Page 33 of Sweet Tooth
Afterward we headed back home and curled up on the couch in pajamas under a cozy blanket. As Zane’s bass voice began, “T’was the night before Christmas’”, I found myself zoning out.
The pine smell from the tree wafted over. Parker smelled like the cookies he’d snuck a few minutes ago, and Zane smelled like the pure male deliciousness I was going to enjoy after Parker went to bed.
All I knew was that in a matter of weeks, my life had been flipped on its head in the best way possible.
Zane was back. He was more than back, he was here for me. Here for Parker. Here, I sensed with just one look at him, for good.
And as I drifted off, I realized it didn’t get better than this.
21
Zane
“Merry Christmas Jess,” Zane whispered in my ear and placed a soft kiss on my cheek.
The bed bounced as Parker’s jubilant voice rang out, “Christmas! It’s Christmas!”
I got up and smiled at the two of them. “And you know what that means….”
“Presents!” Parker exclaimed, barreling out of the room. “Santa!”
A minute later we’d caught up and got to watch as he tore through his stocking. “Chocolate!” he exclaimed, letting it drop to the floor. “Pokémon cards!” “Marbles!” then, with exceedingly less joy. “A orange.”
Jessica caught my eye and we cracked up.
“You know how we always said we wouldn’t be those parents when we grow up,” she said, “the ones who try to get their kids to be healthy and get on their case and everything?”
“Yeah.”
Her grin spread across her whole face. “Well, I totally am.”
Seeing my face, she asked, “What?”
“Why are you smiling like that?” she demanded.
Her question caught me off guard. “I don’t know – just, this, us. I…” Say it, idiot. “I love you. I love this.”
Her grin cracked. “You’re going to make me cry.”
I took her hand, led her over to the tree. “Not before you open your gift, you can’t.”
Parker had finished emptying his stocking on the floor and rejoicing over its contents.
“And mine!” he said, racing over ahead of us.
The first one he picked out was from me. In a flurry of red and white wrapping paper and metallic green bows, the box was undone. Then some frantic ripping, some trusty Mom and scissor help, and it was out.
“YAY!” Parker shrieked, thrusting them up high. “WONDER SKATES! I WANTED THEM!”
Jessica laughed as he clutched them to his chest, spinning around. “And who gave them to you?”
Parker’s head whipped my way. “Zane. Thank you! Thank you!!”
Next thing I knew, he was crashing into me, squeezing me tightly. I hugged him back just as tightly.
It was weird how real this was. My affection for Parker. Even if he wasn’t mine – he was Jessica’s. And I could see her in every other thing he did, every smile, every frown.
“Thank you,” Jessica said to me, squeezing my arm, her surprised joy lighting up her face. “I can’t believe it!”
I just smiled and shrugged. “They are pretty cool skates.”
As Parker moved on to another one of his gifts from Jessica, I turned to her pointedly. “Your turn.”
22
Jessica
My turn, it was. Although I still couldn’t get over Zane’s gift to Parker. The $300 skates that I’d ached to buy him.
A gift that fantastic made me wonder what he’d gotten me?
“By the way, this is the first of two,” Zane said. “The second you get New Year’s.”
“Lucky me,” I said, as I hunted for my gift under the tree.
It wasn’t hard picking out which one was mine. I’d wrapped all of Parker’s other gifts myself – with paper covered with smiling snowmen, fat skating penguins, and jolly Santa’s. Zane’s was the one enclosed in silver.
As I sat down to open it, Zane sat down beside me to watch. The sound of Parker’s joyful cries as he unwrapped another one of my gifts was relegated to the background for just that moment.
At first, when I opened up the box to see the folded piece of paper, I thought I knew what I was looking at.
A clue to a hidden gift. Some movie tickets. But when I opened it up, never would I have expected what I saw.
“Zane,” was all I could say, looking at it. Those tears pricked at my eyes again.
The ten or so tiny pictures said it all. This little piece of paper was worth thousands. On it, were ads. Ads for Falling for Chocolate. Groupons, Facebook ads, flyer coupons.
“You like it?” Zane said. “Wasn’t sure if I was overstepping my bounds. If maybe you didn’t want to grow it too big too fast.”
I stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. Zane really did love me – all of me. Even the hardworking, focused business part. He wasn’t intimidated by my ambition at all – how Paul had been, no. Even though Zane had enough money for the both of us several times over, he was fine with me pursuing my own dream, finding my own success. He was more than fine, he was helping to make it come true.
