This is an original story and all similarities in names, places, etc, alive or otherwise, are pure coincidences.
Hi, readers. Thank you much for the nice e-mails I received for the last chapter. With this chapter, I just want to let you know that I will be posting a new story soon. It will be called "Miracle of A Dying Star." It will be another love story that is more romantic and unearthly than this one, I hope. Hehe! I hope you will enjoy this chapter and I will post the next one when I return from my holiday, which is one and a half month later. This is a LONGER chapter than the rest to make up for that coming one and a half month. Thank you for your patience.
Christmas eve dawned bright and cheery, at least that was what I thought. Anyway, I had the strangest dream last night. In it, I was skating alone on a frozen lake when I fell in suddenly. Ted was nowhere to be seen even though I kept calling out for him. It gave me the shivers (no pun intended); brrr! Anyway, the one traditional thing we did every Christmas eve was to gather in the dining room for a drink. Not alcohol, mind you. Just some coffee, tea or juice. We would be there for a "confession session," with grandma at the head of the table. This was to allow ourselves some peace of mind, I guess.
After 10 minutes or so, everybody was seated, including Ted's parents. They were really enthusiastic about Ted and me, and they were glad that they could join in the family tradition. So, the whole thing started with grandma confessing that she had done no wrong that year, nothing major at least. The one thing that bothered her was the fact that she had been nosey enough to be the matchmaker of a girl who was getting nowhere in the boyfriend department. She was worried if it was going to be all right after they had married last week. The whole session was conducted in a solemn mood, with the adults and my cousins, nephews, nieces confessing whatever wrong they had done, be it at work or home. I confessed mine too and then it was Ted's turn, who was the last one in line.
"I had done something really grave this year: falling for Jeremy!" I was shocked and looked hard at him. "Haha. Just kidding. Relax, J!" Whew! I thought he meant it because he had said the "confession" so seriously. Even my family and his parents were stunned for a second.
After a few minutes of laughter, we settled down and heard what Ted had to confess. "I had done no wrong this year, seriously. Unless you counted cursing as one, then I was guilty of many sins. Hehe," Ted grinned. The funny part I could not see, only the fact that Ted seemed to be hesitant and there was a weird look on his face for a brief moment. I could not describe exactly how I felt, just that I knew he was holding something back in his conscience. If ever you were in love, you would know your soulmate without having to put things in words. Everybody stood up and went to chat in the living room, or outside on the lake to skate. It was cold already when we got here, but the lake was not frozen as yet. I decided I would find a way to find out what was the thing that bothered Ted the most and why he could not be honest about it.
I sat down on the sofa and read a magazine when Ted came in. "Hey, loverboy. Can I talk to you for a second? There is something I need to ask you and you have to answer truthfully."
"Sure," Ted looked at me, his expression was queer, as if he was seeing something unnatural.
We walked out for a stroll, hand in hand. Chatting aimlessly while I was pondering on how to approach him best with what I wanted to know, what I needed to know. Finally, Ted gave me a way out when he spoke out: "You know, huh?"
"Huh? What? I don't understand you, honey."
"You know I was holding something back. Don't deny it. I could see it in your eyes, as you could see plain as day in mine. I will tell you honestly, but promise me that you will listen till I finish and hear my explanation calmly, okay?" Suddenly, I remembered his questions last night if I would love him no matter what and if I would forgive his past mistakes, etc.
"I...I...do you promise, J?" Ted seemed unconvinced by my initial assurance. I nodded my head and he continued: "I was fourteen that year, hormones racing and stuff...you know." He shook slightly, though I knew he was not cold but nervous. "I molested a boy of 10." He stopped abruptly, staring on the ground and not daring to look me in the eyes.
"Do...do you hate me now, J?"
"Yeah...yeah, I sure do. Why?"
"I just didn't know what made me do it, J. Honest! I was so...I lost all sanity. I...I just touched him...there, you know? And I regretted it later, but...I know that the whole confession thing was about this year's mistakes, not one that was committed years back, but I just felt so guilty about it. My parents knew, but they forgave me. I...I...well, will you, J?" Ted's words rushed out so fast that I just couldn't make him stop. However, I knew now the meaning of my dream earlier on. I must have been too worried about Ted and what he told me last night, and thus, the bad dream.
"I don't know what makes you think I won't." I smiled at him and kissed him lightly on the lips. He was so surprised and I guess, so relieved that he just cried.
