Pop Pop gestured toward the suitcase he’d received, sitting next to the couch. “Well, Ewan. I have to admit I wasn’t sure I’d ever have a reason to use your fine gift, but it looks like I’ll be using it sooner than I expected.”
Everyone cheered as Riley and Teagan hugged their dad.
“Wow. What a great gift.”
Oliver glanced next to him, smiling at Emmy’s observation. “It really is. Look how happy he is.”
Emmy watched as Pop Pop slapped Padraig on the back, the two of them laughing. She had first joined them for Christmas last year, when Padraig discovered she’d spent the previous one alone. Emmy’s parents were gone and the only other family she had was a brother. But according to Emmy, they’d been estranged for years.
“How long are they going to be in Ireland?” Emmy asked.
“Six weeks,” Oliver responded.
“Six weeks,” she repeated, still looking at Padraig. “Okay,” she murmured sadly.
Oliver wasn’t sure what to make of her comment, but as Emmy walked away, joining Sunnie and Yvonne, he worried about the heaviness surrounding the typically cheerful woman.
“What was that about?” Gavin asked quietly.
Oliver shrugged. “No idea.”
“Think Padraig will ever figure out how she feels about him?”
Oliver considered that. “I think he knows already, but he won’t let himself acknowledge it.”
“Yeah. You’re probably right. It’s a shame because Emmy is perfect for him.”
Oliver grinned. “I seem to recall a couple people being perfect for you too, but you took your damn time figuring it out.”
Gavin chuckled. “Touché.”
Oliver turned around when he felt someone tapping his shoulder. Erin was smiling at him and Gavin as she crooked her finger at them.
They followed her down the hallway, laughing when she pulled them both into the bathroom with her.
The second Gavin closed and locked the door behind them, she was in Oliver’s arms, kissing him as if she hadn’t seen him in years.
“What’s that for?” Oliver asked as they parted.
“Who cares what it’s for?” Gavin asked. “Where’s mine?”
He tugged Erin away, stealing his own kisses.
“I missed you,” she said in between kisses. “And eggnog makes me horny.”
“Good information to have,” Oliver joked. “That’s going to become a weekly staple on our grocery list, right next to butter and milk.”
“This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had,” she said.
Gavin nodded. “Same for me.”
Oliver shifted closer, the three of them wrapping their arms around each other. “I love you,” he murmured, kissing Gavin, then Erin again.
“Think we have time for a quickie?” Gavin asked.
Oliver laughed. Since walking away from his mother at dinner a few nights earlier, Gavin suddenly seemed like a different man, and Oliver realized he’d never understood just how much the past weighed his boyfriend down until Gavin finally shook it off, once and for all.
Gavin was happier, freer, laughing often, finding joy in the little things. Erin had noticed the same thing, remarking on it this morning after breakfast.
“I think Caitlyn would kill us if we had sex in her bathroom,” Oliver said.
Erin shrugged. “I bet she and Lucas have already christened this room. And every other one in the house. That man is determined to get his wife pregnant again.”
They heard voices down the hall, and Gavin sighed. “Okay. No quickie. But I want a reward for showing so much restraint.”
“What did you have in mind?” Oliver asked.
“Holiday role-playing when we get home tonight. I’m going to be Santa, and Erin is going to sit on my lap, whispering all the things she wants for Christmas, even though she’s been a naughty girl.”
“Sounds pretty PG,” Erin said.
“Oh, did I forget to say we’re going to be naked and I’m going to be inside you?”
“Do I get a role?” Oliver asked.
Gavin grinned. “You’re going to be my elf, feeding me your candy cane.”
“Shit.” Oliver adjusted his jeans, trying to relieve the pressure on his sudden erection. “How am I supposed to go back out there with a hard-on?”
Gavin ran his hand over the front of Oliver’s pants, applying pressure. Then he grasped Oliver’s hand and pushed it against his own erection, letting him know he wasn’t alone.
“Think anyone would miss us if we snuck out the back door right now?” Erin asked, her flushed cheeks proving she was in a similar state.
Oliver shook his head. “We only get the reward if we show restraint. Besides, I like the idea of spending the next few hours fantasizing about ways to spice up that role-play.”
“As long as my reward for restraint is restraint, I’ll be good,” Erin joked. “Merry Kinkmas to us.”
Epilogue
“There are my boys,” Mom said, inserting herself between Oliver and Gavin shortly before Christmas dinner, wrapping her arms around them. “We’re going to eat soon.” She gave them both a squeeze. “I’m so darn happy for the two of you.”
Oliver laughed, since Mom had said the same thing at least twenty times today.
“Did you tell Pop yet?” she asked.
“Not yet, but we will.” He glanced at Erin and realized they’d better do it soon, or she’d be too deep in the eggnog to remember the conversation. After the three of them snuck out of the bathroom, Layla had dragged her off to hear some crazy story Bubbles was telling about her new boyfriend that had most of his cousins in stitches.
“I suspect he won’t be surprised. I swear that man has a sixth sense when it comes to romance,” Mom said, turning to Gavin, her expression shifting to one of concern.
When they told their parents about their relationship with Erin, they’d also shared the details of their dinner with Gavin’s mom.
“You sure you’re doing okay?” she asked Gavin.
Gavin leaned down and gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek. “I’m doing just fine…Mom.”
Mom froze, and Oliver got a sense she was trying to figure out if she’d heard Gavin correctly. Then she smiled. “Wow, I love the sound of that.”
“Sound of what?”
Oliver saw that both his dads had made their way over to them.
“Gavin just called me mom.”
Dad—Chad—laughed as he hugged Mom, who wiped away the happy tears in
