What’s Next? A Kairo & Izzie Short Story
WHAT’S NEXT?: A KAIRO & IZZIE SHORT STORY
“What’s next?”
Izzie whispered those two words to himself while he rode in the rear of the town car as it whisked him away from the airport toward the vineyard on a mountainside in Gaoxing.
He’d just spent the past two weeks dealing with business in Athens and was in Gaoxing for the holidays.
At the same time, Kairo had stopped off in London for a quick visit with his mother and then was off to do a job with Charlie, Soren, and Alexei.
A small, non-dangerous job, he’d promised.
Izzie believed him—Kairo always stayed safe because he was always eager to return to him.
It was just…this was the longest they’d been apart in two years.
The unexpected time apart had given Izzie time to think about their relationship and what would come next for them.
They were about to celebrate their third Christmas together.
They’d traveled to some interesting places around the world, spent time with his sister, and started up a new winery in Gaoxing.
They did all kinds of interesting things.
Yet, now he was left wondering what was supposed to be next for them?
As happy as he was with Kairo, he felt as if they’d fallen into a rut of sorts.
It was a wonderful rut and if his life was going to be filled with bits of work and farms and travel like this, he was content with that so long as it always included Kairo at his side.
But in all the time they’d spent together, they’d never discussed things such as marriage and children.
Of course, out of their crew of friends, the only ones to get married were Westin and Prince Jin.
Not that it was a surprise. The Crown Prince of Gaoxing had certain royal obligations he needed to fulfill, not to mention promises to his father.
Charlie and Will were happy to be getting married but had no plans for kids. Soren and Alexei definitely didn’t strike him as the marrying type. They were always off on one adventure or another. Max and Ed were too busy digging for artifacts and exploring the ancient world for such things.
What about Kairo?
Was he the marrying type? Did he ever think about them starting their own family and settling in to a life of doctors’ appointments, school events, and birthday parties with cake and balloons?
Izzie lifted his gaze to the window and the black world around him, broken only by the occasional streetlamp as it flashed by the speeding car.
They’d left the capital behind and were racing into the countryside.
A few lights dotted the hillside from the smaller homes and farms. It was a lonely stretch made to feel even lonelier without Kairo by his side.
He picked up his phone and checked to find no new texts from his boyfriend.
They were both supposed to be flying to their home in Gaoxing, but some bad weather had delayed Izzie’s flight.
It was likely the same bad weather had delayed Kairo’s homecoming as well.
He was probably still in the air and unable to text.
A soft sigh slipped out of Izzie as he turned his phone over, plunging the rear seat into darkness. If he arrived home ahead of Kairo, maybe he could dig out some of the Christmas decorations they’d accumulated at this home.
Gaoxing didn’t celebrate Christmas as heavily as they did in the United States or Europe, considering most of the country’s citizens were Buddhist or Shinto.
However, thanks to American marketing, they’d adopted several of the holiday’s traditions.
They were particularly fond of fairy lights, pretty candles, red ribbons on everything, and exchanging small homemade treats.
They didn’t do Christmas trees, since most homes were rather modest in size.
However, many people had taken up decorating a tree outside their home.
Maybe he could locate their boxes of decorations and drag them out so that he and Kairo could spend the day decorating for Christmas tomorrow.
That quality time could also lead to a discussion of what they wanted to do with their lives together.
Was Kairo interested in marriage? Kids? Did he prefer they maintain the status quo?
Yes, this was the plan. An excellent plan.
Except his amazing, wonderful, thoughtful, brilliant boyfriend was one step ahead of him already.
White lights filled the trees leading up the long, winding drive to the house, making his breath catch in his throat. Thousands of warm white lights glowed and twinkled among the trees, creating a beautiful path for the car to follow, beckoning him up to their secret hideaway.
He knew for a fact that he hadn’t hired anyone to handle putting up the lights before he’s left for Europe.
It hadn’t even crossed his mind that he should be planning for Christmas.
At least not until he’d been in Greece for a bit.
Only then had he even thought of doing a little shopping for his family and friends.
This was Kairo’s doing. He knew it. That sneaky man had gotten home ahead of him.
