Of Love (12 page)

“SON! COME
in!” Dad must have been standing at the window waiting for them to pull up. “You’re late.”

“You know me.” Kent kissed his dad’s cheek. “Dad, this is Dex. Dex, Brian, my dad.” Kent really just wanted this over so that he didn’t have to think about it anymore.

Dex shook his father’s hand. “Merry Christmas.”

“Happy Christmas. Come in, meet everyone.”

Dex gave Kent a nervous smile and followed his dad into the family room where the big tree was, the whole place decorated. His aunt was there, his sister and husband and kids. Everyone came up, greeting Dex, using their best manners.

Dex shook everyone’s hand, seeming to take it in stride. “You’ve certainly got a big family.”

“Not too big, huh? A sister.”

“And an aunt, nieces.” Dex chuckled. “I’ve got a mom, and that’s it, yeah?”

“I guess. You want to meet Mom?”

Mom was the one voted most likely to talk about the babies, but Kent knew he couldn’t keep her and Dex apart.

“Yep. I do. Moms I know.” Dex winked, clearly trying to relax.

“Yeah.” Kent headed into the kitchen where Mom was stirring hot chocolate.

“You did show up!”

“I did. Surprise!”

“Were we not gonna come?” Dex asked him quietly.

“No. No, she’s being a turd.” Kent grinned back at him. “I have the reputation of being late.”

“Extremely late,” Mom said.

“Drastically late,” Kari added, giving him a shit-eating grin as she took a couple mugs out.

“It’s not true.”

“You’ve never been late to any of our dates,” Dex pointed out.

“Nope.” He hadn’t. Not once.

Mom stared. “You’re serious?”

“Uh. Yeah, he’s always on time or early,” Dex said.

“It must be love,” Mom said.

Kent grinned at his mom. “Must be. Can I have some cocoa?”

Dex gave him a cheesy smile, eyes warm.

His mom raised an eyebrow as she looked at Dex, then nodded. “Of course you can, honey. What about you, Dex? Cocoa?”

“Please.”

“Do you need help in…?” One of the twins hit Kent’s leg, full body.

“Uncle Kay!”

He scooped her up, laughing. “Hey, stranger!”

Dex was giving him a bemused smile.

Sherrie—he knew because she had the tiniest scar on the bridge of her nose—squeezed him. “Can I spend the night soon? Momma says you’re bringing babies home and will need help. I like babies.”

“The babies won’t be here until summer, but of course you can spend the night soon! I’ve missed you!”

“Who’s that man?” she asked him, looking over at Dex.

“This is my very good friend, Dex.”
This is the man I would be spending my life with if I didn’t want a family.

Dex held out a hand to her. “Hi there.”

“Hi, Dex! Did you know that I like Princess Sophia? That’s what I asked Santa for.” Sherrie shook Dex’s hand, totally unafraid.

“I did know that, actually. I bet the big guy brings it to you.” Considering that Kent had suggested Dex buy Princess Sophia accessories for her as his gift, it was a pretty safe thing to say.

Kent squeezed her, kissed her cheek before putting her down. “Where’s your sister?”

“Coloring. I’ll make you a picture!” And off she went in a rush. Silly girl.

“That was Sherrie?” Dex asked, proving he’d actually been paying attention.

“That was Sherrie. Brandi will be around.” Mom handed Dex a mug. “So, Dad is watching TV, Aunt Harriet and Bessie are napping, and I think your sister and that big lug she married are trying to wrap presents in the garage. You two can sit and keep me company.”

“You don’t need help too?” Kent asked.

“I do know my way around the kitchen, Mrs. McMann.” Dex was trying to charm his mother.

“Oh please. Call me Nan. Come chop, then. Onions and celery, please.” Mom poured Kent a cocoa too, then pointed. “You sit. You look tired.”

“I’m fine, Mom.”

Dex shot him a look that called him a liar, but didn’t actually say anything and was soon chopping away.

“Have you decided what renovations you’re going to start, son?” she asked him.

“Nope.” He didn’t want to get into it right now.

“You should start planning. Those things take time.”

Dex just kept chopping, finishing up the celery and starting in on the onions.

“Mom, I’ll figure it out.”

“You could sell, buy something amazing outside of the city, you know. A big house.”

“Kent loves his apartment,” Dex pointed out. Unhelpfully.

“I know, but three babies, a nanny. Getting everyone up and down, and if you moved closer to me….” She was beginning to ramp up, he could tell.

