Page 22 of A Little Christmas! 4: Song
Chapter 8
(Gage)
“This is your fault,” Cooper growled as he stomped across the snow-covered lawn bundled in a thick, fluffy coat, snow boots, a fuzzy hat, and a scarf he’d wrapped around his neck several times.
He’d put on gloves too and pulled the hat down so low Gage was shocked that he could see where he was going.
“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” Gage remarked, grinning.
He knew exactly what his boyfriend was referring to and took great pleasure in winding his boyfriend up.
“You just had to go and encourage Zachy and Song to do a snow dance!”
“In all fairness, they learned it from Shanny and Ajay at the club,” Gage replied, shrugging as he stood beneath the patio awning, manning the grill. “Seeing the four of them wiggling around, shaking their tushes, and waving at the sky was one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen. I wish I could have takena picture of it, because I’d have put it up on the walls. Their smiles and the energy they poured into it was just a moment of pure joy and fun that made almost everyone in the room laugh or giggle, especially when some of the other littles joined in too. Even the quiet little red-haired girl who rarely talks to anyone squealed and leapt up to join them in their snow-snow dance conga line.”
“And now look at what’s happened. It’s Snowmageddon out here!”
“No, Snowmageddon was last night when the snow was still flying. This is the aftermath of Snowmageddon, and personally I think it’s pretty amazing.”
“You would,” Cooper grumbled. “You’ve gotta be half yeti to sit out here grilling with no gloves on.”
“Don’t need ‘em with the heat rolling off the grill.”
“Meh.”
“Better get in touch with your yeti half if you’re gonna survive the afternoon the boys have planned for you.”
“And again, I say you planned this right down to calling the snow down from the sky because you knew they were gonna turn me into a snowman while you got to stand over here basking in the heat of the grill with the meat.”
Gage just grinned and winked at him, letting him infer whatever he wanted to as laughter spilled from the gap in the sliding glass doors as Song and Zachy rushed out in snowsuits carrying the new sleds Cooper had picked up for them on his way home from work last night.
“Papa, Papa, join us on the hill,” Zachy said, rushing over to grab Cooper’s hand.
“I don’t have a sled,” Cooper explained, “but I’ll come watch you.”
“Yeah, you do, Papa,” Zachy replied, pulling a red sled from behind the aqua one he held. “Daddy went out and got you one last night.”
When Cooper’s jaw dropped, Gage couldn’t hold his laughter in. Especially when he started sputtering and flashed Gage a betrayed look, to which Gage just shrugged.
“I knew you wouldn’t get one for yourself, so when you texted to let me know that you were stopping off to get ones for Song and Zachy, I ran out and snagged one for you. Have fun with the boys.”
Cooper blinked, eyes widening as Zachy grabbed one hand and Song grabbed his other one, the two of them practically dragging him towards the hill that lay on the other side of the playground they’d had built for Zachy. It would be good for him to have some time with the boys on his own. Gage knew that he was still worried about not being a good enough Daddy, especially after the scrutiny he’d drawn from other club members after he and Zachy had returned from their cruise. But Gage hadn’t lied to him when he’d told Cooper that he was proud of the strides he’d made in learning how to care for their little.
Once Cooper had gotten past his fears of being embarrassed and started to recognize that each and every little in the playroom had their grumpy and even bratty moments, it had been far easier to help him see that every little had their complexities and insecurities too. Zachy’s had just stood out more because he’d been stifled for so long and unable to explain to Cooper why his excitement kept getting the best of him. Once the truth had come out, Cooper had felt like shit and needed a lot of reassurance from both him and Zachy before he’d been able to move past it.
Now he came flying down the hill, bellowing at the top of his lungs after the shove Song and Zachy had given his sled. Chuckling, Gage turned his attention back to the meat, carefullyturning each piece of chicken, beef, and vegetable and the grilled pineapples and peaches he’d decided to add for a bit of sweetness in the kebobs they’d assemble later.
With only three more days of taping left before the production broke to give the cast and crew a three-week vacation, Gage was looking forward to quiet time spent at home with his partners. In preparation, he’d restocked their cocoa bar, grabbed several canisters of whipped cream, and had fun picking up holiday-themed sprinkles and crushed candy bits to dot the whipped cream with.
With everything cooking nicely, Gage turned his attention back to the hill, watching as Song and Zachy zoomed down side by side, hollering and laughing the whole way. Not having neighbors close by meant they could be as loud as they wanted, one of many things that had led to his purchase of the house. Though Zachy hadn’t come into his life yet, he’d gone into the purchase already having a desire to bring a boy into it and taken the steps to ensure that when he did finally find the right one, they’d have plenty of play spaces where there would be no complaints from anyone.
The world could be a cruel, harsh place. At any moment, shit could go sideways, changing lives in an instant. The helicopter crash that had ended the lives of two members of Shriveled Rose had been more than enough proof of that. Creating a space where he and his loved ones could relax, decompress, and just be themselves had been a priority when choosing locations, and now, watching the boys pepper Cooper with snowballs as he came flying down the hill on his sled, he was convinced that he’d chosen wisely.
Cooper’s clothes were covered with snow by the time the boys stopped throwing snowballs at him and proceeded to fling them at each other until Cooper jumped into the fray, seeking revenge with an armful of snowballs.
By then, the food was ready, so Gage hurried in, grabbed a few aluminum containers, and took them out so he could remove everything from the grill and take it inside, where it would stay nice and warm beneath tin foil until the boys were ready to come in. Even bundled up, there was only so long they could play out there before they would need to come in and warm up, so once he had the food taken care of, he filled the kettle with water in preparation for cocoa and made sure there were towels on the bench inside theflat[TM4] doors and pulled the heavy-duty rubber mats from beneath it so they’d have a place to put their snow-covered boots when they came in.
It smelled like cinnamon and sugar in there, thanks to the new candle burning on the counter. There was an undercurrent of chocolate and peanut butter too, from the cookies the boys had made after they’d burned off their morning burst of energy in the playroom when Song arrived. A quick check revealed that the low table had been pulled into the center of the living room, with thick pillows on each side in preparation for the games they intended to play after they ate. Cooper must have taken care of that while Gage had been busy in the kitchen preparing everything to go on the grill. So far, the day had run seamlessly, but a quick check of the weather app on his phone showed that a new round of storms was heading their way later in the week. It would make the roads even messier and the commute longer, which might mean they’d have to skip their Friday night visit to Velvet Illusions, something Gage knew would disappoint his boys.