Never Tied Down (The Never Duet #2)(71)
“Where did you get these photos?” Kalli asked, without looking up from the album.
“Well, I hope I didn’t overstep any boundaries, but right after your brother passed I asked Riot where I could send a card or condolences. We’d never met you, but Riot had told us about you and he was so upset… anyway, he didn’t know your address but gave me Nancy’s phone number. Nancy and I spoke a few days after the funeral and she gave me the address and that was that. Then, last month, after we met you, I got the idea and thought maybe she could help. Two days later I had a large envelope full of pictures to make your gift.”
“You spoke with Nancy?” Kalli’s voice was soft again, and this time she looked at my mother with her question.
Ma nodded.
Kalli’s eyes went back to her lap where the album lay. “I don’t have any pictures of him with me. I packed them all away because it was too hard to look at them.” I placed my hands on Kalli’s shoulders, squeezing gently with just enough pressure so she knew I was there for her. “But this is wonderful,” she finally said, letting out a large breath with her words. “It’s beautiful and I can’t believe you went to all this trouble.”
Both Kalli and my mom were crying. Kalli stood and started toward Ma, who also stood, and they embraced in the middle of the room, Kalli burrowing her head into Ma’s shoulder while Ma rubbed her hands soothingly up and down her back. I saw my sister wipe a tear away, along with Rachel, and even Pops had to clear his throat.
“I love it,” I heard Kalli say quietly to my mother.
“Well, we love you.”
Even I had to bite my lip at that point to keep my emotions in check.
Finally, Kalli pulled away and Ma went back to her seat.
“Here,” Kalli said, pulling a card out from under my chair. “Open this so we all stop crying.”
Laughter rang out around the room, and Kalli sat at my feet, her pretty blue eyes still wet, but happy.
“What’s this?” I asked, running my finger under the sealed edge of the envelope.
“It’s your Christmas gift,” she said, rolling her eyes.
I pulled out a bundle of papers, my eyes flitting between the papers in my hand and Kalli bouncing excitedly on her knees. I leafed through them, my eyes catching words here and there. Then suddenly, it dawned on me.
“Did you give me a trip to Bora Bora?”
“Yes!” she squealed, clapping and bouncing on her pillow. “Are you excited? Please tell me you’re excited. The dates aren’t set because I wasn’t sure about your hiatus, but I was thinking about March because it’s really nice there in March, but we can go whenever, if you even want to go. I’ve always wanted to go and it looks so romantic and tropical and I just thought we would have a really great time—”
“This is incredible, Kal,” I interrupted her nervous rant. She would have gone on forever if I had let her. “This looks amazing,” I said, flipping through the resort brochures and airline information. “It’s too much, babe.”
Her hands came to my knees as she lifted up from her pillow, her face now almost even with mine.
“It’s not too much, it’ll never be too much. You’ve given me something I’ll never be able to repay you for, so you’ll let me take you to Bora Bora.” Then she leaned in, wrapping her arms around my neck, taking me in for a hug, but her mouth came to my ear. She whispered quietly so no one else could hear her, “I’ll let you pick out all my swimwear.”
It’s uncomfortable having an erection around the Christmas tree surrounded by your family.
Luckily, Rachel saved the day and said something about shopping for bathing suits and all returned to normal.
Kalli and Kevin exchanged presents and even though they weren’t gifts filled with meaning and history, it was a beginning for them, and they both understood that. Kalli seemed to really love the scarf her father gave her, and Kevin was thrilled to have tickets to a Chargers game.
The day had turned out to be nearly perfect. Nearly. But I wasn’t done with my gift giving.
Chapter Twenty
Nowhere Else
Kalli
I’d had reasonable Christmas expectations. I’d expected to be happy, to be sad, to miss Marcus on my first Christmas without him, to feel loved spending the day with Riot. But I could have never imagined how wonderful the day actually turned out. Having Kevin, Rachel, and Sharon there was special. I wanted a relationship with them and spending a holiday together seemed like a great way to lay that foundation down. Not to mention how touched I’d been that they’d probably abandoned their own traditions to spend the day with a bunch of strangers. That had meant a lot to me.
It was a little more touching to think of Riot setting the whole thing up for me. He had such a huge heart and I’d never be able to repay him for opening it to me and allowing me in, but I could spend forever trying.
There was nothing I could say about the photo album Mara had made me. It was beyond words. It had been a long time since I’d spent Christmas with my mother, but being with Riot’s was special, and she made me feel so incredibly loved.
After we’d cleaned up the mess from presents and finished nibbling on all the delicious food Mara had prepared, Riot and I retreated to his bedroom to finish getting ready for the day. There were some more of Riot’s family members coming over for dinner, and he’d wanted a break.