Christmas Delights 3 (48 page)

“Thank you, Seby,” Noel said softly.

“For what?”

“For coming after me and...and for being a stubborn
bastard.”

Sebastian hugged Noel to his side. “You know you have to
marry me now.”

“Wrong.”

“Wrong? I’m never wrong.”

Noel bit his lower lip through a smile and looked at him.
“You are this time.”

“How do you figure?”

“You haven’t asked and I haven’t accepted.”

Sebastian stopped walking abruptly and turned to Noel, all
humor lost. Passersby walked around them as Sebastian lowered himself to a knee
and took Noel’s hands in his.

Oh, shit!
He should have known better than to
challenge Sebastian. “What are you doing?”

“What’s it look like I’m doing? I’m about to propose to
you.”

“Here? In the middle of the night? In the middle of the damn
sidewalk?”

“Yep.” Sebastian took a calming breath, cleared his throat,
and looked up into Noel’s eyes. “Jean-Noël Baptiste Sauvageau, you’re the one I
want to spend the rest of my life with. Would you do me the honor of being my
husband?”

Tears of joy sprang into Noel’s eyes as the sounds of the
world fell away. His tongue tripped over his answer at least three times but
the look on Sebastian’s face told him he’d managed to get the three-letter word
out.

“Yes.”

Joyeux Noël.

THE END

Aisling Mancy

Aisling is an author of romance who lives, most of the time,
on the West Coast of the United States. Aisling writes adult fantasy, adult gay
erotica, and gay YA romantic fiction.

Raised on the mean streets and back lots of Hollywood by a
Yoda-look-alike grandfather, Aisling doesn’t conform, doesn’t fit in, is epic
awkward, and lives to perfect a deep-seated oppositional defiance disorder. In
a constant state of fascination with the trivial, Aisling contemplates such
weighty questions as If time and space are curved, then where do all the
straight people come from? When not writing, Aisling can be found taming waves
on western shores, pondering the nutritional value of sunsets, appreciating the
much maligned dandelion, unhooking guide ropes from stanchions, and marveling
at all things ordinary.

You can contact Aisling and read excerpts of upcoming novels
at Aisling Mancy, author of fine erotica. You can also find Aisling Mancy on
Facebook and Aisling Mancy on Goodreads. You can also read excerpts of Aisling’s
gay Young Adult novels at C. Kennedy and find C. Kennedy (Author of Safe &
Omorphi) on Goodreads and Cody Kennedy - Facebook. Right now, Aisling doesn’t
tumble, pint, yah, goog, or tweet, or any other of the machinations that exist
in social media, but Aisling does respond to emails because, after all, it is
all about you, the reader.

Aisling’s
Blog:
www.AislingMancy.blogspot.com

Aisling
on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/aisling.mancy

Aisling
on Goodreads:
www.goodreads.com/author/show/6872835.Aisling_Mancy

Cody on
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/cody.kennedy.942

Cody on
Goodreads:
www.goodreads.com/author/show/5816900.C_Kennedy

Shaun languished in bed,
duvet curled around him, half contemplating getting up and half considering how
he should really spend his weekends in bed with someone. He heard the door
creak open and squinted to see tray bearing coffee and croissants. It was
followed by Matt who looked remarkably unruffled for the time of morning.
Blonde hair still sleek, tartan PJ trousers and white tee pristine on his
slight build, even after a night’s sleep Matt was immediately presentable.
Shaun hated him sometimes.

Matt, Shaun's best friend
and housemate, crossed the room, and set the tray on the bed, “Morning, my most
handsome of friends.” The singsong tone was all far too chirpy for Shaun's
liking. He needed coffee before conversation in the morning.

“Why so cheery? And
what’s with the compliments?” Shaun wriggled his six foot frame up to lean
against the hardwood headboard. He raked his hand through his dark brown hair
to tame the worst of his bed-head. Not trusting Matt’s motives was usually a
shrewd position to take. Experience had taught him that Matt must want
something. It would come out eventually.

Matt flicked him a stern
look while pouring the coffee, “No reason. Have a drink and tell me all about
the day you’ve got planned”. He passed the mug to Shaun, eyebrows aloft in invitation.
Shaun was expected to answer, coherently, before the first caffeine of the day.
This was unusual.

