My Boyfriend's Mother

50: Six Months Later...

The bell rings. "I'll get it!" I shouted from the living room knowing Elena's head is glued to the oven. I swung the door open. "Look at that. I've never seen you early in a party before."

"Merry Christmas to you, too. Where's the wine?" Mickey shook her coat off and looked at my empty hands. "Where's Henry?" I peeked behind her and saw nothing but her Tesla on a cold winter night. "Not coming. Now, the wine."
"What happened?" I gasped. "Are those the new Chanel winter collection boots? I've got to borrow them some time."
"I'll give you to them if you give me the damn alcohol."

I went straight to the kitchen and tiptoed to the cabinet. I felt strong hands on my waist. "If you need to grab something from the cabinets, I told you to just ask," Elena whispered and kissed me on the ear. One of the little things she does that I'll always imprint in my heart. She then grabbed a couple of wine bottles. My hero. "Mickey!" She said when she turned around and saw my best friend's long face. "Ahem. You're here early." She then poured her a glass. "You two can make out in front of me. I don't care just hand me the drink." She then took the glass from Elena. Almost spilling it. She took a sip. No. It was one big gulp. We looked at each other. "Wanna tell us about it?" I asked cautiously. Mickey's a social drinker. This is so unlikely of her. "Nothing. It's not a big deal. Henry's just hanging out with his buddies tonight rather than to be with me." But it's Christmas. Another drink. "You two look great, by the way. I mean you look amazing as always, Gracey. But your girlfriend is..-" She fans herself with her hand. "Is it hot in here? I feel like the wine is finally kicking in." The doorbell rang again and more and more guests come our way.

"Grace, hi!" Mia greeted us when they found us in the already crowded living room. "We bought Lattes from Pink Bean." She then handed me the warm cups of drinks. "Oh, thank you! And Lauren, how are you?"
"Amazing. But not as amazing as those matcha cakes you gave us a few months back." She said. "When are you spilling the recipe, Professor Richards?" Mia asked when Elena joined us. I felt her hand snaked its way to my waist. While the other hand is carrying a slim wine glass. She looks down at me with a glistening smile. "Grace knows the recipe. We made it together. I think that's the secret." She winked. If the secret is having sex in front of the oven while it's baking, yeah we'll never tell you.

Violet spots me and says hi. Hand in hand with her is her boyfriend, James. "How you doing, Boss Grace." He greeted with beers in his hand. "I was just teaching James here how to arrange flowers. Maybe one day he can work in Breathtaking Blooms. He's getting pretty good at it." I laughed. "We would love to have you onboard."
"Aww, thanks Boss G. But right now I'm focusing on my band."

"Happy Holidays, Grace." Mallory greeted me with a tiny baby girl in her arms. "Hi! You guys came!" I kissed her on the cheeks. "How's little Sofia doing?" I asked. "She's fine. You should ask how the mothers are. We haven't slept in 72 hours." Hope answered. The woman who gave birth to the little ball of sweetness. "Is that my favorite god baby?" I smile every time Elena calls Sophia god baby. Mallory carefully puts her in her arms. "You two look awfully beautiful. Have you been sleeping?" She asks. All the while making faces at Sophia. Okay, that's such a sight. "No. But I'm hoping tonight's the night." Hope said. "Come along, I'll show you where the booze is. I'll hold on to little Sophia for a while- oh Grace baby, look! She's grabbing my finger!" Such. A. Sight.

"It's not that I want him with me 24/7. It's just that I could get busy at work, and he's busy too so the only time we're spending time together is during weekends. And it's not even eVERY weekend."' I heard Mickey say. Or, you know.. complain. "I understand. It can be tough. I'm sure he had good reasons not joining you here though." Sarah said. I wish I could say I'm glad he didn't come today, but I hate seeing Mickey like this. I knew he was bad news from the beginning. "Ppff if the reason is to hang out with his buddies who by the way are his officemates which means they see each other every day-" She tried to drink from her empty glass. "Oh no.." She pulls another long face. "Here, let me get you some more." Sarah took the glass from her hands. "Thank you. You have such soft hands.." Mickey said and intertwined her fingers with Sarah. "I'll take that glass." I took the liberty to just get it and pour her another drink. "Oh no, please. Let me." Sarah said as we walked together to the counter where all the drinks are. She grabbed a bottle by its neck and spun it around her body and caught it. "Woah. How did you do that?" I asked, impressed. "I used to bartend while in college." Was her answer. Is it weird that I wish I could do that? "Here. I'll take it to Mickey. It's bad enough that she's drunk already." But before I could take the glass, she was drinking from it. "This is for me." She says. Poor thing. Never had a decent conversation with Mickey. Coincidentally, she's always drunk in front of her. She grabbed some water and put it in a new glass. "This is going to your friend." Oh, that's so thoughtful of her. Why didn't I think of that? "Listen, I'm sorry you had to deal with drunk Mickey. Apparently, she's going through something." Not really. More of just a bad day. Despite the Holidays. "Nothing to worry about. I'm enjoying her company." She smiles. What a sweet girl. "I'll let you get back to it."

