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But this year...
This year, he wouldn’t be alone.
This year, Christmas wouldn’t pass unnoticed and unacknowledged.
This year, he had two people to share it with. Two people who gleamed like bright stars in the darkness.
Wes stroked Bettie’s back as he began to dream up the gift he would give to Adam and Gus. It wasn’t impossible, but it would be a time crunch. He decided to put on another pot of coffee and get down to business.
* * *
“Daddy says you’re having Christmas with us—is it true!?”
Wes had opened the door at Gus’ enthusiastic bell ringing, and found her cheeks flushed and Adam waving from across the street.
“Come on in,” Wes said, saluting Adam and giving him a wink over Gus’ head.
She was there, as agreed, to create her glowing plant.
“But is it true, Wes?!”
She bounced inside and shoved her hands in her pockets, something Adam had taught her to do when she got so excited she wanted to tug on people to get their attention.
Wes grinned. She was so freaking cute.
“Yeah, it’s true. That okay with you?”
“It’s perfection!” Gus trilled, spinning around, and Wes couldn’t help agreeing with her.
“Cool.”
“Cool,” she echoed. “Cool, cool, cool!”
She was practically vibrating with excitement as she skipped after him to the living room where he’d laid out everything they would need.
He was going to be showing Gus how to flood the plant with the luciferase enzyme instead of splicing it into the plant’s DNA as Wes had done with the trees he planted in the clearing. He had a feeling Gus was far more interested in quick results than long-lasting ones.
He had packaged luciferase, luciferin, and coenzyme A in nanoparticles to help each one get to the right part of the plant, and suspended them in a solution.
“Okay, so we’re going to take your plant and put it in this tube. The tube is full of a solution I made that is what will make the plant glow.”
Gus nodded, eyes wide.
“Do you know what kind of plant this is?” Wes asked her.
She shook her head.
“It’s kale.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Do you eat that?”
“Yeah. It’s a very hardy plant that can grow in lots of different environments. If you put it in your window, even in the winter, the cold won’t bother it.”
She nodded.
“This is an autoclave. It’s gonna pressurize the solution, which will allow the particles that hold the glowing agent to enter tiny pores in the plants, called stomata.”
He tapped his own face.
“Pores are like what we have in our skin. They let our skin breathe. It’s the same with plants. Basically. Once the particles have entered the stomata, it will begin to glow.”
Gus’ eyes were huge.
He showed her how to put the kale plant into the solution, then turned on the autoclave, and they watched the plant slowly darken as the solution was pushed in through the stomata.
“Whoa,” Gus breathed.
“It’ll take a bit before it starts glowing,” Wes said, not wanting her to be disappointed.
“Okay. Can we take it to my house so Daddy can see it too?”
“Sure.”
She was so excited about the soon-to-be-glowing plant that she only called hello and goodbye to Bettie and the other animals, before grabbing Wes’ hand and pulling him to the door.
“Just grab my coat,” he said, managing to snag it with one hand before he was encouraged out the door.
“Sorry.” Gus grimaced and waited impatiently as he pulled it on.
She shielded the kale plant inside her own jacket for the walk across the street, hugging it to her chest against the cold.
She reminded Wes so much of himself sometimes.
“Daddy!” she yelled as they got inside. “I made a plant glow!” She paused and looked back at Wes. “Wes helped,” she added, and Wes smiled.
Adam came out of the kitchen with an adorable smear of flour on his cheek.
Wes’ eyes got wide.
“Oh, no. Daddy. Are you baking?” She asked it with the horror usually reserved for questions like “Was it malignant?” or “Is it contagious?”
Adam laughed.
“Never fear. It’s slice and bake cookies. I just used a little flour to roll out the dough. I got Christmas cookie cutters. Wanna help?”
Plant instantly abandoned in Wes’ hands, Gus made a beeline for the kitchen.
“Hi,” Adam said. “How’d it go?”
“Good. I’ll just put this in her room, if that’s okay?”
“Sure.” Adam studied it. “Is it really going to glow?”
“It should.”
Adam shook his head.
“Jesus. You’re seriously unbelievable, do you know that?”
The word had been levied at Wes before, yes, but never in the extremely fond, slightly awed tone that infused Adam’s voice.
Wes caught his elbow and drew him close. Adam smelled of sugar and Wes wanted to see if he tasted like it too. He leaned in and kissed Adam’s soft lips. They tasted as sweet as he smelled and Wes sank into Adam’s warmth.
Kissing Adam felt like home.
“Daddy, can I make a Christmas monster!?” Gus called from the kitchen.
