Popcorn Garlands by Ariel Tachna

Author:Ariel Tachna [Tachna, Ariel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-63533-173-8
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2016-12-11T05:00:00+00:00

CARLOS LUGGED the cooler up the steps to his apartment. He’d have to make a second trip for the gifts for Sonia, but he wanted to get the food in the refrigerator first. Then he had to find Ned and talk to him about how he wanted to give everything to Sonia. Carlos knew a thing or two about pride and didn’t want to step on Ned’s if he could help it.

“That’s quite the load you’ve got there,” Ned said from the top of the stairs. “Do you need a hand?”

“Hey, Ned,” Carlos said, surprised to see Ned there. “I was just thinking about you. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure.” He grabbed one of the cooler’s handles and helped Carlos get it to his apartment. “What you got in there?”

“Christmas dinner. My family is all in Mexico, but I always visit my crew and their families a few days before Christmas, and they always send me home with leftovers. They sent a little more than usual this year.”

“You got big plans?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Carlos dug in his pocket for his keys. “I was hoping you and Sonia might have Christmas dinner with me. I mentioned Sonia to one of the guys I work with, and the next thing you know, they all decided to send things for her too.”

“We hadn’t really made any plans.” Carlos could hear the dejection in Ned’s voice. He only hoped that worked for him, not against him, with the rest of his news. “We’d be glad to have dinner with you.”

“There’s more,” Carlos said. “I have a couple of bags of toys and clothes and some other things for Sonia too, but I figured you might want to give those to her instead of having them come from me. She’s still young enough to believe in Santa Claus.”

Ned blinked a couple of times. Carlos looked away to give him a bit of privacy as he got his emotions back under control. “Thank you. I couldn’t figure out what I was going to tell her about why Santa didn’t bring much this year. I could only afford a couple of gifts.”

“Most of it’s down in my truck still, although I have one bag of toys up here because Joseph gave it to me earlier this week.” Carlos got the apartment door open so they could stow the cooler. “If you give me a hand, I think we can make it in one trip. We can hide it in my apartment for now, and you can pick it up tomorrow night after she goes to bed if you want.”

“That works,” Ned said in a choked voice.

They walked back out to Carlos’s truck. Carlos gave him the bag of wrapped gifts from Diego’s kids and grabbed the bag of clothes from Melissa himself.

“This is too much,” Ned protested as they walked back upstairs.

“It’s mostly hand-me-downs,” Carlos said. “Things Melissa has outgrown or doesn’t play with anymore. And the bag you have is one gift from each kid at Diego’s house.

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