Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“But it’s not Christmas!” Romeo complained.
“We’re adults. We’re allowed to make our own rules now.” Mouse patted his thigh. “In fact, we can do adult gifts tonight and Olivia gifts in the morning.”
I had to admit, I was curious why he wanted me to open it tonight. “I’m game.” I tried to forget the conversation Romeo and I had. I wanted to live in this moment.
“Well, okay, it’s gifts early, so I agree,” Romeo added.
We all went to grab our things, then congregated on the floor by the fire. Gage and I got Mouse tickets to an upcoming art show. Romeo had recently taken up golfing, of all things, so we got him a gift certificate for that.
Mouse and Romeo handed us each a large, thin package. Gage and I looked at each other, wondering, then ripped into the packages. I gasped. There were two large canvases, mine labeled Uncle Joey and Olivia, and Gage’s Uncle Gage and Olivia. Each had a collage of photos of her with us, so many photos… I hadn’t even realized Mouse had taken so many. There was one of Gage and me from the first time we’d all spent together after he came back. He was holding Olivia, feeding her, and we were both gazing at her adoringly.
“Wow…it’s…it’s beautiful,” I said.
I glanced over at Gage just as he wiped wetness from below his left eye. He cleared his throat. “Thank you. I’ll treasure it forever.”
“No being mopey,” Mouse teased. “Today is a good day.”
We nodded.
“Mine isn’t something you can open,” I told Gage. “Let me see your phone.”
He handed it over with no question. I went into the apps and downloaded one, then logged in to the account I’d created for him. “I got you a subscription for audiobooks. Every month you get a credit for two, and I bought a few for you already, all about plants and gardening.”
I paused, hoping it wasn’t silly, that he would like it. It was one thing to read books with me, another to try and study and learn about a topic when he had trouble with the words. I knew Gage, though, knew he wanted to soak up as much information as he could. That he was insecure about his reading and comprehension skills. It held him back from trying sometimes.
“Jesus, Jojo. That’s perfect.” He wrapped a hand around my nape and tugged me closer, pressed a hard kiss to my lips. “I can’t wait to listen.” Next, I really hoped to get him to take some online classes. I wanted this for Gage, wanted him to have whatever he needed to be happy.
He scooted the large, wrapped box beside him over to me. I had no idea what to expect as I ripped into the green-and-red paper to reveal…a telescope—a nice one.
“I wanted you to have the stars back. That was taken away from you—your love of the stars—and I want you to have it back.”
It was perfect. I never would have taken this step, never would have purchased a telescope for myself, but as I sat there looking at the box, thinking about what he said, I realized how much I wanted it. How much I wanted to reclaim this part of who I was. As much as I’d been excited for school when I was younger, that ship had sailed, and I was okay with that. But I could love the stars in other ways.
“Thank you.” I gave him another too-big smile. “Can we go out and look now?” Eager excitement made my muscles twitch, made it hard to sit still.
“Yeah, of course. Let’s go out on the deck. You guys wanna go?”
Mouse shook her head. “No. You two do this together.”
They were giving us this moment, and I loved them for it.
Gage opened the box, set everything up, and then we bundled up again and headed out. It was freezing, and I felt bad dragging him out there with me, but he didn’t complain once. He wouldn’t. He wanted me to have this.
We stayed outside for close to an hour. I pointed out constellations I’d shown him a hundred times in the past. We used to lie beside our tree, the one half the distance between our houses. There was a perfect spot where we could see the sky through the branches. I’d tell him stories about stars, and Gage would listen; even if it wasn’t something he cared about, he’d always listened.
We huddled together and looked, me claiming this piece of my past Gage had given me.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Gage
If it hadn’t been so cold, we would have stayed out there all night. Instead, we packed it up when we couldn’t stop shivering. Mouse and Romeo were nowhere to be seen. I assumed they went to their room already.
“We should take a bath,” I said, remembering the large, jetted tub I’d seen in our en suite earlier.