Heroes...And The Rest Of Us.

It's a little over a week before Christmas. I'm at my mother's house, watching her make gingerbread men for a Christmas party she's having tonight. I haven't seen my mother in a while, so I thought I would drop in and say hey. Daisy and I made plans to go Christmas shopping later on tonight, so I'm basically killing time until then.

"So, what is this that I hear about you going out with Marie Gontier's son?" She asks me.

"What about it?" I'm sitting at the bar watching her while she ices little faces on the cookies.

"Are you dating him?"

"Yeah."

"For how long?"

"Um, I've known him for about for a year, but we only started officially going out about six or seven months ago." I say.

"Is it serious?"

"Very"

"Why haven't I met him? or even heard about him? I don't even know his name."

"His name is Adam, I banned you from asking me about my personal life a long time ago, and I don't know why you haven't met him yet."

"Well, just remember how serious you were with John. We all know how that ended."

"Adam was actually a part of that."

"Oh, good lord, really?" I nod.

"We've been through a lot of stuff and it doesn't really feel like we've only know each other a year."

"Like, what kind of stuff?"

"Well, Adams a drug addict, so that was a struggle that actually brought us closer."

"A drug addict? is he clean now?"

"Yeah, but it was hard for a little while."

"Well honey, if he's into that kind of stuff, don't you think you should get out before something bad happens?"

"I cant, I'm in too deep for that, I love him." She sighs.

"Does he feel the same way about you?"

"He told me that he couldn't live without me."

"Well, you know that I only want the best for you, and for you to be happy, and if this man is making you happy, the least you could do is bring him to my Christmas party tonight so I could meet him." I laugh.

"Sorry, mom, I already have plans for tonight. Maybe next time."

"Well, at least let me meet him sometime."

"Of course, we'll do it soon. I promise."

"Maybe I'll have a New Years party." She says.

"There you go, or we could do something a little more intimate, like dinner here or something."

"That could work, after the holidays."

"It's a date. Well I have to go now, Mother. I have to go shopping with Daisy."

"Let me get you some cookies." She sends me off with a bag of gingerbread men. When I get home, I see Mike and Adam, standing around outside.

"What's up?" I ask them.

"I locked myself out and I can't remember where the hide-a-key is." Mike says.

"Ah."

"What's in the bag?" Adam asks and takes the bag of cookies from me. He peeks inside and snags a cookie.

"Where'd you get the cookies?" He asks and hands the bag to Mike. I unlock the door and we all go inside.

"My mother. She's having a Christmas party, but I can't go because I already have plans." I tell him.

"That's right, shopping."

"Mmhhmm, you want to come with us?" I ask, He thinks for a minute while he finishes his cookie.

"Yeah, I have a couple of things that I need to take care of before Christmas."

"We have to meet Daisy at the mall in an hour." I tell him.

"Alright."

"I have to go change my clothes and I'll be ready."

I get changed and fix my hair in about 10 minutes. I put on my tan and chocolate striped wool trench coat and grab my purse. I send Daisy a text to let her know that we're on our way to the mall.
Adam looks like he was already planning on going somewhere tonight. He's wearing a pretty nice black blazer with his jeans and hat.

"Ready?" I ask him.

"Yeah."

"OK, behave yourself tonight Mikey. Take good care of my dog!" I say.

"Your dog? You didn't even want him!"

"Would you shut up!? I don't want him to think that he wasn't wanted." This gets a big eye roll.

When we get to the mall, we meet Daisy in the food court. We shop for awhile, I buy gifts for my parents, Mike and Kya.

"OK, missy." I tell Daisy. "I'll see you in a little while, I have to go get your gift. We'll meet you in front of Macy's in a half hour."

"Yay! I'm excited to see my gift." She says.

"What are you getting her?" Adam asks me when we walk away from her.

"Daisy and I usually get each other lingerie."

"Really? I did not know that." I look up at his face and see him smirking.

"If you don't think that you can handle being in Victoria's Secret with me, you can go hang out with Daisy." I say.

"I think that I can find some way to handle being in Victoria's Secret with you." I laugh.

"I bet you will." When we get to the store, I have to laugh at Adam. He's looking at everything with such fake enthusiasm it's hilarious. He raises his eyebrows when I show him the sexy pink set that I'm thinking about for Daisy.

"When do you get your gift from her?" He asks when we leave the store. I laugh.

"I don't know, soon I'm sure." When we get back to Daisy, Adam looks at her for minute before she leaves to get my gift.

"I like black, and red." He tells her, she dies laughing.

"OK, I'll keep that in mind." She says.

"I have to go and look into something for your gift, can I meet you guys back here?" He asks us.

"Yeah, I'll go and get Liv and Braydens gifts while you guys are gone" I pause. "Shopping for me!" They both laugh.

We all separate and agree to meet in a half hour. I go to Macy's and buy gifts for Liv, Brayden and Adam. My special gift for Adam is a necklace that is custom made with my initials on one side and the word 'Grace' on the other side. I know that the word 'Grace' is his favorite, he has it tattooed on his fingers. I think he'll like it. I also bought him some of his favorite cologne.

He's already waiting when I get back to our meeting spot. He's not carrying any bags.

"They sold out of what you wanted to get me?" I ask. He laughs.

"No. Did you get what you needed?"

"Yeah. Any sign of Daisy yet?"

"None." We wait for another ten minutes before she finally shows up.

"I'm starving!" She says. "Shopping always makes me hungry."

"Then let's get some food." Adam says.

We eat at Ruby Tuesdays and say our goodbyes to Daisy.

"That was a successful trip." I say when we get out to the car.

"Very informative." I raise an eyebrow at him.

"So how do I find out more about this lingerie thing?" He asks.

"What do you want to know?"

"Well, mostly when it will be arriving and when you'll be wearing it." I laugh.

"Trust me, you'll be the first the know."

"My manager called the other day. He said that he's planning another tour for us."

"When?"

"I don't know, sometime after the New Year. He didn't know for sure, he was still working out the details."

"Do you think that you'll be OK on a tour?"

"I think so. I was going to ask you if you wanted to come with us. All of the guys are bringing their wives, with the exception of Barry, seeing as he's kind of single."

"I don't know, Babe. What about work?"

"You don't think Sully would keep your job open for you if you left for a little while?"

"He probably would, I don't know."

"Well, think about it. I'll let you know when I get some more details."

"OK, I'll talk to Sully in the meantime."

When we get home, Mike isn't home. He left a note saying that he went to Austins.

"Looks like we're alone tonight." I say.

"I lied about being with Brad and Neil yesterday." He says to me out nowhere.

"What?"