Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
NO DOUBTS
RHODES
Now
Elle and I have hardly been asleep when I hear something. I rub my eyes in time to see Levi doing a superhero run and then diving between Elle and me.
“Mewwy Chwistmas!” he yells.
I try to whisper it back with excitement, but that’s almost impossible to do, try it sometime. I don’t want him to wake up Elle, but I also don’t want to squash his Christmas joy.
“Merry Christmas, little man,” Elle says groggily.
“It’s four in the morning,” I say. “Are we sure it’s really Christmas yet?”
“We did tell him whenever he woke up,” Elle says, already sitting up.
“I awake,” Levi says.
She leans over and hugs him. I love the way she loves my boy.
“All right, let’s do this,” I say, searching for the candy cane pajama pants Elle gave me last night.
She thinks it’s hilarious that the massive candy cane in the front perfectly outlines my dick. It is pretty funny.
“I’ll turn the fire on first and then get the camera ready, okay?” I look at Levi. “You hold on tight with Elle, all right?”
“Awight,” he agrees, bopping his head.
“Let me get the two of you walking in together,” Elle says.
I smile, watching her put on her matching candy cane pajamas without even flashing us once. I’m disappointed I didn’t catch a peek, but I know she doesn’t want to flash Levi. She has the art down of putting a bra on or taking it off without even showing any skin. It’s remarkable.
“I’ll be in the pictures plenty. I want to see my favorite people,” I tell her, hurrying off to brush my teeth and get this party started.
And oh, what a party it is. Levi is obsessed with the train we set up last night after he went to bed.
It’s huge and goes around the tree and winds around the living room.
He plays with it for hours and barely notices anything else.
Elle and I have so much fun playing with him and then take some time to open our presents from each other too.
We usually give each other two gifts, one silly and one nice.
I try to sneak in more than two presents every year, but it gets me in trouble.
I’m wearing my silly gift—an ugly Christmas sweater to go with my candy cane pants—and so is she, a Christmas tree hat that lights up.
The biggest surprises are coming later. I heard from my dad before we went to bed, and they’ve decided to drive. They should be here by this afternoon, and the present they’re bringing with them is one I’ve been wanting for a long time. I can’t wait to see Elle and Levi’s reaction.
Elle hands me a small rectangular box. I shake it as I always do, and she rolls her eyes playfully. I hand her a similarly sized box. I’ve had this gift for a while now and have wondered how she’d receive it. I’m feeling a little more confident now that it’ll be okay.
“You go first,” I say.
She smiles and opens it without hesitation. It’s always so fun to give her gifts.
She gasps when she opens the box. I bought her a Tiffany watch. She loves that Tiffany Blue? and this one is stainless steel with the blue dial and small diamonds surrounding it.
“Rhodes,” she whispers and then smiles.
“If it’s not the right one, we can pick out one you like better.”
She giggles then and I can’t tell what’s striking her funny.
“I love it,” she says. “I love it so much.”
“Oh, good.”
She surprises me by looking at the back. I thought I’d have to show her the inscription, but she finds it and her head falls back with her laugh. I frown, not sure how to take her laughing so hard at me having Yours, Rhodes engraved on the back of her watch.
She wipes her eyes and reaches over to squeeze my hand. “I love it, Rhodes. It’s so perfect. You’re perfect.”
She kisses me and it sends my heart into overdrive. I love her mouth and everything about her.
She pulls back. “Here, open yours.”
I grin and carefully open it.
“Rip it,” she says, laughing.
“But it’s so pretty. I don’t know how you can get it so pretty. I have to pay to have that done.”
She gives me a smug look. “Maybe I’ll teach you sometime.”
“Mmm, I don’t think these giant fingers will ever be able to do this.”
“They’re just right for other things,” she whispers.
I have to adjust my candy cane.
“Keep it up,” I tell her, “and this candy cane will be trying to hop out of these pants.”
She laughs and I open the box and stare at it in shock.
“Elle, this is…beautiful.” I look at her in concern. “You didn’t need to spend so much money on me.”
She gives me a pointed look. “You did.”
I give her a pointed look back. I don’t say but I can afford it, even though we both know what I’m thinking.
The BVLGARI watch is the shit. It’s dark green, my favorite color.
She nudges me. “If it’s not the right one, we can pick out one you like better…”
I lean over and kiss her. “I love that we got each other the same thing. I’m just…it’s…I love it.”
