Page 66 of Where the River Meets the Skye

River blushed and grinned. “Shut up.”

River watched as Skye decorated the tree with the ornaments next and raised his eyebrow when he saw Skye pull one out that didn’t match the others.

“What’s that?” he asked. It was flat and oval shaped, and River could only see the back of it.

“This, I was kind of hoping you could hang with me,” Skye said, and he knelt next to River and showed it to him. On the front of the ornament were two chibi figures that looked like them, dressed in tuxedos and holding hands. “River” was wearing a green and red scarf and “Skye” had reindeer antlers on his head. Underneath them it said “Our first Christmas together.”

River smiled and laughed a little. “That’s pretty adorable,” he said.

“I thought so,” Skye said, grinning. “You feel well enough to stand long enough to help me find a prime spot for it?”

“I think so.” River set his drink aside and climbed out from under his blanket. He stood slowly, and when he did he had to brace himself on Skye for a moment.

“You okay?” Skye asked.

River nodded.

They made their way over to the tree and hung the ornament up together, front and center, and then Skye took River’s face in his hands and kissed him tenderly. He wished it could have been longer but he knew that the longer River was on his feet the worse he felt, so he let his husband go and helped him back to the couch.

Skye’s phone started buzzing before he made it back to the tree and when he took it out of his pocket he saw that it was Grace.

“Hey, Mom,” he answered.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Grace said. “How are you guys?”

“We’re okay,” Skye said. “Hanging in there.” He honestly didn’t know how to answer that question anymore. ‘Okay’ seemed like the best response. They certainly weren’t good. They were far from good, but they were doing their best. Most days, though, it felt like they were barely keeping their heads above water. Skye tried, really tried to find the good in their situation, and he knew River did too, but it was hard sometimes. Really hard. Sometimes it felt like they were drowning and then being handed a baby. He missed the life they used to have before River was so sick. He missed the life he thought they would have together, and trying to stay hopeful and be optimistic took every ounce of strength and energy he had. It was hard to find moments where they could smile and laugh in the midst of all the hurt and confusion and anger over not understanding what was going on with his husband and why he felt the way he did or how to help him. Overwhelmed didn’t even begin to describe it.

“Well, I was calling about Christmas,” Grace said. “I know River hasn’t been feeling well, and he’s not really up for traveling, so I was wondering what you thought about Jaden and Chloe and I coming to you guys this year?”

Skye’s breath caught in his throat and he had tears filling his eyes. “Really?” he asked.

“Unless you’d rather have Christmas to yourselves this year,” Grace said.

“No, no, we want to see you guys, we just didn’t think it would work,” Skye said. “I mean, we don’t have space for guests to stay overnight since we moved, Mom.”

“I know. I called Jenna and she said we were welcome to use her and Nick’s place since they would be out of town.”

“Oh, wow, that’s great,” Skye said, and he was crying now. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”

“You’ve got a lot on your mind, Skye,” Grace said. “You and River have had a rough year. How’s the new place?”

“It’s not bad,” Skye said. “It’s an adjustment, but it could be worse. I’m just… I’m really glad you guys are coming, Mom. River and I were both getting pretty depressed about the idea of spending Christmas alone, actually. And I know he felt pretty guilty about me missing Christmas with my family.”

“Well, he does know that he’s your family, right?” Grace said.

Skye smiled and laughed a little. “Yeah, I told him that too.”

“Well, we’ll be there whenever you want us. And please let River know that we don’t expect him to be up serving us or anything. He doesn’t even have to get out of his pajamas. We just want to be with you guys, whatever that looks like this year. Even if we’re just inside watching movies and eating cookies all day. We don’t need any special plans. We just want to be together. Okay?”

Skye smiled. “That sounds pretty great to me.”

“Good,” Grace said. “I’ll try not to burn the pie this year.”

“I’ll eat it anyway.”

“I know.”

“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

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