Title: The Darkness of December
The birthday card that appeared in Jason's mailbox was encased in a red envelope, and the stamp had a Nativity scene on it. Not unusual.
Jason was turning twenty-seven that year, and every birthday except for the first one had pretty much sucked shit. For him, anyway. For cheap relatives and friends, it was the perfect excuse to continue being thrifty bastards.
He tore open the envelope. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!
That was par for the course.
He had been born thirty minutes after midnight on the twenty-fifth of December, limp and blue from a kink in the umbilical cord, and his mother loved to mention that the best Christmas gift of her life was hearing him cry for the first time. "No one came to see us that day," she recounted. "They were too busy opening presents and cooking and all that you know--happy stuff. Grandma Fisher tried to come down to the hospital but her car conked out in the driveway, and my sister wouldn't let her go out in the snow. I let her hear about it later, she was always making decisions for our mother like that.
But it didn't matter, honey. I was just so happy you were OK."
She often overcompensated when he was a child and found the dreaded dual-occasion tags on his gifts by producing extra presents later in the month, wrapped in birthday paper and claiming that Aunt So-and-so had forgotten to give it to him on his birthday since they were so busy with everything else. It didn't take him that long to catch on that having a birthday fall on the most celebrated American holiday sucked more than an industrial Hoover at a confetti convention.
He had never had a proper birthday party in the entirety of elementary school; sleepovers with pizza and cake came a week later, and that was only if everyone wasn't gone to visit out-of-town family for the holiday season. Anyway, it felt rather false to blow out candles on a cake when the actual event had already passed. He couldn't get a driver's license after his sixteenth until the DMV reopened in mid-January. His Selective Service registration got lost in the mounds of outgoing Christmas mail at the post office and nearly screwed him when he applied for college financial aid. He turned twenty-one quietly at home, toasting the occasion with his first legal beer with his father in their kitchen before the relatives came over for ham and Christmas presents.
Every birthday gift was wrapped in red and green. Every cake had a frosting tree or snowman face. Friends would usually text instead of call. "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!" was pretty much the status quo. His little sister had a normal birthday on a random day in October and wouldn't intentionally rub it in, but it happened anyway.
True to his nature, Jason never complained.
True to her nature, Raye noticed. And asked.
He simply shrugged. "I'm used to it."
She let her gaze dance over the almost imperceptible flicker on the corner of his mouth as he suddenly busied himself at his workstation and "hmm'ed" to herself. She didn't bring it up again until they were lying in bed that night.
Raye flipped on her side to face him, but he beat her to the punch. "I don't talk about it because I don't want to sound like a self-centered whiny asshole."
"What?"
"Only self-centered whiny assholes create issues out of nothing because they don't get enough hugs or whatever. Besides, it's not like I can change it."
She reached out and cupped his face gently with her fingertips. "It's not self-centered, Jason."
"Like hell it's not. I don't want to be an idiot, I just..." He shifted around, trying to avoid eye contact. The radiator across the room clicked on and started tapping as it heated up. Raye waited for him to continue.
He still wouldn't look at her. "It just sucks sometimes. Everyone else gets a day, so they don't know, but like...I've never had that day."
She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead, a plan formulating in her mind.
Christmas Eve kicked off their normal holiday routine; they ducked out of work early, emptied their bladders, loaded the gassed-up Chevelle, and began the slow crawl out of the city with the thousands of other souls heading home. His parents' house was decked out with brand new LED fairy lights, complete with a plastic snowman next to the door, and they were waiting for them inside with dinner ready. Mr. Aino had tried out Alton Brown's recipe for mulled wine and needed guinea pigs to do a taste test; it tasted like drinking pure cinnamon.
After dinner, Jason settled in to watch a college Bowl game with his father when Raye entered the room and planted herself directly in front of the television. "I told some friends of mine that we'd meet them for drinks tonight."
He tried to peer around her. "Have fun."
She crossed her arms. "Did you miss the part where I said 'we'?"
Jason stretched forward on the recliner and tried to nudge her out of the way with his toe. "Are you serious? It's freezing outside!"
"So?"