“Mom, please. We’ll work it out.”

“We?” she asked, giving him an arch look.

“I,” Kent corrected. Damn it.

Dex had gone quiet again, head over the onions he was chopping into tiny little pieces.

Mom looked at Dex, him, and then she sighed. “Okay, I’ll drop it.” She lowered her voice. “Am I allowed to talk about my grandbabies yet?”

Kent shook his head. Not this evening.

“’Kay. So I have a pumpkin pie planned. Do you want apple or pecan for the second?”

“Don’t hold back because of me,” Dex said before adding, “I’ve got a fondness for pecan.”

“Pecan it is. Son, grab the butter and find the corn syrup.”

Kent nodded and headed for the pantry, pleased to have a job to do.

They worked together companionably for a while, Dex asking his mom questions about her turkey, her stuffing, and the pies. Easy, safe conversations.

The twins came in to help, and Kent ended up supervising as they rolled pie dough and made little pies of their own. Dex didn’t shy away from them, but he was clearly out of his element, unsure of how to interact.

“Uncle Kay! I made a circle, and Sherrie made a triangle!”

His mom chuckled, but Dex frowned. “Pies aren’t triangle shaped, though.”

“Mine is!” Sherrie stared at Kent, eyes wide. “Is that okay?”

He hugged her little shoulder. “Why not? It’s just food.”

“Isn’t the stuff going to fall out?” Dex asked.

Sherrie headed over to Dex. “Help me?”

Dex looked surprised, then pleased, and he nodded. “Okay.”

He pointed to her little pie plate with its triangle crust. “You see how it doesn’t come up the sides of the dish? When you put your insides in, it won’t all be contained by the crust and it should be. I think we can work the dough up along the sides.” He demonstrated on her little crust.

“Can I try too?” she asked.

“Yeah, yeah. You finish it.” Dex pushed the mini pie plate closer to her.

“Dex! Dex, help me too!” Brandi went flying over. God, that was cute.

“Uh, sure. You’ve got the right shape, but you need to put it up in these spots where the dough doesn’t go all the way.” Dex showed her, then let her finish it.

“So what next? Do we put the sugar in?” The girls were bouncing.

“What kind of pie are we making?” Dex asked.

“Cimmanan!”

“Raisin!”

Kent chuckled. “Razzleberry!” He could play too.

“What the fu—funny bone is razzleberry?” Dex asked.

“I have no idea!” Kent started cackling.

Dex stuck his tongue out at Kent. That made the girls crack up, their sweet laughter ringing out.

Brandi hugged Dex tight. “I like cinnamons and sugar pie,” she whispered. “Like Pop-Tarts. Does Uncle Kay let you have Pop-Tarts? Momma says no, but Uncle Kay says what she doesn’t know doesn’t hurt.”

Dex shot Kent a scandalized look but started laughing softly. “I don’t eat Pop-Tarts, honey. I can’t have a whole lot of empty calories.”

“Empty calories?”

Oh, Kent couldn’t wait for this one.

“Calories are what’s in food, and that’s what gives you energy. It makes you grow and helps you think and lets you run really fast. Some foods help with all that. Other foods don’t.”

The girls stared at him. “Is pie bad?”

Dex looked panicked for about three seconds, but then he got it together and shook his head. “You can eat anything in moderation. That means as long as you don’t eat too much. If you ate nothing but pie? That would be bad. But a little piece after a meal or as a snack, that’s just fine. And you know what? There are no bad foods at Christmas.”

“Oh. ’Kay!” Sherrie grinned, and Brandi kissed Dex’s cheek.

“Nicely done.” Kent approved.

“Thank you. I was in trouble there for a moment,” Dex admitted.

“You did fine.” Mom put raisins and brown sugar and cinnamon in the little pie plates.

Dex looked pleased and surprised. “Those are going to be great pies, girls.”

“Can we help Dex cook more, Gran?”

Brandi nodded. “Please, Gran?”

“If your gran has something we can do for her….”

Kent couldn’t tell if Dex was hoping his mom did or didn’t have anything on tap the three of them could help with.

“Can you guys put the relish tray together? Kent can help too.”

Dex leaned down and stage-whispered to the girls. “I don’t know what a relish tray is, do you?”

“Yucky vegetables with dips.” Sherrie sounded like she was just horrified.

“You don’t like vegetables?” Dex sounded somewhat scandalized, but Kent was pretty sure he was putting it on for the girls.

“I do!” Brandi hollered. “I love carrots!”

