Scars

Brian hadn’t had trouble sleeping Christmas Eve since he was eleven, ever since the year that Brent had found out that Santa wasn’t real and had stopped setting his alarm for midnight so he could keep an eye out for him.

He was awake now for a different reason though. It was still excitement, but of a different kind. He was in love. It was a feeling he hadn’t had a lot of experience with, but he couldn’t help the smile on his face as he lay in bed next to the woman who had captured his heart, watching her sleep, knowing that this was going to be their first Christmas together, hoping that it was going to be the first of many more to come.

There was also a little part of him that was scared. Never before had he thought he’d find himself wanting to settle down and spend the rest of his life with a woman, maybe even get married. It was a big step, a huge commitment. What if she didn’t want the same? Or thought it was too soon? After all she’d been married before and had been widowed. Dating him had been a huge step for Tonya; would she be ready to settle down again? And then there was Jake to think about. If Tonya did feel the same way about him, how would her son deal with the development? They’d been getting on well, but there had already been an issue with Jake thinking that he wanted to take the place of his dad. Would he get upset again if he knew that things were getting more serious between him and his mom?
It was a risk he was prepared to take. He wanted to let Tonya know how he really felt about her. He just hoped that neither she nor Jake freaked out at his revelation.

With a sigh, Brian glanced across to the clock on the wall opposite the bed. With the early morning sun rise beginning to filter through the blinds he could see that it was approaching seven am, and given that it was Christmas morning he thought that it was a decent enough time to get up and start breakfast. Reaching over he gently pressed his lips to Tonya’s forehead before getting up, pulling on a pair of board shorts and a shirt and slipping his feet into a pair of flip flops.

With the smell of bacon hitting his nostrils, Jake sleepily got out of bed with a stretch of his limbs, his eyes barely opening as his stomach led him out of his bedroom.

“Perfect timing, I was just coming to wake you.” Tonya said appearing at the top of the stairs.
“Merry Christmas kiddo, Brian’s cooked us breakfast.”

“Breakfast?” he muttered.

“Yeah, you know that smell that undoubtedly dragged you out of your pit.” She replied with a smile.

“Breakfast? Before presents?” he repeated taking a step backwards.

“Yeah, Brian –“

“Brian is trying to take over.” Jake yelled as he retreated backwards towards his room.

“Jake, no, wait he didn’t know!” she yelled after him, only to be met by his door slamming loudly.

With a curse, she turned, running a hand through her hair as she made her way back down the stairs.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Brian asked as she walked back into the kitchen to see him dishing up the breakfast.

“I should have told you, I’m sorry, I just didn’t think he’d be all that bothered by it, he’s been so good up until now.” she replied cryptically.

“Is this about his dad?” Brian asked confused.

“I think so yeah.” She replied with a sigh. “Sit down and I’ll explain, there’s no point this breakfast going to waste.”

“Is he going to be okay?” he queried as he sat down next to Tonya.

“He’ll be fine, I promise.” She said with a smile. “It’s just that every year, following Luke’s family traditions we get up, open presents and then have breakfast.”

“And he’s upset because I’ve come and done things differently.” Brian said.
Tonya nodded, “I should have told you, I should have anticipated-“

“No, it’s not your fault; you weren’t to know that he would act like this.” Brian interrupted reaching over and placing his hand over hers. “Every family has their traditions, especially during the holidays, I should have asked.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with him.” she replied with a sigh, pushing away what was left of her breakfast.

“Would it help if I talked to him, or will I make things worse?” he asked.

“I don’t know, he’s stubborn, he may not be ready to talk yet.” she said with a sigh.

Standing up and taking the plates over to the sink, Brian turned back to face her, “Listen, this is the last way I wanted us to spend Christmas Day, so I’m going to leave you to it, -“

“Brian no, there’s no need.” She interrupted quickly but he just held up his hand and shook his head.

“Let him calm down, talk to him when he’s ready and spend Christmas day together with your family.” He said walking over to her.

“Are you sure? I was looking forward to spending the day with you.” she said as he slipped his arms around her waist.

“I was too, believe me, but it’s okay, maybe we can spend the day together tomorrow instead, that’s if Jake’s okay with me then.” He said with a smile.

“Okay, if you’re sure. I’m sure he just needs some time to think and calm down. Thanks for being so understanding.” She said quietly, her hands sliding up his colourful arms to the base of his neck as she reached up on her tiptoes to kiss him. “I’ll call you later.” She said as she pulled away, a soft moan escaping both their lips.

“Happy Christmas baby.” He whispered as his lips softly brushed her temple.

“Happy Christmas.” She replied with a light smile as she watched him walk through her front door. With a sigh she walked over to the sofa, placing her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands.

She’d been sat like that for a long while when she heard a door open and close upstairs, followed by footsteps making their way down the stairs.

“ Where’s Brian?” Jake asked quietly.

Lifting her head, Tonya looked up at her son, “He’s gone.”

“For good?” he blurted out with shock.

“Hopefully not. he just thought that it’d be for the best if you were given time to calm down.” she told him. “I wasn’t trying to take over Jake, he was trying to do a nice thing for us, he didn’t know that we did things differently with your father. I’ve told you before he will never replace your father.”

With a sigh, Jake sat down next to her. “I know, and I’m sorry I over reacted, it just took me by surprise is all.”

“Honestly? Me too. It’s been years since I had breakfast before presents on Christmas morning.” She replied with a smirk.

“It smelt good.” He said quietly.

“It tasted good as well.” she said.

“Don’t suppose there’s any left is there?” he asked as his stomach gave a growl.

“If there is it’ll be freezing cold by now.” she replied with a smile.

“Maybe I’ll just have cereal then.” He muttered getting up from the sofa.

“Don’t you want to open your presents first?” Tonya called after him as he made his way towards the kitchen.

“Yeah, but I’m starving, and anyway, maybe Brian should be here to open presents too.” he called back with a smile.

Slightly taken aback by the words leaving her son’s mouth, Tonya got up and followed him into the kitchen, leaning against the door jab as she watched him pour cereal into a bowl.
“You sure you want him here?”

“Yeah, I am.” He said pouring milk into the bowl. “You should call him and tell him to get back over here.”

With a smile Tonya walked over to the counter and took the phone out of the cradle and dialled Brian’s number, her fingers crossed beside her that he would be okay with coming over.

“Hey.” she said quietly as the call connected.”

“Tonya?” he replied.

“Yeah it’s me, Jake and I are wondering if you wanna come over to open some Christmas presents before my parents get her.” she said shyly.

“Jake wants me too?” he asked.

“Yeah, we’ve talked and I think he wants to apologise to you.” she said watching as her son scoffed his cereal.

“Really? He’s okay with me?” he asked sounding shocked.

“Yep, he was even a little disappointed he didn’t get to have any of the breakfast you cooked.” She replied as Jake walked over to her, chewing a mouthful of cereal and taking the phone out of her hand.

“Dude, listen I’m sorry, just get your ass over here quick, cos we’re not opening any presents without you.”

With a chuckle Brian replied before Jake hung up and passed the phone back to his mom.
“He’ll be over in ten, so you may wanna get dressed and make yourself look presentable.”

“You cheeky little git.” Tonya replied playfully shoving him as she laughed.