Our First Christmas (Penalty Kill 1.50)

“May I ask you something?”

I turn around in his arms. “Of course.”

“Tomorrow, when I head home for break, will you come with me?”

“What? You want me to come home with you for the whole break?”

“Yes, I want you to stay with me and spend Christmas with Dad and me. I know that we just got back together, but I don’t think I can handle being away from you.” He rests his forehead on mine.

“Levi, I’ve never been away from my family during the holidays.”

He nods and pulls back to looks at me. “I know and I understand if you say no, but I want you there. I know Dad would love it too.”

I love Levi and Victor, and I would love to spend the holidays with them. On the other hand, my dad and mom will flip out if I tell them I won’t be home. Plus, I’ve never spent the holidays away from them. But I know that I’m going to have to some day. Like when I have a family of my own or when I go away to law school. They need to get used to the idea. I feel more welcomed at Victor’s anyway, and I want to be w

ith Levi.

“Yes.”

“Yes?” Levi looks a little shocked.

“Yes, but I need to pack and you have to carry all my bags.” I grin at him.

“Deal, Smarty.” He leans in and kisses me.

Chapter Two

Levi

Presley decided to hold off on telling her parents until today. Last night was about us. We ate the pizza and watched a movie. It was quite perfect too. We fell asleep in each others arms in the living room. Honestly, I can’t ask for much more than that. I’m just glad to have her back. Even happier now that she’s spending Christmas with me and Pops. We’ve just left to pick up Pops from the hospital and Presley is calling her parents. She glances at me nervously, the phone pressed to her ear.

“Mother, hello,” she says. “Yes, I’m fine,” she answers after a pause. “Well, that’s what I was calling about. I’m not coming home this year.” Her eyes squeeze close and I can faintly hear her mother talking rapidly. “Yes, Mother. I know, but-” I reach over to take her hand, but she doesn’t really acknowledge me. “I’ll be with Levi and-” Mrs. McCarthy cuts her off again and even though I can’t really hear what she’s saying, I know she’s pissed.

“If it’s going to be too much trouble, I can take you home,” I whisper, but Presley glares at me. With my eyes back on the road, I see her square her shoulders from the corner of my eye.

“Mother, it’s not like we’re going to spend every single Christmas together for the rest of my life. It’s only the first time and I really want to spend it with his family.” My family? It’s only me and Pops. “Look, I’m sorry, but we’ve already left. Everyone will be fine without me anyway. Bye,” she adds quickly before her mother can say anything else. Presley groans and leans into the seat.

“Everything okay?” What a stupid question. People only ask when they know that it’s not. Almost as if we’re giving the other person an opportunity to lie and say that it is okay, when it obviously isn’t. If it was, we wouldn’t ask in the first place.

“Nothing’s changed, Levi.” Her voice softens as she adds, “Nothing’s ever going to change.”

I don’t say anything. Instead, I leave her alone with her thoughts. One thing I wish I could do for her is make things better between her and her parents. Maybe one day I’ll be able to do that.

Soon, we arrive at the hospital. I hold her hand as we walk down the halls, leading to his room. Pops is sitting in a wheelchair, waiting to be wheeled out. He lifts his head when we walk in, a grin quickly overpowering his face.

“There’s my beautiful girl.” Pops holds out his arms, and Presley rushes over to him for a hug.

“Hey to you too, Pops.”

He chuckles, but then gains a serious face. “You’re late, son. They were about to roll me outside to wait in the cold.”

I walk behind him, grabbing the handles so I can push him. “They were not. And we were late because of Presley.”

“We were not!” Presley slaps my arm.

Pops laughs. “Well, I’m all ready if you are. Like I said, I was waiting on ya.”

A nurse comes in just then and walks out with us. Pops acts irritated when I help him into my car, but I ignore him. He sits up front with me, and soon we’re on the road to his house.