While Dixie was enjoying her time with Jon, Colby was a wreck. He was hurt and angry and confused. Joe had tried to help but Colby was mad at him too and refused to talk to him. He had called Jon and Dixie's phones but they never would answer. The thought of the woman he loves with his best friend was eating him alive. He thought it would be the best Christmas they ever had and he was planning to propose in front of his family. He dreaded telling them that Dixie left him. He wondered if he had married her before and been more romantic if she would not have turned to Jon. He sat and drank an entire bottle of Jack Daniels alone to try to numb the pain of betrayal. He stared at their tree, felt overcome with rage, and tore it down.
He woke up on the couch with his head spinning the next morning, and saw the destruction he caused while he was drunk. Colby dragged himself up the stairs and fell into bed. He didn't want to face the world yet. His heart was shattered along with his ego. He couldn't believe that she would throw away their years together to be with Jon. He thought about when he saw his former best friend what he would have to say for himself. Then he imagined ripping Jon's head off his shoulders or tearing his arm off and beating him with it.
After they made love on the floor, Jon carried Dixie to bed. He held her close until she fell asleep, even surprising himself at how affectionate he was. When she woke up a few hours later, she saw him sleeping peacefully next to her. She stared at him, his face relaxed and full of innocence. She thought about everything he had been through in his life and it still bothered her that she had caused him pain too. He was such a gentle soul but had walls around himself and keeps people at a distance. He had been hurt and disappointed so much that he had to protect himself. She intended to stand by what she said, and vowed never to leave his side. She smoothed back his hair and wrapped her arms around him. She pressed her chest to his back then softly kissed his shoulder and up his neck. She whispered quietly in his ear, "I love you so much, Jon. I swear no one will ever hurt you again as long as there is breath in my body. I will protect and defend you and I will shelter your heart. I will be your shield. I am so sorry I put you through so much but I am so glad you took me back. I can't believe I could be so stupid to think that I could actually walk away from you. I will take care of you and treasure every day with you, baby. My angel." She closed her eyes and laid her head against his back.
Dixie didn't realize he had woken up and heard everything she said. He smiled to himself and felt like the Grinch whose heart grew three sizes. He was somewhat taken aback by her words, never feeling loved and protected by a woman before, not even by his mother. He wanted to make things work between them, but did worry that he had never had a successful relationship. He knew things would be different with her though because for the first time, he had truly opened his heart and fallen completely in love. He was thankful that she seemed to love him as much as he loved her too. He did worry how Colby would react when they were all together again. But, that was a problem for another day. For now, he didn't want to think about it and ruin their Christmas. It was important to her to make it special for them and he was really looking forward to it. He was amazed at how quickly things had changed: from him spending the holidays alone again, to having the love of his life right beside him.
In the morning, she slipped out of bed and started making breakfast. She felt energized, as if Jon had reawakened something in her soul. She wanted to do everything she could to take care of him and it started with cooking for him. The smell of bacon permeated the house and he opened his eyes and smiled. He jumped out of bed and quickly went into the bathroom before rushing to the kitchen. She grinned at him, "good morning, baby."
"Morning. You are up early." He put his hands on her hips and reached around to kiss her.
"Yep. I feel very well rested being next to you. Now, how do you like your eggs?"
"Sunny side up, thanks. I appreciate you doing this, but you know you don't have to. I didn't tell you I want you to stay with me so you can be my maid."
"I know that. I want to do things for you, Jon. Please, just let me."
"Okay. Well, at least I can pour the coffee or do something."
"I used that Bulletproof coffee that you have for you if you want to pour a cup."
"You can have some too. It is good, I promise."
"Alright, I will try some. Well, the biscuits are done and I think that is everything." She reached in the oven and pulled the pan out. "We have sausage gravy, biscuits, bacon and eggs. You want anything else?"
"No, babe, this is so great. Thank you." She handed him a plate and smiled "you first." He laughed but fixed his plate and sat down at the table. "You better get you something to eat too, Dix."
