12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

They sat together, just holding one another for two hours, and when Alan was ready to go, Gabriel asked, in a small voice, “Will you come back in the morning?”

“Sure. What time?”

“Uh, the kids will likely be up early. Six?”

Alan laughed and whispered, “Of course. I’d love to.”

“No Santa costume this time. Tristan would get confused.”

“Oh! Damn,” he said, grabbing the bag and pulling out more presents. “Don’t bitch, I wanted to get them a few more things.”

“I didn’t get you anything. I feel terrible!”

“You gave me yourself. Best present I’ve ever gotten, and I got a PlayStation when I was a kid. You beat that, you win.”

Gabriel planned to find something to give him, but right then, he watched as Alan emptied the bag.

Four presents for each of the boys. “Alan, you’re too much.”

“Thanks! Wait until you see me naked,” he teased in a whisper so the boys wouldn’t hear, then kissed Gabriel quickly. “I’ll see you before the sun comes up, baby.”

And…he was gone. Gabriel stood by the window, watching him go, holding his teddy. He didn’t think he’d ever been so happy in his life, but guilt shrouded that emotion a little. All that happiness so soon after losing his mom.

“I know you understand, Mom.”

He turned off all the lights except those on the tree and locked the door, smiling all the way up the stairs. In the room, he took his shirt and pants off, and put his pajamas on, the red plaid ones, keeping with the theme of Christmas.

Snuggling with his bear, he felt Alan’s lips on his, like the ghost of him had stayed behind to make sure he wouldn’t forget. Not that he could. Falling asleep with the touch and smell of Alan surrounding him, he slept peacefully for the first time in months.

“Gabe? Gabe!” Tristan was pulling hard on the sleeve of Gabriel’s pajamas. “Gabe?”

“What?”

“It’s Christmas!”

Gabriel rolled over and smiled before he teased, “It’s not. It’s still night.”

Tristan crawled onto the bed and over Gabriel to lay his head right in front of his big brother’s. “Gabe! Santa came!”

“That wasn’t Santa. It was just a big elf.”

“Gabe! Not supposed to lie!”

Gabriel opened his eyes and laughed. “Very true. Are you gonna carry me down the stairs? I’m awful tired.”

“I’ll try,” he said in a determined voice and crawled back over him, kneeing Gabriel in the stomach a little before he got off the bed and slid his hands under Gabriel, grunting and groaning as he tried to lift him.

It wasn’t long before Tristan crawled back on the bed and lay his head in front of Gabriel’s again. “You’re too fat.”

“Hey! Not nice. I’m not fat.”

“You’re too…big. Come ooooooon , Gabe! I wanna open my presents.”

“Breakfast first, buddy.”

Tristan started to crawl over him again, but Gabriel stopped him and pointed to the bottom of the bed. “That way.”

“’kay.”

Gabriel got up. It was already a great morning. He saw it was still twenty-six, but it was perfect timing. He wanted to brush his teeth, feed the boys, and start coffee before Alan came.

He put on his robe, brushed his teeth, and then headed downstairs to see both the boys sitting in front of the tree, staring at all the presents. “Breakfast. Come on.”

Brandon got up, his knowing grin spread wide on his face. “So?”

“So, what?”

“Are you, I don’t know, getting married?”

Gabriel laughed and said, “No, we’re not getting married, Brandon. We’re going to start dating. There is a long line of things to do before that comes, if that comes.”

“Whatchu guys talkin’ about?”

“Nothing, buddy. Get to the table. I want to talk to Brandon a minute.”

“’kay.”

Brandon sat on the couch and waved Brandon over to him.

“What? Am I in trouble?”

“No way. I wanted to thank you. What you did was something a big boy would do, and I promise I’ll never consider you a little boy again. You’re smart and thoughtful, and…Brandon, I really like him.”

“You said you loved him.”

“Well, I do. And you’re sure you’re really okay with that?”

He smiled and said his classic, “Duh.”

Gabriel smiled and hugged him. “Merry Christmas, Brandon.”

“Merry Christmas, Gabriel.”

The boys ate the pancakes he made, and Alan showed up right on time, joining them, sipping coffee. Alan listened with a grin as the boys told him everything they’d asked Santa for and wanted and took guesses as to what they may have gotten. Alan held Gabriel’s hand under the table, and Gabriel felt like they were a family.

For so long, he thought he was simply a brother looking after his brothers, but that morning, they were finally a family.