"It's Christmas Eve!"
"And?"
He gestured wildly at the television. "You're shitting me, right? It's the third quarter!"
"Jason, don't swear at her."
"Dad, I can't help it. She's gone insane."
Raye flipped her hair over her shoulder and lifted her eyes to the ceiling. "You know, I really don't want to fight with you about this. Can't you just suck it up for a couple of hours?"
"No! Raye. Come on, I'm tired, I sat in traffic for how many freaking hours, I just want to relax and watch the game and then go to bed."
She was not one to give up so easily. "If you go, I will not fight with you on where to go for New Year's Eve."
That got his attention; they usually had an annual fight over New Year's plans, since he was usually tied up with his band and then liked to jump around the after parties, while Raye preferred to stay in with champagne and Carson Daly. More than once, the fight was brutal enough where they didn't reconcile until moments before midnight.
"You should take my car," Jason's father suggested, jumping up. "I'll get the keys."
Thirty minutes later Jason stared out at the frozen darkness as the miles passed by. "Raye, where are we going?"
"It's a bit out of town."
They passed an exit. "What the hell?"
"Jason, I told you, it's a bit out of town!" she exploded. "Just relax, OK!? I want to have a good time tonight and you're being such a jerk about everything."
"I am being a jerk? Really?" His voice knocked off the inside of the windshield and amplified. "You're dragging me out in the middle of the night when it's like five fucking degrees--"
She held up a finger. "Do not cuss at me!"
"Sorry. I just don't see how I'm the jerk when I didn't want to go in the first place and all I did was ask where the hell we're going!"
"We're going out," Raye hissed through clenched teeth. "I already told you."
"In the middle of freaking nowhere!"
"Jason, just shut up and try not to ruin my night more than you already have, all right?"
He seriously entertained the thought of throwing himself out of the speeding car and onto the highway but pulled his hat down over his eyes and mentally screamed instead.
She pulled up to a corner bar with neon signs in the darkened windows and a wreath on the door. Jason did a double take. "Really? We drove all the way out here to go to this dive?"
She threw him a dark look and slammed the door. "God, just get inside. Try to pull the stick out of your ass while you're at it."
"Funny, that's what I'm usually saying to you," he muttered under his breath, and jogged through the snow to the front door.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
The inside of the corner bar was just as quaint as the front. The lights were low, the bar stools were mismatching, the coasters were made of paper cardboard and damp with spilled beer, and all the glasses were promos for domestic lite beerwater. A slightly scratched pool table squatted near the back near a row of pitted dartboards and a fake plastic tree decked with tired white lights. Elvis crooned on the jukebox about his blue Christmas. It looked exactly like a million neighborhood watering holes, right down to the mildly cute bartender chatting it up with a pair of well-worn men wearing greasy coveralls and nursing half-finished drafts.
But unlike every other neighborhood bar, four of Jason's closest friends were splitting a pitcher at a table with a bunch of multicolored helium balloons tied to it.
He promptly felt like the world's biggest asshole.
Serena bounced out of her seat and threw herself at him. "OH MY GOSH HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I'm so, so sorry every one of them sucked before! Raye told us all about it and I can't even imagine never having a proper birthday party!"
Jason accepted Serena's hug with numb arms and caught Raye's eye. She was positively dripping with smug satisfaction.
Now he felt like the inflamed hemorrhoids hanging out of the world's biggest asshole.
Noah and Darien gave him bro-hugs, and Makoto gave him a real one that had marvelous gigantic boobs squished into it. "How did you guys get out here?"
"Oh, well," Serena explained, settling in. "Raye and I picked a place that was equal distance for all of us to drive, and Darien and I have a car coming for us at one."
"My dad's got the baby," Noah explained, pouring Jason a beer. "We told her that Mommy and I have to pick up Santa from the airport."
"Why wouldn't Santa just take his sleigh?" Raye asked.
"Because! There's too much air traffic these days and the reindeers come separately." Noah answered like he had explained this a million times before. "She and my father are sprinkling reindeer food in the backyard."
"Reindeer food?" Darien said, raising an eyebrow.