She touches the watch. “Keep looking,” she says, her lips quirking up.
I pick it up and study it closer and then turn it over. Yours, Elle it says. She covers her mouth with her hand, laughing and my eyes well up. Her laugh quietens and she scoots closer.
“Are you mine, baby?” I ask her.
Her eyes fill with tears, and she nods. “I am.”
“We’ve always said we love each other, but when I say I love you, I mean that I am bone-achingly in love with you. I have loved you from the first time I saw you, and every minute in between. There will never be anyone for me but you. I wish I’d made it clear from the very beginning.”
“You’ve loved me from the beginning? I’ve loved you from the beginning. I’m in love with you too, Rhodes,” she says, a tear dripping down her cheek.
I lean in and kiss it, processing her words and reeling with them. “How did we know everything about each other but not this?”
“I know. I can’t believe it. I wish I hadn’t been so terrified of losing you,” she adds.
“You were instantly everything to me, and that’s still the same today, but we were so young.
It didn’t feel possible that you could really love me back in that way.
You were so confident, so sure of who you were already.
I feel like I’m still finding my way, but with you—I’ve always known how I feel about you.
We wouldn’t be the same though, if we’d known the feelings were reciprocated.
You wouldn’t have Levi, and he is the best thing to ever happen to both of us. ”
I kiss her fingers and cheek and mouth. “I love you for loving him that way.”
“He’s part of you. Of course I love him.”
That makes me reel, her goodness, her love. We sit for a moment, just soaking in these revelations.
“Every time I was about to tell you how I felt, someone new would pop up,” I tell her.
“I nearly told you at least a dozen times,” she says. “It always backfired.”
“Maybe the timing is perfect. We’ve never been without each other, besides distance, and now we can fully be who we’re supposed to be together.”
“You’re sure?” she asks.
“I have never had any doubts about my feelings for you. I’ve only ever wondered if I would be able to make you feel the same about me.”
She leans her forehead on mine. “I love you so much, Rhodes. And being with you in this fake relationship that I never wanted to only be fake has been beyond what I could’ve imagined.”
I can hear the smile in her voice, and I laugh. “I jumped on your fake dating idea so fast…anything to get more time with you.”
Her laugh is warm against my skin. “I’m so glad you did. We desperately needed something to force this issue.” She frowns. “Levi has been quiet for a minute.”
We look at the trains where he’s been playing and singing his little heart out, and he’s sprawled out, sound asleep.
“That four AM wakeup call has caught up with him.” I chuckle as I walk over and pick him up. “I’ll be right back.”
“Or should we go back to bed?” she asks.
“I love that idea.”
I put Levi to bed and when I look in my room, Elle is already there. I crawl into bed and she turns to face me.
“Carrie is going to hate this, you know,” she says.
“I know.” Carrie’s made it no secret how she feels about Elle. “But you don’t need to worry about her..”
I lean in and kiss her and she melts into me. My dick swells against her and she grins against my mouth.
“Hello?” The sound comes from downstairs and we freeze.
“Fuck. Is that my mom? They said they were stopping. They must have driven all night.”
“They drove?”
We both hustle out of bed, my erection a sad thing of the past, and hurry downstairs.
My parents stand in the living room, and my mom is holding my surprise. Elle gasps and my parents stare at the two of us in shock.
We all start talking at once.
“Hey, guys!”
“You must’ve driven all night!”
“Merry Christmas!”
“Oh my God, you got a puppy!” Elle rushes to my mom and kisses her cheek before loving on the English bulldog.
“We got a puppy,” I tell Elle.
“What?” She looks up at me.
I grin at her as we pet the little guy and my mom hands him to me. He’s red and white, with the patches over his eyes. He’s adorable.
“He is hilarious,” Mama says. “I’m already in love with him.”
“Hey there, aren’t you the cutest thing,” I say. I lean into my parents for a side hug to not squish the puppy. “So, we have some news.”
My parents stand there beaming.
“Thought you might,” Dad says.
Elle’s cheeks are pink when I glance at her. I lift my eyebrows, asking if it’s okay that I spill. She laughs and leans into me.
“Tell them,” she says.
“We’re together. Elle is in love with me,” I lean my head back to say it loudly, “and we are together.”
Elle giggles and my parents hug her and me. My mom does a little dance.
“It is about time!” she cries.