Gabriel and Alan sat on the couch as the boys opened their gifts. From Alan, they received paint sets and sketchpads, and another gift to each was a box of gift cards to every store he could imagine. “You’re spoiling them.”

“So? I think all three of you deserve a little spoiling.”

“Yeah. Maybe you’re right.”

“Like that big box, there isn’t the thing Brandon wanted more than anything?”

“I said you were right.”

Alan laughed and kissed his cheek.

Both boys were squealing and jumping around when they got to the Santa gifts, nearly forgetting the other gifts under the tree. Brandon jumped on Gabriel’s lap and hugged him around the neck. “Thanks, Gabriel.”

“You’re still gonna work off some of it, but you’ve done real well.”

“I love it, Gabe. I really love it.”

It wasn’t often Brandon used the shortened name of Gabriel, but when he did, Gabriel loved hearing it. “I’m glad, honey.”

Soon, the entire floor was strewn with wrapping paper and ribbons, and Gabriel was openly holding Alan’s hand.

Sipping coffee and watching the boys play with their loot, he felt the peace that was supposed to be felt that day.

No, he wasn’t religious and didn’t know if he believed in God. His mother had been on the fence, too. But if there was peace anywhere on earth that day, it was finally in his home.

“I need to stop by my parents’ house, but if you’re okay with it, I’d like to come back.”

“Duh,” Brandon called over his shoulder. “He’s gonna be all mopey if you don’t.”

“Brandon, your mouth…”

While Alan laughed silently, Brandon turned around and haughtily said, “If it wasn’t for my big mouth, you guys would still be weird around each other.”

“He’s got you there,” Alan said.

“Why you weird, Gabe?” Tristan asked as he made the dinosaur “breathe fire” for the hundredth time.

Alan and Gabriel looked at one another and Gabriel knew it was time. “Tristan, come here.”

“’kay.”

After he moved to the couch, Gabriel placed him on his lap, facing Alan. “This is…”

“He’s Alan, silly!”

“I know.”

Alan broke in and said, “I’m Gabriel’s boyfriend.”

Gabriel smiled and said, “Yeah, buddy, this is my boyfriend. Is that okay?”

“Yeah,” he said then wiggled off Gabriel’s lap to head back to his toys. “Gabe, watch!”

“I will in a minute, buddy. I gotta walk Alan to the door.”

Tristan looked up and waved to Alan. “See ya later!”

“Yeah, Tristan, you will.”

At the door, Gabriel leaned on the wall and Alan kissed him sweetly. “I’m going to talk to Cece about watching the boys sometime this week if that’s okay with you. They get along with her kids so it might be the best place. If she does…I want to take you on a real date.”

“I’d love that.”

“And one day soon, I’m taking you to meet my folks.”

Gabriel’s eyes got huge. “W-what?”

“Scared?”

“Terrified.”

Alan pulled him into his arms, wrapping him tightly. “Don’t worry, Gabriel. I will never let anyone hurt you, make you feel bad, anything. I’m going to protect you as well as make you happy.”

“You do that already.”

They kissed, and it got passionate. Alan’s mouth was a glorious thing, and Gabriel was melting in his arms. That was until Tristan saw.

“Ew! Gabe!”

Alan started to laugh, and Gabriel did too. “Get out of here.”

“See you soon.”

As soon as he was gone, he realized he had to cook. He told Brandon to watch Tristan so he could go upstairs, change and then he had dinner to cook.

Within the hour, the ham was in the oven, the potatoes peeled and cut, and he had the green beans ready to cook with the bacon grease and almonds like his mother had done.

Brandon and Tristan were hungry again the moment they smelled the food cooking, so Gabriel gave them a snack. As they ate, he started to put together a relish tray—another tradition from his mother, only he wasn’t sure he was doing it right.

“Brandon…what else did mom put on the pickle tray?”

“Pickles, gross olives, too. You can skip those.”

“I have those, and I like them, so they stay. What else?”

Tristan answered, “Ice cream.”

Gabriel chuckled and said, “No, buddy, not ice cream.”

However, he remembered what was missing as he pictured the melted ice cream. Crackers and her special bacon, cheddar, ranch spread. “The spread!”

“What?” Brandon asked, and then it came to him. “Oh! The one with the bacon and cheese?”

Gabriel turned around and leaned on the counter, taking inventory of the food in the house. “Yeah. I know we don’t have bacon, but we have cream cheese and the ranch powder.”

