My Dream Man | Book 1 | Sal Vulcano

Chapter Thirty-Seven

People started piling in as I was finishing up dinner. When I meant people, I meant Brian and James. Since our theme for this Christmas was pajama theme, Brian wore red checkered pajama bottoms with a plain black t-shirt. James wore plain grey bottoms with a navy blue shirt that had Rudolph on it. I smiled at them as I watched them come in the door.

"Merry Christmas!" I greeted

"Merry Christmas." They said in unison.

"Smells nice in the house." Brian commented.

"Thanks. Been cooking and baking for the past two hours." I chuckled.

From the kitchen entry, I saw James hold up bags of wrapped gifts in his hands. "Where do we put these?" James asked.

"Jut set your gifts under the tree. I have recycling, so you can hand them to me when your done." I replied.

So, that's what they did. They set their gifts under the tree then came to me with their plastic bags. I threw them away for them then resumed what I was doing. They sat at the island, watching me work.

"Anything we can do to help?" James asked.

"Um, can you put the dogs into their costumes?" I asked with a not-so-sure smile.

"I mean, we can try." Brian replied shuffling in his seat.

I smile at them. "Good. Follow me, I will get you the costumes. Just call the dogs over, they will listen to you."

I heard the pitter-patter of paws on the floor, then it went quiet for a few seconds. Next thing I know, I hear cooing and the rattle of Lady and Speckles' dog chains. I chuckled to myself as I grabbed the ugly dog sweaters I got for them. I walked out and saw James and Brian on the floor, petting my dogs to death. I smiled and walked over to them.

"You know, from where I was standing before, you guys looked like babies. Then I realized that you are big babies because you prank people for a living." I said handing them the sweaters.

"Well, at least we're making a living with what we do on a daily basis!" James argued taking the sweaters from my hand.

"Touché Murray, touché." I said.

As I headed back to the kitchen, I heard Brian and James still cooing at my dogs. I rolled my eyes and continued my cooking.

"Does it matter what sweater goes on what dog?!" I heard Brian yell from the other room.

"It's labeled on the cardboard who has what sweater!" I yelled back.

There was a slight pause. "Found it, okay! It's all good!"

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. I was just finishing up my cooking when I heard the front door swing open and the dogs start to bark.

"THE GATTO'S ARE IN THE HOUSE!" I heard a very familiar voice shout out.

"Hi Joey!" I shouted from the kitchen.

"Hi Addison!" Joe called back. "Brian, James, what the hell are you two doing?"

"We are putting the sweaters on the dogs." James replied.

"What he means by putting on sweaters is struggling to understand how these work." Brian answered back.

"You two are idiots. Let me help." Joe said.

I cackled as I wiped my hands and turned around. I saw Bessy walking in the kitchen with Milana in her arms. I smiled at them.

"Hi Bessy! Hi Milana! Merry Christmas!" I greeted them.

"Merry Christmas to you too!" Bessy smiled. "Where do you want me to put the gifts?" She held up the bag she had in her hand.

"Just set them under the tree. That will be fine." I said.

Bessy smiled at me. As she was about to leave, I stopped her.

"Hey, do you want me to take Milana from you as you put the gifts under the tree?" I asked.

Bessy smiled at me. "Of course you can take her."

I grabbed Milana from her mother's arms and held her in mine. I smiled at her and in return, she hid her face. I chuckled.

"Milana, no need to be shy. It's just me!" I said.

Milana dug her head deeper into my shoulder. I turned around and set her on the counter. I grabbed her hands that hid her face and gently held them in her lap.

"Hey sweetie. Why are you being so shy?" I asked. Milana shrugged. "Do you think I'm going to hurt you?" She shook her head no. "Do you think I'm going to embarrass you?" Again, she shook her head no. "Then why are you so afraid?" Milana shrugged once again. I smiled at her. "I'm not going to force anything from you. But I want you to be happy and all talk by the end of our Christmas. Got it?" She shook her head yes. I smiled at her. "Do you want a Christmas cookie I made? They are fresh from the oven!"

"Cookies? Hell yeah, hit me up." I heard a voice behind me.

I turned around to see Joe coming over, looking for the cookies. I stopped him in his tracks.

"Now wait, I offered them to Milana, not you." I said poking him in the stomach.

Joe brought his hands to his stomach and gave me a look. "Wow, how rude." Joe got close to my face. "Be respectful. It's Christmas and there are kids in front of us. You wouldn't want to show a bad influence on kids, would ya?"

I almost about lost it, seeing Joe's bug eyes pierce through mine. "N-no, But, I did only offer a cookie to your little cute daughter, not you."

Joe stood up straight and huffed at me. I chuckled and grabbed the plate of cookies and let Milana choose which cookie she wanted. As I stood there, Joe snatched a cookie from the tray and ran off. My jaw hung open as I let out an airy chuckle.

"Joey! You bastard! I told you not to take a cookie!" I called out.

"That's what you get for holding the plate in front of me!" Joe called out back at me.

I huffed and out the plate down as soon as Milana grabbed her cookie. I picked her up and let her run around on the ground. I noticed that the three, Bessy, Milana, and Joe, wore matching red and white stripped pajamas. I thought that was really cute.

Brian entered the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe. "Sal just texted me. He's going to be a little late."

"That's fine. I wasn't expecting him to be early anyways. It's only four forty-three." I shrugged.

Brian smiled at me. "Hey, I have a quick favor."

I raised my eyebrows. "What is it?"

Brian adjusted himself in the doorframe. "Do you mind braiding my hair to have it festive for the season?"

I guess my face lit up because Brian smiled at my response. "Of course I will! Go sit in front of the couch, I will grab some supplies in the bathroom real quick."

As Brian strutted off to the living room, I ran to the bathroom to grab some supplies. I also went into my arts-and-crafts room to grab some green ribbon. I entered the living room with my supplies and plopped down on the couch. Brian sat down between my legs and I got started with his hair. As I did so, I noticed the dogs had their sweaters on, looking all nice.

"Wow, you guys did a good job putting the sweaters on the dogs." I said.

"Joe helped us," James said. "We has no clue on what we were doing, due to the fact I don't have pets and Brian only owns cats."

"Well, I tip my hat to you Joseph." I said.

Joe pretended to tip a fedora. "My pleasure."

I chuckled and continued to do Brian's hair. We kept a light conversation between all of us, telling each other what we got from earlier today. As we did so, Sal walked in the house with a big sigh.

"Merry Christmas everyone."