An Australian Christmas in New York (3 page)
Chuck laughed. “You sound exactly like your mum. That’s what she told me last night.”
Vince moaned with a heady pleasure as the trifle hit his tongue, and he swallowed it greedily. It brought back years of memories, of sitting around the table with his family. Their heights changed, the table even changed a few times, but somehow the food and the decorations always remained the same in some blessedly traditional and familial way. He had to sniff back a sudden tear as he reached for his second mouthful, and Chuck looked at him in concern.
“It’s okay,” Vince told him. “Really.”
“Should I not have done this?”
“It’s fantastic. Fan-bloody-tastic, even.” He reached across the table for Chuck’s hand. “You’re fan-bloody-tastic too.”
Chuck pulled Vince’s hand up and kissed the knuckle. That simple act of affection nearly brought Vince undone again. However, this time it was bittersweet—he was still homesick, but he wasn’t sad about it now. He had started a new existence here with Chuck, and he couldn’t imagine life without him. It was time for new traditions to be formed, ones that could still sit alongside the old ones.
“You do know you’re going to have to make trifle every year now,” he joked.
“It’s a deal,” Chuck said. “But you have to get the beer. Do you know how many crazy Australians I had to wrestle to get that last six pack?”
Vince could imagine.
It was only fair that as Chuck had cooked, Vince cleaned up. Chuck went to catch a quick nap between meals and to try to digest enough to make room for their next round at the next house. Vince crawled beside him, setting the alarm to give him half an hour’s sleep as well.
Chuck shifted against him, and eyes closed, murmured, “Sorry I couldn’t get you a pool to swim in.”
Vince kissed his forehead and burrowed into his partner’s warm body; the heaters had long been turned off, and the apartment was returning to its natural frigidness. “Doesn’t matter. But maybe you can help me build a snowman later.” Chuck’s parents lived in Queens, where you actually
could
build a snowman when the snow fell.
“Really?”
“Really.”
He was heartened by the smile that Chuck gave as he fell asleep again. Old traditions and new traditions… that was what it was all about.
Vince drifted off to sleep, visions of trifles and snowmen dancing in his head.
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About the Author
Sean Kennedy
lives in the second-most isolated city in the world, so it’s just as well he has his imagination for company when real-life friends are otherwise occupied. He has far too many ideas and wishes he had the power to feed them directly from his brain into the laptop so they won’t get lost in the ether.
Visit Sean's web site at http://www.seankennedybooks.com/.
Copyright
An Australian Christmas in New York ©Copyright Sean Kennedy, 2009
Published by
Dreamspinner Press
4760 Preston Road
Suite 244-149
Frisco, TX 75034
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art by Paul Richmond http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com
Cover Design by Mara McKennen
This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 4760 Preston Road, Suite 244-149, Frisco, TX 75034 http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
Released in the United States of America
December 2009
eBook Edition
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61581-313-1