"J, I was so scared. Whe...when I asked you last night if you would ever forgive such a mistake, you...you told me it depended on the situation and tha...that was too vague an answer to relief this fear in me." Ted just kept on crying as I embraced him tightly.
"I'm sorry, Ted. Please don't cry, you're hurting me to know that I had hurt you like that. Please...," I wiped his tears with my thumb and kissed him again. It was a bittersweet kiss, full of love and relief. The snow fell gently to the ground at that moment, adding to the romanticism of the minute.
"So, are you fine now, T?"
"Yeah, J. Thanks for loving me so much. I love you, Jeremy McKnight."
"I love you, Ted Johnson." We kissed again as time seemed to stand still to capture this very perfect moment.
After walking about for a while, we decided to head back to the house. On the way, I told Ted: "Hey, Ted. I feel that this should be a secret between us. I don't think that everyone needs to know. Is that fine with you? I mean, you have regretted it now and the most important thing is that you have changed from the boy back then to this man that I love so much now. I just don't think that there is any need to announce it to my family, okay? Every couple has a secret, you know? Plus, you will never repeat that mistake again, I know. So, there really is no necessity to let anyone else knows about this." I winked at him and the relief I noticed assured me that I had said the right thing. I took his hand and we walked back slowly, more like we were crawling back. However, it was just so romantic, with Ted and the snow.
"You're back, finally. We thought the two of you were so FAR gone, that we have to drag you back," grandma was in her usual teasing mood and her emhasis on the word "far" made plain enough what she meant by that.
"Well, we had stolen a couple of kisses out there, nothing major. If we had, you would not be seeing us back so soon," I retorted while Ted was blushing like a tomato. I was not about to turn red and let grandma had the satisfaction of winning this round.
"Ahh, I see. Hey, go help those ladies in the kitchen. They need your help. I had just seated myself comfortably on this sofa a few minutes ago and I will be there a bit later. The gentlemen were somewhere cleaning the house. As you are a good cook, I have reserved the kitchen duty for you, and so is your man." Grandma always had a strange way of grouping people together. In this case, it was "the ladies" and "the gentlemen." I mean, those were such strange ways of calling your family members.
"Aight, madam. C'mon, Ted. It is an order from the general. Ouch! Hey, I am calling you general. Ouch! Okay, okay. We're going," I exclaimed as grandma landed me some light spanking on the butt when I called her "general." She sure sounded like one to me, but I did not tell her that. I would just get more spanking. wink
The time passed by so fast when you were busy. I thought that we had done with all the cooking yesterday, but as I discovered now, it was a MAMMOTH task to feed a GIGANTIC family. I might be exaggerating for a bit here, but there sure were a lot of people in my family. The food we had to prepare was no little amount, mind you.
The night sky was so beautiful tonight, with snow falling gently still. I did not realize that the ground was really piled with snow. I would have to shovel it tomorrow, I thought. Ted and I was sitting on the front porch. We were there in a comfortable silence, savoring the moment.
"Hey, Ted. What are you thinking about, sweetie?"
"Hmm, I am thinking that it is such a beautiful night and it is perfect with you here."
"Awww, that's so sweet. Yeah, I know what you mean. I always think that being with you is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love you, Ted."
"I love you too, Jeremy." He leaned in to kiss me a bit and we separated to enjoy the perfect night.
I stood up after a while and started singing. Ted got behind me and was embracing me tightly as I sang softly to him, to our love. It was such a perfect night. It would be Christmas soon.
After a while, we went back into the house and the bedroom to sleep. I was contented just to feel Ted's arms around me as we drifted off to sleep. I had the perfect dream that night. Ted and I were skating on the lake and this time round, I did not fall into the lake.
I awoke to the sound of the alarm and the sunlight pouring in. "I looked over to see my man was still fast asleep. He had such a peaceful expression that I did not have the heart to move his arms away from my body and so I lay down again to savor the moment. Too late though because he murmured: "Morning, sweetheart. How do you feel?"
"Morning, loverboy. I feel just fine and it was so good to have you hugging me to sleep. How about you?"
"I feel perfect, and you smell so nice, the smell of my man."
"Haha. That's the shampoo, wiseguy."
"Who cares? You smell nice and that's all I bother with."