“Well, it’s Saturday,”
said Shaun “So I’m not planning much. Again, why are you being so nice to me?”
He sipped at his drink, the warmth and caffeine spreading though him and waking
up his brain. Shaun was becoming alert to the infinite possibilities for Matt's
niceness.

“Well, it is, as you say,
Saturday, with less than two weeks until Christmas.” Matt's smile broadened.
“So when are we going to get the fucking Christmas tree?” Ah, there it was.
Matt's purpose revealed. And it only took half a mug of coffee.

Shaun leant back against
the bed again and conjured up something that would placate his friend and keep
him controllable for a while. “Oh yeah, that’s today, isn’t it? We’ll go this
afternoon then. Once I’ve woken up a bit.” He swallowed another mouthful of
coffee and checked out Matt's reaction, it had worked, the smile remained on
Matt's face.

The promise was enough
for Matt “Good. It’s your twelve day rule after all. I’m just keeping you in
line.” Shaun’s rule meant the tree could only be on display twelve days before
and twelve after Christmas. Anymore and it got boring. Matt's own enthusiasm
for all things decorative, the more sparkly and twinkly the better, went
unmentioned. “We’ll do the decorations tonight too.” By giving it out as an
instruction rather than a question he was aiming to harness Shaun's
caffeine-fuelled uplift in motivation.

Shaun nodded “Deal”.

* * * * *

Shaun pushed his way through
branches on either side, squeezing his broad frame through a gap in the tree
lined lane. His boots crunched on early snow as he looked left, right and moved
into the middle of the lane.

“Why are they all so
big?” The question drifted away from Shaun between the trees; searching out
answers in the dimly lit nooks and crannies created by the lines of trees
stretching out across the parking lot.

“Because some people put
them in their gardens.” The response ghosted back to him from Matt hidden
behind one of the trunks. 

“It’s like being in
Narnia.” Matt said, twirling with arms outstretched, his scarf lifting gently
off his chest as he circled back into sight.

“If this is Narnia,
you’re the White Witch, right?” Shaun laughingly teased his best friend like no
one else could.

Matt twitched his brows
closer and cocked his head to one side to deliver his death glare to Shaun.
“Bitch.”

Matt briefly paused, then
walked on. “We’re in the wrong section. Trees for inside must be over there
somewhere.” He waved his gloved hand vaguely in the direction of the other side
of the lot. Shaun took a few quick steps to catch up, then slid his arm into
Matt's. They both stretched out their arms and stroked the branches as they
walked past.

Matt could only restrain
himself for a few steps, then he raced ahead like an over excited child, trying
to drag Shaun with him. When he reached the row of more suitable trees he set
out his instructions. “Come on! We've got to find the perfect tree. No wiry
ones. No runts. And nothing that's in need of serious tree-scaping.”

“So what are we looking
for exactly?” Shaun looked Matt's way, and indecision made his lips twist into
a half grimace. Shaun turned back again, eyes scanning the row of dark green
trees.

“Right, let’s get
specific about this.” Determination muscled its way into Matt’s words as he
moved towards the taller half of the line.

“Something about eight
feet tall and five across, to fit in the bay window. It has to be well shaped
to show off the decorations, and have no unsightly bits. I'm not having any
ugly ducklings in our place.” Matt said as he was marching up and down the line.

“Now, which one fits the
bill?”

Matt looked over at Shaun
for a reply, only to find that his friend’s attention had wandered to a couple
at the end of the tree lane. The couple held hands and cuddled up to each
other, while also inspecting trees. He tugged on Shaun's coat while rolling his
eyes at him. "Oi! Pay attention!”

Shaun swivelled back
round to face the trees and picked one at random. “Okay, that one.” He said
with false bravado while pointing a little unsurely to a tree in front of Matt.

“Nope. Too skinny.” The
refusal was quick and brutal; dismissing the poor thing as if it had eating
issues.

“That one then.” Shaun
pointed at one with a fuller figure, a Marilyn Monroe to the previous efforts
of skinny Madonna.