"Stale Wheaties."
"Ah. Damn, you guys should write a book."
Makoto took a sip of beer. "I think we did get that out of a book."
Raye kept checking the door. "Where is everyone else?"
Darien picked up his iPhone and started scrolling. "Coming. I gave Zach directions and Kevin and Mina got a late start. They'll be here soon. Oh, and Zach might bring his 'friend' who is really Serena's friend but he thinks he's the only person to discover her. In the meantime—" He pulled a wrapped box off the floor and pushed it across the table. "Happy birthday, man. May you have many more years of enjoying the slow crawl towards sagging balls and death."
"Well, when you put it that way," Jason said, tearing off the birthday paper. His eyes widened. "Darien."
"What?"
He dropped the package to his lap and looked up. "This is two thousand dollar scotch."
Darien killed the rest of his beer in a single swallow. "You said that's what you wanted."
"I was kidding! I didn't really expect that you'd buy it for me!"
His friend shrugged, completely nonplussed. "Open the card."
The card was a Christmas one, but Jason barely noticed after picking up what fell out of it. "Are you serious? Courtside seats?"
"Mmm!" Darien hucked down the mouthful of beer and waved at him. "There is a stipulation for those: you're taking me, and not Raye."
"Hey!" she immediately protested.
"Sorry honey, but these are for boys' night. Go get your nails done or something." He ducked Raye's swat and regrouped. "Hey man, happy birthday and Merry Christmas! I had to make up for years of people screwing you over."
Inside, he felt like falling apart like a little boy, but he kept it in. "Thanks man. Appreciate it."
Serena started clapping. "Open mine! The tickets are a Christmas present from both of us, but I got you a birthday present, too!" Her eyes were a bit glassy as she sighed. "I think it's so cute that you're birthday's on Christmas, even if it sucks for you sometimes. If I had a baby on Christmas, I would dress him in little Santa suits like all the time!"
"Been there," Jason grunted, tearing off the paper of her gift. "Aw, thanks, Serena!"
"What is it?" Makoto said, craning her neck.
"New watch." He opened the box and held it up for her to see. "Wait a minute." He swiveled to face Serena. "Please tell me you bought this on the street in Chinatown."
She huffed. "Of course not."
"Then it's real." He gulped.
"Yes. You think I would give you a fake watch for your birthday?"
"I can't accept this. It's too much."
She shushed him and pushed the watch back at him. "Listen, let's just say it's to make up for all the crappy Christmas sweaters you probably got growing up, and I'm sure there's a lot."
The Goodwill in his hometown had fourteen years worth of Jason Aino Christmas sweaters, and he presumed that they remained there unsold to this very day. He turned to Raye. "Look at this. I'm going to be one of those guys that wears this kind of watch."
She patted his arm. "Say thank you."
"Thank you, Serena." She smiled brightly and grabbed a handful of pretzels out of the bowl.
Makoto reached down for a shopping bag at her feet. "Well, that's a tough act to follow, but here. Happy birthday."
The box had a familiar shape. "New kicks! Thanks man!"
"Not just new kicks," Noah said. "Lebron's new kicks. Maybe they'll improve your game a bit."
"Is that why you were trying to look at my shoes when we were at the gym?"
"Did you really think I wanted to see what your insoles looked like? I didn't want to get the wrong size."
"You could have just asked. And there's nothing wrong with my game, assface." The next box contained a Threadless tshirt and a tin of homemade peppermint bark.
Serena gasped. "You can't get that and not share with us!"
"What?" Raye interjected. "Serena, she just gave you a giant box of that last week! Don't tell me you plowed through it already."
She popped open the tin and helped herself to a piece of bark. "It tastes good with coffee! Besides, I just gave your boyfriend a Cartier; the least he can do is share his candy!"
The door banged open, and every head in the establishment turned to the flurry of damp cotton of a navy hoodie and curly blonde hair. Zach stomped over to the table, picked up a napkin, and threw it in Darien's face. "Your directions were garbage and the stupid GPS sent us to another 'Frankie's' in another town. He pulled out his phone and hit a button. "Hey Kevin, you were right: wrong town. Turn around and take the exit after the Wawa. The one that looks like you'll get diarrhea from the fake McMuffins. Yeah. Follow the smell." He hung up. "Stupid piece of shit GPS. I almost ran out of fucking gas."