"You better or else you'll see me fighting tooth and nail to get you back from whoever daring enough to steal my man."
"Hmm, sounds good. I am glad to hear that I mean so much to you. Just for the record, whoever has the cheek to touch you indecently has me to contend with. I will knock his teeth loose, all of them. Just watch out when I am jealous. I can be really violent."
"Ooohh, I love hearing that. That sounds so romantic and sexy. No worry though, for you, that is. You know well that I will never cheat on you. Can you promise the same thing though?" I pretended to sound worried, but I knew that he would never see someone else behind my back, or in front of me for that matter.
However, I got his attention all right 'cause he sat bolt upright and turned me around. With such a sincere gaze, he said: "I love you, Jeremy and I will never hurt you, ever. I promise you my heart, my body, everything of me."
"Aww, I know, babe. I'm just teasing you," I smiled at him, touched by his words.
"I want you to...no, no, I NEED you to know that I belong to you and you belong to me."
"Hmm, I don't recall that I belong to you," I grinned at him.
"What? Hmm, trying to be nasty, huh? Let me kiss you and see if you still don't belong to me." He kissed me tenderly and I held on to him, not wanting to let go but I had to. It was time to go down for breakfast and opened the gifts.
"Now, do you belong to me?" Ted asked me again, his eyes burning with the passion and love.
"Yeah...I belong to you, Ted." I blushed and Ted grinned, looking like an excited little boy who had just won something he wanted desperately. "Hey, Ted. Let's get down now. I bet everyone's waiting for us to have breakfast and then we will be opening the gifts."
"Awww, I don't want to. I want to make love to you."
"I know, Ted. As much as I want to, we can't. C'mon. Be a good boy and I will make sure you are happy later, okay?"
"Is that a promise?"
"Yep!" Then, we went down hand in hand.
Breakfast was a real affair. Everyone ate as if there was something burning up their asses. I guess we all could not wait to open the gifts. When breakfast was over, we had to help clear the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. When all was clean, everyone, including grandma (unbelievable, huh? Well, better believe it), rushed to the "crime scene" and frantically searched for gifts bearing their names.
"BIKINI????????????? Jeremy!!! You...oh, you, as usual!! Hahaha!" Grandma was shocked, but she laughed anyway. She knew that I was crazy, as always.
"Well, juts kidding, grandma. Looked what's wrapped in it." She opened up the bikini and discovered a an apron, with the words: I love you, Grandma Bess (Jeremy).
"Aww, you are always so cheeky, grandsonny. Sigh! Thank you much!"
As to the others, I could only say that practically the same thing happened. I would only describe mum's and dad's reactions. Mum was surprised with the barely-there negligee and chuckled loudly, with dad frowning upon it, as usual. Dad was more than surprised, I would say, with his gift: a pajama which was made of silk and had "A Piece of Sexy Ass" right at the back of the pajama-pants. He frowned a bit, but I could see that he found it just as funny. His eyes were twinkling when he said: "Hmm, I hope your mum will agree, J." Everyone laughed merrily at his remark. After that was over, everyone sat around to sing some Christmas carols and it was a joyous morning.
"Hey, Jeremy. Will you sing for us tonight? The church is asking you to, after you had outperformed the choir last year. Hehe," dad chuckled. "He sang "Silent Night" last year," dad explained to Ted and his parents.
"Really?!? You don't say," Ted mocked hurt and looked at me accusingly.
"It's nothing really. I just thought that, you know, what the heck?" I replied, then turning to dad, I said: "Sure thing, dad!"
"Hey, you know what? Maybe we can sing together, you think?" Ted asked me.
"Sure, c'mon. Let's practise now!" I pulled him up from the sofa and we walked towards the piano in the music room. I used to practise here as a child. It felt so good to play the piano again. Ever since Anthony passed away, I just could not bring myself to touch the piano. I was singing in church last year, gazing at Anthony's intense eyes each time I looked up. Then, he died a few months later.
The family was crowded in the room as they listened to our practice session. "Hey, guys. Please! We want this to be a surprise to you, not knowing what we will sound like. Now, out, out, c'mon. Thank you much."
"You better be good, boys. Don't disappoint this old granny." Evryone laughed at Grandma's description of herself. She rarely called herself old.
