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And there was… Holden?
Holden?
“Too fucking cold,” he grumbled, shaking off some snow off the wood he was bringing inside.
Looking at Bell, he shrugged. “Everyone deserves a nice Christmas. Especially those who don’t think they deserve it,” he explained.
“You’re a good man, Bell,” I told him, leaning into his side.
The rest of his coworkers would have had their own families to spend the day with. But Holden was all alone in the world. And I guess Bellamy remembered what it felt like to be an outsider, and didn’t want his friend to have to endure a Christmas like that.
“Holden, are you going to help us string popcorn and cranberries?” my aunt called as if she and the giant, hulking man were the oldest of friends.
“Gotta get the fires going,” Holden said, shaking his head, then lumbering away.
“He’s a good man,” my aunt declared, nodding.
“Is he… okay?” I asked Bell in a low voice. “You know,” I added.
“He only came because there is a basement that locks from up here,” Bellamy said, eyes a little sad. “He made me agree to lock him in at night and let him out in the morning.”
“It’s a little sad,” I said, nodding. “But he’s here. That counts, right?” I asked. “It’s progress,” I added, knowing that Holden never went to any of his coworkers’ events if he could help it.
“It does. And he got—“ Bellamy started, getting cut off as the front door opened again, making me look at Bell again since, well, my whole family was there.
“Sorry we’re late. The old man got his flight time wrong,” another familiar voice called.
“Velle?” I gasped, moving forward a few steps to find him pushing his father into the room. His mom was trailing behind with yet another person I never could have expected to see right then.
Bob.
From fucking Montana.
“He’s had it planned for weeks,” Velle told me, taking in my shock. “Made me hire more staff just to cover the shifts so we could come.”
“It’s so nice to see you,” I said, reaching up to wipe at the side of my eye.
It wasn’t a tear.
I wasn’t crying.
Not me.
“This is an inn,” Bellamy explained after greeting the new guests. “There are enough rooms for everyone. And then some. This is what you wanted, right?” he asked, mistaking my silence and tension for disapproval or anger. “Love?” he asked.
“I’m overwhelmed,” I told him, blinking fast again. “I can’t believe you did this for me,” I added.
Sure, I’d heard the stories from his coworkers about his over-the-top gestures. He flew people on honeymoons and had their cars painted to suit their personality, among a thousand other stories.
But I guess a part of me just never expected to have that same experience. Since every day with Bellamy was over-the-top and amazing.
“Don’t get too overwhelmed, love,” Bellamy said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Or you’re never going to make it through Christmas morning.”
As it would turn out, he wasn’t wrong.
That evening was lovely. There was laughter and Christmas carols and far too many people with far too many ideas about how the lights and ornaments should go on the tree. There was food that my aunt, Holden, Bob, and Velle’s mom prepared. There were Christmas movies all gathered together in the living room with a roaring fire.
Then we all went to bed.
Where I gave Bellamy some naked gratitude for his amazing heart.
I woke up alone the next morning, but with an almost immediate smile tugging at my lips as I thought about how crazy life was, how incredible it was that I’d met Bellamy, that we’d managed to overcome the whole kidnapping thing, that we’d survived an ambush, that we—two hardcore devotees to non-commitment—somehow managed to not only make a relationship work, but thrive.
I probably would have stayed there another half an hour, bundled under the blankets because the old Victorian was drafty and the fire Holden had set for us before he got locked in the basement had clearly long been out.
But hearing the clatter downstairs had me reaching for the extra blanket, wrapping it around myself, and heading downstairs to see what everyone was up to.
After grabbing my coffee, I found them all gathered in the living room, already exchanging presents between them.
“Merry Christmas, love,” Bellamy greeted me, patting the seat next to him. “Who wants to go first for Shawn?” he asked.
I opened my presents from my family first, then from Velle and his family who’d made me a laughably large gift basket full of all my favorite treats as a kid, plus some coffee drinks because, despite the years, Velle still got me.
Bob actually got me a collection of DVDs.
Even Holden had a gift for me.
Sensing my dismay, Bell leaned into my ear and told me, “Don’t worry. We got them all presents too,” he told me, making relief flood my system as my hands worked the paper off of Holden’s gift.
