The Mistletoe Experiment (5 page)

The Mistletoe Experiment |
Serena Yates

33

He needed some up-close and personal time with his

fiancé. If the lustful look in Lance"s eyes was any indication,

he was going to get it too.

LANCE had looked forward to seeing his sister Katie again.

First, he"d been away on vacation in Sweden, then, by the

time they came back, Katie had already left for two months,

travelling around Asia with Adam Williams, her fiancé. Her

store, Holiday World, needed her attention mainly during the

winter months, so she always went on long trips during

summer.

Katie and Adam had returned yesterday afternoon, and

they"d briefly spoken on the phone. Katie had wanted to

know how Jakob"s birthday party had gone last week. Her

first curiosity satisfied, she"d agreed to come over on Sunday

afternoon, for a more detailed exchange of vacation

adventure details.

She didn"t yet know anything about Lance"s impending

move to Sweden. He hadn"t wanted to tell her while she was

so far away, and definitely not over the phone. He wasn"t too

sure how she"d take the news, but was hoping she"d be

supportive.

When the doorbell finally rang, Jakob was still faster

than him.

“Auntie Katie!” Jakob flew into her arms.

“It"s so good to see you Jakob.” Katie laughed and

kissed the boy. “I"ve missed you!”

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34

“I"ve missed you too.” Jakob stepped back before

hugging Adam.

For once the hunky car mechanic wasn"t covered in oil

and grease, since he hadn"t been to work yet.

“Come on in.” Magnus waved them inside.

Lance hugged Katie as soon as she was within reach.

They had coffee and cake first. He"d made an

undecorated version of last week"s chocolate birthday cake,

just to see Magnus"s eyes widen in delight when he brought

it out. The smoldering look his fiancé gave him promised all

kinds of good stuff later. Chocolate had certainly proven to

be a major turn-on for the other man, and Lance was going

to use it at every opportunity.

“God, this chocolate cake is to die for.” Katie closed her

eyes in bliss.

“I agree.” Magnus nodded. “I"ve decided that I want it for

my birthday cake in October too.”

“But it was
my
birthday cake first!” Jakob sat up

straight, trying to look intimidating.

“Sure, but that doesn"t mean I can"t have it, too, does

it?” Magnus looked at him, trying to make big puppy dog

eyes.

It didn"t really work with the rest of his looks, and Lance

burst out laughing.

“It isn"t like there"s a limit on the number of chocolate

cakes I can make.” Lance grinned. “But I do know what I"ll

use as a threat now if someone doesn"t behave themselves.”

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35

Magnus and Jakob groaned in unison and got back to

eating their cake.

“So, how was Sweden?” Katie didn"t stop eating her

cake.

“It was great.” Lance smiled. “Well, there were a few

initial misunderstandings, but I really liked it there.”

“He"s being really polite.” Magnus had finished his piece

and pushed the empty plate toward the centre of the table.

“My parents were awful to him, even wanted me to marry

some woman they thought would be „better for my career",

and my father kept insisting I settle down and start a

family.”

“But you"ve already got one!” Katie"s eyes widened.

“Exactly!” Magnus smiled. “It just took them a while to

get the message. Once they had, we were fine.”

“Better than fine.” Jakob jumped up and down in his

seat. “Can I tell them, Uncle Magnus? Can I?”

Magnus nodded.

“Uncle Magnus asked Lance to marry him!” Jakob

grinned when Katie"s mouth fell open in surprise. “And he

said yes!”

“That"s wonderful!” Katie got up and hugged first Lance,

then Magnus, dutifully admiring their engagement rings

when they were pointed out. “Congratulations, both of you.”

“And me!” Jakob grinned when she hugged him too.

“Yes, and you.” Katie sat back down, the last piece of

her cake suddenly forgotten. “Have you decided on a date

yet? And where you"ll go? Iowa is the closest state that you

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36

can get legally married in, but we don"t know anyone

there—”

“Yes, we have a date. We decided to make it next year"s

Midsummer Eve, the twenty-fifth of June, which is the date

that Magnus proposed to me.” Lance paused.

How was he going to tell his sister that the wedding was

going to take place in Sweden? Even worse, how was he

going to tell her that their whole family was going to move

there—permanently?

“That"s so romantic!” Katie clapped her hands. “I love it!”

“As for the location, well, we kind of need to talk to you

about that.” Lance cleared his throat and took Magnus"s

hand for support.

“Oh?” Katie raised her eyebrows.

“One of the things we both noticed when we were in

Stockholm was the much more open and accepting attitude

toward gays. I didn"t feel scrutinized or criticized even once.

And of course, gay marriage is legal there.” Lance looked his

sister straight in the eyes. “So, we decided to move over there

as soon as is practical, which means by the end of this year.

It will give Jakob six months to get used to his new school

before his final year in elementary school.”

“You"re going to move to Sweden?” Katie had gone pale

and was holding onto Adam.

“Yes.” Lance held his breath. Her support would mean a

lot to him, but he wasn"t expecting it to be easy for her to

accept the decision.

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37

“You"re going to get married over there?” Katie"s

knuckles turned white as she tried to hold on.

