Twenty-Seven

Steve

After ordering both of us a peppermint mocha and a pup cup for Teddy, Garrett drove us down Sunrise to an area I hadn’t been to for a while. “What’s over here?” I asked.

“You’ll see.” He smiled at me, took a sip of his drink, and turned up the radio which was also playing Christmas carols. We drove past Madison before he turned down a street and in front of us people were walking, and cars were barely crawling along a neighborhood street.

“What is this?”

“Dove Court, they always have a great light show. We don’t need to get out, we can just drive down the street. Traffic is always so slow we’ll be able to see everything from the car.” Garrett smiled at me, and I reached across to settle my hand on his leg.

“Garrett?”

“Yeah, sorry, I know it’s crowded.”

“No, it’s not a problem. I just wanted to say thank you,” I said, and didn’t take my eyes off him. He turned to meet my eyes when we came to a stop.

“For what?” he asked.

“For taking a chance on me. I know I’m not the easiest person to be around, but I’ve never met anyone who was so filled with happiness as you, and I never really thought I was a dog person until I meet this little guy,” I said, and patted Teddy where he was buckled in, in the back seat. “You fill me with so much love, and I didn’t want another day to go by without telling you I love you.”

He pulled over to the side of the road and the car behind us squeezed into our space, before he put the car in Park and took both my hands in his. “I love you too. I didn’t want to scare you, so I’ve been holding back, but it’s been harder every day.”

“We’re kind of a mess,” I said and both of us grinned.

“But together we’re perfect,” he whispered before holding my face in his hands and kissing me. He held my hand after he pulled back into the line of cars and we slowly made our way down the street that had to have half of the lights in Sacramento on it. Everything that could be covered with lights was. Some houses were themed, while others had a variety of characters and designs covering the house and lawn. At the end of the court was a tall evergreen tree that was completely covered with the old-fashioned large bulbs giving it a nostalgic look and making it the perfect place to turn around and go back out to see the other side of the street.

“Can you imagine living here?” I asked.

“No, I mean I love Christmas, but this is a big commitment. The Fabulous Forties is the same great decorations but lots of work.”

“I’m happy with our tree, that’s plenty for me,” I said and meant it.

“I’m glad,” Garrett said and squeezed my hand. After finally leaving the area we drove home, and since it was late the traffic wasn’t as heavy, so it didn’t take nearly so long. As we drove past the mall I huffed and shook my head.

“I still can’t believe I was an elf.”

“You’re still an elf until tomorrow,” Garrett said.

“Yes, I am, and Tinsel will ride again next year,” I said making him laugh.

“Okay, Mr. Elf, let’s go home.”

The next day was full of craziness and anticipation but even so, I was going to miss it, and when my day was done, I turned in my elf costume for the last time and told Terry I’d see him next year. He made sure he had my information and noted that I’d returned my costume. “It’s been a pleasure,” he said and held his hand out.

“Thanks, Terry, I feel the same way. Now I’ve got a date to get to. Take care.” I waved goodbye to Santa one last time and hurried out to my car through heavy rain.

I’m leaving work now. Do you think you’ll make it home first?

Hey babe, I don’t think so. You go and get our seats, and I’ll meet you there. See you soon. Xo

After stopping by the house to put Teddy out to go to the bathroom, I was back on the road and driving to Rocklin. Since it was Christmas Eve traffic sucked, but today I didn’t mind. Everyone was hopefully going to see someone they cared about or someone who cared about them, and that was okay. It didn’t really take me too much longer to get there, and I hoped Garrett was as lucky as I had been.

This theatre was the first in the area to offer dining with a movie, so it had been popular, and judging by the crowd that was walking toward the entrance it looked like nothing had changed. I scanned the app on my phone at the entrance and made my way to the theater the movie was playing in. After asking for directions, I found our seats and had just sat down when Garrett sat down next to me.

“Well, hello there,” he said in a gravely, sexy as hell voice. “Mind if I sit here?”

“Actually, I do, I’m waiting for my boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend, you say?”

“Yes, and he’s the jealous type,” I said, and looked behind him like I was expecting someone to walk up.

“Oh, is he? Well then challenge accepted,” he said before plopping down in the seat and kissing me. “I’m starving, let’s look at the menu.” The next two hours were filled with food—lots of food—plenty of laughs, and stolen kisses and snuggles. It was the best Christmas Eve I’d ever had, and I hoped this was the first of many. “We should do this every year.”

“You read my mind. I love that idea.” The movie ended and we walked out of the theatre. He’d parked close to me but it still was hard to leave him so he could drive his own car. Even knowing we’d be home soon didn’t matter. I wanted to be with him every moment I could.

Thirty minutes later when we pulled into the driveway, we walked into the house together. As usual Teddy was happy as could be to see us, and later that night after we returned from his parents’, when we made love I realized I was just as happy as Teddy was, and that was saying something.