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“He is,” I attested, and we all snickered and headed for the kitchen. Dinner was chicken soup, sweet potato tortillas with ghee (for me) and cheese (for the guys), and carob-zucchini muffins for dessert.
“Tomorrow, let’s decorate the house for the holidays,” Drew said.
Aithan nodded. “We need a tree.”
“A big one,” Drew replied.
“Hanging lights on the front of this house will take a tall fucking ladder,” I said.
Aithan shook his head. “Hire a crew for the outside. That’s a two-man, all-day job. We can get them to put lights in the trees at both ends of the driveway, too.”
“People hire crews to put up lights on their houses?” Drew asked, eyes wide. Obviously, he’d never considered the possibility.
“For big places like this?” I gestured around the house. “Yeah.”
“Huh.” Drew removed the wrapper from a second muffin.
“Didn’t you decorate in New York?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Livi hated Christmas. Except for the presents. Shelovedgetting overpriced crap from me. We usually traveled during the holidays.”
“Do you miss doing that?” I asked. It should’ve been an innocent question, but we all knew it wasn’t.
Drew let the undertone go. “Not a bit. I travel enough for work.” He rested his hand on my knee. “What I’ve really missed was quiet holidays at home.”
“Did you ever have that?” Aithan asked.
“Yeah, for a few years with Jules and Emerson when I was getting my life on track.”
I squeezed his fingers. “So spending Christmas at home with family holds a lot of meaning for you.”
He nodded.
Aithan leaned forward and gripped Drew’s arm. “I’m sorry I won’t be here.”
Drew ducked his head. “I appreciate that, but you have to be with your family. They need to see you’re doing okay, brother.”
I looked from him to Aithan. “We’re gonna holiday the fuck outta this place.”
“Hell yes.” Drew pulled my fingers to his lips and kissed them.
While I cleaned the dishes and put away the leftovers, the guys brought all my holiday decorations down from the attic. Frank and Lulu slunk into the sunroom and explored the boxes, sniffing ornaments, tentatively batting at a Christmas wreath, and trying to steal some garland. When Aithan stole it back, the cats skittered away and ran upstairs.
Drew sat amidst the decorations. “Your supply of holiday kitsch is woeful, Brick.”
I brought each of them a cup of tea. “It’s enough for a three-bedroom townhouse.”
Aithan pulled a cardboard box from one of the storage tubs and opened it. He glanced inside, his brow furrowed in confusion, and he upturned the contents onto the floor. “What the hell is going on here?” He held up a plastic wise man figurine and a zombie businessman figurine.
I giggled. “A Zombie Apocalypse Christmas Story.”
Drew’s eyes lit up like a kid’s on Christmas, ’cause he was basically a big kid anticipating Christmas. “Zelda Gordon, I think I love you.” He started sorting zombies from Christmas figurines. “How many zombies are converging on Baby Jesus?”
“I think there’s like nineteen, if you include the zombie dog.”
Aithan held up the dog. “Kurde, he’s got an arm in his mouth.”
I offered a shrug and a toothy grin. “Snack for the Christ child?”
