Page 35 of Love Legacy

Sage

I love Christmas, or at least now I do. Christmases when I was little were great.

We’d watch reruns of the old claymation holiday movies while sitting by the fire, drinking hot cocoa.

Mom and I would decorate the tree while Grandpa mostly supervised, stepping in on occasion to lift me up and reach higher branches.

Christmas Day, he and I would go out to the local hockey rink to go ice skating with Santa while Mom stayed home cooking Christmas Dinner: oven-roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy and a towering plate of warm, freshly baked biscuits.

It was simple, but it was perfect for our little family.

Then Grandpa died and everything changed.

Hot cocoa turned into regular milk, and the fireplace was boarded up because it was ‘too much to look after.’ Gone were our trips to pick out a Christmas tree in favor of a pre-lit, pre-decorated fake tree.

Ice skating with Santa and home-cooked Christmas dinner became sad snowmen in the front yard and Chinese takeout.

The year Grandpa died was the year that Christmas lost all its magic for me.

That is, until I ended up with the Davises.

They brought so much joy back to the holiday season, making me look forward to Christmas rather than dread it.

Their silly holiday traditions like matching Christmas pajamas for the family, or opening a small gag gift on Christmas Eve.

Or spending Christmas day in our PJs, playing board games with Christmas music playing in the background.

They gave me a completely unique holiday experience, unmarred by the negative memories of my childhood.

This year, elf was the theme for our matching family pajamas.

We all got T-shirts with the body of an elf and our elf names printed on them and then paired them with matching red and green flannel pants and a goofy elf hat.

Mel’s said “Mama Elf” and Ken was “Papa Elf.” Theia, of course, was “Smart Elf,” and my shirt said, “Gay Elf.” They gave me an option between Gay Elf and Tattooed Elf, but I loved that the Gay Elf was holding a little rainbow flag on the shirt.

The four of us were gathered around the Christmas tree, exchanging gifts.

This year, we opted for a big family gift rather than our normal gift exchange.

We all chipped in for a family vacation, a seventeen-day, one-way cruise to Europe scheduled for right after my graduation.

When my parents present us with the cruise details, I notice that the reservation was for six adults, a three-bedroom suite.

I remember when we were researching the trips and comparing costs, it was cheaper to do a suite, especially when you factored in Mel and Ken’s loyalty program benefits.

But I expected them to put Theia and me in a double room or something, not give us each our own room.

“This reservation was for six? Would they not let you book a suite with a double? Or two single occupancies?”

Mel shakes her head, glancing over at Ken, who gives her a small nod.

“We might have overstepped, but we wanted to extend an invite to Naomi and include her on this trip. And then we didn’t want Theia to be the odd man out, so we added a sixth adult to the reservation.

For a friend. Or that secret boyfriend she thinks we don’t know about. ”

Theia’s head snaps up. “Sage!”

I hold my hands up in defense. “I didn’t say anything!”

Mel rolls her eyes. “Please. Do you think we’re blind? You’ve been glued to your phone with that goofy grin permanently stuck on your face since you came home. I know it’s not whats-his-face, so there must be someone new in your life.”

Theia blushes when her phone pings, then pings again, her fingers flexing as if she’s itching to check the notification.

“Okay, fine, you caught me. Yes, there is someone new, and no, you cannot meet him yet. Things are still really new. I just want to get to know him a little more before I make the introductions with the family.”

I shrug. “For what it’s worth, I thought he was a pretty nice guy,” I mumble.

Theia smacks me on the back of the head. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Not ready to make the introductions, huh?” Ken asks, crossing his arms across his chest.

“It’s not like that, Dad. Sage and I just ran into him at the mall when we were doing our Christmas shopping, that’s all.

I didn’t go out of my way to introduce them, he stopped me.

I promise I’ll introduce you guys to him once I’m sure about him.

After everything with Aaron, I’m trying to take my time and make sure he’s a good guy. ”

Mel’s facial expression softens, giving Theia a sympathetic smile. “Oh, honey, we completely understand. We just want you to be happy, right, Kenny?” she asks, giving him a pointed look.

He nods. “Absolutely.”

Theia smiles, giving our mom a side hug. “Now can we open these other presents? I know we said no gifts because of the big trip, but I got everyone something small.”

“I did the same thing,” I say with a laugh.

“I think we all had the same thought,” Ken says as he scans the tags taped to the wrapped presents.

Another tradition that the Davises have is wrapping paper.

Every year, instead of using one generic, printed wrapping paper to wrap all the presents, we’re each tasked with getting a unique wrapping paper to wrap all the gifts we are giving.

The only rule? It must be Christmas-related in some way.

This year, I got gingerbread man print wrapping paper, except the heads were replaced with my face.

My dad laughs, seemingly having discovered my presents. “Okay, ham, Sage, why don’t you go first?”

I grin, standing up to grab my boxes and hand them out.

“Where did you even find this stuff?”

“Google,” I say, sitting back down once everyone has their presents, “it was either going to be a great gag or a twenty-five-dollar scam. I’m glad it was the former.”

They all begin opening their presents, discovering what I got them.

A professional, faux leather, shoulder bag that converts into a backpack for Theia, a cheap sous vide for Ken, and then a set of decorative, stained-glass wine glasses for Mel.

They take turns handing out their own gifts, and in the end, I got a set of new hair extensions from my mom, a gift certificate to my favorite salon from Theia, and then a new, used laptop from my dad.