The song was practised in about one hour or so. There were a few mistakes. Either Ted forgot to sing his part or it was me. The closing verse was the worst by far. Ted kept forgetting that he had the bass part and I, the tenor. Sigh! It would not be good if this kept happening. We decided to continue later. Fortunately, we would be singing only one song. I could not quite imagine what it would be like if it were more than that. We walked back to the living room and everyone was looking at us, expecting us to say something.
"Well, not good. Ted and I had a hard time collaborating. Sometimes, Ted would forget his part and/or I would not sing at the right moment. Sigh! The last part was the worst. Ted kept making the mistake of singing my part, and when he did get the notes right, he would be so loud that I was influenced and sang his notes instead."
"Yeah...it was harder than I thought." Ted grinned at me and I stuck out my tongue at him, smiling a bit at his sheepishness.
"Well, you can practise after lunch. I am sure you guys will do just fine," Mrs. Johnson spoke after a while.
"Thanks, mum."
"Thanks, Mrs. Johnson," I said and smiled wider. Mrs. Johnson had that effect on anyone. She could calm you down.
Lunch was pretty much the same as the day before. It was noisy, with everyone speaking at the same time or butting in here and there. There was not a moment peace in this family each Christmas. All of us were too anxious to let others know that we existed, so we all had to speak the loudest we possibly could. Sigh! I mean, it sounded funny when you read it in words, not when you were experiencing the real thing.
"So, are you guys going to practise right after lunch?" Mr. Johnson asked once.
"Not, immediately, sir. We planned to take a breather first, strolling and stuff. Maybe we will feel better after that and can concentrate on our respective parts. Wanna go now, Ted?"
"Sure thing! C'mon," Ted answered me and we walked towards the front door, still thinking of what to do about those parts we were going to sing later. It was not very good right now and to sing badly in front of the whole congregation would be downright embarrassing.
We walked hand in hand for quarter of an hour before returning to the music room, feeling more refreshed and we were now ready to tackle the parts. I guess the stroll had done us more good than expected cause we had the parts right after another hour or so. I was so relieved, and so was Ted by the look he gave me. We sanf a few more times just to make sure that nothing would go wrong tonight or I didn't think I would be able to live it down; exaggerating, huh? But that was how I felt.
Finally, the moment arrived. We drove to church later that night around half past six. The church was packed with neighbors and some new faces I had never seen before. We had a nice chat and put the food we had brought with us on the table. We would have supper together when the prayer was over and Father Tom had finished with his sermon, which was long mind you.
"...so, now we had the pleasure of Ted and Jeremy to sing "Oh Holy Night" for us. C'mon, Ted, Jeremy," the sounds of clapping were loud enough to make sure that the dead would be awaken from their graves. Sigh, let's just hope that nothing would go wrong, I thought to myself. Ted was slightly nervous, apparently.
When silence resumed, we began to sing. Ted: Oh holy night
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth Jeremy: Long lay the world
In sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth T: A thrill of hope
The weary world rejoices J: For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn' T&J: Fall on your knees
Oh, hear! The angels' voices
Oh, night divine
Oh, night when Christ was born
Oh, night divine
Oh, night, oh, night divine J: A thrill of hope
The weary world rejoices T: For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn' T&J: Fall on your knees
Oh, hear! The angels' voices
Oh, night divine
Oh, night when Christ was born
Oh, night divine...... T: Oh, night... T&J: Oh, night divine......
Fortunately, the song was short and nothing had gone wrong so far. Whew! The clappings resumed with much enthusiasm. Ted and I took a bow or two and went back to our seats. It was thrilling and I was so glad to be able to sing that song with my man, though no one, except the family knew about Ted and I.
"I am so proud of you two. You had sung beautifully," grandma said as we sat down. We thanked grandma and Father Tom was thanking us amidst another round of applause before he led the prayer. Then, it was chow time. Hehe! Ted and I were growing boys and we were hungry. We did not exactly grow taller anymore, just that we were young and needed lots of food.
Supper was kind of embarrassing because everyone was praising us andI noticed some girls checking Ted out. Hmmph! Let them see all they wanted. Ted was mine. Now and forever!
We went home around half-past ten after helping to clear the paper plates and utensils. All in all, it was a beautiful Christmas.
Dear readers,
The chapter was done and I hope you like it. The next chapter will be a bit late because I will be returning to my hometown for a holiday, as I had said above. Please e-mail me: comments, saying "Hi," or something, whatever!
Sincerely, The Author