Page 22 of Forever Yours on Christmas Eve
Which gave Sev a fantastic idea.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, making his way back up the aisle. Kelsey hardly noticed him leaving the way she was so intently looking at the calligraphy pens, and he used that to his advantage. Returning to the section that held the notebooks, he grabbed two black canvas sketchbooks, and hurriedly made his way to the checkout counter. He figured he only had a moment or two before she’d wander around and catch him, which he bet on.
“What did you just buy?” he heard her ask as he was putting his credit card back into his wallet.
“Your Christmas gift,” he beamed, holding up a blank, boring sketchbook.
Predictably, her eyebrows adorably knit together.
He tilted his head toward the back. “C’mon, we’ve got decorating to do.”
“Are you serious?" she said, the laughter bursting out of her, letting him know that yes, this was a fantastic idea. Taking her by the hand and keeping the books in the other, he led her down the row to an empty spot near the back. Pulling out her chair for her and setting her book in front of her, he quickly gathered supplies from other empty spaces, not knowing what she might like.
“So, I’m not sure how to do this,” he said, having a look at these next-level sticker sheets he had in front of him. They certainly weren’t the variety you’d get at the doctor’s office for being brave after you got a shot. These were realistic-looking flowers and forest creatures, hand-drawn fantasy figures, and even antique-looking circus stickers with hot air balloons and ringmasters in top hats.
“Oh! Fairies!” Kelsey said, letting out a squeak and clapping her hands quickly before grabbing the sheet. “I used to have a book about fairies as a child. I made my dad read it every night.”
“Well, show me how it’s done,” he said, still lost with all the choices he had. Again, creativity was not his strong suit, but he was willing to put it all out there for her.
“You do what youfeel,” she instructed, delicately peeling off a sticker of a girl with pointed ears and a long flowing white dress, holding what appeared to be a scepter. “You want your art to tell a story, and oftentimes that story is an emotion,” she said, placing the girl in the bottom corner, building around her forest flowers, a tree, and a house with a tiny white picket fence.
“Okay,” he said, trying first to hone in on what he was feeling.
His first thought wasfullfrom their meal.
Maybe energized, too, after having a walk in the chilly air down the street.
The inside of the shop was kindawarm?
Though being there with Kelsey had been one of the happiest moments he’d had since he’d been back home.
So? He decided to focus on that.
Reaching for a sticker sheet, he lifted one off and placed it down determinedly on his sketchbook. Kelsey looked over at it, her movements pausing.
“Is that a… book?” she said of the cartoon sticker.
“Yup,” he said affirmatively.
“You… put a sticker of a book on your book?” she said with a thread of laughter.
“Exactly,” he said, grinning from ear to ear and bobbing his eyebrows, causing her to erupt in laughter at his pun.
Worth it.
When they were finished, he didn’t miss how she clutched the book to her front, hugging it as if it were the most valuable treasure as they walked down the street. He puffed out his chest just a little.
He did that. He put that smile on her face.
“STEWIE!!!!!” a young woman roared above all others in the crowd, causing Sev to smile. He’d know that voice anywhere.
Looking over the heads of those in front of him, he could see his brothers above the crowd, and Emma with her hands cupped around her mouth to make sure he heard her.
He lifted his head in acknowledgement, and within seconds the trio was making their way toward them.
“Hey, guys,” he said, wrapping his arm around Kelsey’s waist. “This is Kelsey. These are my brothers, Nick and Andy, and my little sister Emma.”
“Hi,” Kelsey said, giving his siblings a sweet wave.
