Light of Heart (LGBT+) ✔

Oh come, all ye faithful

"Dembe! Were you waiting here just to kiss me?"

I look at Christine, an alto from our choir, who smiles broadly. We've just sung the Christmas Mass and one of the sopranos invited all choir members to a reception in her house, which is lavishly decorated and adorned with more lights than I could possibly ever count. It rubs me up the wrong way because, while Christmas is indeed the celebration of light and hope, this is just gaudy and superficial. I much prefer the simple beauty of the pine branches in the church.

"Why would I do that?"

"You're standing under the mistletoe, so you have to kiss whoever else is under it at the same moment."

I frown. Despite her being in her sixties, she is as mischievous as ever. "Really? Isn't that an American thing?"

"It is, but who cares?" Her eyes twinkle and she places a hand on my arm.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to look for another victim. I'm going to Maurice's place and I want to change my clothes before I leave."

"Ah, come on. Just one kiss before you go."

"Alright, but on the cheek, okay?" I give her a stern look because she is the kind of person to kiss someone on the lips, even if she has been happily married for more than thirty years. "I don't plan on ever kissing someone on the lips."

This confuses Christine. "But don't you have... you know... a partner?" It is clear the word doesn't come naturally to her, but even if none of the choir members is truly comfortable with my bisexuality, I appreciate their effort to accept me. The pastor even told me he considered it his duty to love me regardless of my sexuality, even though my long-term partner isn't a Christian.

"I have. Maurice. But we only kiss on the cheek. It's called asexuality." Although I love some physical affection, I have never even seen Maurice naked and touches are limited to hugs and handholding and what others would call platonic.

"Oh right. I read something about that a few years back when that one man founded..."

"AVEN?"

"Yes, that's it." The short silence between us fills with Christmas carols and the chatter of the others. "So, how about that kiss? It'll be over before you know it. That's what I tell my grandchildren when they have to go to the dentist." I shake my head at Christine's shameless grin but lower my face. She daintily pecks my cheek and I can't help but smile at that. This is what Christmas should feel like: warmth and love and joy. Not an abundance of decoration and food and gifts.

"Merry Christmas, Dembe."

"Merry Christmas for you and David as well."

Guido joins us then and I peck him on the cheek to his astonishment – "Merry Christmas." – walking to the door with Christine's laughter and Oh come, all ye faithful in my ears.

***

Author's Note: This one was written for the 'Under the mistletoe' contest by @FreeTheLGBT. I think it isn't too clichéd, with older characters (not the way to get popular on Wattpad - though that isn't my aim), one of them asexual, and a couple that doesn't live together. It also takes place in 2003 or 2004 (as AVEN was founded in 2001), probably in Belgium and Dembe is of Congolese origin (Congo was a Belgian colony, so there is still a Congolese community in Belgium).