25
Harrison
Christmas
If my life had been a cheesy Christmas movie for the past few months, I was in the final scene. I was sitting in front of Ethan’s massive, 10-foot, spruce tree that had been immaculately decorated with silver and gold ornaments, several strings of white lights, shimmering, silver garland, and topped with a glistening gold star. All of the guys and kids were still dressed in PJs, and we had all crammed into Ethan’s home for the night, so we could wake up and enjoy Christmas morning together.
Jordan sat with a bright smile on her face, watching the kids open their gifts both from her and from their fathers, and then sent them off to start enjoying their new things, while she cooked a massive breakfast for our strange little family. We enjoyed the morning and afternoon together, enjoying a cookout for lunch made my Ethan, and even had a makeshift snowball fight with fake snow Lowe had prepared and decorated the yard with, and we even got lucky when a bit of real snow started to slowly drift down from the sky and coat us in a little bit of Christmas magic.
We went inside afterwards and enjoyed mugs of homemade hot chocolate, and then sent the kids off in different directions to enjoy the remainder of the holiday with their grandparents, aunts, and uncles, with Trey tagging along with Tyler, going to Oliver’s parents with whom we’d grown very close since first arriving in Texas.
Once the kids were out of our hair, we were ready to ‘open’ our gift from Jordan; her promise to do anything and everything we wanted for the remainder of the night. Before we could get to that, though, we gathered around the tree to share presents of our own. Jordan made us participate in a particularly cheesy new tradition of buying gifts for all of the other dads. She said she wanted us to get to know one another even better, and gift exchange was one of the best ways to do it. To really drive the point home, she refused to open any of the presents any of us had gotten for her (apart from the ones the kids got for her which she opened earlier when they could see) until after we’d open the gifts we’d gotten one another.
Call it a one track mind, but we’d all gotten Oliver some form of boxing materials. He got new shorts, a couple pairs of new gloves, new shoes, a kit with expensive tape and a mouth guard, a robe, and a new boxing bag. He was elated to receive the items that all went together, and was already asking Lowe to make a trip to the gym the next day to break them in.
Lowe also got a new pair of gloves, but he was also gifted a paint job for his ATV, a new set of tires, a fancy shadow box that contained his most recent award for his company, a replacement bluetooth speaker for one he’d broken that he liked to use in his garage, and tickets to a monster show coming to town.
Cade was boring and asked for all organizational things, which he received. He got a new, leather office chair, a fancy filing cabinet that locked, a silver desktop organizer, a solar-powered clock, an expensive wireless mouse for his computer, and Oliver broke the mold and got him a retro version of his favorite handheld video game, a gift that nearly brought the man to tears.Rogan received hunting gear. A new jacket, a new rifle, an ample supply of his favorite type of ammo, some new blankets and pillows for his lodge, a purchased ‘special game’ license for the upcoming season, and a matching set of hat, gloves, and boots for the cold.Ethan received three identical sets of architecture grid paper, an expensive set of sketching pencils, a new drafting table, and an interior detail gift certificate for his new Mustang.I was worried my friends may not know what to get me, given the fact that they’d just recently learned I wasn’t really who I said I was, but it was possibly my gifts that had received the most thought. Oliver gave me a book on the extended mental learning of martial arts, and had marked pages in it that he thought most pertained to me. Rogan gave me a starters investment into a college fund for Trey, noting that he didn’t do it because I needed the financial help, but because he wanted me to know his institution was always there to support us.
Cade and Lowe worked together on their gift, and each gave me one half of a new surround sound set for my home, stating that they wanted to officially start the movie night the three of us had been bragging about starting, and that my house would be the destination. Ethan purchased season tickets for the five of us to the upcoming season’s Ranger games, knowing that Trey and I had developed an interest in baseball through him and his boys. Last, but not least, Jordan gave me a homemade piece of glassware. It had been blown by scratch and on one side had the smoky visage of ‘Adam’ written in it, and on the other side it said, ‘Harrison.’ It was meant to remind me that my identities were not ‘either/or’ they were ‘both/and.’
We were shocked by how well we’d purchased gifts were one another, and Jordan was right, it made us even closer. They truly felt like a family to me, and I couldn’t wait to see what the future would bring us.
“Time for Jordan,” I said, turning my attention towards her.
She looked in confusion at the base of the tree. There were no presents remaining under it. “There’s nothing there.”
“Don’t tell me you honestly think any of us got you stuff that could fit under that tree,” Oliver quipped. “I’m having your apartment redecorated. Say goodbye to those disgusting Ikea chairs.”
“I got you a car,” Ethan said simply. Jordan’s jaw dropped and his face remained stoic and serious. “Yes, seriously, and not the Stan Van.”
Jordan laughed and shook her head.
“I’ve added your name to the title on the lodge,” Lowe said. “It’s your home now as well, and we can go whenever you’d like.”
Rogan crossed his arms. “I’m sending you and your mom to Hawaii.” Jordan’s eyes widened. She seemed overwhelmed with the gifts she was being showered with. “I know you’ve been wanting to spend some time with her. Now you can.”
“You can eat for free at your favorite restaurant in Downtown Dallas,” Cade said. “Because I bought 51% of the shares and made it a stipulation.”
Jordan let out an adorable little squeal and I had a feeling I knew where we’d be having Christmas dinner.
I stood up from my sofa. My gift was intentionally saved until last, as it came with something extra exciting that we’d all prepared for her together. I walked into the garage, where I’d temporarily stored the fluffy, tan Shiba Inu puppy I’d gotten. I carried him into the house and then set him down and watched as Jordan’s face lit up. She called to the dog, and he charged across the room and jumped up into her arms, licking her face profusely.
“Oh my god! He’s so cute!” she yelped. “What’s his name?”
“Whatever you want it to be,” I told her. “He’s yours, but I have to ask you to be careful. His collar holds something quite special.”
Jordan finagled him around until she could look at his collar, and then her breath hitched. She tugged gently on the small bag hanging from the puppy’s collar and pulled out the sterling silver ring, with a bright, white diamond on top. Around the band were one each of six different stones; garnet, emerald, turquoise, opal, sapphire, and amethyst. The colored gems represented the six of us, while the diamond represented her.
“You are the bright jewel in our life, and we had that made for you so that you would know that we want you to be ours forever, and for us to be yours,” I explained to her. “You make us whole, and we never want to go another day without you.”Jordan nodded, teary-eyed at my explanation, and Cade, who was closest to her, grabbed the ring from her and slipped it on her finger. I managed to snag the dog away from her and returned him to his kennel in the heated garage, with plenty of toys, food and water. His mom was going to be busy for a while.With Oliver stripping off his clothes as he led the way, we all made our way to the bedroom, where we closed out our Christmas with long, passionate love-making to the backdrop of a soft, white, wintry snow cascading slowly down from the sky just outside the window.
THE END