Darien threw the napkin back. "Hey, Willie Nelson, don't get mad at me because you drive a tin can hippiemobile that runs on hemp oil or whatever the hell you fill up with. Hi, Amy."
Serena's friend lit up when her friend appeared. "Amy! I'm so glad you came! And with Zach!"
The petite girl gave a short, forced smile and sat down at the end of the table. "Happy birthday, Jason. Thanks for inviting me."
"No problem," he said. Raye switched seats so that Amy was closer to the group. "Thanks for coming all this way."
"It's not a problem, I mean, I wasn't driving but—" She stopped and seemed to try a different track. "I'm happy to be here…thanks for, I mean, I said that already, um..."
"Want a drink?" Noah pushed the pitcher of beer across the table.
"She doesn't drink beer," Zach said gruffly, ruffling water out of his hair. "Anyone want to partake in a mystery drink of my choosing?"
Raye set down her glass. "As long as it's not body shots, I'm down. I have to drive back, don't forget."
"Ah crap, there goes my plan of getting you wasted and hoping you'll dance on the bar. Anyone else?" He rose out of his seat and thrust a pair of boxes at Jason. "Happy birthday, point."
"Thanks." Jason opened the first box, which was wrapped in spangled blue paper. "Socks and boxer shorts. Thanks, Grandpa."
"Hey, what do you expect? I'm Jewish. If I threw in a belt and a wallet, you'd pretty much be an official Red Sea Pedestrian. Happy Hanukkah, even though it was last week. I don't do Christmas unless I'm parasiting on Kevin's family."
"You can never have too many socks and drawers," Jason agreed. "Thank you."
"Open the other one."
He did. "Johnnie Walker Blue? Can't complain!"
Zach hopped to the bar and came back bearing glasses. "The bartender said that usually this place doesn't allow BYOB, but since it's your birthday Jace, she says she'll make an exception. Also, she thinks you're cute."
"Blue it is!" Darien said, clapping his hands together in anticipation. "Save the good scotch for a special occasion, like licking it off of Raye's naked body."
"This isn't the good scotch?" Makoto said, watching Darien pop the bottle out of the box and crack the seal.
"You've run with me for how long now? C'mon, Mommy, you know I don't fuck around when it comes to cars, cigars, and alcohol."
Noah watched the interchange of dialogue with a curious expression. "Get me the good shit for my birthday, then."
Darien smirked. "I'll get it for you anyway, bro. You fixed my water heater."
"I turned the thermostat up! A trained helper monkey could have done that."
"But Darien can't!" He started pouring a few fingers in each glass. "Darien likes having other people get their hands dirty so he doesn't have to."
"Damn, if I knew that I would have remodeled your entire bathroom."
"You offer, I accept. I hope you like laying tile.
Anyway," Darien said, as Raye passed the glasses around. "To Jason." The table followed his lead and raised their glasses. Jason hoped that his face wasn't turning as red as it felt. "I hope tonight erases a few of the shittier birthdays you've had in the past, and if it doesn't, then uh, well, I hope that we can get you drunk enough that you forget this one, too."
"Oh, I think we can," Zach quipped, unzipping his hoodie. The t-shirt underneath had a peace symbol made of leaves and the words "Free the Seed" on it.
Darien waggled an eyebrow. "I second that. OK, well, happy birthday, man. You're a great guy, a kick-ass musician, a decent baller, a shitty poker player, and since Raye has stuck with you this long, I'll presume that you're a slightly better than average lay. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we're all lucky to know you and to consider you a friend. Here's to you, happy birthday."
"Happy birthday," the table echoed. Jason stared at his glass for a moment before tossing it back, feeling a warm glow that had nothing to do with the alcohol penetrate his insides. Underneath the table, Raye found his hand and gave it a squeeze. He squeezed back. Thank you.
