58 - Baby, It's Christmas

“Hey, Babes,” Tony greeted Dorothea with a smile.  It was Christmas Day and the family had gathered at the Navesink River Road house for their customary Christmas dinner.  Tony had arrived early, hoping to catch a moment alone with Dorothea before everyone else got there.  He was feeling exceptionally lighthearted knowing that they wouldn’t have to keep their relationship secret much longer.

“Hi, Tony,” she replied neutrally, eyebrows lifting meaningfully to indicate they weren’t alone.  “Merry Christmas.”

“Yeah, Merry Christmas.”  He entered the foyer, wanting nothing more to take her in his arms.

It’s almost over.  You can be patient for one more damn day.

He could, but he didn’t want to.  His parents were likely going to take today as another opportunity to ask when he was going to find a nice girl and settle down.  He wasn’t sure if they were more worried about him being gay or being a man-whore.  In either case, it was annoying as hell for a man his age.

Dorothea took his coat as Tony scooped Romeo off of the floor, where he was playing with a race car of some kind.  “Hey, buddy!  Did Santa bring you lots of good stuff?” 

He was sure she thought no one was looking, but he happened to catch her bringing his leather jacket to her face and sniffing.  His heart warmed.

Yeah, I can be patient for as long as it takes.

“Uh-huh!” Romeo’s head bobbed animatedly.  “He brought me and Jakey stuff, but Jesse was bad so he didn’t get nothin’.”

“That should teach you a lesson.”  He swung the boy around to ride on his back and headed toward the family wing of the house.  “If you aren’t good for your Mama, Santa will pass by without a second look.”

“I know!”  Two little arms wrapped around Tony’s neck as Romey hung tight for the ride.  “But why didn’t he bring Stephie anything?  She’s always good.”

“Stephanie is a big girl,” he explained to his nephew.  “She knows Santa needs all his time to take care of the little kids, and that’s why she doesn’t ask him to bring her things anymore.”

When Romeo didn’t answer, Tony shrugged his shoulders to jostle the boy.  “Hey.  What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’.  I was just wonderin’ if I should stop asking Santa for stuff.  Mom and Dad can get me whatever I want.  Maybe he could give my stuff to somebody who needs it more.”

He shook his head in wonder, always amazed by the selflessness of his nephews and niece.  Dorothea and Jon – Dorothea in particular – were instilling the important things in their kids. 

“That’s very sweet of you, honey,” his mother told him with a pat on the back.  “How about we go through your toys and give some of them to charity?  Santa would be very proud to know you did that.”

“Okay.”  He detached himself from Tony’s back and hit the floor running.  “Jakey!  We’re giving away our toys.”

Tony chuckled, only able to imagine how Jake was going to feel about that. 

“Come into the kitchen with me,” Dorothea invited.  The staff had been given the holiday off and she was cooking dinner for the family herself. 

“Sure.  What can I help with?”

Her fingers curled into the front of his sweater, and she pulled him into the walk-in pantry, closing the door behind them.  “You can kiss me.”

He didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity, slanting his mouth across hers and pulling her close for a long, heated kiss.  “Merry Christmas, Babes,” he breathed against her lips.

“Merry Christmas, honey.”  Her fingers curled into his nape, fingering the short hair there. 

Tony’s arms lapped around her waist, holding her close even as he drew his head back to look at her.  “Have I ever told you what an incredible mother I think you are?” 

She snorted softly.  “Why?  Because Romey is going to give two of his two thousand toys to another child?”

“No.”  He frowned at her.  “Because he wants to.  You’re making great people out of your kids.”

“Shut up and kiss me,” she brushed him off, leaning forward to take his mouth again.

Tony broke the kiss, bringing his hands up to frame her face.  “I promised myself I wouldn’t say this until everything was out in the open, but it’s Christmas and I want you to know.”

“Don’t.” Her fingers pressed against his lips to prevent him from speaking.  “Not yet.  Tell me when we’re not living on stolen moments in a closet.”  She feathered her hand across his cheek.  “I don’t need the words to know how you feel, because I feel the same way.” 

The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward with pleasure.  “You do?”

“I do,” she whispered against his lips.  “Now come take the ham out of the oven for me.”

Tony followed her back into the kitchen, grinning like a dopey kid.  He’d hoped, but he hadn’t been certain she would return his feelings.  Her admission further steeled his resolve to talk to his brother immediately after Christmas.  He wondered how Jon would take the news as a wake-up call at six in the morning? 

☠ ☢ ☠

Jon stood before the door of the home he’d paid a fortune to build, feeling cross and irritable, despite the holiday cheer that was mandated to dominate the world today. 

Petey had left his apartment Friday morning with something akin to a casual, “Thanks, it’s been fun, see you around.” 

She’d rebuffed his efforts to pick up the remaining two days of her promised week after Christmas, saying that things would just be cleaner if they ended it now.  Then she tacked on that he’d given her more than she’d ever hoped for and thanked him again.

It was what he’d planned for all along.  It was what was supposed to happen.  He had a fun, satisfying fling and now it was time to get back to work and his family.  Jon was glad.

“Who pissed in your cornflakes?”

Jon looked up to find his brother standing in the entryway.

“Merry fucking Christmas to you, too.”

Tony held up his hands in a gesture of innocence as Jon pushed by him.  “Hey, man.  I’m not the one standing there looking like I want to fill Rudolph’s ass full of buckshot.  You might want to look a little happier when the kids see you.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, putting the gifts he’d brought on the floor and his coat away before offering to shake his brother’s hand.  “How are you, Tony?”

“Good.”

“Where are Dottie and the kids?” he asked as they walked side by side down the hallway, both men carrying Christmas packages.

“Dorothea’s in the kitchen.  Kids are in the family room.”

