A Very Grey Christmas

by T. A. Foster

  “Wait until we light them. You’re going to love it.” I looked up at him.

  “Oh, I want to do that part.”

  “I should have guessed. It’s the fire thing, right? Anything with fire?”

  He chuckled. “You know me so well.”

  Right then, I thought I knew everything about this man. His loves, his wants, his dreams. How he liked his coffee, his workout schedule, his favorite teams, which boot he pulled on first, how he liked me to kiss him, how he liked me under the sheets. Everything. I couldn’t imagine knowing another human being like I knew him.

  I clasped his hand and we walked up the driveway.

  Christmas Eve night was the one night during Christmas week that we dressed up. My father wore a tie and my mother wore a cocktail dress for dinner. They served wine, the house was lit with candles, and my father kept a fire blazing in the fireplace all night. On top of that, we each got to play our favorite Christmas playlist.

  I opted for jazzy Christmas favorites, while my mother always chose the classics.

  I fastened a pendant around my neck as Grey’s arms circled my waist. I smiled at our reflection in the mirror.

  “You ready for Christmas Eve dinner?” I asked, leaning into his shoulder.

  “Actually, I’m ready to spend some time with you.” He spun me so I was facing him. “We’ve been working all day on projects. What about you, me, and a bottle of wine?” His mouth descended to my neck.

  I moaned and pressed my palms against his chest. “We can’t. This is the special night.” I used air quotes.

  “I thought all the nights around here were special.” He smiled, while his eyes focused just below the pendant on my chest.

  I stepped backward and slipped into my heels. “They are. They definitely are.”

  “All right. But do I fit in? I didn’t bring a tie.” Grey had on his darkest jeans and a button-up white shirt.

  “You look hot.” I winked. “Come on. I can see my mom peeking out the kitchen window.”

  We made the short walk to the house and hurried inside out of the cold.

  “There you are!” Mom acted as if she hadn’t just seen us an hour ago. We had spent the entire day with them and only left after all of the luminaries were lit.

  I crossed the kitchen to give her a hug.

  “I love your dress.”

  She had on a dark emerald cocktail gown that stopped above the knee. Her hair was down around her shoulders, and I noticed the bling on her ears.

  “Wait, are those new?” I pointed to the earrings.

  “Yes. What do you think? Your father just surprised me with them.” She shifted her blond hair so I could catch a full glimpse of the diamonds.

  “Wow. Dad did great.”

  “Are you talking about me?” He waltzed into the room.

  “Yes, just loving the present you got Mom.” I gave him a hug.

  “I thought they would look good on her.” He moved past me to kiss her on the cheek.

  I looked at Grey. He was smiling.

  The diamond earrings were gorgeous, the turkey in the oven smelled delicious, and the neighborhood luminaries were beautiful, but I knew none of those things mattered. I didn’t care if I never got another Christmas present. All I wanted for Christmas was under the same roof. I couldn’t think of one single thing that was missing.

  “Merry Christmas, darlin’.”

  I heard the words Grey muttered in my ear as I tried to climb out of a deep sleep. Everything was peaceful and calm. I tried to cling to the last bits of the dream I was having, while still relishing his words. As the last threads slipped away, I opened my eyes.

  “Merry Christmas.” I smiled.

  “Christmas morning.” His eyes widened.

  I nodded. This was the first time in my life I wasn’t waking up in my bed, in my room, down the hall from my parents on Christmas morning. It felt slightly surreal.

  “We’ve got to get going.” He jumped out of bed, surprising me with his quickness.

  I sat up. “We do?”

  “Yep, come on. It’s Christmas. We’ve got breakfast and presents. Parents waiting. Your dad might need my help with the fire.”

  I studied him as he rifled through his suitcase. He seemed excited, almost jumpy.

  “Grey?”

  “Yeah, darlin’?” His head was buried in a pile of clean clothes. He tossed a pair of jeans on the bed.

  “Everything ok?” I peeled back the sheets, and immediately wanted to climb back in bed. Sleeping naked had its cons.