“I do too!” Dex gave Brandi a high five.

Brandi’s laugh melted Kent’s heart, almost as much as Dex’s did.

“Come on, Sherrie, there must be one vegetable you like.” Dex pursed his lips. “Hmm…. Broccoli? Peas? Celery?”

She shook her head. “Cheese.”

Kent snorted. “Cheese isn’t a veggie.”

“Nope, it’s not. How about tomatoes or cauliflower?” Dex asked. “Oh! I know—beets because they’re such a pretty color.”

“Gran?” Sherrie asked.

“You like cucumbers and pickles, honey.”

“There you go.” Dex smiled at her. “I love the sour pickles the best.”

“’Kay.” Sherrie nodded like that was that. “We make.”

Kent went to the fridge and grabbed the bags Mom had marked “relish.”

“Oh, excellent. It’s already cut up and everything. I’m impressed with your organization, Nan.” Dex gave Mom a happy smile as he grabbed the bags from Kent and put them on the counter in front of the girls. “I assume we have special ‘relish’ plates?”

“We do.” Mom started pulling out serving dishes.

“Look at that, there’s one for each of us. Or we can each be in charge of different things for every plate. What do you think?” It was turning out that Dex was pretty good at organizing little ones, no matter what he said.

“I do the green things!” Brandi said.

God, it was adorable. Dex was good at this. Still, you either wanted to be a dad or you didn’t, and Dex didn’t. Kent’s heart was going to break in half.

“You guys decide. I’m going to use the bathroom.” He needed a minute.

“Hey, we have a lot here,” Dex told him. “No shirking.”

“I promise. I’ll be right back.” He found Dex a smile, then went to have a bit of a cry.

It wasn’t long at all before there was a knock on the bathroom door, his mother’s voice coming through. “Honey? You all right?”

“Great. Just washing my hands. I’ll be right there.” He washed his face, making sure he looked okay.

She was waiting for him when he came out of the bathroom. “Are you sure?”

“I love him. I love him so much,” Kent admitted.

“Then tell him! He’s such a nice man. Kids always know.”

“He knows.” Kent kissed her cheek. “You ready, Mom?”

“Ready for what, honey? The holiday or those babies of yours?”

“The holiday, of course.”

“Of course I am. The trick is always making sure you have eager helpers.” She gave him a gentle wink.

“Yep.” One day he’d have three of his own, helping their cousins and gran.

She linked arms with him and led him back to the kitchen. “We’ve abandoned that man of yours with two little girls and four relish trays to build.”

“Well, we can’t have that. Have you made Dex cry yet, girls?” he asked as they came back into the kitchen.

“They wouldn’t do that.” Dex patted them on the head. “They’re sweethearts.”

“We are!”

Dex laughed and showed off their plates. “We’re almost done.”

“Oh, guys! You did great!” The plates were adorable. Absolutely adorable.

“Yes!” Dex gave each of the girls a high five.

The girls danced around and then ran to grab Kent’s dad.

Dex gave him a smile. “Well, so far no one hates me, huh?”

“They love you.” He leaned over, kissed Dex quickly.

“Yeah?” Dex sounded surprised. “Kids usually don’t.”

“These two do.” Mom grinned. “Thanks for helping. You’re great.”

“It was my pleasure.” Dex clearly meant it too. “Although I forgot about my hot chocolate, and now it’s cold.”

“I’ll pop it in the microwave for you.” Kent needed to heat his up too.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks. Did I see there were cookies too?” Dex looked over at Kent’s mom. “I feel like being naughty.”

“There are no calories at Christmas, honey. None.” He was sure of it.

“The scale would disagree with you there, Kent.”

He dared to lean over, whisper low, “We’ll exercise extra.”

Heat entered Dex’s eyes, and he nodded, whispered back, “You’re on.”

The worry that had been building backed off. It was Christmas, right? Miracles could happen.

Dex’s fingers linked with his, and the microwave dinged. Like it was marking something.

Kent grinned.

Ding.

DEX WOKE
up on Christmas morning excited. He couldn’t remember the last time it had really been a special day. Today, though, he was with Kent, the man curled up around him, in fact, warm and close, snuggly. That in and of itself was worth a little excitement, the fact that he was here to celebrate the holiday with Kent made it even better.

It had been a lot of years since he’d jumped into the buildup to Christmas with both feet, since it had been more than just a day. Grinning, he rubbed his ass back into the cradle of Kent’s hips. Kent’s hand slid over his belly, petting him.