by Evelyn Sola
“We wouldn’t be standing here in your house if you—”
“Stop it!” Miranda yells. That gets Mona’s attention because she shuts her damn mouth for once. “Mom, Dad’s ten years older than you are, and you guys met and were married in eight months. Don’t insult Nick or our relationship. He’s right. You know nothing about him outside of work. He’s funny, sweet, patient, and kind. He’s all the things you told me to look for in a man,” Miranda counters. “So, you can just stop, okay. You’re not going to break us up. Was all that talk about you wanting me to fall in love and have a relationship just talk?”
“Of course not, baby girl. It’s just that—” She doesn’t finish her statement. She just stares at me instead, leaving the statement hanging.
“Mona, I love your daughter so much. There’s not another man in the world who will love her more than I do. She loves you both, and I would like for all of us to be friends. Please. That will make things easier for Miranda because I’m not giving her up.”
Nigel can stay, but I’d like nothing more than to kick Mona out of my house and never speak to her again, but I have to remind myself I’m doing this for my girl.
Mona looks around the room, and I think I see the minute she understands that she’s outnumbered. Her shoulders sag in defeat and she looks down at the floor. Sadie must sense it too because she starts to rub her head on Mona’s legs. Mona reaches down and pats the dog’s head.
“Well, then,” she says as she looks around, “I will respect my daughter’s choices.” She clears her throat and looks at her husband again. He nods one time, and she looks back at us. “I know Miranda is behind these decorations. I guess I know why you were suddenly in the Christmas spirit. Can Miranda show me around, Mr. Bain?” She finally looks at me again, this time with no hostility, only resignation.
“It’s Nick. And of course. I hope we can be friends, Mona. I didn’t set out to fall in love with her, but it happened. Call it the universe having a weird sense of humor given the hostility between us, but I met your daughter and lost my mind over her. That’s it. You raised an amazing woman.” I wrap my arm tighter around Miranda. She looks up at me, smiles wide, raises herself on her toes, and gives me a kiss on my cheek.
“Well, it’s Christmas Eve tomorrow, and I want you home, Miranda. We have a house full of guests, and we have our traditions. We have a ton of presents to wrap and you know your father and brother are terrible when it comes to that.”
“Okay, but I want Nick to come too.”
“I’m sure he has his own family. I wouldn’t want them to be deprived of his presence,” she says, giving me the side eye.
“They’re all out of town this Christmas,” I quickly explain.
“He’s welcome,” her father says, quickly agreeing to Miranda’s demands. “We don’t turn anyone away at Christmas.”
“Do you know how to wrap presents?” For the first time, Mona asks me a question.
“My mother made sure I learned.”
“Good. We can use the help. I received a bunch of toy donations and we need to get everything wrapped and delivered to the church tomorrow.”
“I’m proud of you, Ms. America,” Nigel says, squeezing his wife’s shoulder. She looks at him and blushes. He then takes her in his arms and whispers something in her ear. When he lets her go, she turns to Miranda and they start to walk around the house.
As if this woman hasn’t hated me for months, and she didn’t just try to order my girlfriend to break up with me, she turns into a completely different person. She picks the dog up again and starts to walk around the Christmas tree. Miranda runs across the room, and they start to talk and laugh as if the last twenty-four hours never happened.
“Ms. America?” I ask, looking at Nigel.
“You’ll learn in time that those two are inseparable,” Nigel says to me, ignoring my question.
“Well, I’m close to my mom, so I understand.”
“Good,” he says, tapping me on the shoulder. “Nice place. It looks like Santa threw up in here, which means my daughter is responsible for this.”
I don’t answer. I shrug and he laughs.
“You want a drink?” I ask. “I feel like I need at least three.”
CHAPTER 33
MIRANDA
It takes an act of restraint for me not to jump over the fence and run to Nick’s car, but I take my time and open the gate. I slip on the fresh coat of snow underneath my feet, but I catch myself. Even almost falling flat on my ass doesn’t slow me down. I run right into his arms and he lifts me off the ground before giving me a kiss hot enough to melt the snow.