“So, you need the stuff that makes it good,” he said, smirking.

“Yeah. I doubt any store is open. It’s Christmas.”

“Skip it.”

Gabriel wanted to impress Alan and maybe spoil him a little. “I need to figure something out.”

“Want help?”

“Duh,” he said to Brandon, which got him giggling. Brandon's giggling was rare.

He got up from the table and walked to Gabriel, ordering, “Hoist me up.”

“To…where?”

“The counter, Duffus.”

“Hey! I’m Duffis!”

Brandon rolled his eyes. “God, Tristan.”

Brandon lifted Brandon onto the counter, and Brandon started looking through the cabinets. “Gross,” he called out, then continued to comment on every can and box of food in the cabinet. “Sweet, no good. Just really gross. Maybe, but I’m not sure. Hey, this could work,” he said and handed Gabriel a can of green chilis.

Gabriel looked at the can and smiled. They usually got their green chilis fresh and roasted every fall. They always had a freezer half full of them, but when, on the rare occasion they ran out, she had to resort to canned.

“Okay, yeah, this could work too,” Brandon said as he held out a jar of minced garlic. “Okay, get me down.”

Brandon obeyed, shocked. Brandon went over to the fridge and did the same. Soon, Brandon was holding out a block of Colby jack cheese, sour cream, and onion, complaining, “You’re not supposed to keep onions in the fridge.”

“Noted.”

He also grabbed a tomato and an egg. “I know, I’m eight and not allowed to use the stove, but you’re here, so can I?”

Gabriel was shocked to the point of speechlessness, so he simply nodded.

He sat at the table with Tristan, who’d taken the rest of Brandon’s cinnamon toast and had butter and sugar on his cheeks as they both watched Brandon cooking.

Gabriel was even more shocked that Brandon knew how to use the stand mixer and food processor. “Did Mom teach you all this stuff?”

“I watched her,” he said with a shrug, “but Tiktok has a lot of cooking videos, and I like ‘em.”

Of all the things Gabriel thought he watched on TikTok, cooking videos weren’t on that list. “Okay. Okay, cool.”

“You can cut the onion. I’m not up on my knife skills yet.”

Gabriel mouthed, “Knife skills?”

After he cut the onion, Brandon shooed him back to the table.

“Gabe? Kin I go play?”

“Sure, buddy, but go wash up first.”

“’kay.”

After mixing all the ingredients in the stand mixer, he placed the mixture in the flatter of the baking dishes, grated some more cheese in the food processor, and spread it over the top. “What’s the oven on?”

“350. It’s always on 350.”

Brandon laughed at that. “Amateur.”

He’d take offense, but he was definitely an amateur.

He stuck the baking dish in the oven and rubbed his hands over his pajamas. “Okay, that should be done in forty minutes. Brown a little on top and bubbly. I’m gonna go change.”

Gabriel sat again, looking from the oven to the living room where Brandon had gone through, and back. “What the hell just happened?”

Tristan came back in with sugar and butter still on his cheeks. “I’m gonna play.”

Gabriel caught him and said, “How about after a quick bath?”

“Bath is night stuff!”

“Today’s special. A real quick one, then we’ll dress really nice and besides eating, you can play all day.”

“’kay.”

After they were both dressed, he took Tristan downstairs to play and he checked on the food, taking the cheese spread from the oven. It was bubbly and perfect. And the smell…it was better than the ham.

Brandon came in to check on him. “How is it?”

“It’s beautiful.”

Another eyeroll. “Taste it.”

Gabriel got a spoon from the drawer, scooped a small bit, and blew on it until it wasn’t as hot as molten lava.

As he tasted it, the flavors burst in his mouth, and he stared at Brandon like he’d never seen him before. “Bran, this is good!”

“Good job at sounding surprised.”

“Sorry, buddy, but I am, a little. I didn’t know you could cook. You are very good at it, and you screwed yourself. I’m gonna make you cook all the time now.”

“Really?” he asked with his eyes shining. “No kidding? You’re not just saying that to boost my self-esteem or some therapy bullshit, are you?”

“Brandon, language, and no, I’m not kidding even a little.”

The best surprise of the day was when Brandon hugged him. Gabriel felt tears coming to his eyes, but he blinked them away.

“Go play. Act like a kid.”

“I am a kid, duh,” he groaned and shuffled his feet as he left the kitchen.

And the moment was over.