City planner Remy McIntosh is looking forward to spending the holidays with his lover, architect Lane Anders. For the past six months, he’s been planning the perfect getaway -- two weeks in a forest cabin at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains. Remy also has a special gift he can't wait to give Lane on Christmas Day: a wedding ring. But Remy's ex-wife changes her Christmas plans at the last minute, and asks him to take care of their eight-year-old son, Braeden. Remy loves spending time with his son, but balks at the idea of taking a child along on vacation. The main problem is that Braden has never met Lane, and doesn't know his father is gay. Lane is ready to take his relationship with Remy to the next level, and has a secret Christmas gift of his own. Having a young boy along will put a crimp in their plans, to be sure, but Lane wants to be a part of every aspect of Remy's life, and that includes Braden. How will Braden deal with meeting the "other man" in his father's life? What happens when Remy’s romantic holiday for two must also include his son?

Just the Three of Us

The doorway darkened as his lover appeared. “What? Jeez, it’s cold in here.”


Lane found the trash bags full of presents and pulled them past him towards Remy. “Take a few of these, will you? And don’t trip over the wrapping paper someoneleft in the middle of the floor.”


“Hey, it wasn’t—whoa!” Remy grabbed Lane’s arm to keep from falling. “Yeah, okay, that was me. Sorry.”


Together they dragged the bags out into the main room. By the light of the fire, they emptied the bags, stacking the presents into piles around the base of the Christmas tree. When they were finished, the tree really didlook as if Santa had stopped by to visit. While Lane couldn’t wait to see his lover’s reaction to the gifts he had bought Remy, part of him was looking forward to seeing how excited Braden would be in the morning.


Chapter 56