  “Of course. Just ready to get our Christmas started.” He threw a shirt next to the jeans then darted to the bathroom. “Be right back.”

  I heard the shower sputter to life. I giggled. I guess Christmas brought out the kid in everyone. I walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. No need to waste water.

  We each took a spot in the living room, our coffee mugs in reaching distance. Grey and I claimed the couch. Dad always played Santa and started distributing gifts as soon as we were settled.

  “Ok, first up is Eden.” He handed me a silver box tied with a purple ribbon. I recognized my mother’s handiwork before I even read the tag.

  He continued with his duties. “Grey, for you.” He placed a long, thin box in front of Grey. I never asked Mom what they bought him. I just hoped it wasn’t socks and underwear.

  After the last of the presents had been divvied up, we started unwrapping, everyone stopping to admire what had been unveiled.

  Deep in the pile, my mom uncovered a diamond bracelet that matched the earrings from last night. Dad got a gift certificate to a motorcycle repair shop, Grey received a Texas State shirt, and I opened a pair of Carolina pajama pants.

  The floor was littered with wrapping paper and bows. It was hard to believe we had been exchanging presents for two hours.

  I was impressed Grey had chosen gifts for my parents without consulting me. He said he wanted them to be just from him.

  Mom gushed over the wine glasses he selected and Dad seemed to love the pocketknife from Texas.

  “My turn.” I picked up a small box with an oversized bow on it. Grey had signed the tag with an extra note.

  Merry Christmas, baby. I love being here with you.

  I smiled at him then turned to the tiny box in my hands. For a second, my chest tightened. It was the kind of box that screamed jewelry, and not just any kind of jewelry—ring jewelry. I didn’t have any experience receiving rings, but I knew the box size. This was definitely that size.

  I carefully removed the paper and held my breath as I lifted the lid on the soft leather case. I knew all eyes in the room were on me, especially Grey’s. I could almost hear his heartbeat, he was that close.

  I stared at the sparkle in my hands. Grey had never given me anything like this since we had known each other. I removed the earrings and held them up.

  “They’re beautiful.” The light from the fire caught the underside of the sapphires.

  “Did you get earrings too?” Mom giggled.

  “Try them on,” Grey urged and unfastened the backs and threaded them through my ears.

  “What do you think?” I turned my chin from side to side, swooping the hair off my neck.

  “Honey, I think they’re perfect.” Mom was always a sucker for pretty jewelry.

  I wasn’t sure if disappointment had settled in my belly, but for the split second I let myself imagine that there was a ring in the box, I realized it was something I wanted. It was ludicrous. Silly. Grey and I had never talked about marriage other than the brief insinuations at Marin’s wedding. That hardly counted as a real marriage talk. We had known each other less than a year and had only lived together a few months. And I was twenty-two. Marriage wasn’t on the table, was it? Today wasn’t the day, but at some point, I needed to know if it was something Grey was thinking about too.

  For now, I had to push snowy bride images out of my head and focus on the Christmas in front of me. Focus on Grey.


  “I’m glad you like them,” he whispered.

  He held up the box I had wrapped last night when he and my dad were in a serious college football discussion. It was nice I could count on Dad to keep him distracted during my secret Christmas missions. I swallowed hard when he pulled on the ribbon.

  “I hope you like it,” I eked out.

  “Is it the drill I told you about?” He chuckled.

  Dammit, that drill was in my closet. “You can’t ask.” I poked him in the leg.

  He lifted the lid and tore through the tissue paper. He withdrew a leather-bound album and placed it in his lap, not saying a word.

  Oh, God. Did this mean he didn’t like it? He opened the cover and stared at the first page of pictures.

  “When did you do all this?” He flipped to the next page.

  I chewed on my lip. “Yesterday,” I confessed. “While you were working on the bike with Dad. I had them developed.”

  “I didn’t know we had all these pictures. There’s even one from spring break.” By the time he reached the end, he landed on a picture of us from our snow walk. “You even got Christmas in here.”

