Behind him, Baz held his hips and mumbled “Thank you, Lacey.” A twelve-foot Christmas tree stood in the corner, decorated with antique-style glass ornaments, acorns, and spheres and elongated cones. He spotted some with starburst centers that sparkled as if made of actual stardust. The colors varied from deep gold to jewel tone aubergine and magenta. Faux cranberries and popcorn swirled around the tree in layered swags. A closer look revealed the abundant white lights shining among the branches were in the shape of small candles, completing the Victorian effect.
Breaking from his trance, Matt bounded around the room, tracing his hand on the overstuffed sofas and letting his feet glide on the ruby Persian rug. There were multiple seating areas, again in the style of yesteryear, with oversized club chairs surrounding a dark game table and a pair of elegant wingback chairs flanking the fireplace. He approached the mantel, inhaling the fresh scent of the boughs draped across it, decorated with more glass baubles and….
“Wait. That’s….”
Stephanie gaped. “Those are Matt’s.” She spun to Baz. “How did you—?”
Baz looked neutral at seeing Matt’s figurines, as if that was something he hadn’t arranged. But what were the odds of the owners of this home having them?
“My boss, Lacey, handled the holiday decorating once I found the house and arranged a few other things. I’d run out of time.” He chuckled sheepishly. “As far as these”—Baz gestured at Matt’s figurines on the mantel—“Christmas magic?” Even though Baz waved his hand dismissively, Matt didn’t believe it to be a coincidence. Baz said nothing more, simply bent and unzipped his bag to produce the family’s stockings. He hung one on each hanger with care. He must have taken them off the mantel at home at the last minute.
Hands on her cheeks, Cheryl declared, “It’s magnificent. I feel like I fell into a movie set. It’s too beautiful to be real.”
“And the girls are coming here?” Matt asked because in the end, that was all that mattered.
Smiling widely at him, Baz nodded. He clapped his palms together and said, “Who wants to see the rest? There are five bedrooms upstairs. Four on the second level and one more on the top.”
The group dispersed, Cheryl wandering into the exquisitely renovated kitchen and Stephanie taking in the small library behind the windowed doors off the great room.
Matt followed Baz up the stairs. He peeked into the bedrooms, noticing that they were small in the classic Victorian style but beautifully appointed with stunning pinks and mauves and rich brocade bedspreads. One was decorated for children and Matt was itching to sketch Chance and Rowen in this time-stopped atmosphere.
Taking his hand Baz said, “I thought we’d sleep up here.” The final set of stairs opened to a room a little larger than the ones downstairs. Before Matt was a sitting room with a petite but plush sofa and two curved armchairs. He turned a corner to see a queen-size bed nestled under the eaves, layered with blankets and quilts and a small army of pillows. It took a moment for his brain to catch up to what was missing. “There’s no door.”
Baz pressed his lips together as his eyes twinkled. He started sliding a door inset in the wall.
“A pocket door.” Matt gaped. “Of course. It doesn’t get more Victorian than that.”
He pressed Baz against the now shut door and brought their lips together in a smashing kiss. It ended because he was too wired to stay still. Raking a hand through his hair, he spun to face the room. “I cannot believe you did all this. In just a week. It’s… it’s just….”
Baz’s face glowed with delight as he stood before him. “I had to do something. Couldn’t have us separated from Chance and Rowen on Christmas. I’m used to it, but you….”
There was something in the way Baz said you that made Matt’s heart beat drumlike in his chest. He knew intellectually that Baz had done this for his sister and mother and himself, since he had come home to spend the holidays with all of them. But the gaze Baz kept locked on him seemed almost expectant.
Baz was beaming with such brilliant delight it almost hurt to look at him. Closing the distance between them, Matt cupped Baz’s face and kissed him again, lips moving against each other’s, opening up to snaking tongues and tender nips. The bed was behind them and it was all he could do to not shove Baz down and ravage him then and there.
Baz laughed against his lips. “We need to go get Chance and Rowen.” He brought his teeth together to tug at Matt’s lower lip before licking away the slight pressure. “Later, okay?”