"I am. I just wanted you to go first." She got up and made her plate then sat down beside him. He had fixed her coffee just how she liked it for her and she took a sip, surprised that it was so good. They sat talking and Dixie was thrilled that Jon was at ease and grinning like a chipmunk. She always teased him that when he smiled she loved to see his chubby cheeks and dimples. Every time she mentioned his dimples, he got shy and ducked his head. Dixie told him it was the cutest thing she had ever seen. "You are just adorable, Jon. No use fighting it" she told him, laughing.
"Well all that matters is you think I am adorable."
They were finishing their breakfast dishes when her phone started ringing. "I thought you still had it off?" he said.
"I turned it on this morning in case someone from work tried to get a hold of me. I took the week off for the holidays, but I am still the manager. At least for now. I will give my notice after Christmas."
"Are you going to go answer it?"
"No. That is Joe's ringtone and I don't want to talk to him."
"Yeah I looked at my phone earlier and I had so many fucking missed calls I couldn't count that high. I am not sure how I can delete voicemails without having to listen to that shit."
"I am sure Joe is pissed off at me not only for leaving Colby, but I threw him under the fucking bus too. I figured it was only fair after him forcing my hand."
"You did?"
"Yeah. I told him that Joe knew and he was the reason I stayed."
"Well, serves his ass right. I still owe him a punch in the fucking jaw for pushing you back to Colby."
"Jon, don't. It's not worth it. Karma bit him in his ass too."
That afternoon, Colby was awakened by his mother calling. He grumbled and reached for his phone, "uh, hello?"
"Hi sweetheart! How are you this morning?"
"Um, I'm okay. What's up?"
"Well your father and I were wondering when you and Dixie were planning to come over tomorrow. Your brother is already here so you can come over tonight too if you want and it will just be us without your grandparents and aunts and uncles and all them. I know Dixie wasn't planning on going to see her family again this year so whatever you two want to do. I thought it might be sweet for you to propose tonight so we can see the look on her face. Oh, I can't wait for you to be married and start having babies."
Colby didn't want to lie to his mother but he didn't know what to say. He decided to just take a deep breath and spit it out. "Mom, stop please. That will never happen. Dixie left me."
Her breath caught in her throat, "what did you say, Colby?"
"Dixie left me. Sunday night."
"Oh my God, son! Why didn't you tell us?"
"I didn't want to talk about it."
"But why would she take off? She loves you so much and you look so perfect together."
"She apparently doesn't love me anymore. She loves Jon."
"Jon? Jon who?"
"Jon Good. My ex best friend. She left me for him."
"That peculiar boy?"
"Yeah, him."
"I just don't believe it! After all this time, I can't believe it. She was like a daughter to us! I am going to call her!"
"Mom, don't. This is hard enough, please don't make it worse. I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"But you can't just let her go. He is crazy and what if he does something bad to her?"
"She chose him and it isn't my problem what she does anymore. Look, it didn't just start overnight. It started seven months ago. Joe found out two months ago and put a stop to the affair but apparently not her feelings. She made her decision and she didn't pick me. I can't force her to come back, and I don't even know that I want her to."
"You don't mean that! You are meant to be together. Soon she will realize what a huge mistake she has made and come crawling back. You'll see."
"I won't hold my breath." Colby told his mother that he needed to go because he was tired of talking about Dixie. He was angry and felt keenly the sting of their treachery. He never imagined that Dixie would be unfaithful to him, but looking back, things seemed clearer. He remembered their argument about their sex life and how frustrated she had become, and blamed himself for neglecting her. With so many emotions that he was feeling and so many thoughts in his head, he was so confused. He still loved her and he did want her back but he was livid that she would cheat on him and for so long. He wondered if he would have felt differently about her infidelity knowing it was just once or if she hadn't fallen for him. The part that hurt Colby the most was Dixie professing that she loved Jon more than him.