His heart sped up as the car climbed the steep driveway and made the last turn toward the house, which was also covered in warmly glowing white lights.
As the car drew to a stop, Kairo stepped outside wearing the soft cream-colored cable-knit sweater he’d bought him for their first Christmas together.
The driver hadn’t even gotten the car into park when Izzie shoved open the door and launched himself out, crashing into Kairo. A knot of unshed tears blocked his throat, and he almost choked on a sob as Kairo’s powerful arms closed around him, nearly cracking his ribs.
“Two weeks is too long,” Kairo declared in a rough voice against his throat. “Never again. We are never doing that again.”
“Okay,” was all Izzie could manage as he stood there holding the man who owned his heart. Marriage? Kids? None of that mattered. Those things would take care of themselves in time. Right now, all he wanted was to hold his boyfriend.
He didn’t know how long they’d stood there like that. Not nearly long enough. But they finally broke apart when they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Kairo pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth as he released him.
“You can just leave his bags there. I’ll take them in. Be careful heading home,” Kairo admonished the driver.
That’s right. They weren’t alone.
Izzie surreptitiously rubbed his eyes as he went to turn to the driver, who offered a shallow bow before heading to the car.
They didn’t keep any live-in staff at this house.
There were just a few people who came in twice a week to clean.
Kairo preferred to do the cooking, and they usually drove themselves.
Izzie had just opted to hire a driver from the airport since he knew he was going to be too tired from the flight to drive himself safely in the dark.
“When did you get back?” Izzie asked the moment they were alone.
“Yesterday,” Kairo admitted with a wide grin. He immediately batted away Izzie’s hand as he attempted to grab the handle on one of the two bags.
“But you said you were returning today.”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“You succeeded,” Izzie said with a laugh as he followed Kairo into the house.
His mouth fell open as his eyes danced over the lights that hung around their home. Red ribbons were tied everywhere in the wish for health, wealth, and good luck for the holidays and coming new year. He wandered through their home, taking in all Kairo’s hard work.
“How were you able to do all of this in a day?” he inquired.
Kairo left the bags in the hallway leading to the master bedroom and joined Izzie in the grand living room.
“I had help, obviously. Charlie and Will are in town, so I put them to work. I might have hired a few of the workers from the winery to help hang the lights along the driveway, since things are so quiet in the vineyard right now.”
Regardless of how beautiful and thoughtful he found Kairo’s surprise, Izzie could feel his smile sliding from his lips. This was a serious damper on his plans. Talking about their future. It would have happened so naturally and with no pressure. At least, that was how it went in his mind.
Now, he didn’t know how to bring it up with Kairo. He would need a new plan.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“What?” Izzie snapped from his wandering thoughts and forced a fresh smile on his lips. “Nothing. I…I guess I’m just tired from travel.”
Kairo reached up and pressed a finger to the spot between his brows and rubbed what Izzie was sure were wrinkles there. “Except this isn’t your tired expression. This is your worried expression. What’s on your mind? Is everything okay with work?”
Izzie grunted and nodded. “Yes, everything is fine. I shouldn’t have to return until late winter.”
“Did you hear from Athena? Is she okay?”
Izzie’s expression softened at the mention of his brilliant sister. “She’s fine. We talked for a while on my way to the airport in Athens. She says she’s going to join us here for Christmas with her new boyfriend.”
“Got it. I’ll prepare my gun collection for a good cleaning upon his arrival.”
A snort jumped from Izzie. Ridiculous but also sweet.
Since they’d begun dating, Kairo had adopted a very protective, big-brother attitude toward Athena that she both loved and hated.
According to her, Kairo was too critical of her boyfriends, but neither Kairo nor Izzie thought anyone was good enough for Athena.
Kairo took Izzie’s hand and pulled him to the kitchen.
He sat him on one of the stools at the center island and turned to the stove.
Without another word, he filled the kettle with water and placed it on a burner.
He pulled down Izzie’s favorite mug—the one that had a couple of penguins on it.
As the water heated, Kairo located Izzie’s favorite loose-leaf tea and prepared the diffuser with it.