Christmas Delights 3 (47 page)

Unwanted tendrils of hope and longing brushed Noel’s heart.
A long time passed before he gathered enough courage to speak. “What are you
doing tomorrow?”

Sebastian’s brow knitted for a fraction of a second then
smoothed. “I don’t have any plans.”

“Would you like to be my date for my parents’ Christmas
soirée?”

Sebastian’s eyes widened in surprise and he sat a little
straighter on the couch. “Your parents know?”

Noel nodded. “And my mother hasn’t changed. It’s sure to be
a day spent in hell.”

Sebastian suddenly grinned. “I was always able to make your
mom laugh. Let’s hope I haven’t lost my touch.”

Noel smiled in spite of himself. “If she thinks you’re
dating me she may try to kill you.”

Sebastian blushed. He looked almost radiant and it reminded
Noel of the Sebastian he knew in their youth.

“Bring her on. I can handle anything as long as I have you,”
Sebastian said confidently.

Noel turned serious again. “Sebastian?” Sebastian looked at
him expectantly. “I won’t survive if you break my heart again.” The pained admission
had Noel choking up, and he turned away with an audible swallow.

Sebastian rose from the couch and went to him. He leaned
down and kissed Noel. Soft, tender, the sweetest chaste kiss Noel had ever
known. Sebastian’s fingertips stroked his cheek tenderly and the old, familiar
heat rose between them once again. Noel’s anger quickly dissipated on the air,
no longer important. He’d give anything to make love to Sebastian again. But
could he? The thought both thrilled and terrified him. Could he allow himself
to be vulnerable again? “I’m afraid.”

“Me too.”

Noel looked up at him. “I-I don’t know—”

“I’ll sing Christmas songs and hold you just like I used
to.” Sebastian launched into “The First Noel.”

An unbidden smile filled Noel’s lips. Sebastian had always
been able to make him smile, make him feel as if nothing mattered but him.
“Please, don’t sing.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t sing well.”

“I don’t?” Sebastian teased.

“You know you don’t.”

“Yes, I do. And you love the sound of my voice.”

That he did. He nodded slowly, surprised at how easily
they’d fallen into their usual banter; as if no time had passed, no tragedy had
occurred, as if his heart had never been torn in two.

Sebastian leaned down and kissed him softly again and looked
into his eyes. “I love you, Noel. Give me a chance to show you how much.”

“I-I don’t know if I can... if I could let you go after....
I don’t know if I can stand you leaving....”

“I’m yours for as long as you’ll have me. I’m not going
anywhere this time.”

The walls around Noel’s heart slid away and his love for
Sebastian imbued every fiber of his being. He took Sebastian’s larger hand in
his and it was as warm and soft as he remembered. Sebastian’s touch seemed to
silently promise Noel that he’d never leave again.

~*~

They stared at each other for a long moment on the front
steps of the Sauvageau building. Noel broke the gaze and leaned a shoulder
against the bronze plaque proudly displaying his name on the building he’d
purchased for his parents.

“How do you want to handle this?” he asked Sebastian softly.

“Handle what?”

Noel rolled his eyes, as he was prone to do in high school.
Sebastian was always so damn cocksure. “You know what I mean.”

Sebastian leaned in and kissed Noel softly, chastely, sending
a shiver down Noel’s spine. They’d had a glorious night of making love and it
had gone a long way in assuaging the jagged wounds in Noel’s heart.

“Don’t worry. I have it under control,” Sebastian assured.

“You do not.”

“I don’t?”

“I’m serious, Sebastian. My mother is a viper. She’s far
worse than she was when we were in high school,” Noel cautioned.

Sebastian nodded but looked no less confident. “I’ll tell
her the truth.”

Noel felt feint. He couldn’t withstand his mother in
Chernobyl mode in public. “And that would be?”

“I’m in the process of earning your trust again, and as soon
as you trust me, you’re going to marry me.”

Noel’s head reeled and the sidewalk seemed to churn beneath
his feet. Half of him wanted to thank the heavens for a dream come true, all
while the other half, the practical, reasonable half, shouted a rude ‘one night
of great sex does not a marriage make.’

“Hey, hey, hey.”

Sebastian’s deep, resonant voice was gentle and distant,
muted, as if Noel heard it through a wall of water. Then Sebastian’s strong
arms were around him, holding him close, and guiding him to a nearby valet
bench. He sat slowly, afraid he might simply pass out right there on the
sidewalk. Sebastian sat next to him, held him, and whispered sweet nothings into
his ear. Slowly, he came to his senses.

