Best Christmas Ever by Terry O'Reilly

Author:Terry O'Reilly [O’Reilly, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2018-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

The two men and the little fox-dog dozed off on the loveseat in front of the fire, listening to Christmas music on Henry’s cell phone. Henry woke. The fire had burned low, and there was a chill in the cabin. When he stirred, Vixen sat up, then jumped to the floor and stretched. This roused Jimmy.

“We should take Vickie for a walk,” Jimmy said.

“Vickie? I thought we named her Vixen?”

“That’s right, but she needs a nickname, too. My real name’s Jamison, but I wouldn’t want to be called that. Too formal. I bet you have a nickname. What is it? Hank?”

Henry thought of Jeremy. His lover always called him Harry. “My parents and family always called me by Henry. So that’s what I went by. But my partner, Jeremy, loved the Harry Potter stories, and because of my glasses, he called me Harry. You can call me that if you like.”

Jimmy smiled. “Harry fits. I like it. But—I think I’ll stick with professor. Harry was special for you and Jeremy. It should stay that way.”

Henry leaned over and took Jimmy into his arms. This young man was so dear. He had to find a way to the future with him.

They got dressed for Vixen’s outing. “Should we put her on some sort of leash?” Jimmy asked. “I mean—she won’t run off, will she?”

Henry wasn’t sure. “Take off your belt,” he told Jimmy. Henry took it from him, removed his own, and buckled them together. Then he made a loop around Vixen’s neck. The make-shift leash was a bit short.

Jimmy rummaged in the pantry and came up with a ball of twine.

After attaching a length of twine to the belts, Henry said, “This will do until we can get a real one…uh…whenever.”

Jimmy nodded. “Whenever.”

They went out. The clouds were breaking and the woods were bathed in silvery light from the full moon that shone down through the trees. “The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow,” they began together. They laughed.

“I see we both know Clement Moore’s Christmas poem,” Henry said.

“I used to read it on Christmas Eve every year when I was in foster care. It was sort of my Christmas present to myself,” Jimmy responded.

They let Vixen wander, leading them where she would, sniffing, and doing what she needed to do. They followed her, walking arm in arm. Both seemed to be lost in thought. Vixen brought them around the cabin and stopped in front of Parson Brown. Here she sat and looked up at the two men. They looked from the little dog and into one another’s eyes. Henry wondered if Jimmy was thinking of the lyrics as he was. The snowman had asked if its builders were married. They’d said no, but that he could do the job.

Henry was becoming more convinced that this was where he wanted his relationship with Jimmy to go. But was this what Jimmy wanted?

“Parson Brown seems to be playing quite a role in our stay here,” Jimmy was saying.

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