Page 30

It was a promise and an intention. I couldn’t imagine spending my life with anyone else. I couldn’t think about someone who could possibly replace him, or the feelings I had. It was the natural next step from my feelings, and I didn’t want to jump the gun and propose. We hadn’t even graduated or lived with each other yet, there was still a lot to find out about each other, and that’s part of the promise.

In the car back to the bed and breakfast cottage, he couldn’t stop looking at the ring, admiring the colors from the rainbow as he rolled it around. He deserved the biggest mug of hot chocolate after being brave and coming so far out onto the ice with me. He deserved so much more in fact, but I’d start small.

We spent the rest of the day curled up in the bedroom together, watching TV, eating the amazing food they served, and playing games. Wren was in the most playful state I’d ever seen him in. IT was freeing to experience I with him.

Since Christmas day was the following morning, we made sure to get an early night, but not before a big bubble bath with the colorful soaps. I joined him in it, the first time I’d had a bath in a while, but the first time that I’d come out of a bath smelling like tutti frutti with my skin coming out with a silvery shimmer to it. The curse of pigmented soap and bubbles.

“You’re all sparkly,” Wren said, rubbing his hands up and down my arm.

“You are too.”

He gasped. “We sparkle together.”

“Yes, we do,” I said. “Don’t forget once you’re all dry, you need to put that ring back on. You know, to make sure the promises stay and come true.”

He nodded. “Yes, Daddy.”

I ruffled a hand through his wet hair. “Your hair is sparkling too.” I’d need to make a note of that so we didn’t accidentally buy it again. I didn’t mind sparkling, but it was not a good look on me. The light kept catching my skin and causing me to look around like someone was shining lights in my eyes.

Wren was far too excited for Christmas to sleep.

The projector played the stars on the ceiling and occasionally shooting stars would whoosh by in the background. And then a faint Santa Claus on his sleigh would go by and court Wren’s excitement, back to being fully awake.

“We twinkle like the stars,” he whispered.

“You are a star,” I told him, turning in the bed to look at him. “You’re my star.”

“No,” he giggled, barely turning his head. He was focused on Santa watch. “You’re a star. The biggest star. And I’m not just saying that because you’re my Daddy, but because it’s true.”

I pressed my lips to his cheek and smooched them there for as long as possible. The residue taste from the soap on his skin, surprisingly not awful.

“We’ll have to get some sleep soon,” I whispered to him. “Santa doesn’t come to boys who stay awake.”

Wren let out a fake yawn, triggering a real one, and forcing one from me as well. “Good job I’m super tired,” he said. “I used all my energy up on the lake, and then survived on the adrenaline of your promise ring.” He pulled his hand out from under the duvet and looked at it. “It’s so petty. I want to get you one. A promise to be the best and most sweet boy, so that I can have cuddles and kisses forever.”

I kissed his cheek again. “That’s a promise I can get behind.”

Even while my future was up in the air, not knowing what would happen to me after graduation in May, I still promised to have a future with Wren. I didn’t care where I went, or what I ended up doing, I had ideas of plans in case professional hockey wasn’t on the cards for me. And I could finally admit to myself that I wasn’t scared of the future, I was willing to embrace it, flaws and all.

Falling to sleep with the content nature of my thoughts on the future, I found myself waking to an excited Wren as a stray line of blinding white light made its way over my body from the curtain. “It’s Christmas, it’s Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, baby,” I said, letting out a big stretch.

He planted a large wrapped object on my chest. Light to the touch. The wrapping was very messy, but it was Wren’s wrapping, and I appreciated it.

“Are you opening presents now?” I asked.

“Open it, open it,” he said.

We’d agreed on no big gifts, it’s one of the reasons I wanted to get the promise ring on his finger yesterday, so it wasn’t considered a Christmas present. I tore the paper off to discover two crocheted and stuffed plushies, one of me in my Orcas jersey, holding my hockey stick, and him, attached at my hand, a little smaller, also in a jersey and holding a much smaller version of Bloo in his hand.

“This is incredible,” I said, admiring the details. I was even wearing skates. “How long did this take you?”

He shrugged. “A couple of days,” he said. “Also, if you only want me , you can snip this piece of yarn and they will separate.”

“Why would I separate us?” I asked.

Wren giggled, smushing the plush toys faces together. “They always keep kissing.”

“And where’s mine?” I puckered my lips for him.

“Mwah!” He pecked my lips, over and over, making the same sound.

As I went to get his gift, I forced him to stay in bed and keep our replica plushies comfortable. At the back of my suitcase, hiding away, it wasn’t big, but it had the potential to be big. I hadn’t known what to get him, and part of me felt like I wasn’t up to the job of being Daddy to his little side, but I could be a good boyfriend to all of him. It was a small rectangular box, wrapped in a cream paper covered in teddy bears and blue bows.

“Ahh, I love it already!”

“You don’t even know what’s inside it yet.”

“Yeah, but I love it.” He took the present and slowly unwrapped it, saving the paper.

Inside was a navy box. He looked at me again and I encouraged him to open it. It was a coupon book, and inside it, I’d written out a bunch of coupons he could cash in. From spending time with Daddy to new crayons and play toys. There was even one written out for a sixty second yarn buying spree. I didn’t want to bankrupt myself just yet for Wren’s yarn.

“I love it!” he said, growing teary eyed as he flicked through it to see the ones I’d left blank for him to write in himself.

“As long as it’s nothing too wild,” I told him. “I think we could also add in one of those blank ones now that we’ll come back here when the ranch opens so we can take advantage of the petting zoo. And because we heard so much about that goat’s cheese from those pastries we ate.” My mouth already salivating, even if we couldn’t go get them together because it was Christmas.

“I wanna live here,” he said.

“I’m not sure you can add that one,” I chuckled. “But we can come back. We’ve still got Snowflake Springs to visit, you might like it better there.”

He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed as hard as he could. “Thank you.” His face as always was pressed to my skin, trying his best to inhale as much of me as he could possibly. “I don’t want time to go as quick as it is.”

“We still have another nine days, I think, or something like that before we’re back in Maplehaven.”

Nine whole days we would get to play together as a couple who didn’t have anything else to do but be with each other. It was bliss, every single second I was able to spend with Wren and away from some of my insecurities that hadn’t reared their ugly heads until I was alone with them. I didn’t know what was coming for me, but I didn’t need to know. I had Wren by my side, and he had me. We didn’t need to know anything else, except how long the next hug was going to last, and whether we would ever get rid of the glitter that had permanently attached itself to our skin.

* * *

The fun was never truly going to end, the magic of the holidays was a gift, but the real magic was spending time with Wren in any capacity. He’d helped me discover so much about myself, and how not to take life so seriously.

It was surprisingly refreshing to not feel the weight of the world on my shoulders, the only weight I carried now was that of Wren when he jumped on my back, but except for that, I was freed almost from being stuck on go, where every decision I made had to line up with the end goal of being drafted by a pro team. It was still my goal, but I knew if it didn’t happen, it wasn’t meant to be. The only thing in my life that I was sure about was loving Wren.

And he loved me too. It’s all I wanted. And with that in my heart, I think I played a little better. The stats never lied, as a business major, I knew what compounded growth look like. A lot like this. I was growing as a player, as a boyfriend, and as a Daddy.

This was the beginning of our romance, and I couldn’t wait to spend a lifetime wooing him gestures and affirmations. He deserved it.