“One night together isn’t enough, Sebastian.”

“I agree. We’re going to take it slow. You’re in control.
You’ll let me know when you trust me again. Then I’ll propose.”

Noel looked into Sebastian’s ice-blue, determined eyes. He
needn’t bother questioning him further. Sebastian always said what he meant and
meant what he said.

“My mother is a praying mantis.”

“How so?”

“She’s going to bite your head off.”

“Which one?”

Noel couldn’t help it. He laughed and it sounded strange to
him. He couldn’t remember the last time he laughed aloud.

“Stop,” he said shyly and so unlike him. In one night,
Sebastian had transformed him back into the shy teenager he once was.

Sebastian chuckled softly. “She isn’t capable of change,
Noel. Stop thinking she is and you’ll be far less disappointed.”

Noel nodded and sighed. “How do you want to handle this?” he
asked again.

Sebastian shrugged. “Honesty is always the best policy. If
she hates us, she hates us. It’s her loss.”

Noel studied him now. Sebastian had always been so absolute.
No grey areas. Things simply
were
and he accepted them. 

“Okay.”

Now Sebastian smiled, sudden and bright. “I love you, Noel.
I always have. It’ll be okay.”

“Okay,” Noel said noncommittally as he stood. He still felt
lightheaded but he was determined to make a go of it with Sebastian at his
side. When the warmth of Sebastian’s hand filled his, he immediately calmed and
they stepped through the double-doors of the building hand in hand.

“You’re late,” Noel’s mother chastised as he stepped into
the foyer.

Noel could only nod in resignation. “You remember Sebastian
Croft from high school, Maman.”

“Hey, Mrs. Sauvageau,” Sebastian greeted warmly as he took
her hand and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

She stepped back abruptly and peered at Sebastian, a cobra
ready to strike. Then recognition set in. “Sebastian! It’s wonderful to see you
again! You are the last person I expected to see with Jean-Noël! Whatever are
you doing here? Are you certain you’ve come to the right place?”

Noel pinched the bridge of his nose briefly in frustration
and embarrassment. His mother had an uncanny ability to portend politeness all
while being rude in the extreme.

“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Sauvageau. It’s wonderful to see you
again,” Sebastian said smoothly.

“Yes, yes, of course it is. Please come in.” She led them to
the bar through the throng of milling, overdressed, and
well-seasoned-to-way-past-reasonable-lifespan guests steeped in alcohol. “Noel,
see your father immediately. He awaits you in the library,” she ordered as she
handed them each a glass of champagne.

Sebastian set his glass gently back on the bar. “Thank you,
Mrs. Sauvageau.”

She glanced at the champagne flute then at him, clearly
having taken his refusal of the drink as a personal affront.

“Yes, you’re welcome, of course. Go see your father, Noel.
I’ll see to Sebastian.”

Noel stiffened and Sebastian squeezed his hand warmly before
holding their entwined hands up before Mrs. Sauvageau.

“Where Noel goes, I go,” Sebastian said with a proud smile.

Noel thought he might faint again.

Mrs. Sauvageau’s face curdled and she glared at Noel. “If
you’re doing this to spite me, you’ve failed, Jean-Noël. Go see your father.”

“C’mon, Noel. Let’s go see your dad,” Sebastian tugged Noel
in the direction of the library.

Noel went willingly. Anything to get away from his mother.
“What are you doing?” he whispered to Sebastian.

“Just what your mother asked.”

Noel shook his head to himself as they made their way
through the fermented crowd. “She is going to murder us.”

“Then we’ll die together.”

“I’m serious, Seby.”

Sebastian stopped mid-stride and turned to him and Noel
couldn’t discern the look on his face. “What?”

“I’ve waited twelve years to hear you call me that again.”
Without warning, Sebastian all but swallowed Noel in a hug and spun them
around. People gasped, and gawked, and made rude noises.

“Put me down!” Noel’s whisper was harsh.

“Okay.” Sebastian promptly dropped Noel on his feet and
tugged him by the hand toward the library.

Noel nodded to people with a feigned smile and tried not to
die a slow death inside. His mother was sure to be emulating Mount Kilauea and
he dared not look back at her.

