52. Jace
fifty-two
Jace
“Babe.”
Poke .
“Babe…”
Poke. Poke.
I squint, twisting in my spot on the bed, groaning I open one eye and immediately jolt awake at the sight in front of me. Sienna stands over the bed, hovering above me with an evil smile on her face.
Yawning, I stretch a bit. “What time is it?”
She plants herself in the small corner of the bed between my body and the edge. My arm immediately wraps around her waist and my cheek warms as she kisses it.
“4:00 AM…”
Four…
Four AM?!
Why do both Sienna and her cousin think that sleep is for the dead? What the hell is she doing up so early?
Before I can voice my question, she places a small envelope in front of my eyes and smiles triumphantly as I eye it.
“Merry Christmas.” She beams at me, her eyes dazzling as I sit up, turning on the lamp beside us. My resolve softens at the sight of her, and I pull her in, kissing her softly.
“Merry Christmas, angel. What’s this?” I ask noting the way she’s buzzing with joy as she smiles nervously .
“I may have wrote you a few letters and lists as a kid, and I uh…I wanted to give them to you if we ever dated in the future. Don’t read it now, but please read them before New Year's. Is this an okay gift? If you want something like a new paint brush set or cologne, I’ll get it but I just thought that you’d—”
I cut her off with soft kiss to her lips. “This is all I could’ve ever wanted. Thank you.”
“Really?” she asks, pulling away with a small shy smile as I nod.
“This is the best gift ever, now let’s go back to bed…Wouldn’t want you sleepy while you and Nonna play games tomorrow.”
“Pour me up a shot, motherfuckers!” Nonna jeers, holding up her holiday shot glass as Asa and Jackson cheer, clapping and laughing hysterically in the corner of the room.
Sienna jumps from my lap where we’re seated by the fireplace and Christmas tree. I watch her butt, clad in a purple holiday set to match the rest of my family, as she heads towards my nonna, grabbing the shot glass.
Nonna grins at Sienna, her hand clasping around my girlfriend and the glass. “Oh Sienna, honey. Get you one, too! Jacie tells me that your 21st is on New Year’s Eve, we have to get you drunk!”
“Uh…No?” I scrunch up my face as Sienna laughs at my grandmother's request, running off to get another glass.
Nonna sighs. “Jacie, don’t be such a wuss. Your girlfriend can have a little vodka with your nonna.”
Asa snickers. “Nonna…I don’t know what’s worse. You saying wuss or insisting Si Si has a shot of vodka with you.”
Nonna waves Asa off, rolling her eyes as Mom clears her throat .
“Doris…I think that’s enough vodka…Poor Sienna is probably vodka’d out—” Mom tries to save Sienna, but my girlfriend clearly doesn’t want to be saved. Because instead of bringing back just a shot…she brings the whole damn bottle.
Nonna’s grin is large and manic when she sees Sienna, and I’m about to butt in and interrupt them when the doorbell goes off.
“Who’s at the floor?” Sienna asks, stumbling as Jackson catches her, settling her in a chair next to Nonna.
That’s enough vodka for her…
Running a hand over my face, I answer, “That, my love, should be a drop off. You’ve been looking all over the loft for your gifts, so I had to be a bit creative with hiding them.”
Sienna has been looking for her Christmas gifts ever since she and her mom had that falling out two weeks ago. She’s searched everywhere from her room, to my cars, and even the dance studio.
Hell, I think she tried to search Derek’s place, too, before he told her off.
I kiss her forehead as she pouts and rolls her eyes at me before heading to the door where Derek and Delilah should be standing with the three gifts I'd planned for her.
What I don’t expect to find is the whole damn student body for Summerfield University.
Cleo, Georgia, Denver, Delilah, Derek, Blake, and Ryan stand on my parents’ front porch with a handful of presents. I gape at my friends, my eyes darting between every single one of them before landing on Deli.
“Chief Mischief…What’re you doing here?” I question her, hoisting her up and holding her.
Delilah’s giggles are sweet as she responds, “My daddy said that we’re bringing Christmas to Ms. Si Si.”
Nodding, I put her down and step aside to allow them all in. My eyes snag on Blake’s pajama bottoms that eerily resemble the ones that I’m wearing.
“How did you—”
“Anna sent me the link!” Georgia squeals, thrusting a box into my chest. “That’s for Si Si, don’t open it.”
