Betrayed

Holidays

My mother had asked that I go home for Christmas and though I missed her very much I didn't want to miss out on Hendrix's first Christmas. With Gabriel's encouragement and support we invited my mom and sister to spend Christmas with us in New Brunswick. The two of them stayed at the house while Gabriel and I stayed at the cottage for the week.

Gabriel was all charms when he met my mother and sister and both of them were quite taken aback by him. I wasn't sure if Lane was surprised that I had managed to pull a catch like Gabriel, or if she thought Gabriel was mentally unstable for being with me. I had explained the age difference to my mom and about Chrissy and Hendrix, I assumed she had told Lane about it.

I enjoyed spending the day with my family, but I was glad that in the evenings Gabriel and I could escape to the cottage. Each evening Gabriel would build us a fire and we would cuddle up in front of it each with a drink - hot cocoa for me and bourbon for him - and talk about our day.

"I have an early Christmas present for you tomorrow" he announced one night. My eyebrows shot up in excitement which made him laugh.

"Why would you tell me that before bed?" I whined, "I won't be able to sleep all night now!" Gabriel chuckled in amusement as I tried to guess what my present might be.

"Go to sleep, you'll find out in the morning!" he said, pulling me into his warm embrace. His scent, warmth and soft kisses lulled me to sleep within minutes. I had strange vivid dreams about opening presents of boxes within boxes within boxes; each of them slightly smaller than the last but the paper getting harder to tear off each time. Dream me was getting frustrated while everyone around me laughed harder and harder each time I opened up a new box. I had no idea where the dream came from but by morning I was exhausted by dream me's effort in tearing open a tiny little box the size of a thumbtack.

"Your present is here" Gabriel crooned, pulling me out of my dream. The soft golden light shone through the cottage and from where I lay I could see the white snow gleaming outside. The landscape was a perfect wintery scene. I pulled on some pajamas, slipped my feet into some fluffy slippers and wrapped myself into the lace trimmed robe Gabriel had gotten me for my last birthday. I followed him downstairs; it was hard to tell which one of us was more excited. A big box sat at the entrance, large holes on each side of it and a large red bow on top. "Go on" Gabriel encouraged me as I approached the box cautiously. A scratching sound and a whine came from the box and I hurriedly opened it. I gasped as a small German shepherd looked up at me, it's ears perked and tail wagging.

"NO!" I yelled out as I grabbed the pup around the middle. He was heavy but didn't resist the cuddles. "Gabriel! I love him! Thank you! Thank you!" I beamed up at him.

"I'm pretty sure I bought a female though," he said, trying to examine the dog.

"Well this dog is certainly a male. But I love him! You can't take him back!" I said holding the dog closer to me.

"I wouldn't dream of it babe" he chuckled as he petted the dog.

"How old is he? What's his name?" I asked.

"He is supposed to be 4 months old, and his name was supposed to be Arabesque, but I'm not sure anymore," he said, examining the dog's collar. "It says Axel on the tag here".

"Axel! Aww, I love it!" The pup squirmed and I let him explore the cottage. I watched him like a hawk but he was well behaved.

"I only ask that you don't let the dog sleep in our bed, please" Gabriel said, standing behind me and wrapping me in his arms.

"I think I can deal with that!" I said with a smile.

"I also enrolled the two of you in dog training classes for the winter, so I think he will keep you pretty busy."