The front door opened with a ring of jingle bells. "You guys didn't wait for us?" Mina cried, pulling her hat off and releasing a golden curtain. Kevin entered behind her, and his glasses fogged up the moment he stepped through the door and hit warm air.
"Damn," he muttered.
Zach pulled the bottle over and refilled his glass. "Sorry Mina, when the party starts at Frankie's, it starts. We can't wait for stupid yuppies who can't read a GPS."
She ignored him and swept Jason into a frozen hug. "Happy birthday, big brother."
"Thanks," he whispered, remembering the times that he had been jealous of her normal birthday. It didn't seem to matter now. "Didn't think you were coming."
"What are you, nuts?" she giggled, peeling off her coat and pulling off Kevin's glasses. "By the way, I hope Mom didn't put too much crap in my old room because we're crashing there tonight. There's no way we're driving all the way back to the Chaston compound."
"We've got a car coming Mina, you can come with us," Serena offered, before reading the expression on the other woman's face. "Or not. We can see you at dinner."
"Any requests?" Noah shouted from the jukebox. "If not, you're getting Sublime."
"Do you really want me to sing?" Zach yelled back. The opening chords of "Santeria" started playing. "Oh crap, now I Have To Sing. Amy, I'm sorry, I don't think it's humanely possible for me to restrain myself when the spirit moves me."
"I know," she said. "I was in the car with you."
Kevin fumbled in his pockets. "I don't think I have a lens cleaner." He blinked, tried to focus his eyes, and then gave up and started feeling the table for a napkin. "Damn it."
Raye stopped her drink halfway to her mouth. "Good God, Kevin, are you really that blind?"
He threw a look in her general direction, but his eyes missed and focused on the table behind her. Jason started laughing. "Hey, how many fingers am I holding up?"
"Uh," he replied, squinting across the table. "Four?"
Jason lowered the single index finger that he had been holding up. "You're kidding, right?"
"Three?"
Makoto cupped a hand over her mouth to hide her giggle. "You really are that blind!"
"G-d, just grow a pair and get them lasered already," Zach helpfully suggested, then launched into song without missing a beat. "Believe me when I say that I've got something for his punk ass!"
"There is no way someone is going to peel off my corneas and burn them while I still have breath."
"They give you Valium, you know."
"There is not enough Valium in the world."
"Whatever, you giant cunt. Hey, do me a favor." Zach jumped up and dashed to the dartboard. He pulled a dart out of the cork and returned to the table with it. "See how you do throwing a dart without your glasses."
Kevin picked them off the table and held them eye level. "Why?"
"Why? Uh, hi, because it will be funny. "
"Do it, Kevin," Darien urged, pushing the dart towards him. "Jason, make him do it."
Jason nodded. "I think you should do it."
"No, I'm not here for your amusement."
Zach snorted. "Kevin, just throw the fucking thing. If you can hit the dartboard—hell, if you can hit within a foot of it, I'll do carbombs until I'm puking." He caught a glimpse of Amy's wary expression and quickly amended his previous statement. "Or not. Maybe just one."
"Throw it," Raye said, jumping up. "Here, I'll tell you what. We'll both throw, and whoever get closest wins. The loser has to do a shot."
"I have to drive."
"Oh, don't give me that bullshit, Kevin. I've seen you drink; you can handle a single shot."
He grunted. "I'm not doing any apple pie girl shots."
"Why are so convinced you're going to lose?"
"Because I'm doing this blind!"
"Want me to take out my contacts? Tell you what, I'll shut my eyes."
Kevin tried to focus his eyes on her again and failed. "You're on." He reached for his glasses, but Darien pulled them away.
"You're doing it all blind, buddy. No cheating."
"Well, this isn't fair."
"This isn't fair," Zach mimicked in a high-pitched voice. "Wah, I'm scared of competition. I need a fresh tampon and someone to tuck me in at night."
That statement must have struck a chord, because it had Kevin stumbling over chairs in his haste to get to the dartboard.
"On three," Raye said, getting into position. Kevin tried glaring at her but missed again.
"Three." The darts knocked into surface in quick succession: Raye's hitting a hair off the bullseye, and Kevin's buried in the wall a foot away from the board.