  I nodded, waiting for more of a reaction. “I didn’t fill in the rest of the pages.” Half of the album was empty. “I thought we could do that the rest of this year.” I searched his face for emotion.

  My heart soared when he turned to me with a grin. “I can’t wait to fill the rest of it with you.” He kissed me and all my worries melted. He actually liked my last-minute attempt at Christmas romance.

  We didn’t have any pictures of us at the cottage in frames, or even on the refrigerator, and I had never considered putting an album together. I saved all my pictures on my cloud, which turned out to be the best thing yesterday when I needed to print fifty of them and sort them in the album. Technology was a blessing.

  “I do have other presents for you.” I smirked. “They’re in Padre though. I wanted you to have something to open from me today.”

  “Darlin’, thank you.” He opened the leather cover again and leafed through the pictures.

  “When you’re done, I want to look at that,” Mom called from her side of the room.

  They had embraced our relationship with full support, but I knew my parents were curious about our Texas life. The pictures would help.

  After the last bow was tossed in the save bag, my mother turned to me. “Eden, did you open everything?”

  I glanced at my spot on the couch. “Yes, I think I’m all done.”

  “You sure?” She looked under the coffee table and then shot Grey a quick look of uncertainty. The entire encounter was weird.

  “Um, as far as I know, Mom.” I wondered what gift she thought was missing.

  “Oh, ok. Sorry, I think I miscounted.” She hurried out of the room with the bow bag.

  “What was that about?” I asked Grey.

  “I have no idea.” He stood. “Coffee refill?” He took my mug and rushed in the kitchen as fast as my mother had.

  Everyone was suddenly acting strangely. I decided it was the Christmas magic making everyone a little loopy.

  Taylor texted a picture of her and Mason sitting next to the Christmas tree. She was holding a necklace in her hand, obviously trying to show me what he had gotten her. I wrote back.

  Merry Christmas. Love the necklace. Tell Mason Merry Christmas from us.

  I wasn’t going to worry that Grey hadn’t actually relayed the sentiment. He wouldn’t wish Mason an un-merry Christmas.

  The table was set; lunch was ready. All we were missing were the grandparents. Before I could adequately prepare Grey with a rundown of all their quirks, all four appeared at the door.

  We laughed through dinner, the awkward questions my grandfathers tossed at Grey, and the side comments my grandmothers made about young people these days.

  Grey and I cleared the table while my parents attended to their parents.

  “You did great out there.” I admired how he handled everything in stride.

  “Your family is fun.” He rinsed the plates and started stacking them in the dishwasher.

  “Even Grandpa Brady with his questions?”

  He laughed. “Yes, even Grandpa Brady.”

  I wrapped foil around the leftovers and tried to make room in the fridge for all of the containers. Having a second refrigerator wasn’t enough. Mom had cooked enough food for an army.

  Grey threw a kitchen towel over his shoulder and turned off the water. “Since we spent Christmas Eve over here last night, do you think it would be ok if I stole you away for some alone time?”

  I closed the fridge behind me. “Depends on what kind of alone time,” I teased.

  “You’re just going to have to wait and see. Can we go back to the guesthouse when the grandparents leave?”

  I didn’t know what had brought on the sudden urge to separate us from everyone, but it had been a busy week. A few hours on our own wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings.

  “Sure.” I smiled.

  “Good, because I have a Christmas surprise for you.”

  Before I could grill him about what he was talking about, my grandmothers walked into the kitchen in search of more wine. I guess I was going to have to wait a couple more hours.

  After the second car backed out of the driveway, Grey whispered in my mother’s ear and then scooted me out of the house and toward the guesthouse. I pulled the sweater tightly against my ribs.

  We hadn’t made it to the door when I felt the first flurries on my nose.

  “It’s snowing!” I stuck my tongue out to catch a few flakes.

  “Could this Christmas be any more like a movie?” Grey opened the door for me, and we shed our coats and the light snow that had fallen on us.