“Ready?” Sebastian asked?

Noel nodded and knocked softly before opening the door to
the library. “Joyeux Noël, Papa.”

“Ah, there you are, my boy.” He paused at the sight of
Sebastian and a long moment passed. “At long last. It’s wonderful to see you
again, Sebastian.”

“Mr. Sauvageau, it’s good to see you again too, sir.” They
shook hands briefly.

Noel kissed each of his father’s cheeks. “How are you,
Papa?”

He gestured to the oxblood leather chairs in front of his
desk. “Very well, now that you two seem to have made your way back to each
other.”

Noel glanced at Sebastian nervously before they claimed the
two chairs.

Ever unafraid, Sebastian ventured before Noel could ask what
his father meant.

“Sir?”

Laughter shined in Mr. Sauvageau’s eyes. “I suppose, now
that the laws have changed, you’ll marry?”

Noel couldn’t prevent an unbecoming gape. “Dad?”

Laughter continued to shine in Mr. Sauvageau’s eyes and he
chuckled softly. “You can’t think I didn’t know.”

“Ah, yeah, I can and I did.”

Mr. Sauvageau chuckled softly again. “What are your plans?”

Sebastian wasted no time in relaying exactly what he’d said
on the sidewalk outside the building.

Noel sat there, speechless, numb. His father
knew
. 

“Wonderful!” Mr. Sauvageau said enthusiastically.

His father hadn’t been exuberant since the day he reported
their state baseball championship back in high school.

“What about, Maman?” Noel asked numbly.

Mr. Sauvageau splayed his hands on the ink blotter on the
desk. “Your mother has no choice but to accept your decisions, Noel. She isn’t
the awful person you believe she is and she is deeply concerned about you.
Truthfully, she has every right to be. We both do.”

Noel met his dad’s even gaze. He had no one to blame but himself
for his parents’ concern and, given that his dad had intuited his relationship
with Sebastian, he’d also likely intuited that Noel had thought about suicide
many times over the past twelve years.

“She’s human, Noel.”

“She’s horrid,” Noel said softly.

Mr. Sauvageau’s expression became pinched. “She’s insecure
and worries about her only child.”

“She’s a bitch, Mr. Sauvageau,” Sebastian said politely but
firmly.

Noel thought he would swallow his tongue.

“She’s been Noel’s worst nightmare since the day I met him.
The woman never lets up,” Sebastian continued.

Noel’s world tipped into the surreal and he was sure he was
having an out of body experience. Only Sebastian squeezing his hand kept him
based in something vaguely resembling reality.

“Well, then, why don’t we put an end to it? Shall we?” Mr.
Sauvageau said evenly as he stood.

“How?” Noel heard himself ask.

“Come with me.” Mr. Sauvageau opened the library door and
ushered them down the expansive hallway and back through the celebratory crowd.
He encircled Mrs. Sauvageau’s waist with and arm and guided her to the
bandstand. The music came to an end as he stepped behind the microphone.

“What is he doing?” Noel whispered.

“My guess? Giving your mother
cause celebre
.”

“Dear, God, no,” he said under his breath.

Sebastian put an arm around Noel’s shoulders. “It’s a great
offensive move.”

Mr. Sauvageau’s voice captured the crowd’s attention and
Noel listened as he extolled Noel’s virtues and ended with, “And, with great
pride, it is my pleasure to announce my son’s engagement to Mr. Sebastian
Croft!”

The crowd went up in cheers and every socialite in the room
swarmed Mrs. Sauvageau with congratulations and suggestions for the wedding. A
photographer for
Elle Magazine
snapped several pictures and asked for an
exclusive spread on the wedding.
New Yorker Magazine
wanted to know how
soon they could interview her. She fell into the trappings of celebrity
instantly and graciously.

“That will keep her busy for the next twelve months,
twenty-four if you’re lucky,” Mr. Sauvageau said as he rejoined them.

Still numb, Noel watched as his mother came to life, for
once in a manner other than toxic or volcanic.

“Congratulations,” Mr. Sauvageau said warmly as he shook
Sebastian’s hand then turned to Noel. “Congratulations, my boy,” he said right
before he hugged Noel.

~*~

Arm in arm, they walked back to Noel’s apartment in the wee
hours of the morning. Despite the hour, holiday revelers filled the sidewalk
and they periodically moved aside in tandem, unwilling to part for passersby.