I’m so lost in the kiss, it takes me a while to hear the sound of barking. As soon as he sets me down, he takes off his coat and puts it on me.
“Sadie,” he says. “I couldn’t leave her. I figure at this point it would be easier to ask your mother for forgiveness rather than permission.” He reaches inside the car and takes the dog out of the crate and hands her to me. He takes out a small suitcase, and I escort him into the house.
After brunch at his house, I came home with my parents, and Nick said he’d meet me in a few hours.
“It’s about time you got here. I missed you.” I put an arm around his waist as we walk up the three steps to the front door. It swings open, and my mother gestures for us to come inside. She takes his suitcase and tells us to follow her upstairs to the guestroom she just made up for Nick.
“The bathroom is across the hall. Nigel’s cooking dinner. In the meantime, we need to start wrapping some presents.” As soon as Mom leaves, I pin him to the door, get on my tippy toes, and continue what we started outside. I deepen the kiss at the same time I stick my hand down his pants and grab his already hard dick. As abruptly as the kiss started, I end it and get on my knees as I undo his belt and lower his zipper.
“Miranda,” he says. I know he wants to stop me, but I also know he’s already too far gone to offer much resistance. “Sweetness,” he says, his voice hoarse with need. He has no time to say anything else because the minute I see his dick, hard, ready, and waiting, I take the entire thing in my mouth.
“Fuck,” he hisses and puts his hand on my face to help guide my head.
CHAPTER 34
NICK
Luckily, no one notices my wobbly knees a few minutes later when we come downstairs, hand in hand. In fact, no one pays much attention to us at all until Andrew sees me. He comes walking into the dining room, a half-eaten apple in his hand. The room is filled with toys, wrapping paper, and ribbons. As soon as Andrew sees me, he stops mid-chew.
“Mom, did you make your boss come and wrap presents?” he asks while offering me a firm handshake.
“Your mother’s boss is your sister’s boyfriend,” Nigel says casually as he leans against the wall.
Andrew starts to choke on his apple as he laughs. He looks from his mother to Miranda, likely looking for confirmation.
“I don’t think it’s all that funny,” Miranda says, punching him in the arm. Andrew rubs his bicep as he continues to look at us. I throw an arm across Miranda’s shoulders and she puts an arm around my waist. She looks at Andrew, daring him to speak.
“So, when we ran into him at the mall, it wasn’t a coincidence?” He looks around the room and starts to laugh again. “I swear, you can’t make this shit up.” Nigel loudly clears his throat, walks over to Andrew, and slaps him upside the head.
“Watch your mouth, boy, and help your mom in here. I’m going to cook.” And just like that, Andrew, who is at least two inches taller than his father, shuts up and grabs a roll of wrapping paper. But he chuckles and shakes his head every time he looks at me and his sister.
“You two,” Mona says, pointing at me and Miranda. “Get to work. Plenty to be done. Nick, do you think you can drive me to the church to deliver these toys later?”
She asks casually, but I recognize it for what it is. She’s offering me a truce, one I eagerly take. “Just let
me know when.”
Music starts to play, and Nigel brings a huge pitcher of what he calls his world famous rum punch.
“How do you wrap these so perfectly?” Miranda asks about an hour later. I lift up the box and wave it around like a hostess in a game show. Andrew, who has had quite a few drinks, whistles loudly in approval.
“Thank my mom. She taught me this crap. I guess it’s not useless after all.” I polish off my drink, grab Miranda, and start to dance to “All I want for Christmas is You.” Nigel comes back and grabs his wife and spins her around the room.
“Are you ready to eat, Ms. America?” he asks, looking at his wife. “We’ll eat in the kitchen,” Nigel announces. “And Andrew, find a gal. You’re almost thirty. Give me some damn grandchildren before I die.”
CHAPTER 35
NICK
“I’d like to cook breakfast for everyone Christmas morning. Just a thank you for letting me spend Christmas here.” I pick up Miranda’s hand from my lap and kiss it. “I’m having a good time with you guys.”
