Liam leaned against his side and Nicky wrapped his arm around his best friend. They had plenty of time to play before their guests would arrive for the day. Law and Jude had added playtime into Nicky’s schedule and Nicky was happy that even though he hadn’t thought about it, the Daddies had.
His car lit up and the horn honked in Law’s hands as he got it working.
Nicky bounced. That was awesome!
He took his car and remote from his Daddy but waited for his bestie. It was more fun playing with Liam. Law gave him a stern look but Nicky couldn’t help but wiggle. He had ants in his pants.
Nicky laughed. That was a silly saying.
Finally Daddy handed Liam his car and remote.
“Come on! Hall!” Nicky tugged Liam toward the door.
“Don’t knock anything over,” Jude called as they ran out of the room.
Maybe if they didn’t reply, they could pretend they didn’t hear him?
“I know you heard me, boys!” Jude added.
“Okay, Daddy!” Liam yelled back.
Nicky huffed. No fun! “Let’s race.” He set his red car on the tile.
“No cheating,” Liam demanded as he placed the blue car next to Nicky’s.
It was like his best friend didn’t know him! Of course Nicky was going to cheat! And these were even better because instead of having to make the car noises on their own, the cars did it for them.
Nicky honked his horn. “Ready! Set!” He hit the forward button. “Go!”
“Hey!” Liam shouted at him, but Nicky was already running behind his car as it sped toward the front of the house.
Nicky cackled as he pushed the forward button even harder.
Liam scrambled behind him. The blue car was catching up. As the blue car went to pass him, Nicky stuck his foot out, forcing the car to veer off course.
“No!” Liam smacked his arm as he chased after his car.
Nicky was totally going to win this race. And every race! Christmas was awesome!
* * * * *
Nicky
The table was set. There was plenty of room for everyone that he’d invited to the celebration. Jude and Law were in the kitchen, warming up the food that had been delivered the day before. Nicky was making sure the table was perfect. Liam and the other guests were in the living room, talking and visiting as the finishing touches of dinner were being completed.
Backing out of the room, Nicky had a smile on his face. Nicky came up short when his shoulders hit something hard.
A thick arm came around his waist. “Good?” Law asked against his neck.
Nicky looked up and smiled, resting the back of his head on Law’s wide chest. “It’s perfect. Everything is perfect.” He wasn’t talking about the table or even dinner. The day was perfect because of the man holding him tight.
After a morning of playtime, Law had taken him upstairs to shower and get ready for their guests. By the time they’d made it downstairs, the living room was clean, not looking like a hurricane had gone through. Santa had been plugged back in. And Liam wasn’t even scared of it any longer.
With a clean house, Nicky was able to focus on what needed to be done before people started to arrive. There still had been a few last-minute touches but Nicky hadn’t needed to stress since everything had been worked out in advance.
Turning to peer up at Law, he smiled fondly. “Thank you for everything. Last night, today, everything is how I wanted it to go.”
Law cupped his face as he returned the smile. “I would do anything for you. We all would. But most of all I want to see this smile.”
