Serenades of Second Chances (BXB)

Christmas setup (Sun)

When I got home I stuffed everything away and made sure Deven couldn't see it. That's also when I realized Deven didn't set up for Chrismas yet, if at all. I cursed at myself, wondering if they even celebrated.

I didn't get much time to ponder it though, as Deven arrived home and walked through the front door. He took off his shoes and coat as usual, then came over to me and gave me the most loving kiss on earth. I kissed back, but only for a second. I back up and grab his shoulders to steady myself.

"Do you celebrate Chrismas?" I asked, gaining a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"You're adorable," he grinned and went back in to kiss me.

"Uh-uh, nope. Answer me first," I press my finger to his lips.

"Yes, we celebrate. I tried to give May the best American childhood ever, including all of the classic American holidays. Can I get my kiss now?" He said against my finger, muffling his speech.

I grinned and pulled my finger away to kiss him properly this time. We sink into it, leaning against each other violently, laughing as we kiss. It was perfect.

"So, if you do Christmas where's the Christmas?" I asked as we broke.

"Up in the attack," his hands pull my waist into him, and he begins to rock us slowly, my hands on his shoulders. "Why the sudden interest?"

"Why haven't we set up yet?"

"Never the right time. You're still in healing, babe. You need that time, and the stress of the holidays shouldn't affect that. Dont forget I know what it feels like, I lost both my parents too. I know it's hard Angel, and I'm not going to stress you over some holiday about a creepy white fat man coming down a chimney."

I laughed and leaned in to kiss him again. We continue to rock as if we were listening to a romantic love song. But we weren't. And yet we didn't need to hear a love song to know there was already a serenade between us.

"Let's go set up Christmas," I whispered to him.

"But we still have a good few hours alone. How about we do something else?" Deven leaned against me, whispering lowly, his voice so full of love it made my heart swell.

I laughed and pecked his lips. 

"Tempting, of so very tempting," I teased my hand through his hair. "But," I grin as he rolls his eyes with a pout. "Christmas. And if you're good I'll get you a nice gift you can't resist," I play and grab his hair roughly. 

He groaned and glared at me, then shoved his lips against mine. I laughed into the sloppy kiss, our teeth eventually knocking together making us both back up and laugh. Together we ventured into the attic and brought down all that was Christmas, which consisted of an 8ft tree in a box and an extra large tub of Christmas decorations. We dragged them down carefully, closed the attic, and pulled the tree into the living room near the largest window. We pulled it out, it was a pre-lit tree with an app on the phone you could download. 

As we set it up, pulling each branch apart to make it more full, Deven would kiss me at every opportunity. I think he was silently acknowledging the fact that im acting more like myself, for the first time since my mother's passing. I would simply smile at him and continue to set up the tree. We put up the funny hallmark ornaments that apparently May picked out. She got to pick out 3 every year, Deven told me as we put up the 3 from this year. Two of them caught my eye. The first one was a rainbow-ish metal ribbon, that said "Love Is Love" on it. I felt my lip quiver and a tear struck my eye. 

I cried as I looked at the next one, it was a small picture frame in the shape of a heart, and it already had a picture of us 3 inside. I bawled my eyes out as I put the two ornaments next to each other. Deven hugged me from behind, rocking us gently. He comforted me during the mini breakdown, telling me he loved me, kissing my cheek, squeezing me, and rubbing my sides or my arms.

"I love you guys so much," I said and sniffled, finally not crying after 5 minutes. 

"And we love you just as much, more if we combined our love for you," He laughed in my ear.

I turned around, wrapped my arms around his neck, and whispered that I loved him before kissing him again. When we broke the kiss, we mutually decided to take a break and make some coffee. The best coffee on earth. I pressed the espresso while he prepared the coffee beans. Together worked our way around the kitchen, deciding to start making food as we sipped our coffee. I finally learned what made his pancakes so amazing, cinnamon and vanilla. I cursed and kicked at myself when I realized this, thinking "Oh my god that was so obvious". Deven laughed at me.

"In your defense, only 2 people have correctly guessed. It's subtle, but noticeable when you realize."

I laughed as he said that, and he said the only 2 who noticed were a family member and a person he worked with who cooked as well. 

We had some peppermint pancakes with our coffee, and we sat outside on the porch while we ate. It was nice and quiet, and we still had an hour toll we got May. There were only little things to set up, and Devin told me how they normally do Christmas. He told me how they usually do rainbow lights around the house, saying May hand-selected them. I told him after we eat we'll set up those lights. 

" May still believes in Santa. I know she's a teenager now, but with her mental state, I just want her to keep that happiness. Maybe she already knows and just acts like she doesn't know the truth. She is very smart, just in her special way. Like, she figured out the tooth fairy wasn't real very early on. She didn't take it well, but she connected the dots when I was slow on money. I was still a teenager, didn't have any change, so I went to the store to get some change, and she was already awake and saw that her tooth was still on the little tray she decorated for the tooth fairy. She connected the dots when she saw me come home with some change, and just balled her eyes out. I felt so bad, like I failed her. I promised myself to never let any of that happen again. So here we are, still doing something for Santa.

"There's been some years that when we do get snow, rarely and always a little bit, I'll put some boot prints in the snow and tell her it's from Santa, there was a time I covered these makeshift hoves in ashes from the fireplace and put them in the house and said the reindeer came in. Another time I put some slay marks in the dirt; like really made it seem like a sley slid across the front yard. I'd do anything to see her smile and laugh, she owns half of my heart."

I lean against him and set my plate down in front of me. I wrap my hands around his arm. We don't have snow this year, but it is cold.

"What are you going to do this year?" I ask and he quietly laughs.

"I have no clue. I haven't been thinking about it, my mind has been a little preoccupied."

"I'm sorry," I whisper. He sets down his plate next to mine then turns to me and grabs my arms. "Dont, I know what you're going to say, Dev. I'm still sorry."

"You have no reason to be sorry though. You couldn't control your mother's passing, and you couldn't stop the grieving process, I know this all too well. I may not have had my parents die, but when they left I was so fucking lost, I went through literally all 5 stages of grief, and maybe more honestly, I was very fucked up," He gave me a gentle smile and I chuckled. His hands move up to cup my face. "I love you, and I was not ever going to make you rush yourself to feel better."

He pressed a light kiss to my lips, then pulled me into a tight hug, as if trapping the words "I'm sorry" inside of me, so I sighed and agreed. He stood up, took our plates, and stepped inside, so I grabbed our coffees and followed after. We went into the garage together, and he opened the large garage door. I stepped outside and put our coffees by the front porch stairs. Meanwhile, he pulled the ladder out and set it up. He motioned me to follow him, so I did. He led me to a basement.