“What—”
I’m about to throw a slew of questions her way when Ryan clasps a hand on my shoulder. “Merry Christmas, man.”
Sighing, I throw an arm around his shoulder.
“Merry Christmas, Ry.”
We hug for a moment, letting the Christmas spirit take over us just as my mom’s shouts call out for us to join the rest of my family.
The guys and I all lounge around, watching as every single woman—Delilah included—sing their own horrible rendition of some musical about witches.
Sienna’s singing voice is like nails on a chalkboard, and Cleo is no better, sounding like a dying mewl.
We each wince simultaneously as the girls continue with their songs, and when they finish, we’re forced to clap.
“Again! Aga—” Delilah’s cheers are cut off by her dad picking her up.
Derek smiles at his daughter, his finger unclogging his ear as he says, “How about we save some songs for next time, Dels?”
When we’re all settled, the fire roasting fresh wood and the girls happily drinking whatever Nonna’s whipped up, it’s time for presents.
We’d opened presents this morning as a family, but since my friends so graciously decided to join us, we have a few more gifts plus Sienna’s Christmas gifts to open.
Cleo and Blake go first, exchanging their gifts of matching necklaces and digital cameras. Originally, Blake was supposed to head to New York for the holidays, but he’d missed his flight back home two days ago and couldn’t make it.
Cleo preens as Blake wraps her necklace around her neck, a shiny, diamond encrusted, cursive “B” hanging from the silver chain.
My family and I watch as each of my friends exchange their gifts, laughing when Sienna opens a cook book from Derek and when Georgia and Denver give each other the same thing—get out of jail free cards .
When all the chaos of my friends' gifts die down, my happiness grows as I look at Sienna.
She’s going to flip when she sees what I got her.
I’m vibrating with nervous energy as I hold out one of my gifts to her, smiling as she eyes me skeptically.
“Why is the box so big?” she asks, eyes narrowing on me as Blake and Ryan snicker somewhere in the background.
“Sienna Jones, I love you so much…”
Now she’s on edge, her face scrunching like she’s preparing to wince. “You’re not proposing, are you? I mean we just started dating and–”
Chuckling softly, I shake my head. “Not until we’ve both graduated—”
“I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed if you did, but—”
Tilting my head, a soft smile grazes my face.
“Angel?” I ask, softly grasping her hands, my friends and family blurring into the background as she locks eyes with me.
God, I love this woman.
I’ve loved her my entire life, but this feeling grows in my chest at the sight of her… This is what love feels like.
“Hm?” Sienna hums softly, her eyes softening as a small smile breaks on her face.
“Would you just shut up and let me finish my question?” I ask jokingly, laughing as she pushes me off her with a teasing smile. “Like I was saying before someone got in her head…Will you make me the happiest man alive and be the mother of our new child?”
Sienna’s jaw drops, her eyes large and bright as her hands shoot to her mouth. “What?”
The box rustles a bit more, and a small head pops up from the lid, impatient and annoyed.
Sienna gasps, her eyes widening, “Rubble?!”
“Surprise!” our friends shout. The air grows with excitement as Sienna squeals, taking Rubble out of the box. The cat's ears twitch as he purrs for her .
“You got me a cat?! This is my cat! How’d you find him?” Sienna exclaims, jumping up and down, hugging me with Rubble in hand.
“You like him?” I ask, hoping she says yes.
This cat has been the bane of my fucking existence. I’d originally planned on getting Sienna something completely different, but a few weeks ago, I’d been in the quad and this cat parked his ass next to me and wouldn’t leave me alone.
My fear and dislike for the odd creatures lowered a bit when I realized Rubble wasn’t too bad of an animal.
He’s just clingy.
I can’t eat, shit, or sleep without the monster being in the same room. I thought cats were supposed to be aloof, and that maybe this motherfucker is broken, but when I took him to the vet, they said he was normal.
It’s been hard hiding him from Sienna considering she’s crazy perceptive, but Derek’s been watching him for me.
“So does this mean we’re cat and ferret parents?” she asks, the smarmy cat looking up at me with a knowing smirk.
I’m sick of this cat. It’s only been a few days that I’ve had him with me solely, but he’s odd.
“Sadly, but I have one more gift,” I announce, letting the room and Sienna settle as I pull out the small card at the very bottom of the box, handing it to Sienna.
“Jace…” she breathes my name, the sound like music to my ears.
“How do you feel about going to Vegas?”