"So he's actually the one that taught me how to play golf," Carl says when I found him, Josh, and his mother altogether on the sofa. "You still don't know how to play golf," Josh says. They laughed and shared a kiss. Okaayy that's a little odd. Elena looked away. "This isn't uneasy for you, is it?" She asked in concern. "No, I'll get used to it." I said and smiled.

"Are you ready?" Elena asked with her cute little reindeer ears. I put my hot chocolate down on the coffee table and sat on the carpet across from her in front of the fireplace in her living room. "Wait. Elvis!" I called out the dog's name and he appeared from underneath the couch. He sat on my lap with a cozy lo-fi version of Jingle Bells playing in the background. "Okay, now I'm ready. Gimme my gift."

"You're the greediest elf ever." She says. "Santa made me work all year. This is the only reward I get."
she laughs. "I'm so glad all the guests are gone and I have you all to myself now." She kissed the top of my nose. "Why is your nose always cold?" She asks. "What do you mean?" I touched it. It IS cold. "You're like a cat." She says. "Meow" I responded. Who the fuck says meow. "Did you just.. meowed at me?" I covered my face. "I did. That was me. I'm sorry." She laughs and removes my hands from my face. "You're just an adorable little cat, aren't you?"
"Stoppp. Look what you've done to me!?" She laughs again. Can I turn that into a ring tone? Or would that be too weird? "Okay, here's my Christmas gift to my lovely girlfriend." She then hands me a piece of paper. I don't know why but the way she calls me her girlfriend makes me dizzy all the time. In a good way. "Is this a trip to Disneyland?" I asked excitedly. "Better." She answered. "Paris?" I opened the paper and read carefully, silently. "Is this.."
"Are you mad?"
"Is this a deed of ownership?"
"Yes?"
"Ownership to what?" I asked. "Keep reading." She suggested. "This..This is the house along Allen's Lake St." I looked up to her. "I bought the house. Well, we will. As long as you put your signature right.. there." She pointed to the bottom of the paper. "Are you asking me to-"

"Will you come live with me, Grace?" Was the words that came out of her mouth. Her smile is uneasy. Did she really think that I'd say no? "I mean, are you sure?"
"Why do you think I'm looking for a new place when I just got here a year ago?"
"I don't know. The house is too big? The Windows are too tall? It's all too glamorous here?? I don't know what's going on in that big brain of yours!"
"And why do you think I'm asking you to come with me?" I thought about this for a while. "Oh my God. We've been window shopping for a house all this time?"
"Baby, you're so adorable." She kissed my nose again. "This is the house that I wanted.. How did you know?" I placed the paper on my chest.
"Well, you got excited after seeing the house. It's near Breathtaking. But most importantly, near the Pink Bean, as you said."
"That's true."
"And you said you imagined yourself waking up in that room. Our only difference is, that I don't want to imagine it. I want it to happen. So.. What do you say?" Oh, Elena. So sweet and thoughtful as always I could just get on my knees right now and ask you to marry me. But. One step at a time. I'm quite enjoying our pace at the moment. I crawled my way to her, and put my arms on her shoulders as I hear the mellow music of Christmas carols, the cracklings of the fire, and our heartbeats beating together. I couldn't help but kiss her. And my oh my, does it feels so good. "You have a.. way of.. not answering.. right away.. with a kiss.. You know that?" She whispered while we were kissing. "Like when I.. asked you to.. be mine?" She continued. Oh I remember that day vividly. As if it was yesterday. "I need.. an answer.. from you. Grace." She said. Ugh fine. I guess we can take a little break from tasting each other. I pulled away to gaze at her as her eyes danced in the winter fire and said, "Anywhere is home with you, Elena. I would love to come home to you." And I truly mean it. She's giving me one of those I'm-really-genuinely-happy smiles of hers and my heart colored. "Grace, have I ever told you that I love you?" She asked. "When have you not?" We sealed the deal with another toe-curling, stomach-turning kiss. Best. Christmas. Yet. I can't wait to spend the next one in our new home.

The End..