  “So, now that you’ve got me here, what’s the big Christmas surprise?” I toyed with his shirt, hoping it had something to do with what we started in the shower this morning.

  Grey took my hand and led me to the tree. His eyes locked on mine and I could see him swallow hard. He looked nervous, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what had suddenly upset him so much. I clutched his hand in mine, trying to give him the strength to tell me whatever had upset him. He had to know I was here for him no matter what it was. We could get through anything together.

  Slowly, he settled in front of me on one knee, his eyes never leaving mine, his hand trembling as it reached forward.

  In that instant, I didn’t know what was happening. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t speak. I wasn’t sure if I was standing or lying on the floor. My thoughts blurred and my heart raced. Somewhere in the fuzziness between my ears, I heard Grey’s voice.

  “Eden, will you marry me?” Grey steadied himself on one knee.

  “Marry you?” My stomach flipped and somersaults swirled through my veins. Proposing. He was on one knee proposing. To me.

  “Yes, darlin’. Marry me. Say we can spend the rest of our lives together. All of our nights. All of our sunsets. All our Christmases. I love you and I want to marry you.”

  My heart pounded and my fingers started to tingle. This is the part where I was supposed to give him an answer and tell him everything I had been thinking and feeling. That he was the only man I could ever love. I took a deep breath. There was only one thing to say.

  “Yes, oh my God, yes.” I jumped in his arms, tackling him to the floor until we rolled under the Christmas tree.

  His lips pressed my mouth and I felt his tongue fire against mine. He broke free for a second. “I was worried you weren’t going to say yes.”

  “Of course I was going to say yes.” I laughed, then kissed him again, hoping this was all real and not part of the Christmas dream I had fought not to leave this morning.

  “Wait. Wait. The ring. Don’t you want to try on the ring?” Grey sat forward, urging me upright.

  I nodded eagerly. I had forgotten all about the ring as soon as I heard the word ‘marry.’

  I held my left hand forward and watched
in bewilderment as Grey slipped a platinum ring on my finger with a sparkling diamond center stone. I held it up in the Christmas tree lights, watching it shimmer on my hand.

  “You like it?” Grey searched my eyes for affirmation.

  “It’s gorgeous.” I couldn’t believe a piece of jewelry like this was on my hand and that Grey had given it to me.

  “Marin helped me pick it out.” He smiled slyly. “I wanted to make sure it was exactly what you wanted.”

  “Marin? She’s good at keeping secrets, isn’t she?” My eyes met his. “Did anyone else know?”

  “Your parents.”

  “What? They know?” I turned to the main house even though I couldn’t see it. No wonder my parents had done so much to include Grey. I knew they would be welcoming, but all week they had been treating him like a son-in-law, not a boyfriend. And today, they had both been happy, but unusually jittery. I guess they had been waiting for the proposal all Christmas.

  Grey chuckled. “Yeah, I asked your dad as soon as I got here. It wasn’t an easy conversation, but he gave me his blessing right away.”

  “Oh, Grey. I don’t know what to say.” I stared into his eyes. This man who I had wanted to be with more than anything in my life had accepted my family.

  “I don’t need to hear anything else.” He smiled, reaching for my waist. “You said yes.”

  I climbed into his lap, kissing him tenderly. My lips brushing against his, drinking in his lips with every breath.

  “I said yes.”

  I raised my arms as he shimmied my sweater over my head and unclasped my bra. I worked the buttons on his shirt until his chest was bare. I ran my fingertips over his skin. Silently, we stood, unbuckled our jeans, and stepped out of them, leaving nothing between us. I kneeled in front of him, kissing every inch of his body I could touch. Grey crawled to the floor, taking me under him. His tongue lashing at my breasts, my neck, and my throat. My head rolled to the side, letting go, giving in. He asked and I said yes.

  The ring felt heavy and foreign on my finger. I couldn’t help but look at it again, even with fiery kisses shooting sparks across my nerves.