Later, Matt repeated, perhaps out loud, his head too muzzy with the taste and feel of Baz in his arms. He was going to make love to this man for hours, until Baz couldn’t remember his own name.
They separated, with Baz taking his hand and leading him back downstairs. They found the women in the kitchen. Matt looked around at the renovation with a little envy. Everything was new but reproduced so faithfully it could have been the 1920s. Powder-blue cabinets with glass insets, a marble-topped counter that he ached to sprinkle with flour and bake a boatload of Christmas cookies. The dishwasher and microwave were hidden behind period-appropriate cabinetry. The double oven would make quick work of anything they wished to cook. He whistled at the stovetop. When he was renovating his own kitchen, he’d considered that brand but it was well out of his reach.
“This is an Airbnb?”
Baz shifted, his eyes, not meeting anyone’s. He shrugged, with no commitment to an actual answer. In the end, it didn’t matter because whatever magic he’d pulled meant his family would be together, sharing their hearts and smiles and laughs. The tall counter stool hit Matt’s hip as he staggered back into it. Steph raised her brow at him. He leaned on the stool and took stock because he knew he counted Baz firmly in his family unit. When had that happened? And was there anything he could do to make that permanent?
Cheryl broke the silence. “I don’t know about you guys, but I want to go pick up my grandchildren.”
Chapter Twelve
PULLING up in front of Brittany’s parents’ home, Matt felt each muscle tremor as if trying to leap out from beneath his skin. While Brittany shared a condo with Ryan near the heart of Rochester, her parents lived in a Georgian-style home almost as large as the place Baz had rented.
The Longs were of Chinese descent and in their late sixties. Charles Long had a shiny bald head and rounded stomach. His wife wore her hair short, and while silver, Matt was certain it had been treated with coloring for it to have that level of shine. She was thinner than her husband although slightly stooped, her back softly rounded.
Baz was all smiles and courteous to the extreme and Matt stared at what he realized must be Baz’s work persona. He was praising their home and landscaping prowess until the petite woman was beaming and eating out of his hand. Steph hung back with Cheryl, eyeing Brittany warily and avoiding Ryan as much as possible.
Matt approached Ryan and put his hand out.
“Good to see you again.”
The tall man shook his hand, assessing him with cool hazel eyes. “Glad you could be here.” The strain at the words was so obvious that Matt nearly choked. Before he could process fully, he felt a warm hand press against his lower back, beneath his jacket.
“Ryan,” Baz said. “I appreciate your agreeing to this. It means so much for us and the girls.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “Guess they’re getting to know you, eh? Better late than never.” He turned to Matt. “At least Starr here is always around.”
Matt bristled at the slight toward Baz and the backhanded compliment to himself. But he knew he had to get his temper under control. This wasn’t about him.
As they entered the living room, they heard running feet. “Mommy!” Chance shouted. Stephanie scooped her up in a swinging bear hug. Rowen quickly followed and was embraced by her grandmother before the girls switched. Seconds later, Matt had an armful of small, excited child, vibrating with joy against him. “Oh, Uncle Matt, we missed you so much!”
It was then that Chance
seemed to remember that the point of being away from home was to spend time with her father. She ducked out of Matt’s arms and reached for Rowen’s hand, standing among all the adults and looking worried.
Cheryl took over. “Sweethearts. Your Uncle Seb has rented us a special place to stay for Christmas.” She turned toward the Longs and Ryan, eyes shining. “And your father has agreed to let you spend some time there with us, since it’s so close, and then you’ll be back here for Christmas Day. But you can open your presents tonight with all of us.” She looked over at Ryan. “Of course, you, Brittany, and Mr. and Mrs. Long are all welcome as well. Please join us.”
Baz stiffened and Matt surmised that was not part of the careful negotiations. But Ma knew what was important. Whether or not these folks were yet Chance and Rowen’s official grandparents didn’t matter; being together and sharing the joy of the season was what counted. In that instance, he loved Cheryl more than he could ever express.