Her victory dance included finger guns. "Kev, that was terrible."
"I don't have my glasses on!"
"Oh God, here's my phone: call the waaah-mbulance," Darien cackled. "Bartender! What is the most awful tasting shot that you can make?"
The winning concoction was a soupy mixture of crème de menthe, Absolut Peppar and Goldschlager. Kevin sniffed it and recoiled. "I'll vomit if I drink that."
"Don't lose next time."
"I couldn't see!"
"Neither could I!" Raye countered. Of course, her eyes had been open the entire time, but Kevin couldn't see that.
While the rest of the group goaded Kevin into voluntarily vomiting, Jason opened the remaining birthday gifts: a new Wacom tablet and a ukulele. "I needed this," he said, examining the box for the drawing tablet. "And I wanted this." He picked out a few chords on the ukulele, already blocking out an afternoon in the future to practice on it. "Thanks Mina."
She smiled and sipped on club soda. "Raye thought of the whole thing. I'm sorry I never noticed how much your birthday bothered you before, especially since I was always so jealous."
Jason turned to face her. "Are you serious? Jealous of me?"
"Well, yeah." At the other end of the table, Kevin took a breath and downed the shot to enthusiastic applause. Noah and Zach were racking up balls on the pool table. "Our entire family was always around to celebrate your birthday, and like, Uncle Marty and Aunt Bets never even showed up for half of mine."
Aunt Bets was one of the more consistent double-gifters. "You say this because you've never had a fake birthday party. It's different when you have your friends with you."
They watched more events unfold: Makoto, Serena and Amy chatting over vodka tonics and chardonnay, a now-bespectacled Kevin and Darien starting another round of darts, and Noah malingering around the jukebox as he waited for Zach to take his shot. "I guess you're right," Mina said. "Thanks for ruining like, half of my sleepovers, by the way."
"Ruining? I was the best part of your sleepovers. Those girls are probably still talking about the hockey mask incident."
"You mean, those girls are probably still talking about the hockey mask incident to their therapists. Oh, by the way, Kevin is going to give you your Christmas present tomorrow. I won't tell you what it is, but it involved snowboards and a high elevation town in Colorado."
Jason's eyebrows sprung up. "No shit! Seriously?"
"Seriously. Please make sure no one ends up a widow, would you? It's boys-only, so we won't be there to talk you guys out of unnecessary risks."
"Yeah, OK," he agreed mindlessly, already envisioning the chalet they would be staying in. Kevin never did anything halfway. Hell, he probably owned it. "God, I love that blind bastard."
Makoto waved over the group to the end of the table. "Cake time! It's an experimental one, so tell me what you think and be brutally honest. Sorry in advance if it's not good."
"She wouldn't even let me try it," Noah groused.
"What kind is it?" Serena was watching Makoto pop the top off a Tupperware cake box with the attentiveness of a pointer hound.
"Mint chocolate chip."
"Mint chocolate chip!"
"Yeah, Raye said it was your favorite ice cream flavor, Jace."
Zach pulled a face. "Ugh."
"What do you mean, 'ugh'?" Makoto looked like she wanted to smack him with the plastic lid.
"'Ugh' because mint chocolate chip ice cream tastes like toothpaste with bits of chocolate mixed in."
"You've eaten it before, I've watched you," Jason said.
"That's because I was st—hungry. I'll eat anything when I'm…hungry."
"Luckily, it's not your birthday, so we don't care," Makoto said, swatting at Zach's head and smacking Serena's hand away with the same motion. "So shut up and give me your lighter."
No snowmen or Christmas trees on this cake; Makoto had created a confection at least four inches high with dark chocolate frosting, and light purple curls of fondant that formed the message and his name on the top. Happy Birthday Jason!
"Sorry about the purple; I let Aja pick the color."
Raye's mouth dropped. "Did you make your own fondant?"
"Yep. Why?"
"She's been watching a lot of Ace of Cakes," Noah helpfully explained. "Which means I have been watching a lot of Ace of Cakes."
Serena gasped. "I love Ace of Cakes!"
