tears. We were all crying at one point.”
“This is why your arms were all scratched up,” I realize.
“Your cat is evil, but I’m glad you like the images. And if Jesse asks, this photoshoot was my idea,” he says.
“It was definitely your idea and not Jesse’s. Liam, I love these so much.”
He’s all smiles, and I love the genuine look of happiness on his face that he seems to only wear for me.
After Liam is subjected to hours of talking, games, and food, he nearly skips out to the car. Buddy, who has latched on to Liam for some reason, gallops after him until Dad has to call him back to the house.
Liam clambers into the car and then beams at me. “We survived! We did it!”
“Survived? You’re so ridiculous. Liam, you really did too much. A freaking European trip for my whole family? And these photos?”
“I wanted to treat you like the special person you are.”
“You’re spoiling me, is what you’re doing.”
“Good. You deserve to be spoiled.”
When we reach home, I hurry into the bedroom and find the two remaining presents I have for Liam.
“Come, come.”
“Ooh? Is my final present you naked?” he asks as he saunters into the room and swipes his hair back, making me laugh.
“Not quite,” I respond, holding the present out to him.
“It’s heavy,” he says in surprise when he takes it.
“Yep.”
He thinks about it for a second before asking, “Is it to bludgeon someone with?”
“Might be. You could do in Donna the moment no one is looking.”
“I approve,” he says before he opens it up and examines it.
“This is a high-quality safety box. It comes with a kit to install it inside the wall so that absolutely no one will ever be able to access it easily. That way you can’t get caught and leave me.”
Liam’s watching me closely while he thinks about this. “For my album?”
“Yes. For that fucking album. This slots into the wall so no one can remove it. You would have to unlock it yourself to ever get it out. I have no damn idea why you don’t already have something like this.
It’s like you want to get caught. And I just…
I want you to be safe… I want to spend every Christmas with you from now on. ”
He doesn’t even seem to know what to say to that. “I promise I’ll be safe. I promise.”
“Good.”
“Why do you let me do this?” he asks.
“Don’t ask why. Just… I can’t lose you.”
“I promise you won’t,” he says before he gives me a soft kiss. He sets the box down and gathers me up in his arms instead.
“Wait… you have one more.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. And it is not a wedding ring. It is in no shape or form a wedding ring, so don’t get excited,” I say when I put the smaller box in his hand.
He opens it and pulls out a watch. I flip it over and show him that engraved on the back are the words “To the ends of the earth,” and engraved just below that is my fingerprint.
I felt kind of ridiculous smacking my fingerprint on there but since Liam seems borderline obsessed with them, I feel like I made the right choice as his finger trails over the engraving. He seems almost entranced by it.
“Stop… staring at it,” I say, feeling weirdly vulnerable. I force it on his wrist before he can stare at it some more.
Liam lifts my hand and kisses the tip of each of my fingers. “I love it. I love it so much. Can I give you your engagement ring now?”
“Did you already buy one?” I ask in disbelief.
“How would you prefer me to answer this question?” he teases.
“I don’t know,” I admit.
He just smiles at me and kisses my palm before lifting me up so he can lay me down on the bed. “I adore every inch of you.”
“I love you too.”
“It’s been so long since I celebrated Christmas. I forgot that it could be kind of fun,” he says as he drags me on top of him. I lay my head on his chest while his hand slides under my shirt and rubs my back. “I mean… not the family stuff. No thanks. But this? I can handle this.”
I grin. “Yeah? I think I can handle it as well. How about you promise me that you’ll be here for me for many Christmases to come? I never want to spend one of them alone.”
“I promise. We’ll be together until the day we turn to ash. I’ll never leave you, Gabriel. I’ll love and cherish every moment with you.”
I squeeze him to me, feeling like my heart is pounding out of my chest and my thoughts are running wild, but here in his arms, everything seems perfect.