He put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed, meeting Baz’s stare. Baz was still unsure but something about seeing Matt’s certainty must have calmed him, because he smiled. On the other side of Baz, he saw Stephanie meeting the eyes of her ex-husband, expression softening.
“Yes,” she said evenly. “Please. Elves left enough food to feed twice as many people. Join us. It’s Christmas Eve,” she concluded as if that were the definitive word. And he supposed it was.
AS expected, the girls were in awe of what they dubbed the Christmas House. Matt couldn’t help but smile at Baz’s small flinch when Chance’s exuberance made a glass ball bobble on the giant tree. Matt didn’t know if any breakages would be his liability. He hoped not.
Rowen’s eyes were saucers. “Those are our stockings Grandma—from home.” Her lips twisted. “What about Santa? What if he goes to Daddy’s house and we aren’t there?”
Matt resisted rolling his eyes because Rowen wasn’t letting that one go. Cheryl bent down and once more reassured her that Santa always found all the children, no matter where they were, whether they were with their mommies or daddies or someplace special.
Listening intently, Rowen scratched her chin in a way that he thought she might have taken from a Disney sitcom. “Unc Matt said he has kid radar.”
Baz chuckled from across the room. “Like elf GPS.”
Within moments both girls had edged up to the mound of cheerfully wrapped packages that Steph and Matt had arranged under the tree just an hour ago. Matt found the contrast between the Victorian sensibility of the ornaments and the iridescent neon wrapping paper delightful. He and Baz were tasked with keeping the girls occupied while Cheryl and Steph heated up the premade holiday fare that filled every shelf of the double-wide refrigerator.
Baz had informed him that the ritual of opening all the family gifts on Christmas Eve had started when he was a child. He’d laughed and said that Steph had whined so much and so long one year that his parents had caved and the tradition stuck. Matt could not say he’d been surprised at that explanation.
The dining room sat twelve, so fitting everyone around the table was easy. Baz took over laying the place settings. Matt chuckled at his ability to fold napkins into a complicated set of crisp creases that resembled a holiday tree.
“On-the-job training,” he uttered by way of explanation.
Baz appointed Chance and Rowen his table-setting assistants and had them aligning the cutlery as straight as wooden soldiers. Matt smelled the ham roasting and fought the automatic watering of his mouth. He glanced at Baz nudging a crystal water glass an eighth of an inch to the left. “How did you get the food? What caterer wasn’t already booked on Christmas Eve?”
“Elves,” Baz replied straight-faced before breaking into a grin.
“Well, I hope I get to meet those elves one day and thank them for all this. Because….” He stopped, afraid his voice would wobble. It was all rather overwhelming. Baz met his eyes and held them a long moment, a smile softening the usual hard lines of his jaw. “Thank you,” Matt managed through his emotions.
THE Longs, Ryan, and Brittany arrived in perfect timing with the food being ready. The meal was lively, with Brittany’s parents captivated by Chance and Rowan. He couldn’t help but like Brittany, whose relaxed demeanor seemed to de-stress Ryan and even had Stephanie smiling as Brittany listened intently to Chance’s involved explanation of the difference between fairies and elves.
Matt, Baz, and Ryan ended up clearing the table while everyone else settled into the great room. As he brought over another bowl of leftovers for Matt to save in Tupperware containers, Ryan leaned over and shared that while it wasn’t quite public yet, Brittany and he were getting married in the New Year.
“I told Steph a few minutes ago. Figure she would tell you next so I may as well just say it.” Matt absorbed this news, thinking that from the little he’d seen of her this evening, Brittany was Steph’s opposite in both looks and temperament, demure and soft-spoken in contrast to Stephanie’s earthiness and booming voice.
As if knowing that Matt had been thinking about her, Brittany approached and slipped her small hand through Ryan’s arm, smiling up at him. “I’ve lived in this city my whole life and never knew this house was here.”
Matt considered that. “It is hidden off the road. Without the GPS we would have missed the turnoff.”
