On A Night Like This

Chapter Twenty-Five

-Dylan-

He woke up to the sound of a soft vibrating noise and felt something tugging at his beard. Confused, he opened his eyes to see Pumpkin's tiny orange face looking down at him. She was purring and kneading his beard with her paws. He heard a snicker off to the side and turned his head. Jayce was already awake and trying to stifle his laughter.

"Shut up," he said to Jayce. "Is this what I have to get used to every morning?"

"Probably," Jayce laughed. "It's cute how much she loves you." He reached over and gave Pumpkin a scratch behind her ears, and then leaned over and kissed Dylan. "Merry Christmas."

Christmas. He'd never had a real Christmas. His first memory of the holiday was asking his parents if they were going to have a tree like everyone else and if there would be presents. All he got for his question was his dad backhanding him across the face and telling him they didn't waste money on things like that. Ever since then, Christmas had just been another day like any other.

Jayce rolled to the side and got out of bed. "I'll make breakfast. Come down when you're ready."

Dylan lay there for a few minutes, taking in the sounds of Jayce in the kitchen and Pumpkin's gentle purr. He ran his fingers over Pumpkin's fur, enjoying how soft it felt. "We should put Jayce's gift under the tree," he murmured to her. "Can you distract him?"

Pumpkin trilled at him in reply, so he picked her up and headed downstairs. Jayce was making eggs and hash browns and Dylan also smelled cinnamon. He peeked into the oven and saw a group of cinnamon rolls on a baking sheet.

"My family always makes cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning," Jayce told him.

"Are you going to call them?"

"Yeah, at some point. If I don't, my brother will end up calling me." Jayce looked down and smiled at the sight of Pumpkin winding her way around his ankles. "She wants her breakfast and since I'm handling food, she thinks I'm going to give it to her."

"I'll feed her." While Pumpkin had Jayce's attention, he slipped Jayce's gift under the tree before opening up a can of cat food for Pumpkin. He couldn't help but feel guilty for not getting Jayce something better for Christmas, especially when he looked at his small gift next to the pile of presents Jayce had placed under the tree for him. He wished he had more to offer Jayce.

-

After they finished breakfast, they sat on the couch to open presents. Pumpkin curled up in Dylan's lap as Jayce began to hand him some of the gifts from under the tree. The first one he opened contained a thick, mustard yellow scarf.

"Full disclosure, I bought it. I can't knit like you," Jayce laughed.

Dylan ran his fingers over the cable knit scarf. "It's beautiful."

"That shade of yellow will go great with your hair and beard. It's the perfect color for you."

"Thank you," he replied, leaning over to kiss Jayce. "You didn't even need to get me anything else."

"But I did," Jayce said, smiling as he handed Dylan another gift.

This one was heavier than the scarf. When he pulled the wrapping paper off, he found three romance books and a Kindle inside. He was amused to see that Jayce had chosen a straight romance, a gay romance, and a lesbian romance. "You made sure to cover all the bases," he chuckled.

"Yup. And with the Kindle, you'll have access to tons of books. I got you an unlimited subscription so you'll never run out of things to read."

Dylan's throat tightened as he was struck with emotion. He swallowed hard before speaking. "This is really thoughtful."