We were sitting down, playing Scrabble when my phone starts ringing, the tone indicating that it was a video.

I grin when I see Naomi’s face pop up on the screen.

While I wanted to give her a call first thing this morning, I knew Naomi was spending Christmas at her parents’ house rather than staying with her Grandmother, like she planned to do for the rest of her break.

So I told her to call me when she got a private moment rather than the other way around.

I answer the phone, hiding it close to my face, so my parents can’t see.

“Are you decent?” I whisper. Naomi’s already surprised me once this break.

A couple days ago, I was lying on the couch, watching TV, when she called.

Thankfully, my parents were not around, because as soon as I answered the call, the image of Naomi, laying on her back, fully naked with legs spread, popped up on my screen.

While the sight was extremely arousing, and we had great phone sex, she gave me no warning, and it could’ve gone horribly wrong.

Naomi laughs. “Yes, I’m decent. I’m at Grannie Mae’s house, helping her finish the pie. My daddy’s leading two morning masses today, plus one after dinner, so I decided to leave with her after the first. I was worried I would spontaneously combust if I stayed at the church for too long.”

In the background, I can hear her grandmother playfully scolding her for that joke, swatting at her with a dish towel. “Is that your grandma?”

Naomi smiles, taking the phone with her as she stands next to the older woman in the kitchen, adjusting the camera so that I could see the both of them. “Sage, this is my Grannie Mae. Grannie Mae, this is my friend, Sage.”

“Oh, so you’re the young lady that’s been taking such good care of my grandbaby?

Thank you, Sage. I was so worried about sending her up there for school all alone, but you pulled something out of her, a confidence and joy that was buried deep down inside, and I’m so happy that she’s free,” she says, her southern accent rich and warm as she gives me a genuine smile.

“Well, she makes me just as happy. I hope one day we’ll be able to meet each other. I know important you are to Naomi.”

“Likewise. We’ll make that happen one day, absolutely.”

Naomi playfully rolls her eyes, but I can see them shining with unshed tears of happiness as she moves away from her grandmother. “Okay that’s enough of that.”

My mom pokes her head into the frame. “Is that Naomi? Oh, hi honey! How’s your Christmas going?”

I stretch my arms, completely extending them to zoom out as much as possible.

“Everyone come in and say hi so I can have my girlfriend back to myself.” My parents crowd in, my mom taking the phone for herself.

I let them have a moment, stepping away to grab my sweatshirt and slippers.

When I return, Theia has the phone, talking Naomi’s ear off about the spring semester’s mini rush and our COB process.

“All right, that’s enough. I’m taking my girlfriend back,” I say as I attempt to pull the phone out of Theia’s hands.

“Bye, Naomi!” she calls out.

“Bye, Theia,” Naomi responds as I regain control of my phone.

“Okay, now that that’s over. Hi,” I say softly, continuing to talk on video call with her as I head outside.

Our parents have a sunroom added onto the back of our house.

The windows work just like a storm door in that, we’re able to replace the panels with screens during the summer, making it an all-weather room.

It’s not the best insulated, so it does get cold in here in the winter without the space heater on, but it’s private and better than going outside.

“Hi, baby. How’s your Christmas going so far? Show me your pajamas!”

I pull the phone back, giving Naomi a scan of my outfit. “It’s been pretty good so far. Even better now that I’m getting to talk to you.”

She rolls her eyes. “Charmer.”

“You know you love it. Mel and Ken got the family a seventeen-day European cruise for after my graduation.”

Her face falls slightly, but she recovers quickly. “A European cruise? That’s so exciting!”

“Everything okay?”

She nods, waving me off. “Of course. Seventeen days, that’s just a long time for me to miss you.”

“Well, what if you didn’t have to miss me?”

“What do you mean, Sage?”

“The cruise reservation is for six people. My parents wanted to invite you to come with us. I want you to come with us.”

Naomi gasps. “Sage, I can’t accept that. That’s too much.”

“Come on! It’s already paid for, all you have to do is make sure your passport is up to date and that your suitcase is packed.”

“Sage, that’s way too generous.”

“Naomi, please join us. Think of this as your graduation present to me.”

“My graduation present to you is a vacation for me?”

“No. Your graduation present to me is to join me in celebrating my graduation.”

“Semantics,” she says, waving me off.

“Please, Naomi? Don’t make me beg,” I say, pouting.

“You know I love it when you beg,” she says breathily, her eyes hooded with lust.

“Naomi! Stop being horny right now and focus!”

She laughs. “Hello, pot meet kettle.”

“Naomi!”

“Alright, alright,” she says, putting her hand up in surrender. “I will go with y’all on vacation under one condition. Well, two conditions.”

“Name it.”

“One, I will pay for my own excursions and anything I do on board.”

“Okay, and what’s the other condition?”

Naomi blushes, a bit embarrassed. “You go with me to get my passport.”

I smile wide, happy that she’s agreed to come with us. “Deal. We can do it when you return to New York.”

We continue to video chat for a bit, catching each other up on our Winter Breaks so far and talking about Naomi’s plan to come out to her parents right after the new year.

“Naomi, we gotta head over to your momma and daddy’s for dinner! You know how he’ll get if we start prayer too late.”

She sighs, giving me a sad smile. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you soon?”

“Absolutely Church Girl. Merry Christmas, Naomi,” I say softly, blowing her a kiss through the screen.

“Merry Christmas, Sagey,” she replies, returning the gesture.