TWENTY THREE
It was still technically Christmas, and it had been a crazy day. Maybe not the most traditional Christmas that he had ever spent, but not a bad day, either. There had been no gifts exchanged, no stockings, no Christmas dinner.
John had tried to leave Noelle with Madison, who had apparently promised to keep her for a few days. To Brett, that hadn’t made the slightest bit of sense.
“Why?” he had asked, and Madison, who really did seem like a very cool woman, had exchanged looks with John, and they both shrugged. “I mean, does it matter what that test says, really? We’re going to be keeping her regardless. Unless you’ve changed your mind about us adopting her?”
Madison had shaken her head, very certain of herself, and that’s how they had spent their whole day running around to the few stores that were open on Christmas day, buying the things they would need. A bassinet, diapers, food, some basic clothing, and the rest of it they would get when they had more selection.
Noelle slept, her little face slack and relaxed, and Brett found that he could have watched her sleeping all night. Funny. He had thought, in some way, that he was only going to help raise this baby because he wanted to be with John, but now that he saw her, he was falling just as thoroughly in love with her as John clearly already had.
For some reason, though, John was plucking at Brett’s hand, tugging him gently from the room which had been first Brett’s guest room, then, briefly, John’s room. John had officially moved all of his things into Brett’s bedroom now, and this room was now Noelle’s, like it somehow felt that it had always been inevitable to be.
“What’s up?” Brett asked when they were safely away from the baby’s resting place. It had taken her so long to fall asleep, and even though she was endlessly fascinating, Brett knew that he could use a rest, and so could John.
“It’s still Christmas,” John commented, and there was a highly strange tone to his voice, something very strained, that made Brett wonder just what was going to happen now. Hadn’t they been through enough already?
“It is,” Brett admitted. “For two more minutes.” He tilted his head curiously at John, who was fidgeting, slipping his hand into his pocket, then pulling it out, before pushing it in again. It was very strange behavior from his lover, who was usually so stoic.
“I got you something,” John spoke casually enough, but with that tension still in his deep, sexy voice. “I didn’t think I’d get to give it to you.”
Brett took a deep breath, because there was an energy to the way that John looked at him that suddenly pushed his nerves away, made him realize that whatever was about to happen, it wasn’t bad.
“I didn’t get you anything,” Brett realized. He had been so busy working, and with all of the drama and everything, he hadn’t had time to even think about it all that much.
“Are you kidding me?” John pulled his hand out of his pocket, and Brett caught an intriguing little glimpse of something clutched in his hand. He couldn’t see much, other than that it was small and black. “You gave me everything. You gave me my life back, and you gave me a family.”
Embarrassed, Brett flushed a little, so that he was actually sort of distracted when John took his hand and went down on one knee. At first, he thought John must have dropped something, so he, too, started looking around to find it.
“Brett, look at me, you idiot,” John sounded amused now, as well as nervous. “I mean it. Do you remember what I said to you when we were at that Christmas fair? About having a family? Well, I guess we started along that path, but now I’m wondering …”
John, with his free hand, fumbled open the box which he had been holding, revealing the gleam of a golden band, modestly studded with subtle, glimmering diamonds. Brett stared at it, and this was not the sort of thing that happened to him. Ever. At first, his stunned brain couldn’t even make sense of what he was seeing.
“Oh, fuck it. I’m just going to ask, since subtlety is apparently lost on you,” John murmured. “Brett, will you marry me?”
All day, the pieces had all been falling into place. Starting from the moment that Brett had put his hand on John’s strong shoulder, things had been getting better and better every second. But it had all been building toward this, in a way that Brett hadn’t been fully aware of, but part of him had known.
There was no question about what his answer would be, of course. He had told John the truth. He had been in love with him, deeply, irrevocably, for years, to the point where no one else had even stood a chance.
“I used to think that it would take a miracle to get you to love me. I used to think it was impossible,” Brett whispered, as he stared down at the man who was kneeling in front of him, offering not only the ring but also his heart, his body, his life—offering Brett everything, all of himself.
“So is that a yes?” John asked hopefully, and Brett nodded, no longer trusting his voice. He offered his left hand, fingers slightly outstretched, and let John slip the golden band onto his ring finger.
He had gotten his Christmas miracle. And unlike most things that people wanted, where the wanting was better than the actual getting, this was far, far sweeter than anything that Brett ever could have imagined.
