SKYLER #2
Stella’s nails clack on the floor as she enters the kitchen. When Skyler turns to her, her ears shoot backward. She looks terrified, so he takes off his elf ears and sets them on the counter. No longer concerned, she trots over to him, her nose twitching at the smell of food.
“Don’t worry, girl,” he tells her. “I made doggy cookies too.”
Taking a seat at the island, Trevor asks, “You made treats for her?”
Skyler grins at him. “Yeah! They’re shaped like candy canes!”
Trevor shakes his head, but his smile is adoring. “You are the cutest husband ever.”
“I also bought her some reindeer antlers. But I guess I won’t torture her with making her wear them until Christmas morning. I want to get a picture of the three of us in front of the tree.”
“I’m sure she’ll keep them on long enough to take a picture at least before she starts trying to knock them off,” Trevor says, eyeing the dog.
Skyler grabs two of the large homemade treats from the counter and feeds one to Stella, leaving the other on the floor at her feet. Then he finishes plating up the snickerdoodles and brings the plate over to the island, setting it in front of Trevor.
Reaching for him, Trevor pulls him down so that Skyler’s half-perched on his lap.
He snags a cookie and offers Skyler a bite before he tries it himself.
They sit there a few minutes, feeding each other.
It would be terribly cute and innocent—if it weren’t for Trevor’s free hand casually migrating underneath Skyler’s skirt and rubbing his thigh.
Damn, Skyler’s happy.
Like he’s so incredibly happy right now that he doesn’t know what to do with himself.
He almost wants to go run a lap outside or jump in the pool to let out some of the giddiness inside of him.
But he stays exactly where he is. Quietly singing along to the Christmas music and letting his husband feel him up while feeding him cookies. What a perfect evening.
A little while later, as Trevor’s helping Skyler with dinner, he tells him, “I’m going to start putting some presents under the tree. Promise you won’t pick them up and try to figure out what they are.”
Skyler fake-gasps. “I would never!”
“Oh, please,” Trevor says. “I know you.”
With a shrug, Skyler pokes at the broccoli he’s sauteing.
That’s probably fair. He has been known to do that before.
It’s not that he wants to ruin the surprise, but he gets so excited, he acts like a little kid sometimes.
Really, though, he likes giving presents even more than he likes receiving them. And he tends to go overboard.
Trevor kisses the back of Skyler’s head as he crosses behind him to the fridge.
The gesture makes Skyler smile, but just as quickly, his smile fades.
Because now he’s thinking about all the kids in foster homes, and kids staying with their families in homeless shelters.
There are so many kids out there who might not be getting any presents for Christmas, either because they don’t have parents or their parents can’t afford to buy them.
And here Skyler is, blowing as much money as he wants on unnecessary decorations, and flouncing around in a silly elf costume like everything’s merry and bright.
While for some people, the holidays only remind them of everything they don’t have.
“Baby?” Trevor says with a tinge of concern in his voice.
Skyler turns to him. “Huh?”
“You’re staring at that broccoli like it’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen.”
“Oh.” Shaking his head, Skyler turns off the burner. The broccoli looks done enough. “I just... I wish we had kids to spoil for Christmas.”
“Aw, baby.” Trevor winds an arm around Skyler’s waist. “We will someday. I promise.”
Skyler nods. “I know. But actually, what I was really thinking about is how unfair it is that there’s so many kids out there without families right now who won’t get a Christmas.
And all the families living in shelters.
Can you imagine spending Christmas surrounded by strangers and no one’s getting presents? ”
Trevor frowns and is quiet for a minute as Skyler finishes with their dinner. Then suddenly, he says, “Well, what if we did something for them this year?”
“What? Who?” Skyler asks.
“We can’t help everyone in the world. But we could do something at the local shelters. Bring food and presents.”
Skyler jumps at that idea. “We totally should! That would be awesome!”
“Yeah,” Trevor says, setting two plates on the counter. “I could use the record label to put something together. Not just make donations, but maybe I can organize surprise little concerts at different shelters on Christmas Day.”
“Oh my god, yes! I’ll sing! And I bet Oli would love to.” Skyler’s mind is racing excitedly now. “And you have to sing too, of course. And Noah.”
“And I’ll ask Jasper to do it,” Trevor adds.
“And a couple of my other artists. I’ll talk to Courtney about it.
I wouldn’t necessarily want a lot of publicity for this.
It should be about doing something nice for the families.
But she’ll probably think it’s a great idea to put the label’s name behind it. ”
Skyler kisses him. He has to. His husband is incredible.
He knows they can’t help everyone. The world is full of people in need. But he and Trevor are fortunate enough that they have an abundance of money and resources to spare. If they can bring a little bit of joy to people’s lives, they definitely should. He can’t wait.
And just like that, Skyler’s Christmas spirit is back.