He went downstairs and started cleaning up, afraid that his mother would show up and see his house was a disaster. He picked up the tree and threw it in a trash bag with lights, ornaments, everything still on it. Then he swept the glass up from ones that had broken. He didn't want to see any reminders of the fact that he would be alone for Christmas. He went through the presents, fishing out the ones for his family out. He saw the tags that said "From Colby and Dixie" and he almost started to cry. He decided he would change the labels before taking them to his parents' house. He stacked them up in the corner and he saw all the presents that were from Dixie for him. He resisted throwing them across the room but he took those along with the ones he bought for her and stuck them in the coat closet. He also took down their stockings and hid them in the closet. He grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and sat down on the couch. He felt something under his butt so he moved and saw the Zales box. He opened it up and stared at the ring before taking it out. He held it between his fingers and felt tears streaming down his cheeks. "Why did you do this to me, Dixie? We were supposed to be together forever. You were supposed to have my children and grow old with me. How could you leave me like this?" Colby sat back and covered his face, unable to stop the pain he was feeling from pouring from his eyes.
Back in Vegas, Dixie was lying on their couch with her back against Jon's chest and her head on his bicep. She had found Christmas movies on TV and insisted he watch with her. He didn't really care what they were doing, he was just enjoying her being there with her in his arms. He was glad that she really was going to stay with him. She told him about handing in her resignation and finding a job there and he tried to hide how excited he was. She really seemed to be committed to making things work, but he really wanted her to travel with him. He decided that maybe he should just tell her. He didn't want to start their new relationship not being honest about what he wanted. "Dix..."
"Yes, baby?"
"I want to propose something to you, but you can't fucking say no until I am done, alright?"
She laughed "alright."
"Okay. I want you to come on the road with me and wait to find a job later. And before you tell me 'no fucking way', just hear me out. I know it might be weird with Colby and Joe but I don't give a shit. They are talking about breaking us up soon anyway and we are going to have to start having tension in the ring. Looks like with this, we won't have to fake it. I just got you back and I can't fucking stand the thought of not having you around. I don't want to leave you here all alone like Colby did. I know that was when you guys first started having problems. I just want to be with you all the time. So don't say no right now, just think about it."
"Oh, Jon. I don't know."
"I said don't say no."
"I'm not saying no. I would love to be with you all the time, but I mean, I don't want to rub us in Colby's face. He may have pushed me away but he wasn't mean or spiteful. And our problems started when he stopped treating me like I was important to him. That was one of the reasons I stopped going with him after y'all were called up. That shit started way before we weren't together every day. Anyway, that is beside the point. I love you and choose to be with you, but I do still care about him and it kills me that I hurt him so badly. "
"That sure as fuck sounds like no, Dixie."
"It's not no. Listen, I will come with you the first trip back and we will see how it goes okay? I don't have to be back at work until next Monday. Besides, I don't want you to kill him."
Jon raised his eyebrow, "you are worried about what I would do to him, not what he would do to me?"
"Yes. Hell, we both know you would slaughter most of the locker room if it came to a real fight. So yes, I am more worried for him. If he comes after you, and I know he will, you would really do some damage. And I know it will be self-defense so I am not going to be mad at you, but I don't want you to maul him."
He chuckled, "I am not sure if I should be proud or worried that you have such faith in my abilities. You have this shit all playing out in your head, don't you?"
"I know him, Jon. He is furious and heartbroken, which is a bad combination. I don't want to see you two injure each other and or get fired. Promise me you won't go looking for a fight."
"Okay babe. I promise."
"You're a good boy," she said with a smirk.
"Well shit, that is my fucking name after all." They both laughed and went back to watching A Christmas Story.
That night, she put the turkey in the oven and started baking pies and boiling eggs. Jon sat in the kitchen with her to keep her company and help her when she needed it. He was excited for their big Christmas since he never had one. Dixie wanted everything to be flawless and give him the best time of his life. They finished the prep work and she said she would finish the rest in the morning. She dragged him into bed and was content with nothing more than lying in his arms.
He couldn't wait for her to open her gifts and a part of him couldn't wait until Colby and Joe saw his ring on Dixie's hand. She didn't want to rub it in his face, but Jon didn't care. He stayed in the shadows and had to sacrifice his own feelings so they didn't hurt Colby so he felt he earned the right to gloat a little. He finally wasn't the other man anymore and he wasn't going to hide his love for Dixie ever again.