He shrugged. “What’s a couple more weeks, right? It seems silly to leave in mid-December, when I could be with my family over the holiday. Help them through the season. By next year, Dad will be so much?—”
I cut him off with an elated kiss. Noel staying through Christmas? Hell,yes.
I didn’t even care that I’d only get more attached to him. I was already hooked on this man. I’d take every day I could possibly get.
He laughed against my lips. “Guess you really wanted to help Kevin out, huh?”
“Kevin?” I blinked the fog from my mind. “Oh, right. Yeah. I’ll have to call and make sure he didn’t find someplace else. Are you sure about this? I know you’re trying to organize more holiday events, too.”
“It’s just one night. I’d be happy to do it.”
I grinned. “And you’ll stay for Christmas.”
“I will.” He nodded, eyes on mine. “Even if Kevin makes other plans, I was having a hard time convincing myself to leave now.” He hesitated. “Because of my parents…”
Right. His parents.
Not because of me.
I tried not to take it personally. Noel was obviously worried about how they would fare once he was gone. He cared a lot more than I’d ever given him credit for. I’d never understood why he left home, and I’d wanted to think the worst of him.
Now, though, I could see that I was all wrong about Noel.
He loved his family. Loved his home. He just loved being a chef, too. Loved being a gay man without the constraints of a small town. Without all those ugly high school memories.
“We might need to brighten the place up a bit if we hold the party in here,” Noel said, breaking me out of my thoughts. “Some gauzy fabrics and lights. Maybe some candles or lanterns on the table. Some pretty china.”
“You’d know better than me,” I said, “but yeah, I can see that.”
Noel smiled, eyes dancing with visions of what he’d do for a special event. “Damn, I hope Kevin says yes. This will befun.”
With the event space cleaned up, we finally convened in the living room Wednesday night to decorate the tree.
Ed sat in his usual recliner, feet up, sipping the hot chocolate Maggie had made. I stood at the threshold between the dining room and living area, watching Noel and Maggie sort through boxes of decorations.
She held up a popsicle-stick ornament in the shape of a tree with Noel’s six-year-old face beaming from the center.
Noel laughed. “Oh god, why haven’t you thrown this away?”
“I would never do that!”
It occurred to me as I watched them that this was a family gathering. Noel was their son, not me.
I made my way toward the stairs.
“Hopper?” Noel called.
I turned. “Yeah?”
“Where are you going? We’re just getting started here.”
I chuckled awkwardly and gestured toward the stairs. “Figured I’d head up to my room. Let you all decorate as a family.”
Maggie clucked. “Hopper, you’re part of the family. Don’t you know that by now?”
I shifted my gaze from her to Noel. He hadn’t been so happy that I was playing family with his parents when he’d first arrived.
He rolled his eyes now. “Get over here. You’re in charge of hanging the lights while we get these ornaments unpacked.”
