Christmas Carol

“Just reminding you of who you’re dealing with,” he replies, and I shake my head. He’s crazy.

“Like that’s something I could ever forget. I’ve been waiting twenty-seven years for you, Cyrus. I’m not about to forget now that I finally have you.”

I turn back around to look for Tyson, but Cyrus pulls me back around and he kisses me. It’s an intense kiss and I instantly melt against him. I’m not sure what just happened, but I know that whatever it was, I need to reassure Cyrus that I love him, so I do that as best as I can in our kiss.CarolChristmas Eve

“What are you doing, sweetheart?” I ask, coming up to stand beside Cyrus.

Instantly his arm goes around me, and he squeezes me into his body. I angle my head and tiptoe up to kiss him. He’s standing against a candy cane decorated light pole, looking down the street as everyone gathers around the town’s twelve-foot Christmas tree and begin singing. I had been there with them, but when I saw him standing alone I walked over to him.

“Just looking at everything, mi corazón.”

“We can go home, Cyrus,” I murmur, giving his body a squeeze and resting my head against his chest. I smile, because I know he’s been trying since we’ve been together, but he really hates Christmas.

“You love this, Carol,” he says smiling down at me.

“I do, but you don’t,” I respond simply. “Let’s go home.”

“Just like that,” he says, his voice so soft it’s almost drowned out by the music. He turns so that we’re facing, and he looks down at me. His hand curves against the side of my neck.

“Cyrus?” I question, my heart beating faster. I’ve never seen him in this mood before and it leaves me worrying.

“I hated the idea of being transferred to Montana, Carol. I thought my life was hitting rock bottom again. I’d fought so hard to get out of that state home, to build a flashy life full of expensive shit, so that anyone who saw me would never feel sorry for me again. I wanted them to look at me and see that I wasn’t the trash I was treated as when I was a child. That I wasn’t someone others could just throw away.”

“Cyrus,” I murmur, tears stinging my eyes. I hold onto him even harder, hating that this wonderful man ever felt like that in his life. I know some of those scars because of my mother, but I know any small thing I felt was cushioned by my father. For Cyrus there was no cushion, there was only stark reality.

“It’s okay, mi corazón, you don’t need to cry,” he says, his thumb sliding against the corner of my eye. “You don’t understand what you have done.”

“What did I do?” I ask, trying to calm my heart.

“You showed me that life is good, Carol. You showed me that there are people out there who genuinely care about everyone. That there are people who exist who don’t let anger and hate rule them—”

“You’re making me sound like a Saint, Cyrus and I’m anything but. I mean, I kind of hate your parents.”

“I didn’t have parents, mi corazón. I’m not sure what they were, but parents don’t choose to leave their child as a ward of the state while looking for their next high.”

He’s right about that, but my heart still squeezes in my chest at just the thought of someone doing Cyrus like that.

“Cyrus…”

“You would never do that to our child, Carol,” he adds, and I tremble with his words. The mere thought of carrying Cyrus’s child fills me with a happiness that I can’t describe.

“Never,” I vow, my heart in my words.

“I came to Mistletoe, mad at the world, Carol. I was mad because my dream of playing baseball and being a star was crashing around me. I thought I was losing everything, including my dream of proving to others that I was worthy of respect.”

“Your shoulder is healing though. The team’s doctor told you that. You will be able to play for any team you want. I heard what you and your agent were talking about. You don’t have to live in Mistletoe and play here, Cyrus,” I confess, knowing that now is not the time to hold back. I was going to wait until he told me, but it doesn’t matter.

“But would you go with me, Carol? Would you travel with me as I played?”

Relief flows through me like waves. I had hoped, maybe even dreamed since I heard his phone conversation, but I was bracing myself for losing him. I knew it would kill me, but I wanted him to be happy.

“I would follow you anywhere, Cyrus.”

“You would give up your business? Your career? You would move away from your sister?”

“My sister has found someone she loves probably almost as much as I love you Cyrus. She has her life. We’ll always be close, but we don’t need to live close to each other to keep that relationship. As for my career… I can find a way to live my dream, while you live yours.”