“Anybody else here yet?”

“Nope.”

“Daddy!”  Romeo bowled into Jon, nearly knocking him down in the process. 

“Hey, Big Guy!”  He put the gifts down so that he could hoist the boy up into his arms, hugging Romeo tight.  A sense of peace washed over him.  His kids made everything better.  Hell, Dorothea made everything better.  Jon wanted his family back.  They would erase this shitty feeling inside of him.

It had been a while.  He’d changed – some.  Maybe he and Dorothea should give it another shot. 

Letting Romeo slide to the ground, Jake was immediately in his arms.  Jesse walked by, thumping Jon on the back and Stephanie brushed his cheek with a kiss.

Yeah, he missed this.  He would talk to Dorothea before he left today.

☠ ☢ ☠

The kids all loved their iPads, and Stephanie had seemed exceptionally amused with his choice in gift.  “Daddy, I can’t believe you got us electronics.  How did you pick them out?”

“They have this great new thing in all the stores,” Jon informed her seriously.  “Sales clerks.  Some of them even know about the stuff they’re selling.”

“Very funny, Daddy.”  She rolled her big blue eyes at him, and he melted a little inside.  His little girl was so not a little girl anymore.  She was a beautiful, smart young woman who made her Papa proud.  “Okay, boys, it’s time.”

Jon watched with curiosity as Stephanie rose from her seat to reach behind the tree for two small packages that he hadn’t noticed before.   Handing the smaller of the two to Romeo, the larger was entrusted into Jake’s care, and all of his children gathered around him. 

He looked to Dorothea for some hint of what was going on, but she just gave him a secretive smile and a shrug.

“Daddy, we got you two things for Christmas,” his daughter was saying.

“They was really Stephie’s idea,” Romeo chimed in.

“Quiet, Romey,” Jesse ordered.  “This is Steph’s thing, let her do the talking.”

Jon’s eyes flicked over each of his children, noting that, while they were giving Stephanie credit for the gifts, they all looked very pleased with themselves.

Stephanie continued as though the boys hadn’t interrupted.  “These aren’t things you’d ever get for yourself, even though I know you’re going to love them.  Eventually.”

This didn’t bode well. 

If this involved puppies, they were going back.  Period.  He could not keep puppies in SoHo, no matter how cute, or how much his daughter batted her eylashes at him.  His gaze again darted to Dorothea, who was still saying nothing.  She simply sat there looking amused.

She’s amused.  That means I’m screwed.

“And we’ve even hired a trainer for you,” Stephanie continued.

“Steph…”  Jon mentally prepared his arguments against dogs, but before the words could form, Jake had thrust his package into Jon’s hands. 

“Open this one first,” was his middle son’s order.

I swear to God, if Dorothea allowed this to happen and I hurt my kids’ feelings on Christmas, I’m going to kill her.

He ripped into the package with lackluster enthusiasm, stalling until he could think of a diplomatic way to handle the situation. 

Jon’s mental reconnaissance was brought to a screeching halt upon spying the familiar box that the wrapping paper was hiding.  He’d just bought four of them this week.

His kids had gotten him an iPad. 

“Oh, wow,” he tried to enthuse.  He had no interest in an iPad, or in learning how to use one.  His phone suited him fine.  “I guess we were all thinking the same thing this year, huh?”

“Daddy, get that look off of your face,” Stephanie ordered.  “You’re going to learn how to use it, and you’re going to love it.”

This?  This is what they’d hired a ‘trainer’ for?  An iPad for Dummy Dads class?  He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“Of course I am,” he assured them all, plastering a smile on his face.  “Thank you guys.  I love it.”

“No, you don’t,” Jesse scoffed.  “But it was a good try, Dad.”

Now Dorothea wasn’t the only amused adult in the room.  Jon glanced around to find Tony and his parents both looking smug.  Well, really everyone, including Dorothea’s family, was looking smug. 

I can learn how to use the damn thing!

“Here, Daddy.”  Romeo shoved the other gift at him.  “Now this one.”

This box was a familiar size and shape, being the size of a CD case, only thicker.  It was the same size box Petey had given him two days ago.

Must mean another paperweight, he thought with a smirk.  The one Petey had gotten him was on the desk at home, sitting next to his laptop.

“Open it!”  Romeo patted the box impatiently.

“Okay,” Jon laughed.  “I’m opening it, I’m opening it.” 

With the fear of a puppy behind him, he was a little more enthusiastic with this gift.  He lifted the lid to find a color picture of a jukebox.

“Do you like it?”  Romeo prodded.

“It’s great, but why don’t you tell me exactly what it is I’m looking at?”

“It’s a jukebox,” was Stephanie’s exasperated response.  “It holds over 600 albums of music in digital format.  We thought it would look great beside the bar at your house.  They’re delivering it to you on Tuesday.”

“Wow.”  It really was a very cool looking jukebox.  It would’ve been even cooler had it played actual vinyl albums, but this was still nice.  “What albums does it come with?”

There went the roll of teenage eyes again.  One day they were going to roll out of her head, he was sure.  “It doesn’t come with any.  You put whatever songs you want on there.”

“And how do I do that?”  It hurt his head to even try and imagine.

“I told you, we hired a trainer.  She’s going to teach you to use the iPad and show you how to load the songs on the jukebox.”

“She?”

“She,” Stephanie confirmed.  “Petey agreed to come over and tutor you on Wednesday.  Wednesday’s okay, isn’t it?  Please don’t cancel, because if you do, you’ll never reschedule it.  Uncle Tony is even giving her the day off of work with pay so she can do this.  He said to consider it his gift to you.”

Jon vaguely heard Tony's name mentioned, but he wasn't really paying attention.  His mind was stuck on one thing:  Petey was coming over on Wednesday.