“Nicky,” Miranda says, looking around the table, “Daddy doesn’t like for anyone messing around in his kitchen.”
“That’s right. I don’t want you three messing around in my kitchen”—Nigel says pointing at his wife and kids— “but Nick made a good meal when we were over there the other day. He knows what he’s doing in the kitchen, unlike you three. Breakfast would be great.”
Nigel Moore has made a decadent meal of red beans and rice and two different chicken dishes. He serves a spicy jerk chicken and one in a rich curry sauce unlike any I’ve ever had before. I greedily eat them both.
Halfway through dinner, the woman who was at the mall with them last week comes walking in with two teenage boys and the same little girl.
“Who’s the guy?” she asks, offering me her hand. I can feel Miranda stiffen beside me. “Isn’t he the one we ran into at the mall? Your boss, Mona?”
“And Miranda’s boyfriend,” Andrew offers.
“Nice to see you again, Vanessa,” I say.
“You go, girl,” Vanessa says, winking at Miranda. “These are my kids,” Vanessa says, introducing me. The little girl, Tandy, smiles shyly at me, then she goes and sits on Mona’s lap.
Mona kisses the top of her head, and everyone else finds a seat at the table.
“I have a question,” I say to the table. “Nigel, why do you call Mona Ms. America?”
Mona blushes, but her kids both groan and sigh dramatically.
“Oh, please, Daddy. Not that story,” Miranda moans.
“Well, he asked, so I’m going to tell him,” Nigel says, smiling wider than I’ve ever seen. He looks at Mona and winks at her before he starts talking. “We met at a Fourth of July barbeque my brother and I were throwing. We had just bought a fixer-upper together and he wanted to have a party. Imagine this fine woman walking into the backyard. She walked wearing the shortest jumper I’ve ever seen, made out of the American flag. The only downside was that she walked in holding hands with some clown. As soon as he stepped away, I approached.”
“The first words he ever said to me were, ‘you want something to drink, Ms. America. You look thirsty.’” Mona practically swoons at the memory.
“You should have seen the way she turned up her nose at me. She left me standing in the middle of the yard holding a bottle of water.”
“He was sweaty and gross,” Mona says, defending herself.
“Anyway,” Nigel continues, “that idiot she came with ended up getting so drunk, he passed out somewhere inside the house. I might have been the one who kept giving him drinks. While he slept, I very graciously offered to take the beautiful lady home. When I got to the front of her house, I kissed her good.” Miranda and Andrew both make faces. “I told her she was with me from now on, and she said—”
“I said, ‘in your dreams, buddy,’ and slammed the car door in his face.” Everyone at the table says the phrase all at once.
“The next day, I picked her up at work. I was waiting for her in the parking lot when she got out. I offered to take her to dinner. That did the trick because she got in the car.”
“I thought he was taking me out for a burger, but he drove me home to this lavish dinner he cooked.”
“And I’ve been cooking her meals since.”
“Hold on,” I say. “How did you know where she worked?”
“Remember I told you she was dating a clown? Well, he was also a wimp. He was still passed out cold on my couch when I got home from dropping her off. I threw some water on him, grabbed him by the collar and pinned him against the wall. He told me everything I wanted to know. See, Mona. That clown wasn’t worthy of you. He’s lucky I didn’t kick his ass.”
“I don’t even remember his name, Nigel,” Mona says, rolling her eyes.
“His name is Bozo, Mrs. Good Stuff.” He leans over and kisses her on the cheek. “You think you’re so tough.”
“Please, enough with the Mrs. Good Stuff,” Andrew says
“Yeah, well, find your own Mrs. Good Stuff, Andrew,” Nigel tells him.
“On that note, I have an announcement to make. I’m giving you all my Christmas present now,” Andrew says, changing the subject. “I’m coming back stateside next August.” Mona jumps out of her seat and hugs him so hard, he practically falls over.
“That’s our present?” Miranda asks. “That’s so cheap.”
