Chapter Thirty-Six
“Here’s the last one,” Joshua said as he came into the living room, carrying a large plastic box. He set it down under the window beside the others, then straightened, glancing toward the coffee table, then the small table next to the armchair. “Micah? Have you seen my phone?”
“Not recently,” Micah called from the kitchen. “Did you leave it in your jacket?”
Joshua had already looked there. Maybe he’d left it in the bedroom or the office.
Naomi crouched in front of the hearth, where she’d just added another log to the fire. She stared at all the boxes. “I swear there are more than last year.”
Joshua chuckled. “That’s because someone who shall remain nameless—or more accurately, a couple of someones—went shopping for more. Something about starting a tradition of buying new stuff because we had someone new in the family.”
Greg came into the living room, carrying a tray laden with mugs of hot chocolate. “Wow. In that case, after this year, we’re gonna need a bigger tree.”
It was like a default setting. Joshua’s thoughts went instantly to Alex. He couldn’t deny Alex’s reaction at the courthouse had hurt him. Joshua had been hoping for so much, and it was beginning to look like those hopes were in vain.
Lights splashed across the window, and he frowned. “Looks like we have a visitor.”
“I’ll go.” Micah called out. A moment later, Joshua caught the rumble of a familiar voice, and Alex came into the living room, pulling off his gloves.
“Are you all right? Your text said it was urgent, but then when I tried calling, you didn’t answer your phone.” Alex looked him up and down, obviously puzzled. “Well, you seem fine. I thought you’d at least chopped your hand off with the axe.” His eyes danced with amusement.
Joshua frowned. “I didn’t send you any text.
In fact, I can’t even find my pho—” Slowly he turned to stare at Micah and Naomi.
“I don’t suppose either of you would know where my phone is?
Or how it came to mysteriously send a message that I know nothing about?
” He should have known they couldn’t keep out of this.
Naomi huffed. “Well, we had to do something. It was obvious earlier today that you two need to talk, so we figured we’d give you a push in the right direction.” She bit back a smile. “At least we got you in the same room.”
Joshua sighed. “I thought I said—”
Alex cleared his throat. “Okay, can we have a little privacy here, please? Your dad and I would appreciate some time alone.” The way he spoke made it clear he expected to be obeyed, with no trace of humor in his expression.
To Joshua’s surprise, the kids fell silent, and one by one, they filed out of the living room. Alex gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I think your kids are wonderful, but I felt it was time to establish just who the adults are around here.”
Joshua snorted. “Good luck with that. I gave up a while back.”
He gestured to the couch. “Let’s sit down.” He took off his jacket and placed it over the arm of the couch.
Joshua joined him. “I didn’t expect to hear from you, not after what you said in the courthouse.” His stomach was tense.
Alex sighed. “About that. I should have let you know what was going on in my mind, but the courthouse was neither the time nor the place.” He paused before continuing. “I guess the first thing I need to do is apologize. I was an ass, and I put you through a lot of unnecessary hurt. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, you’re here now.” Joshua was still overjoyed at that part, even if it had taken the kids’ intervention to bring him here.
“Yeah, but only after a process of two steps forward, one step back.” Another pause. “Then I have to thank you.”
“For what?”
“Giving me exactly what I needed—space and time to think.” Alex smiled. “I’ve been doing an awful lot of that these last few weeks.”
“And did you come to any conclusions?”
Alex nodded. “Letting go is a real bitch, even when it’s letting go of pain, and humiliation, and anger. I guess I held on because… they were such strong emotions, and at least I was feeling something, right? But Manda nailed it. Holding on meant I couldn’t move on…and that meant losing you.”
Joshua couldn’t tear his gaze away from Alex’s face. His quiet words were laced with an intensity that spoke of just how deeply he believed in what he was saying.
Alex took hold of Joshua’s hand. “You and I are so similar. We’ve both known what it is to truly love someone.
And we’ve both lost that someone. How we lost them might differ, but the results were just as devastating.
When you look at it like that, it’s only then that you get to see what we have here.
” His eyes sparkled. “And that is nothing short of miraculous. We’ve both been given a second chance at love, with someone who truly understands us. ”
Joshua swallowed. “I guess you’d have to be a real idiot to let something like that pass you by, right?”
