“Did you not hear my monsters arguing before we sang?” Venice said with a laugh. “They bickered all the way here and will be doing the same all the way back, despite the warning that if they’d don’t behave, there’ll be consequences. Santa does not come if you’re naughty.”
The attention moved from Jonty and Devan heard him exhale. Devan shot a look of thanks to Venice and she nodded.
“Right!” His mother clapped her hands. “The men outside to set up. The women inside to tidy up.”
“What’s happening now?” Jonty asked.
“We have an outdoor cinema on Christmas Eve.”
“Even though it’s snowing?” Jonty gaped at him.
“We get to drink gluhwein or hot chocolate, cuddle up on sun loungers and cover ourselves with blankets and duvets.”
“So no one can see what we’re doing?”
“Don’t you dare!”
Jonty’s slow smile made Devan’s cock twitch.
Jonty really did feel as if he’d fallen into a Hallmark movie. This family was amazing and now they were going to lie outside and watch a film projected onto the side of the house. Just… Wow! He helped with the arranging of chairs and sun loungers. Devan’s father and Cato erected a long gazebo with a covering at the back for those who didn’t want to be too exposed. Furniture was brought out of storage from one of the outbuildings, and cushions, beach towels and blankets were carried from the house. It had stopped snowing by the time everything was set up, and everywhere looked beautiful.
The kids were all bundled up on two wide outdoor couches. The adults were on sun loungers or chairs with footrests. Ellen handed out mulled wine or hot chocolate, and bags of popcorn.
Devan and Jonty’s sun loungers were tight together on the right-hand side of the house. Devan had spread a blanket over both, and they crawled beneath the covers and snuggled up together.
“What are we going to watch?” Jonty asked.
“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Same every year.”
Suddenly the side of the house lit up with a blue screen and the Warner Brothers’ logo, the music started, and everyone cheered.
Jonty had seen the film before. He and his father had watched it on the TV. They’d both laughed. It was a funny film. But Jonty’s pleasure had been tinged with a touch of sadness because of how much he envied the Griswald family even though they were beset by one catastrophe after another. What he liked most, was that Chevy Chase never gave in.
Devan pulled him closer and Jonty tucked in against him, resting his head in the crook of Devan’s shoulder. For a long time, Jonty had disliked the hype around Christmas because it was a reminder of what he didn’t have. TV adverts painted such an idealised image of happy families, tables groaning under the weight of food, glittering Christmas trees surrounded by beautifully wrapped presents, happy smiling faces sharing the pleasure in that year’s John Lewis advert.
Jonty had felt it was like standing outside in the rain, watching a party to which he hadn’t been invited. This time he had been invited and yet, there was still that feeling of not being wanted. Only from Devan’s mum but she was the one who Jonty had needed to be happy to see him.
Devan chuckled as Chevy Chase slid his car under the truck.
“Hey, Cato! That’s like the time you tried to parallel park dad’s car and hit both vehicles,” Devan called.
“Thank you for reminding him,” Cato called back. “How many goes did it take you to pass your test?”
Devan laughed.
The family exchanged quips through much of the film and Jonty realised this was less about watching the film and more about doing something as a family. He occasionally wondered if his memories of Christmas up until his mother had left were accurate. Maybe they weren’t. They definitely weren’t enough to erase the memory of the first Christmas Eve after she’d gone.
“You okay?” Devan whispered.
Jonty pressed his lips together. No, he wasn’t okay.
Devan pressed his mouth to Jonty’s ear. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.”
“Just a bad memory.”
“Tell me.”
“The first Christmas Eve after Mum left, I asked my father for a glass of sherry for Santa and he told me there was no Santa Claus. I yelled at him and said there was, that he was lying. He laughed at me, told me to get the fuck out, and watch for the reindeer since I was so sure they’d come. So I left. I was sobbing and it was chucking it down with rain. I’d put my coat on, but I was soaked by the time I’d reached the end of the road. I went past all these houses decorated for Christmas and sometimes through the window I could see Christmas trees and happy families and…”
Devan tugged him closer. “Shit.”
Jonty gave a short laugh. “I thought Santa would come and save me. He’d see me on the street and pick me up on his sleigh and I’d deliver presents with him and maybe he’d take me back with him to where he lived and… I waited what felt like a long time before I walked home. No Santa. No more tears. My dad was watching something on the TV, and I went to bed.
“The next morning, when I wouldn’t open the two presents he’d bought me, he backhanded me and made my nose bleed. So I opened them. A football and a remote-control car. Nothing I wanted. I never played with either.”
“Make new memories,” Devan whispered. “Me playing the harp. You singing like an angel. I had no idea you had such a beautiful voice.”
“You knew what I was saying in that song, right?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve changed my life.”
“You’ve changed it yourself.”
“With your help.” Don’t ever leave me.
Jonty didn’t like relying on anyone else for anything. He’d spent so long making himself as strong as he could be. Self-reliant. Self-assured. Self-righting when he was toppled. But he needed Devan so much.
Devan put his hand on Jonty’s face and kissed him.
“I love you,” Devan whispered. “Never forget that.”
“Why does it snow every time you say that?”
Fat flakes were floating down.
“I’m a magician. But I can’t do that particular magic trick in the summer.”
Jonty huffed. “You do know I’m making a list of the way you disappoint me? Along with a list of Ways to make it up to Jonty.”
Devan kissed him again. “Is kissing you on the list?”
“Might be.”
Chapter Five
When the film was over, Devan’s sisters and his mother took the children up to bed while the rest of them dismantled the outdoor cinema. Jonty noticed that Griff was on his way indoors with Suki and neither of them were carrying anything. When it was clear no one was going to say anything, he called, “Hey! Could you two please pick something up that needs to go back indoors?”
“Griff uses a crutch.” Suki stood with her hands on her hips. “And we’re cold.”
Jonty took a deep breath. “He has another hand, and his shoulders. You have two free hands and we’re cold too.”
Griff muttered something to her, and they turned their backs and walked off empty-handed. When Jonty turned, Cato was behind him.