“Hmmm.” Matt pondered the
selection, giving it a critical once over. “Yep, that'll do.” He concurred.

They upended the tree and
made their way to the queue at the cash desk.

Matt idly began kicking
the base of the tree, testing its sturdiness. “So when's your work party?” 

“Monday night.” Shaun
brought his own booted foot down on top of Matt’s, stopping him from abusing
the tree any further.

“I hope you’ll be wearing
something to knock‘em dead.” Matt's suggestion was gentle, but with the
underlying hint of a threat.  Shaun wondered if Matt would really stage an
intervention and make him wear something inappropriate for work.

As they shuffled up a few
steps, Matt continued “Tell me you'll make an effort tomorrow night. You never
know who you might meet.” Matt had confidence that he could meet a potential
boyfriend anywhere, anytime. Quite often he did.

"Yes, I'll make an
effort. But I'm not going to be picking anyone up. I don't dip my nib in the
company ink."

Matt snorted. "Good.
At least you can have a good time. Get you out of this 'I'm unlucky in love
funk.' We might even have you cheerful come Christmas."

Matt continued
encouraging Shaun to look 'fabulous' and knock-out as Shaun lugged the tree to
the car.

* * * * *

The tree was placed in
the large bay window. Beyond it the night sky glowed dimly as snow reflected
the streetlights. Shaun and Matt slumped on the couch looking at the tree.

“We have to decorate it
tonight, don’t we?” Matt had lost some of his enthusiasm since the early
morning wake up call.

Shaun looked from Matt,
to tree, to Matt again. “Yep. It’ll be fine. Just use your usual style and
flair, then drop it a notch or two and aim for Christmas kitsch.”

“Oh. You mean use
restraint? Well I don't know about that.” With a glance over his shoulder Matt
looked to the kitchen. “There’s wine in the fridge, that'll make the job go
smoother.”

With a nod and a smile
Shaun pointed to the doorway. “You go get the wine, I’ll get the decorations.”

In under ten minutes they
were surrounded by glistening baubles, shimmering strands of tinsel and sparkly
lights. This year’s co-ordinating colours were white and gold. Apparently more
than two colours on a tree was a crime against style according to Matt’s
sensibilities.

“So what are you going to
do about this lack of man in your life then?” Matt was direct. He draped on
some tinsel strands and leaning back he considered how artfully they were
arranged. Shaun didn't respond. Instead he fussed a little with the decorations
on his side of the tree.

“Well?” Matt insisted,
while Shaun used his extra height to put tinsel on upper branches.

“I don’t know.” Shaun
shrugged his answer and focussed on fussing with the tinsel some more. “Put
myself out there a bit more? Make myself more available? I don’t really know.
It’s a bit of a rubbish time of year to try it, don’t you think?” Looking for
excuses to not put too much effort into dating he tried to keep his response
non-committal. He backed away from the tree and slowly paced around it.
Distracting himself from answering Matt's questions he looked for flaws in the
decorating.

“You big coward. If its
love you want, there is no right or wrong time to open yourself up to it.” Matt
held a bauble in each hand and looked as if he was considering just how obscene
a gesture he could make. Shaun plucked one out of his hand, gently placed it on
the tree, and stood back.

“I am open.” Shaun
plucked the remaining bauble from Matt’s outstretched hand and placed it on the
tree. He stood back again. “That’ll do it, don’t you think?”

“What, the tree? Or you
having a plan?” Matt nodded his head, gazing at the tree. “The tree’s fine. But
your plan sucks.”

“What? Why?” Shaun landed
beside Matt on the couch, waving his glass in front of his face. “This is going
to take more wine,” Shaun demanded.

Matt took the glass, and
re-filling it, he paused to ponder. As the wine glug-glugged into the glass he
started his pitch. “Well, you’re all talk, and no noticeable action. You say
you have a plan but there’s no detail. It’s just ‘I have to do something’
without any idea of what that something is.” He passed Shaun his glass and took
a swig from his own then pitched some more. “If you know what you want, you go
for it. If you want a man, you go up to him and talk to him. If he doesn’t talk
back, or he isn’t interested, well then you just move on. No point wasting your
time. You find another, and another, and another until you find one that wants
to spend time with you.”