9. Let It Snow #5
Aniyah took a slow sip of water, pretending to gather courage before placing her glass down again. “Fine. They were all very fine. Very well known. And very committed to not settling down.”
The table erupted.
Angelou exhaled dramatically. “I was a young man exploring my options.”
“Exploring,” Mackenzie repeated through laughter.
Aniyah shook her head, smiling as she looked directly at him. “Exploring? More like ho’in, Santa.”
Jackson nearly knocked his glass over laughing while Nina slapped the table.
Aniyah pointed at Angelou again. “Don’t remember the motto you had Trevor walking around school saying?”
Both Trevor and Angelou turned red immediately.
“Babe,” Trevor said quickly, leaning forward like he might physically stop her. “Please do not repeat that. That was such a long time ago.”
The word hung in the air.
Babe .
Aniyah’s eyes widened slightly as the table went quiet for half a second before the teasing started immediately.
“Now why am I in it?” Angelou demanded, his voice slipping into a perfect imitation of 50 Cent.
Trevor shook his head, smiling despite himself. “You walked right into that one.”
Laughter rolled around the table again, louder this time, folding Aniyah deeper into the warmth of the room.
The dessert appeared and the children had begun sliding under the table with sugar buzzing through their systems, Aniyah leaned back in her chair and looked around the room.
At Trevor laughing beside his brother.
At Leon shaking his head at something Nina said.
At Mackenzie and Jackson sharing quiet smiles between bites.
Spades came out later, Aniyah found herself sitting beside Nina with absolute confidence while Trevor and Angelou watched the cards like their reputations depended on it.
“We just ran a Boston on your asses, get up from my table,” Nina announced loudly.
Angelou stared at the table like betrayal had just occurred. When really it was him underbidding and reneging on 3 of his hands. Trevor leaned back in his chair groaning while Jackson laughed loud enough to rattle the glasses.
“They will never let us forget this,” Trevor muttered.
Aniyah smiled sweetly, “Correct sweetie, now move along.”
Later the twins climbed all over her lap calling her “TT,” and she found herself laughing with Leon over vinyl records, proudly informing him she owned a few Coltrane pressings he was still missing .
Then Gee Whiz, It’s Christmas began to play.
All the Porter men rose like it had been choreographed.
Aniyah blinked in surprise as Trevor, Jackson, and Angelou began singing loudly and unapologetically off-key while Mackenzie leaned toward her with a grin.
“It was their mom’s favorite song,” she explained. “They sing it every year to honor her memory.”
Aniyah watched them, warmth filling her chest as the room erupted in laughter and clapping.
They looked happy.
Really happy.
She loved that moment more than she expected to.
When Let It Snow by Boyz II Men floated through the speakers next, Trevor appeared beside her again, his hand extended.
“May I have this dance?” He asked smoothly. Aniyah slipped her hand into his without any hesitation.
Across the room Leon danced slowly with Ms. Teri while Angelou swayed Nina around the floor and Jackson pulled Mackenzie close with quiet ease.
Trevor’s arms wrapped around her gently, guiding her into a slow rhythm beneath the soft glow of Christmas lights.
“This is perfect,” he murmured near her ear. “I love everything about this moment. Thank you for coming.”
Aniyah rested lightly against him, her voice soft with truth. “Thank you for inviting me. This will go down as the best Christmas I’ve had since my grandpa died.”
At that moment Aniyah wanted Trevor to kiss her so badly, but she restrained herself. They would have their time alone soon, she hoped. For now, she was happy slow dancing to music with him lost in the feels of Christmas.
“We could have this every Christmas, if you want,” Trevor stated casually as if he didn’t just insinuate something serious. Aniyah allowed herself to be in the moment. Not letting her past traumas cloud what was on her heart.
“I’d like that,” she replied softly. Trevor kissed her forehead in response, held her tighter and continued to sway to the music.
When coats were pulled from closets and leftovers packed into containers nobody needed but everybody took, Aniyah knew she would carry the feeling of that house home with her.
Trevor walked her to the door, then out onto the stoop, the night air biting just enough to make the warmth they had left behind feel more vivid. For a moment they stood side by side under the porch light, breath clouding faintly in front of them.
“So,” he said, glancing at her. “Still think adults are more unpredictable than children?”
Aniyah smiled, “Your family might be the exception.”
He shifted closer, hands tucked into the pockets of his coat, his eyes lingering on her face in a way that made the cold irrelevant.
“They liked you,” he said softly.
She looked toward the door behind them where laughter still leaked through the walls, “I liked them too. It’s nice to see a big family that genuinely loves each other. I…I only experienced that with my friend’s family.”
His mouth curved, “They are a good bunch although they get on my nerves. The smile on your face lets me know I was right in my decision to invite you.”
Aniyah laughed under her breath, “You’re very pleased with yourself tonight.”
“I’m pleased you came. More than you know…”
The honesty in that settled between them.
When he stepped closer, she did not move back. When his hand lifted to touch the side of her face, she leaned into it before she could stop herself .
The kiss started warm and deepened quickly, months of tension and curiosity answering one another in the cold.
Her back met the door with a soft thud, his body close enough to steal the rest of the winter from her skin.
His hands moved from her waist to her thighs, then up again with the kind of care that made the heat more dangerous, not less.
Aniyah slid her hands beneath his coat, fingers clutching the sweater at his back as he kissed her harder. The porch light burned above them. The cold night wrapped around them. Neither of them cared.
His hand slipped beneath the hem of her dress, palm pressing against the sensitive peak between her thighs. Her breath broke in a soft sound against his mouth, and his forehead dropped briefly to hers. They were fighting hard against their desire to make love on this stoop.
“Trevor,” she whispered, though it was not a warning. It sounded too much like surrender.
His fingers moved higher, his mouth finding the line of her jaw, then her throat, and the world narrowed to touch and breath and the hard line of him against her.
Trevor’s hands rubbed against her warmth.
She was absolutely drenched. Was she gonna let him finger her to completion on his father's stoop? Right now, it didn’t matter what was going on in the outside world.
All she cared about was the feelings of his hand moving back-and-forth across her clit, his lips on her and the moans that were escaping her.
She wanted this man as much as she wanted to breathe.
A throat cleared behind them.
The sound sliced through the moment with surgical precision.
They sprang apart just enough to turn.
Katelyn stood at the foot of the stoop in a camel coat, her expression carved from something colder than the weather. Her gaze stayed on Trevor first.
“You don’t waste any time moving on, do you, Trevor?” Then she looked at Aniyah, and the air changed.
“And you,” she said, voice low and sharp with recognition and fury. “Didn’t I tell you to stay the fuck away from my family?”