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Christmas in West Virginia was never dull. Even in the quieter moments like this, there was always someone doing something. Ty loved and he knew his boyfriend did too.
With all the presents open, the Gradys settled in the living room to spend time with one another before the holiday was over. Livi and Deuce excused themselves to put Amelia to bed, and once they took the over-sugared toddler upstairs, a hush fell over the house that had been bustling with activity all day.
Ty loved his niece but she had more energy than all of them put together and he enjoyed this silent moment with his lover, parents, and grandfather. Zane leaned against him and Ty had his arm wrapped over Zane’s shoulder, his hand resting on his lover’s heart. Being out to his family was the second best feeling in the world, second only to being in love with and loved by Zane Garrett. While he knew how deep the fear was that kept him from telling them for so long, he regretted it now, thinking of all the lost time where his family could have known him, utterly and completely. He planned on making up for all the lost time, particularly now that he had Zane to share it with.
With Ty and Zane on the couch, his parents were in the love seat on the other side of the room, hand in hand as they chatted with Chester. Ty smiled looking at them. They’d been together for so long, raised two boys, saw one of them go off to war more times than they could count while the other almost died in an accident. They’d been through so much and yet, they were still as in love as Ty could remember from his childhood. They were an inspiration to him. While Mara was talking excitedly about something, hands moving as she accentuated her point, Earl placed a small box on her knee and she stopped mid-word to look down at it.
“What is this, Earl? I thought we were done with presents.” Mara picked it up and turned the small box over in her hands. Zane sat up, shifting so his chest was against Ty’s shoulder instead of his back. They both wanted to watch Mara open this one last gift none of them knew about.
Earl smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “It’s just a little bauble. Nothin’ to write home about.”
Opening the box, Mara covered her mouth with one hand as she stared at the ‘bauble’ inside. “Earl Grady, you shouldn’t have. But I’m sure glad you did.” She pulled out the necklace, holding it up for them all to see. Small and understated, Ty couldn’t make out exactly what it was from the distance but he could see it sparkle, even in the low light of the room.
“Good job, boy. Gotta get ‘em a shiny thing now and then,” Chester mumbled, not slowing his rocking for anything. “You two, take notes.” He pointed at Zane and Ty who both chuckled under their breath.
Ty smiled, glancing at Zane who looked equally amused. Zane’s fingers went to Ty’s chest, tracing over the compass rose they both knew he wore under his shirt. Ty rarely took it off, only when absolutely necessary, feeling naked without it. He could still remember the awe he felt when he opened that box from Zane, curled together in a fancy hotel room in Chicago of all places. One of his fondest memories, though, with Zane, he had so many. “Don’t worry, Grandpa. He takes good care of me,” Ty muttered, his eyes never leaving Zane’s.
Chester waved his shovel in their general direction. “And you take good care of him in return?”
The smiled he received from Zane would keep him warm on the coldest of nights. “Absolutely, sir.” No hesitation in his voice, Zane left no room for argument and Ty fell in love just a little bit more.
When they managed to pull their eyes away from one another, Ty glanced at his parents, leaning close and talking as Earl fastened the necklace around Mara’s neck. “It looks beautiful on you,” they heard his father say. “Though, you make everything look beautiful.”
Ty raised a brow, impressed at how smooth his father was. “Damn, that was a good line,” he said as grinned at Zane.
“Yeah, I’ll be sure to use it on you when we’ve been married that long.” Something about that sentence had Ty’s stomach flipping, ecstatic at the thought that he and Zane would still be together that long. His parents had always been an inspiration to him and he wanted to do right by Zane, follow their example as well as the example set by his grandparents.
Zane rested his head on Ty’s shoulder and Ty tightened the arm he had around the man he loved. Zane’s own family life wasn’t as happy and Ty knew the fact that his parents didn’t love one another, possibly never loved one another, occasionally weighed heavily on his mind. Being a part of a healthy family was new to Zane, and he practically glowed with happiness whenever they came to Bluefield. “It must have been amazing growing up with them as parents.”
As Ty looked at his parents, smiling and talking lost in their own little world. As he looked at his grandfather, rocking away in his chair with a beatific smile on his face. As he looked at his lover, the man who’d saved him more times than he could count, the one who promised to be with him from now until the end of time, there was only one answer Ty could give.
“It was. I’m very lucky.” He kissed Zane softly. “Both then and now.”