Holiday Gridlock by Gretchen Evans

Author:Gretchen Evans [Evans, Gretchen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NineStar Press, LGBT, contemporary, holiday, Christmas, age-gap, interracial
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2019-01-17T16:00:00+00:00

December 25th, Christmas Day

THE WHIRLWIND OF Christmas morning struck with the boys shrieking about gifts Santa Clause had left under the tree. Gabe had no idea how those gifts had been snuck in since the boys slept on the floor next to the tree. He wasn’t a parent, so he didn’t need to learn those secrets.

The adults exchanged a few small gifts. Jess, Darrin, and Mark had gone in together to get Candace a new smart TV, which the tallest nephew immediately said he would help set up. Soon enough, the TV spewed Christmas music at a much louder volume than Gabe would have liked.

He refused to be a Scrooge.

“Did you two exchange gifts before you got here?” Candace asked. “What did you give each other?”

Gabe shifted on the uncomfortable chair they’d pulled from the kitchen to make sure everyone had a seat. “Uh, we decided not to do gifts.”

All eyes in the room turned to him, some in shock and others in confusion.

“You didn’t get Uncle Mark a Christmas gift?” the second-tallest nephew said, full of skepticism.

Gabe had no idea how to talk to children, but Mark jumped in to save him. “You know, I forgot. I’ve spent all my time trying to convince Gabe to move in with me that I forgot to get him a gift.”

Some savior Mark was. It was like being tossed a life preserver made of concrete.

None of the adults seemed surprised by the statement. Candace looked conspicuously away. Gabe was going to kill him.

“Yeah, well,” Gabe cleared his throat. “You’re going to have to keep working on it, so you might forget to get me a gift again next year too.”

Mark leaned in to kiss Gabe’s cheek. “I’ll work on it as long as I have to. Maybe our gifts to each other next year can be a new place.”

Gabe hummed something that wasn’t agreement or denial. The kids had gone back to their own gifts, while the adults were very obviously not paying attention to them.

“Oh, Chardonnay!” Candace split the awkward silence as she pulled Gabe’s gift from the bag. She looked genuinely thrilled and a little bit of Gabe’s annoyance melted away. It wasn’t so embarrassing to be called out in front of people who didn’t judge you for it.

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