55. Chapter 54
Chapter 54
Doug
A fter attending the SSI holiday party, for employees and their families, Beth and I brought an exhausted Chase home. He insisted on leaving milk and cookies out for Santa, so he and I got everything ready while Beth was upstairs changing. While we waited, he tried to convince me it was okay for him to have some too.
“Let’s ask your mom first.”
He sighed as his shoulders sagged. How does someone so small sigh so big ? His reaction made it clear he expected his mom to say no.
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Come on Little Man, help me pour the milk.”
Before we finished filling the coffee mug Chase had picked out, Beth came back downstairs in red and green plaid leggings and a tee shirt with a cat tangled up in Christmas lights. Her curly hair was pulled back in a messy bun.
She looks gorgeous .
“Mommy, can Mr. Doug and I have some milk and cookies too?” The little bugger included me in his request, knowing it’d be harder for his mom to say no.
When Beth looked at me, I shrugged and gave her my most innocent impression. If it made Chase happy, I’d have milk and cookies, with Beth’s permission of course.
“One each, and only half a glass of milk,” she answered with a smile, “after you change into your pajamas.”
While we were eating our one cookie each, Chase asked if I’d be sleeping over.
I’d love to kid .
“I want you to keep watch and wake me up when Santa gets here.”
We had drastically different reasons for wanting me to spend the night.
Beth and I shared a look, we’d agreed I’d go home tonight and come back in the morning.
“Chase, I-” Beth started.
“Please Mommy, can Mr. Doug sleep over with us?”
Beth closed her eyes and inhaled sharply.
I waited patiently while she made up her mind.
“Okay, but you have to be a good boy and go to sleep right away.”
I could see the nervousness in her eyes when she made eye contact with me. I smiled, hoping to ease her concerns. I’d stay on the couch, if it made her more comfortable.
Beth read Chase his favorite Christmas story before bed. When she came back downstairs, she was laughing.
“He wanted to stay awake, but fell asleep three pages in.” She shook her head back and forth as she sat on the couch and curled up in my arms.
After relaxing quietly for a few minutes, I offered to sleep on the couch. I’d considered offering to go home and come back early, before Chase woke up, but decided I didn’t want to.
“Doug, I know I’ve been hesitant to have you stay the night, but I don’t want you to sleep on the couch.”
Does she mean what I think she means?
“Would you prefer it if I went home?”
Please God, let her say no.
She turned and stared into my eyes, then took my hands in hers before answering, “No. I’d like you to stay. Here with me.”
I couldn’t have held back the smile splitting my face in half if my life depended on it. I squeezed her hands before pulling her into my chest and wrapping my arms around her.
“I’d like that too.” I whispered in her ear before kissing her neck. I could smell her signature floral scent and couldn’t resist nibbling on her ear.
“But only to sleep,” she said, laughing as she pulled away. “Chase won’t sleep through the night.”
“I promise to behave.” I said as I stood up. “I should run home to grab some clothes.” And my toothbrush. “Do you need me to grab anything while I’m out?”
“No,” she answered.
Thanks to Chase, Christmas Eve would be the first night I spent with Beth, in her bed.
I understood her fear about Chase walking in, and hoped she’d get over it sooner rather than later. Married couples dealt with it, so could we. It was the last hurdle to conquer before our relationship could progress to the next natural step.
Whenever I got frustrated at how slow things seemed to be going, I’d remind myself we’d only been dating three months and things were progressing at a normal pace, if not faster.
It just feels slow because I’m all in . But Beth wasn’t there yet. She loved me, there was no doubt in my mind, but she was being cautious and working through her fears about replacing Phil, both in her life and in Chase’s.
We’d talked about it a few times, and I reminded her every time I wasn’t going anywhere. I also made sure to tell her that while I wanted to be a stepdad to Chase, I had no intentions of trying to replacing Phil.
By the time I got back, Beth had put Chase’s gifts under the tree.
“Want to eat another cookie?” She asked me as she dumped out Santa’s milk.
“Sure, do you usually eat them all?”
“No, I leave one or two whole ones, and a half-eaten one.” She laughed. “Chase likes to find them in the morning.”
“Cute.” I picked up two cookies and fed one to Beth before popping one in my mouth.
