Here at Last (17 page)

Everyone laughed, and JT clearly enjoyed the banter.

When we were done with dinner, we went into the living room and settled down
onto
the
sectional sofa
by the Christmas tree.
JT and I had adde
d our gifts to the pile, which wa
s far too large for just
five
people.
Some
of the gifts had already been opened since
his
family
had
celebrated
first with
Denise's kids
on
Christmas Eve
.
On Christmas day, her kids were
with their father
, Denise's
soon-to-be
ex-husband
.
Nonetheless, there were still many gifts to open, and it took everyone a while to work their way through the pile.

I was surprised when I was handed a gift
from JT's parents.

“
This is very kind of you,
” I said to Darlene,
“
but it really wasn't necessary. I didn't expect anything."

“Oh,
Honey
,” she smiled,
“i
t's just something small.”

I opened the box, and there
were
a pair of black gloves and a matching hat inside.
“Thank you so much," I said. “I’ll certainly be using these.”

I sat beside JT and watched him open his gifts, which included a sweater, socks, gloves, a rain jacket, and some books. He reached over and squeezed my hand and held it. He looked happy.
As we
watched his parents open their gifts
from
him
, I absent-mindedly
reached up
and touched my necklace. JT looked over at me with a smile.

Denise said, “Soph
ia, I’ve been admiring your necklace. Where did you get it?
”

“Thank you.” I hesitated
, looking over at him
. “JT gave it to me.”

His mother stopped what she was doing, and Denise got up and came over
for
a better look
. She stared at my neck for a long moment. “
Are those d
iamonds?” she asked
, a little incredulous
.

“Yeah,”
JT
told her. Then, he looked at me tenderly.
“Diamonds and
platinum
.”

“Well done, Bro.” She slugged him in the shoulder, and he feigned injury.
Then, s
he looked at me and said, “He’s always had great taste.”

“I can see that,” I smiled
at him
.

Darlene
looked over at me and
smiled. “
It’s lovely, dear.”

“Thank you,” I told her.





After all the gifts had been opened and we’d had time to digest our meals, Tom went back to watching football, and JT, Darlene, Denise, and I went into the kitchen
to cut
the apple and pumpkin pies
.

“Where’s dessert?" Tom
yelled from the living room teasingly
. "I'm
still
hungry!"

JT
shouted
, "If you want des
s
ert, you'll have to come
in here and
get it."

"JT!" Darlene
scolded
.

"He's just kidding, Mom!" Denise said.

Darlene shook h
er head and chuckled. "I know, b
ut he’s still your father."

“He's also
a
grown man,”
JT said. "If he wants pie, he can get off his ass and get it
himself
."

Denise burst into laughter, and Darlene
laughed despite her best efforts
. I wasn't familiar enough with the family
dynamics
to
feel that I should
laugh
, but
it
made
me smile,
and
I appreciated how warm his family was
.

When JT and I were getting ready to leave, Denise made a point of coming over to me. “It was really nice to meet you
, Sophia. We’re glad you came. Please don't
be a stranger.”

I squeezed her hand
. "Thanks
for everything
Denise.
It was lovely.
"

I hugged
her
and
both of JT's parents, and his mother came in for a closer look
at
the necklace
before we left
. "It's beautiful,
"
she said.

I looked over
at
JT and
smiled
.
"Not as
beautiful
as he is."

I could tell that his parents were
touched
by
the sentiment
, but Denise said, “Just wait
until you
get to know
him
better!"

JT put his hand across my shoulders and pulled me to him. "I'm looking forward to it," I said
, laughing
.

We said our goodbyes and left Denise’s house with a promise to return.
As we walked to the car and put our gifts inside
, JT was quiet.
When
we got in, he looked over at me and
said, "I'm really glad you were
here
today. It wouldn't have been
the same
without you."

"
I had a really nice time.
Thank you for inviting me."

He
started the car and let it sit for a moment to warm up. I could tell that there was
something
on his mind,
and
he
looked
over
at me
inquisitively
. "
What would you have done
today
if
we hadn’t been together
?"

I shrugged. "I would've spent Christmas alone."

He looked a little surprised.
"And Thanksgiving?"

"
Sometimes
alone
."

He was quiet for a moment. "What about your birthday?"

I smiled. “
Same
."

Frowning, he
put the car in gear and
shook his head.
"Not anymore. We’re definitely going to do something about that."





JT
took
a
long
and circuitous route
to
dr
i
ve
me home that evening,
meandering
through vario
us neighborhoods around Chicago
so that we
could
see the
colorful
holiday
lights and
decorations. It began snowing, again, and he turned on the radio
as the announcer
said
that
we could expect
up to six inches
of snow
.

He shook his head.
“This morning, they were saying two.
”

“Maybe we'll get snowed in," I said
hopefully
.

He smiled and reached over,
putting a newly gloved hand
over my newly gloved hands.

I motioned toward our gloves.
“That
was really sweet of your mother.
"

"When I told her
you were
coming, she
turned
frantic.”

"Oh, no," I said.
“She
didn’t
have
to buy
me anything
."

“Don't worry about it. She loves shopping, and she
still had a few things to pick up.
A
nyway
, i
t was a good excuse for Denise and Mom to get out of the house
for a
little
while
.
Even though they get along pretty well when they see one another, my
mom
needs a break from my
dad
sometimes.
”

“It’s hard to believe they’re divorced.”
I reflected on the evening
and rested my head back against the seat
.
“I really like your family
, JT.”

He glanced over at me
and smiled
.
“
T
hey like you, too.
In fact, when you were saying goodbye to Denise, my mother was full of compliments.
"

“That’s nice.” Curious, I asked, “What had you told them?”

“About us?” he asked, glancing over
at me
.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“
I told them that
I was bringing my girlfriend
,” he smiled
.
“
Believe me
, they
had a lot of questions.”

“Like what?”

JT
laughed. “First, they wanted to know how long we’ve been dating.”

“Four days,” I smiled. “That must have impressed them!”

“Well, I didn’t phrase it quite like that. I just said that we
’d
met in San Diego and that we’ve known each other for a year-and-a-half and had decided to
start seeing
each
other
.” He was quiet for a moment. “Denise knows
everything
though.”

“I hope you don't mind my saying that the necklace came from you."

He
shook his head
. “No
, not at all.” A smile crept over his face. “
I almost thought that we were going have to fight
my sister
for it
."

I
chuckled
.

JT
looked
over at me as
he pulled into
a parking
s
pace near
my apartment building. “
What do
you suppose your family is doing right now?" he asked.

“Nothing," I
told him
. “Christmas would have been long over
by
noon."

He looked
mystified
but didn’t say anything
.
W
e
got out of the car and walked into the building, taking
the elevator back up to my
apartment. I'd never had a holiday like this before, and I was touched that
JT had
introduced me to his family
and included me in their celebrations
.

When we went to bed that evening,
JT slid one arm beneath my neck and stroked my other arm with his hand
.
I could tell that he wanted to say something but was hesitant.
As
I closed my eyes, he
kissed me
, and
I felt my heart quicken
.
I
opened my eyes
and watched
him as h
e pulled back
to look at me
.

“I love you, Sophia,
”
he said
, his expression serious yet tender.

I hadn't expected
to hear the sentiment
so
quickly, but I knew how he felt because
the feeling
was mutual
. It was as though we had gotten to know one another in San Diego and, now, we could
just
relax
in Chicago
and be our
better
selves.

“I love you
, too
.
”
He smiled, and
I
was quiet
for a moment.
“I didn’t expect any of this, but
it's been so easy.
” I reached up and touched his face.
“
Everything's different now than it was in San Diego.”