Memories to Burn a Broken Soul

Chapter 14

December, 1993
7:05pm

Brian watches as Sal brings two mugs of hot chocolate out to the living room where they're sitting. They have a ritual of spending Christmas Eve together.

They start by driving around to look at all the Christmas lights around Staten Island. They then make a snowman in Brian's yard, and ended the evening by the fire with hot cocoa. Sal wraps his arms around the taller man, snuggling his face into his neck, taking in his scent.

Bertha comes into the room, smiling at the boys. She quickly snaps a photo of them, pulling them out of their trance of each other.

"I have a special gift for each of you tonight." She says, handing each of them a small, wrapped box.

"You didn't have to!" Sal says, looking up at the women. She shakes her head, motioning for them to open the gifts.

They each unwrap the box to find they got the Same thing, a necklace with a ring hanging from it. They both look up at her, confused.

"Let me explain. These were mine and your father's wedding rings. I want you two to save them. Even if, for some reason, you two don't spend the rest of your lives together, I want you to always remember the true love you both felt in this moment." Bertha explains, smiling at the young boys who look between their necklaces and each other.

Brian motions for Sal to turn around so he can put the necklace on him. Sal turns and does the same for Brian. They both take a moment to look at the other's necklace, before leaning forward for a tight embrace.

"Don't stay up too late. I love you boys." Bertha says, leaving the room to go to bed. Sal pulls away and takes a sip of his hot chocolate.

"Are you ready for your gift from me?" Brian asks, tilting his head at Sal. He shakes his head rapidly, eyes widening as he loves presents.

Brian hands him a medium sized box, wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. "I hope you don't hate it... You might think it's childish." He says, biting his lip nervously.

Sal shakes his head, quickly tearing into the gift. He pulls out a stuffed bear wearing an FDNY shirt. The bear instantly gives off his favorite scent, Brian.

Sal looks up at his boyfriend, eyes beginning to tear.

"Babe... I love this. So much" Sal says, tears falling from his eyes. Brian laughs and pulls Sal closer, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"I thought you might. You can hug this bear whenever you're not with me, and you'll know I'm still there." He says, pushing the bear to Sal's chest so he can hug it.

Sal hugs the bear and his love tightly, before pulling away and grabbing a larger box wrapped in green wrapping with a red bow on it. He hands it to Brian without a word, waiting for him to open it.

Brian looks between the box and his boyfriend, smiling widely. He carefully opens the box to see a Superman letterman jacket inside. He pulls it from the box to hold it up. The back of the jacket is sporting the Superman logo, and the front has the letter Q on the breast pocket.

"Oh my God. Babe how much did this cost? How did you even find something like this?" Brian says quickly, standing up to put on the jacket.

"The price doesn't matter. I searched all over Manhattan to find it. And of course, I got someone to put the Q on it." Sal says, walking over to where Bertha had set down her camera.

"Say cheese!" He says as Brian turns to pose in his new jacket.

"I love it so much Sally. Thank you." Brian says, pulling the younger man in for a hug.

"Merry Christmas, Bri." Sal responds, squeezing his boyfriend tightly.