I thought about the choice I’d made to stay here for the holiday while I got ready for bed in the en suite. There was no doubt in my mind I’d made the right decision. When my mom called to ask when, not if, I was coming home for the holiday, I’d almost changed my mind. Almost. They knew about Beth and Chase but were still surprised I wanted to spend my holiday here.
My relationship with my parents wasn’t great and the idea of spending a holiday with them, instead of with the woman I loved and the amazing, energetic child I wanted to adopt, was unappealing. I'd steeled my nerves and forced myself to ignore the disappointment in her voice when I told her I wasn’t coming home. I invited them to visit me in Weatherford after Christmas. They said maybe, but probably wouldn’t.
I brushed them from my mind and focused on Beth.
“Should I shut the door?” I asked as I walked towards the bed.
“Yeah, thanks.”
I sat next to her, on top of the comforter, and asked, “you’re sure you’re okay with this?”
Beth reached over, took my hand. “Come here.”
She didn’t need to tell me twice. I closed the distance, making the center of the bed sag with my weight as I leaned over and kissed her. She reached up, wrapped her hands around my neck, deepening the kiss.
My brain knew it couldn’t happen, but my body didn’t get the memo. “Beth, we should stop before I lose my self-control.”
Not that I want to stop .
Beth’s face was flushed when she looked at the wall separating her room from Chase’s, then at her door. “You’re right, we should.” She didn’t look like she wanted to stop either.
“You know, Chase is getting bigger and might want to move into the bigger bedroom.”
One of her fears was Chase hearing us, but if Chase moved down the hall the thin walls wouldn’t be a problem. Her soft laugh was all the encouragement I needed.
“You know, in case maybe you want me to spend the night when you aren’t expecting Chase to get up to look for Santa.” I was only half joking.
“I’ll have to teach Chase to knock.” The sparkle in her eyes made my heart swell and my dick hard. It didn’t care that we couldn’t do anything tonight; it was reacting on pure animal instinct to the promise of future nights.
“That’d be helpful.” The thought of putting a lock on her bedroom door crossed my mind, but it wasn’t safe. Teaching Chase to knock was a better, and safer, option.
We woke up early and were drinking our coffee when Chase came running down the stairs.
“Santa was here.” He jumped for joy when he saw the gifts under the tree, then ran over to the tray and noticed the milk and cookies were mostly gone. “He ate the cookies.”
I understood what the Grinch felt like when his heart grew three sizes as mine filled with joy while watching Chase tear into his gifts. I bought him a few gifts, including a remote-control dinosaur. Beth wasn’t sure about it at first, but I’d finally worn her down. She got him a new bike and a helmet, along with other things moms bought for their sons, but their sons didn’t care about, like books and socks.
Chase gave me a baseball glove, so I could help him practice tee ball. From the outside it looked like the simplest of gifts, but to me it was a life changing moment. He wanted me to do dad things with him, which was the best present he could have given me.
When he told me he’d still practice with his Uncle John, “so he doesn’t feel sad,” I nodded and suggested we all practice together.
Beth gave me a new watch, to replace the one I’d broken at work. It was black with a slim band and waterproof to two hundred meters. It was much nicer than the cheap replacement I’d bought.
Beth gasped when she opened the heart-shaped diamond necklace and matching earring set I’d picked out for her. I’d discovered her love of jewelry and decided to spoil her. I was clasping the necklace when Chase got off the floor and bounced over.
“I’m hungry,” Chase said.
“Want some of Doug’s special pancakes?” Beth asked.
I’d promised to make her crepes, but she wasn’t sure Chase would eat them unless we called them pancakes.
“With chocolate chips?” he asked.
“I can add chocolate chips if your mom says it’s okay.”
“It’s okay.” She turned to me as Chase ran to the kitchen and whispered, “But not too many.”
After breakfast, I showered while Beth and Chase cleaned up. I tried to help them, but she insisted I didn’t have to since I’d cooked.
“Who wants to come with me to pick up Grandma?” Beth asked.
“I do. I do.”
“You have to get dressed first.”
We spent the rest of the day celebrating, eating, and relaxing. I taught Chase how to use the remote to his dinosaur on the back patio while Beth and her mom had some quiet time in the house.
Later that evening, Chase curled up on the couch between me and Beth and fell asleep.
Best Christmas ever .