Alex nodded slowly. “I mean, you only get a finite number of miracles in life. That’s the law.” He reached up and stroked Joshua’s cheek.
“Well, that’s your province, so I guess you know what you’re talking about,” Joshua said softly.
Alex’s smile lit up his eyes. “You wouldn’t want to break the law, now, would you?” He leaned in, his breath warm against Joshua’s lips.
“No, sir.” Joshua cupped Alex’s nape, and closed the distance between them, their lips meeting in a tender kiss that wasn’t about passion or desire.
It was a declaration.
Alex sighed as he broke the kiss. “God, I’ve missed this. Touching you, kissing you…” He shook his head. “And that was just evil, by the way.”
“What was?”
“Keeping us apart while you let me think.”
Joshua chuckled. “Well, it obviously had the desired effect.”
“Oh, it did that. It also made me realize what was important—and believe it or not, it wasn’t the fact that I missed having you in my bed.”
“Wow. More important than sex?” Joshua teased.
“Way more important.” Alex locked gazes with him. “I love you, Joshua Trant. Having you in my life is a miracle, one I will always be thankful for.”
A lightness suffused Joshua’s limbs at the words he’d never thought to hear again. “Love you too. Now kiss me again. I’m on catchup here.” Because Lord, he’d missed those kisses too.
There came a light tapping on the living room door. “Kisses will have to wait. I have to set your kids straight on a couple of things.” Alex grinned. “That okay with you?”
Joshua snickered. “I hate to break it to you, but they’re gonna be your kids too. We’re sort of a package deal.”
“Just what I always wanted.” Alex raised his voice. “Come on in.” Micah, Greg and Naomi came into the room, Naomi smiling smugly when she saw them on the couch together.
“Now, I’m sure you’ve been out there somewhere, congratulating yourselves on what a great job you did of bringing us together.
Well, in the interests of keeping things real, I need to point out a couple of things.
” Alex counted off on his fingers. “First of all, I have two little words—Online impersonation. You might want to think about that the next time you decide to ‘borrow’ a phone and text someone. Next, when your text arrived, I was on my way out the door—coming here. And thirdly, if I could give you an important piece of advice for any future deviousness you might be considering? Check your spelling.” His eyes glittered.
“Wait—you knew that text wasn’t from me?” Joshua exclaimed.
“Of course. But I had to know what they had planned, so no way was I going to miss this.” Alex gazed expectantly at Naomi. “Now, I believe someone mentioned pizza?”
Naomi shook her head, laughing. “You’re gonna be a handful, aren’t you?”
“No more than you’re going to be, I suspect.” Alex studied her. “So in case you haven’t guessed yet, Christmas came early this year.” He took Joshua’s hand in his, lifted it to his lips, and kissed his fingers.
Micah let out a soft whoop. “I thought the verdict was going to be the best present this year. Looks like I was wrong.” He chuckled. “Although I reckon Alex got the most surprising present. I mean, it’s not every day you get a ready-made family for Christmas.”
“Yeah, but we’re the best kind of family,” Greg added. “Think about it. No diapers, and no sleepless nights.”
“I got news for you,” Joshua said with a wry smile. “As long as you have a family, you’ll have sleepless nights. It’s part of the territory.” His stomach growled. “And Alex is right. Where’s the pizza?”
Micah laughed. “I’ll go heat up the oven. Then after dinner, we can trim the tree.” He gave Alex a hard stare. “And you are staying the night, right?”
“Yes, he is,” Joshua said emphatically.
Alex bit his lip. “I don’t get a say in this?”
“Nope. In this house, I get the last word. That’s the law.” Joshua folded his arms across his chest.
Naomi patted him on the shoulder, then said to Alex in a stage whisper, “Delusional.”
Alex’s peal of laughter had to be the best thing Joshua had heard for a long time.
~ 0 ~
Alex gazed around Joshua’s bedroom. It was a large room, with a wide window overlooking the back yard. What he liked most was the bed. It was wide but not overly so, with a mattress that cushioned and supported the body, and a whole heap of pillows in varying sizes and shapes.
A comfortable room. Except right then, Joshua looked far from comfortable. Every now and then, his gaze would flicker to the door.
“They’re not out there, listening, you know,” Alex said quietly.
Joshua jerked his head around to stare at him. “What?”