“That’s not all,” Andrew says, giving Miranda the side eye. Once Mona gets back in her seat, he continues. “I really want my family to visit me there before I leave, so I bought you all plane tickets to come for a trip. I’ll be back in May for Miranda’s graduation, and I figure we can all fly there together I’d really love for you to come. Seoul is beautiful and I want to show you guys around.”
“Are you serious, Andrew? I’d love to come.” Miranda gets up and hugs her brother next.
“Mom,” Andrew says, a playful smile on his lips, “I’m sure your boss will give you the time off.” Even Mona laughs at the joke, and I can’t help my smile either.
“Watch this, Mom,” Andrew says, looking at me, “Nick, you want to come to Seoul, too?”
Before the words are even out of his mouth, I answer him. “I’d love to.” Miranda squeals and leaves a greasy kiss on my cheek.
^^^
“Your mom is a taskmaster,” I whisper when I sneak into Miranda’s room hours later. After dinner, Mona ordered Andrew and Vanessa’s boys to clean the kitchen while the rest of us wrapped presents.
“She’s in her element. You wrapped your ass off, so she’s probably your biggest fan. And you didn’t complain about helping her deliver all that stuff. Progress, baby.” She lowers the sheet for me, revealing her waiting naked body, and I strip right down to my birthday suit. Her eyes drop to my already hard dick, and she bites her lip at the sight.
As soon as I climb on top of the bed, I latch on to one of her nipples.
“Mm-hmm,” I hum as I pull her nipple between my teeth. “It’s been torture to be close to you all night, but not be able to touch you how I want.”
“How do you want to touch me?” she asks, her voice raspy with need. I don’t answer her question. I part her legs with my hand and spread her pussy lips apart. She’s already dripping wet for me. Seconds later, I have two fingers buried deep inside of her. “Like that?” she asks.
“And like this.” I remove my hand and roll off her. I grab her and put her on top of me. She immediately straddles me, and I lift her and watch her slide down my dick. She throws her head back, and I grab both her hips as she rides my dick.
^^^
“That was amazing, sweetness,” I say as I wrap my arms around her. I’m on my back, and she’s on top of me, her back to my chest. She shoves her hair aside, and I kiss the side of her neck. We’re both sweaty, spent, and exhausted, but I can’t bring myself to leave her room. “You’re amazing.”
She leans into me, and I wrap
her tighter. She puts her hands on my forearms and sighs. “These arms, Nick. I don’t ever want to be anywhere else.” She falls asleep in my arms immediately with her head in the middle of my chest and her mouth wide open.
I know I need to get up and tiptoe my way back upstairs to that guestroom. The room in the house farthest away from Miranda, but I can’t seem to get out of this bed. To do that, I’d have to move her and possibly wake her from her slumber, and I’d hate to do that. I let out a yawn as the events of the long day finally take a toll on me, and I decide to close my eyes for a few minutes before getting up.
A faint buzzing pulls me out of my sleep. Nothing’s changed. Miranda is still in the same position, sleeping with her mouth open. We’re both still naked under her sheets, but the buzzing continues.
As calmly as possible, I move her off my body, which is now coated with a thin layer of sweat, and lay her on the bed. I climb off the bed, cross the room to my sweatpants, and pull my phone from the pocket. My mother texted me several pictures of her and Becker taken at a bar the night before.
“Shit,” I say when I notice that it’s almost six o’clock in the morning. After giving Mona Christmas Eve off, I took it a step further and closed the office today, giving everyone the day off. I know for a fact Uncle Joe never did that, and if the appreciative emails I received are an indicator, I’ve finally done something to garner some appreciation at the office. Now, I’m relieved I won’t have to go into work on top of everything else I need to do today. I put my pants back on, pick up my shirt, and slowly climb up the stairs leading to the kitchen.
All I can think about is going upstairs and getting Sadie out for her walk, but the minute I land in the kitchen, Mona’s eyes meet mine. I stand there like a deer in headlights, my chest bare as the shirt hangs in my hand. She crosses her arms, arches her eyebrows, and looks at me.Then she whistles and Sadie comes running into the kitchen and dives into her bowl of food. “I’ve already walked her, seeing as you were unavailable,” she says, eyeing me.