“Thank you, Dorian.” Becky gingerly put the graphic novel asideand wrapped him up in a heartfelt hug.
“You’re all welcome,” Dorian said, hugging her back. “Nowenough about that, let’s open up the rest of the gifts.”
“Great, and how in the world are we to follow up with ourmiserable gifts?” Keegan muttered sarcastically. “Thanks a lot,Dorian,” he added with a smirk. “Might as well open mine next,Becky. It’s sure to disappoint.” Digging under the tree, Keeganfelt around for his gifts and plunked one of them on her lap beforedistributing the others around the room.
“Gee thanks, Keegan.” Becky chuckled as she opened up thehaphazardly wrapped package. Moments later, all four housematesheld up t-shirts with personalized comments on them.
“Hahaha…” Crispin snarked, holding his up. It read House ofGoths, Official Diva in bold letters.
Kell’s t-shirtdeclared him the Official Bouncer, and Dorian’s read, ResidentSteampunk.
“What’s yours say?” Crispin asked, looking at Becky.
Glancingmirthfully from Keegan to Crispin, she held up her shirt foreveryone to see. House of Goths, Official Mascot. On the back itread, If found, please return to the House of Goths.
“How appropriate,” Crispin said as they all laughed.
“I even got one for myself,” Keegan said with a smile, holdingit up.
“House of Goths, Official Heartbreaker!” Becky pointed andlaughed.
“How ironic,” Crispin added with a roll of his eyes.
“Hey, be nice!” Keegan pouted.
Next, Crispindistributed his gifts. He’d gotten the guys parts and pieces fortheir various instruments. Becky waited until everyone had openedtheirs before proceeding.
“Well, go on, dormouse,” Crispin said with an encouragingsmile.
“Oh, all right,” Becky said, taking the gift bag and pullingout its contents. “Pyjamas?”
“Not just any pyjamas,” Crispin added.
“Ha! Hello Kitty!” Becky declared, holding up the black PJset.
“Goth Kitty,” Crispin explained.
“Oh, thank you, Crispin! I love it!”
“You are most welcome.”
“Good on you, Crisp,” Kell said from his chair. “Let’s do minenext.” Reaching under the tree, he grappled around the remaininggifts and handed them out.
Crispin,Dorian, and Keegan were all very pleased with the various magazinesand subscriptions that Kell gave them. He’d also declared that hehad subscribed to satellite radio for everyone to enjoy. He veryexcitedly proceeded to tell them that he had purchased a soundsystem which he was very much looking forward to hooking upthroughout the house.
“That’s awesome, Kell,” Dorian said, looking over his shoulderat the instruction manual. “I’ll give you a hand withthat.”
“Here, have a read through.” Kell gave him the manual beforezoning in on Becky. He’d purposely held back his present for her.He couldn’t decide whether it would be best to give it to her nowor later when they were alone. Before he could think too long onit, she reached behind the tree and pulled out hergifts.
She handedKeegan, Crispin and Dorian each a gift first. She had bought themall individual bottles of ice wine and chocolates from the wineriesfrom the other day. She’d been at a loss for what to get them.Hopefully, they wouldn’t be disappointed.
“Well, how very nice,” Crispin said, holding his arms out toher. Unable to resist, she got up and went to him.
“I wanted to get you something special but…”
“Are you kidding? Ice wine’s expensive!” Keegan said, readingthe label.
“And I absolutely love chocolate!” Dorian declared.
“I can’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon,” Crispinsaid, immediately twisting his open and taking a swig. “What do yousay, dormouse? Up for a little Christmas cheer? Stay away fromKell, though, he can’t be trusted.”
“Maybe later, Crispin.” Becky giggled.
“See, I told you they’d be happy,” Kell said, holding his handout for her. “Poor little thing was all worked up about it.” Hetugged her in for a reassuring hug. Before he could think too longon the matter, he reached behind him and handed her a little giftbag. “Here, this is from me to you.”
“Aw… Kelley…” Resting on his knee, she took the gift from hishand. She reached inside and pulled out a little black velvet box.With eyes wide, she looked from him to the box.
“Go on, love, open it.” At the sight of the brilliant ring,Becky’s mouth dropped. “It’s a promise ring,” Kelley explainedsoftly when she looked from him to the heart-shaped, diamondencrusted, gold ring.
“Promise ring…” Becky repeated as he proceeded to slip it ontoher finger.
“It’s a promise of my commitment to you and to ourrelationship.” God, he hoped he’d done the right thing. He couldhave gotten her a necklace or earrings but when he’d spotted thelittle ring the other week, he suddenly couldn’t think of a bettergift.
The moment thering was on, Becky flexed her fingers. It fit perfectly. With thisgift, he had annihilated all her fears. She couldn’t hold back thetears if she wanted to. Overwhelmed, she literally broke down andcried.
“Aww…” Dorian sighed, looking on appreciatively. “Good for you.Well done, Kell.”
“Love, don’t cry,” Kell soothed, holding her close.
It was hard notto be affected by the touching display. So much so that Keegan andDorian quietly filed out of the room. Lingering behind, Crispinwatched the dynamics of the enamoured couple for a few momentsbefore finally leaving them alone.
“Becky… it’s just a little ring,” Kell whispered.
“It’s not just anything…” Becky said, blinking back her tears.“It means the world to me!”
“You mean the world to me.” He leaned in and kissed her softly.“I love you.”
“I love you too, Kelley,” Becky kissed him back. She smoothedher hands down his black hair and cupped his cheeks. “My hero.Always at the ready to look after me.” She kissed him once more.“My sweet hero.”
“I only wanted to keep you safe.” He chuckled, gazing into herlovely face. “Look where that got me, eh?”
After a momentof gazing into each other’s eyes, Becky finally remembered her giftto him. Leaving him for only a second, she reached under the tree.She then presented him with an envelope.
“This for me?” he asked with a wink of an eye.
Becky couldonly nod with anticipation as he opened it. She was nervous.Hopefully, he would like her gift.
“Wow, what’s all this?”
“Read it.”
“Becky… it’s a weekend away in Toronto?” Kelley couldn’tcontain the smile that overtook his face. She’d pre-booked them aroom at The Royal York for two nights.
“You’ve been wanting to get