"Noah, I was just about to bust your balls about that, but my wife just destroyed my credibility," Darien said. "Light the damn cake, Zach."
This had happened before, but not like this. This time it felt like they were celebrating him and not the holiday, and it felt good to finally give in and be selfish for a change. Jason would always be grateful for his family, but good friends were hard to come by, especially ones who would drive to the middle of nowhere in the dead of night on your birthday. Which also happened to be on Christmas.
The cake ended up being awesome. The regulars at the bar suggested to Makoto that she should open her own bakery, and she smiled and told them she'd keep that in mind.
It was after one in the morning when they started clearing out. Noah and Makoto were the first to leave, Makoto giving Jason one last breast-filled hug before driving off. Darien and Serena had a car waiting for them, and Zach handed Amy his keys before taking off. Kevin was grimacing and rubbing his midsection. "Let me follow you to the highway. That GPS lies."
"You OK, man?"
Kevin directed his answer to Raye. "It was that shot. Didn't know you had such good aim."
"I have perfect aim," Raye smirked. "You should see me with a bow and arrow."
"See you in a bit!" Mina said, hopping into the passenger seat of the Mercedes and waited for Kevin to join.
Jason joined Raye in his father's car. She started the ignition and immediately turned on the heat. "Damn, it's cold."
"Raye?"
"Hmm?" Jason could tell she had been waiting for this just by the way she dropped that single syllable. He sucked in his breath in preparation for groveling.
"I'm sorry I was such an asshole before." He batted away a helium balloon that had been drifting towards his head and took her hand. Her fingers were cold. "I don't deserve you."
"Stop," she said, brushing her bangs away from her face. In the bluish moonlight, her face lit up like the star on top of their tree. "You know me. You know I would have reacted in the same way if it were the other way around. Actually, worse."
"Yes, that's true."
"Hey!" Her eyes flashed fire, but her smile was soft as she dropped her gaze in an uncharacteristic moment of shyness. "Happy birthday, babe."
He leaned forward and kissed her, his hand brushing her velvety cheek as he pressed his lips against hers, savoring the warmth of her mouth and the faint rose flavor of her lipstick. He broke away just long enough to whisper, "I love you so much, you don't even know."
She opened those magnificent violet eyes and pinned him with her gaze, the way she always did. "I do." Her fingers entwined with his under the warm jet of air from the heating vent. "I do."
They were reaching for each other again before being interrupted by a blast from a car horn. Jason pulled back and heaved a sigh. "Mina."
"Hey!" Her voice shouted out between cars. "Can you make out at home, please? I want to get home and crash already."
He flipped her off as Raye put the car into drive and pulled away from the curb. The roads were dark, frozen and silent in the early hours of Christmas morning. Jason flipped on the radio and skipped any station playing carols.
"So I was thinking," Raye started as she turned onto the highway. "Why we don't we hit a party on New Year's? I'm sure Darien will throw one."
"Really? Huh." He tilted his head in agreement. "Sounds like a plan, but only if we can leave before midnight. I wanted to catch the countdown on TV. Maybe order pizza, rent some movies, fall asleep on the couch?"
"I think I like that plan." She grinned. "By the way, I didn't give you your birthday present yet."
"Really? Can I have it now?"
"Not now," she purred. "Wait until we get home."
He gently squeezed the top of her leg. "Will I like it?"
"I think you'll really like it."
"How?"
She gave him a cool glance before turning her eyes back to the road. "I'll let you fall asleep right afterwards. And you can have the good pillow."
"Hot damn, if I didn't know any better, I'd think it was my birthday!"
There was one more surprise waiting for him when they got back to his parents' house. "Oh Dad," Jason groaned, taking in the pressboard decorated with fairy lights that spelled out "Happy birthday Jason" in blinking multicolored lights. He had even stuck it right over the front door for the whole neighborhood to see. "He didn't have to do that."
"And I didn't have to do this," Raye countered, drawing him close and kissing him again. "God, I love you so much, you have no idea."
"I do," he replied, impressing this moment into his permanent memory. He could not forget this day, ever.