Page 70 of Season of Gifts

The wedding photos.

He pulled up the gallery from Avery’s link and jabbed his thumb at a random rectangle.Reception.He swiped through.There was him dancing with Emma, and Alice dancing with Master Will, and—perfect.

Henry danced with his mom, their arms and posture all formal but their faces bright, Henry smiling and his mom laughing.She didn’t look old or sick; she looked like a woman happy to be at her son’s wedding.

A quick share, watermarked low-res blah-blah, fine, whatever, just—okay.Okay, good.Photo attached, ready to go to Henry and Alice.No ask.An offer, that’s all.Happy month of married life!Scrolling through the wedding photos.This one goes in the album for sure.

He hit Send and laid the phone on the table.Hovering over it wouldn’t make replies come any faster.He shoveled food in.Henry would’ve done more with seasonings, but for a ready-to-eat dish, it wasn’t bad.

The Christmas tree wasn’t lit.Dark and shadowy, the whole front of the house.Jay jogged over and hit the lights.He’d already refilled the water tank today, but he checked with his finger again anyway.Not quite full—the tree was still drinking.“Good job, fir.That’s a fine needle coat you’ve got.”

And fancy ornaments.They’d had so much fun putting them on the tree.Getting Alice on the little ladder, with her ass practically—

His phone chimed with a new message.

He almost vaulted the coffee table getting back to his seat.Knocked his shin on the corner and kept going.

Happy belated anniversary, my loves.Our celebration has been delayed but not lost.If nothing else, the waiting shall teach all of us patience and endurance.Jay, the photograph is a tremendous find, and I will be certain to share it with Mother.Your thoughtfulness overwhelms me.

His thoughtfulness.Not his burden-ness or his interruption-ness.Not his radio silence.Danny said he’d probably always have to be on guard for that impulse, getting trapped in the idea that he couldn’t change circumstances, that he had to accept without questioning.He was supposed to be checking in with himself, asking himself what he wanted.That was Henry’s point with the wish book, so basic that he’d forgotten how to operate without it.He didn’t think of the wish book as going to Henry with a need.He completed assignments.He waited for Henry to bring up stuff he wanted more details about.But that’s what it was—him communicating first.

The dots wiggled; a new message popped in.

A month!How did I lose track?Wrapping up dinner here—anyone up for a call in fifteen minutes or so?Jay, can you send the link to the gallery, too?We could look at the photos together while we catch up, if everyone has time.

He hesitated, his all-capsYESreply ready to send.He wasn’t the one with other obligations, and maybe a single text was all Henry had time for, and—

That would be wonderful.I’ll check on Mother in the meantime and await your call.

Jay added another fiveSes to hisYESand sent his reply, then followed up with the gallery link and login.Vibrating with fresh energy, he ate the rest of dinner like a waiter was standing by the table trying to snatch the bowl away.

Fifteen minutes later on the dot, Alice replied.Back at the hotel.Audio call incoming.

Audio, right, because they’d be looking at the photos, not each other’s faces.Well, their faces, but the faces of a month ago, the happy starting-their-life-together faces.

The phone prompted him to accept, so he did.“Alice?”

“Hey, sweetheart.I’ll add Henry in a second, but I wanted to scoop you up first.Thank you for starting a chat.I miss your voices, especially at night.And I have news to share!”

“News?Good news?”Her bubbly-happy excitement got his feet tapping and heat pooling in places he wouldn’t bring up first, even if it was up first, because tonight probably wasn’t gonna be a repeat of this morning.

“Yup, let me add Henry, one sec.”

He didn’t hum hold music, but only because his brain was busy shooting off fireworks.He’d aced this homework assignment, and his reward was more than he’d let himself hope for.Henry and Alice were both happy about him taking the initiative.

Alice clicked her tongue.“Henry, are you there?”

“I am indeed, and delighted to be so.”Smooth calm washed through the connection, Henry’s steady hand at the wheel.“I’ve been missing the two of you dreadfully.”

“Not for much longer.”

Even without video, the gleam in Alice’s eyes came through loud and clear.Didn’t hurt that Jay had pulled up a photo of her coming down the aisle beside him, both of their gazes fixed straight ahead at the man they loved.

“Do tell, sweet girl.”

“I solved it!Probably.We have to do a test run tomorrow—oh, Jay, check out photo fifty-seven, it’s a fantastic one of Nat—and then there are, umm, meetings with bigwigs, but unless something goes horribly wrong, I’ll be home Friday.”Her sigh dropped Jay’s shoulders, too, all the tension running out through his toes and disappearing into the floor.“And Saturday we’ll all be back together.”

On his way to fifty-seven, he paused and pinched in tight on seventy-eight.Henry and Alice stood on either side of him, intense concentration in their eyes surrounded by their soft, smiling faces as they buckled his harness.At the center, he glowed with pure bliss, a thousand times brighter than the sun.About how he felt right now.

---