“Thank you for coming,” she says.
“We enjoyed it,” Rhodes says. “Thanks for dinner too.”
“Of course. It was lovely having you and this sweet little boy.” She smiles at Levi and then looks at me. “It won’t be the same not having you for Christmas Day.”
“You should come by the house tomorrow night,” Rhodes says.
He looks at me and I nod.
“We’ll just be hanging out, eating. Some of my teammates and their girlfriends will be there.”
“Maybe we will,” my mom says.
It feels like a step in the right direction.
I see Bernard from across the church and turn away. I don’t need another confrontation today. I want to get home and spend the rest of Christmas Eve with Rhodes and Levi.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
NO DOUBTS
RHODES
Now
Elleand I have hardly been asleep when I hear something. I rub my eyes in time to see Levi doing a superhero run and then diving between Elle and me.
“Mewwy Chwistmas!” he yells.
I try to whisper it back with excitement, but that’salmost impossible to do, try it sometime. I don’t want him to wake up Elle, but I also don’t want to squash his Christmas joy.
“Merry Christmas, little man,” Elle says groggily.
“It’s four in the morning,” I say. “Are we sure it’s really Christmas yet?”
“We did tell him whenever he woke up,” Elle says, already sitting up.
“Iawake,” Levi says.
She leans over and hugs him. I love the way she loves my boy.
“All right, let’s do this,” I say, searching for the candy cane pajama pants Elle gave me last night.
She thinks it’s hilarious that the massive candy cane in the front perfectly outlines my dick. It is pretty funny.
“I’ll turn the fire on first and then get the camera ready, okay?” I look at Levi. “You hold on tight with Elle, all right?”
“Awight,” he agrees, bopping his head.
“Let me get the two of you walking in together,” Elle says.
I smile, watching her put on her matching candy cane pajamas without even flashing us once. I’m disappointed I didn’t catch a peek, but I know she doesn’t want to flash Levi. She has the art down of putting a bra on or taking it off without even showing any skin. It’s remarkable.
“I’ll be in the pictures plenty. I want to see my favorite people,” I tell her, hurrying off to brush my teeth and get this party started.
And oh, what a party it is. Levi is obsessed with the train we set up last night after he went to bed. It’s huge and goes around the tree and winds around the living room. He plays with it for hours and barely notices anything else. Elle and I have so muchfun playing with him and then take some time to open our presents from each other too. We usually give each other two gifts, one silly and one nice. I try to sneak in more than two presents every year, but it gets me in trouble. I’m wearing my silly gift—an ugly Christmas sweater to go with my candy cane pants—and so is she, a Christmas tree hat that lights up.
The biggest surprises are coming later. I heard from my dad before we went to bed, and they’ve decided to drive. They should be here by this afternoon, and the present they’re bringing with them is one I’ve been wanting for a long time. I can’t wait to see Elle and Levi’s reaction.