“Yes.” Lance nodded. “Of course, we"ll make sure you

can all attend. Magnus"s parents have already said they will

pay for the tickets, and their house is big enough for

everyone to stay—”

“But I don"t want you to move away and leave me

behind again.” There was a small tear in Katie"s eye. “You did

that when you left to go to college in Los Angeles, and I

didn"t like that at all. I missed you like crazy.”

“I missed you, too, Katie. But this is my life we"re talking

about. There really is no comparison between the way people

treat me here, treat
us
here, and the way people treated us

in Stockholm.” Lance smiled. “I can be happy there, and

don"t have to feel as though I should be ashamed for loving

Magnus. Being a housedad is also much more accepted.”

“But it"s so far away!” Katie wasn"t going to give in

easily.

“We can stay in touch via e-mail and phone.” Lance had

a sinking feeling about this. Katie was bringing up all the

negative points, the ones from her point of view. “We can

even use webcams so we can see each other when we talk.”

“Have you told Mom and Dad?” Katie hardened her

features.

“No, I wanted to tell you first.” Lance was sure his

parents would have their own complaints, but he was more

worried about Katie"s reaction. He was a lot closer to his

sister than to his parents, especially since Magnus had come

into his life.

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“Well, I"m sure they won"t like it either.” Katie got that

stubborn look she had when she didn"t like something and

wouldn"t give in to reason no matter what he tried.

“I"m sure they"ll get used to it.” Lance sighed.

Why couldn"t anyone see this from his perspective?

“Look, Katie, I was going to stay out of this because this

is mostly between you and your brother.” Magnus took a

pale and slightly shaking Jakob onto his lap. “But your

negative reaction is affecting him a lot more than I thought,

and it"s worrying Jakob, as you can see. I think it would be

best if we took a short time out to give you a chance to think

about it from Lance"s point of view. He was right, you know?

It is
his
life that we"re talking about, not yours.”

“Thanks, Magnus.” Lance was very grateful for the

support.

It wasn"t as if he couldn"t fight his own battles, but to

see Magnus speak up for him like this meant a lot to him.

The other man had clearly understood that Lance needed

and appreciated his support in public, as much as in

private. He was very happy to see that particular lesson had

been learned so well. It confirmed that he"d made the right

decision; moving to Magnus"s home country had never felt

more right.

Katie would eventually come around, he was sure of it.

Her reaction just now had surely been the initial shock.

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39

Chapter Four

LANCE was more tired than he"d been in a very long time.

Truth be told, he"d been exhausted before they ever got on

the flight for their one-way trip to Stockholm. Organizing the

move had been complicated, and while Magnus had helped

as much as possible while working a full-time job at the

park, most of the work had been Lance"s. He"d sorted out

Jakob"s school, pre-selected houses for them to look at, and

made sure the things they wanted to take with them were

shipped well ahead of time so they"d have them on arrival.

Katie had come around fairly quickly, as expected, and

had helped him a lot. She and Adam had even started

talking about moving to Sweden to join them. After the

winter season, of course, since that was Katie"s busiest time.

Finally, they were ready to leave. They boarded the first

of two flights on December twenty-seventh. The trip seemed

to take forever, and when they arrived a day later, it was too

cold to think. Just like in Mistletoe. It had also been darker

than he"d been able, or willing, to imagine. They"d come in on

the morning flight, just after the supposed sunrise, but it

had never really gotten light enough for Lance to know it was

day. Sunset at just before three p.m. was definitely a very

bad idea, as far as he was concerned.

Like the last time, when they"d visited in June, a limo

had picked them up at the airport. Unlike last time, the

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40

greeting by Carine and Enar had been warm and

affectionate. There"d been no question about him and

Magnus sharing Magnus"s old bedroom, the one above the

double garage which now had a pretty view of snow-covered

trees and a miraculously snow and ice-free street.

They"d spent their first day and night reacquainting

themselves with Magnus"s parents, trying to stay awake so

they"d get the new day-night rhythm, and playing board

games. Jakob played outside in the snowed-in garden as

long as they would let him before they hauled him back

inside so he could warm up.

Lance had slept like a baby, safe and warm in his

fiancé"s arms after making love that had warmed them

enough to not need the covers for a while. Now, they were

having breakfast and waiting for a taxi to pick them up again

so they could get the rental car they"d use until they sorted

out a new car for Magnus. Lance wasn"t sure he wanted to

attempt driving with that much ice on the roads, not in a

foreign country and a strange city. They"d agreed to wait with

getting a second car until he decided it was safe for him to

try.

“Are you even awake,
älskling
?” Magnus sounded

worried.

“Not sure.” Lance held onto his second mug of steaming

coffee and turned away from the darkness outside to look at

his fiancé. God, the man was so awake it wasn"t funny. “How

do you do it?”

“What?” Magnus looked confused.

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“I mean, it"s almost nine a.m., and the sun theoretically

rose fifteen minutes ago, but it"s still dark out there. How am

I supposed to wake up without real sunlight?” Lance sighed.

“How did
you
manage to wake up and look as gorgeous as

ever?”

Jakob giggled and Lance blushed. Shit, he"d forgotten