Baby steps ∽『boy ✮ boy -EDITED

Twenty- second👣-edited

"Are you sure you don't want to eat anything else? Turkey? How about pudding? Danny, do you want anything?" My aunt asked Carter's parents, bringing more food on the table despite barely having any space to even see the color of the tablecloth.

"Thank you, Debbie, but I am full."

"So am I." were the men's responses and my aunt would have insisted more if the doorbell didn't ring right at that moment.

"Ryder, sweetheart, could you please go and check who it is?"

I nodded and stood up, scowling as Mike slid between my legs in order to chase after Skyler. Ollie was sitting in Carter's lap onto the floor, playing with the toys he received from Santa this morning, while aunt Debbie was chit-chatting with Carter's dads and Ivy was stuffing his mouth full of food, watching 'Home alone' .

I dodged my running brothers and the presents discarded around the Christmas tree and made my way towards the entrance door; then, without even checking who was on the other side I turned the key and opened the door, being quite surprised to see Simon standing there on the threshold.

Now you might wonder "how did we get to this point?". Well it all started the night after we returned from the festival.

" I forgot to buy mistletoe." Carter said as we unpacked our bags, putting the gingerbread aside from the presents my brothers received from Santa. We were sitting on the floor around the fireplace, Carter and I drinking mulled wine while my brothers sat on the couch, drinking warm milk and watching The Grinch on a tablet.

"I could give you some from aunt Debbie. She buys a bunch every year, saying that maybe Santa will bring her a nice hunk to use the mistletoe with. I am sure she doesn't mind sharing some with you."

"Thank you. It's actually not for me, but for my parents. Every year on Christmas Eve they tell me this whole story about how dad had proposed papa under the mistletoe, but they never buy any for Christmas."

"Can you tell us the story?" Skyler said as he pulled away from Mike, placing his cup of milk on the table and crawling on the floor between me and Carter. Ollie mimicked his movement and sat down between my legs, Mike being the only disinterested one and choosing to finish Grinch instead.

"Well," Carter started, "my parents have been dating for a few years and they were already living together when dad proposed. It was their third or fourth Christmas together I think and dad decided to tie the engagement ring which he planned to give papa, on the mistletoe. All nigh he waited for my father to see it but even after dinner he didn't even spare a glance towards the mistletoe. So my dad waited days and days after Christmas, hoping that papa will notice the ring. But then, one day he came from work and the mistletoe along with all the decorations were missing. Papa had packed them away."

"What about the ring?"

"Well, dad thought papa threw it away so he rushed to the kitchen and started rummaging through the rubbish. But the rubbish was oddly empty so he looked out the window and realized the bin lorry was leaving the parking lot just right on that moment. So he rushed out the door and started screaming after the vehicle but as their house was the last one on the street, the car drove away and didn't stop. The mistletoe was gone, the ring lost and dad's socks were soaked wet and muddy because he ran onto the rainy pavement without any shoes on."

"Owh, no!" Syler and Ollie said together, startling Mike who was concentrated on his cartoon.

"Then what happened?"

Carter chuckled.

"Dad was very sad. He was literally reconsidering all his life's decisions. Then he walked into his and papa's bedroom and there he was: my father, sitting on the edge of the bed with the mistletoe next to him and the ring being spun between his fingers. At this point my dad was stuttering in embarrassment, gaping at my father like a fish on dry land."