Looking around, Brittany said, “Do you think they live like this all the time? Like it’s always Christmas?”
“I don’t know.” Matt considered his answer. “I would think, if it were me, that if this is what your home looked like every day… well, it is magical, to be sure, but I think you’d start to take it for granted and start to overlook the beauty. It would just fade into the background of something that was always there.”
Brittany nodded. “I think you’re right. When ‘special’ becomes all the time, the appreciation for it gets lost.”
Baz was bringing the last of the plates to the counter when Chance danced impatiently into the kitchen. “Mommy said we can’t open presents till the table is clean but it is now so come on!”
She tugged Matt’s sleeve and he let himself be pulled along as Baz murmured, “She definitely takes after her mother….”
Matt simply dropped to the floor next to the tree and exchanged a warm smile when Baz did likewise. Steph nodded, and Matt handed Rowen the first present. Baz stopped her from ripping the paper to read the tag to her. “This is from your Uncle Matt.” She squealed in delight and ripped the Mickey Mouse-themed holiday paper off as quickly as her little hands could find the taped seam.
Holding her new watercolor pad and paint set, Rowen wrapped her arms around Matt’s neck.
Chance eyed the package she’d opened with curiosity.
“It’s a science kit,” Brittany explained. “You can grow crystals in different colors.” Matt was impressed with Brittany’s instinct of what Chance would like and relished the fact that he’d be roped in to guide her. He was equally pleased at Chance’s well-mannered thank-you before she reached for her next present.
A small mountain’s worth of discarded wrapping paper was stashed behind Matt when he motioned the girls to him and pointed to several small boxes still sitting on the silver-and-white tree skirt. Chance reached carefully under the bottom branches to pull them out, then consulted with Matt before she and Rowen handed the simply wrapped gifts to Cheryl, Steph, Ryan, Brittany, and Baz. Each of the adults exclaimed delightedly at the hand-stitched felt Rudolph ornaments.
“Uncle Matt pinned the fronts and the backs ’cause there’s stuffing inside and I sewed with a real needle all around,” Chance explained. “I was super careful to not stick myself because needles are sharp!”
“’N’ I glued the eyes ’n’ the noses on!” Rowen pointed to the red pom-pom on the Rudolph her mom was holding.
“It’s perfect.” Baz smiled at the girls, and Matt flushed with warmth at the soft look on Baz’s face. “I think this will be my favorite Christmas decoration forever.”
Matt had never been allowed to impatiently tear the wrapping from his presents, and the careful sliding of his finger to loosen the tape clearly took too long for not only Chance and Rowen but Baz as well. Matt carefully unfolded the paper to reveal a framed painting, the pint-sized artists eagerly waiting for his reaction.
“You painted those fairies, didn’t you, Chance? And the trees and the river, that’s what you painted?” He looked at Rowen.
Rowen nodded with a big smile. “Unc Seb let us pick out the frame and see, it has flowers ’n vines like on the wall in your house!”
Matt squished them both in a big hug. “Thank you very much! I’m going to hang it where I see it every day!”
Only one square, beautifully wrapped box remained. Baz slid it out and knelt beside the girls.
“This is for both of you to share.”
Chance looked at her sister and they both took turns ripping at the side seams. All the adults were sitting back comfortably, now that the deluge of presents was nearly over. The sturdy cardboard box was taped shut and after struggling a few moments, they allowed Baz to pull out a pocketknife and make a small slice.
“Here you go,” he said returning it to them with the top flipped open. “Careful,” he warned. “It’s fragile.”
“That means it can break,” Stephanie added meaningfully from behind him.
They opened a piece of Styrofoam and exclaimed when they saw what was nestled in the center. Chance lifted it up for everyone to see.
“Oh!” Stephanie exclaimed, leaning closer. “It’s this house.”
Matt studied the snow globe as it twinkled in the tree lights and indeed, the Victorian home in the center looked exactly like the one they were in. He turned to Baz, who was looking down, flushing.
Santa's Last Gift Page 16