“Grandma,” I scold her. She has the mouth of a sailor.
“Don’t take that tone with me. I’ve heard you pull up in that car of yours with that music you listen to, talking about bitches this and bitches that. And I know your man cusses more in one sentence than I do in a day.”
Well, she had me there. Rap music did tend to use the word bitch a little too often, and Asher could curse even when there was nothing to curse about.
“Point taken,” I mumble.
“Why would you be upset that he had a life before you? I hate to remind you, but you were engaged.”
“You were engaged?” Susan gasps. Geez, this day started out so perfectly, and now every time I turn around, someone is talking about something I don’t want to talk about.
“I was, and then I found out that the guy was a total jerk and broke it off.” I look over at my grandma. “I'm not upset. I just want to understand why they split up.” Grandma nods her head in understanding.
“What did he do? I mean, why did you call off your engagement?” Susan asks.
“He cheated,” I say and hear my grandmother inhale. I never told my father why I called off the engagement so he was never able to tell her. Since I’ve been home, she’s never asked.
Besides, the idea of telling them that he cheated on me with my mom didn’t sound like a conversation I wanted to have.
“Well, I think you should talk to him about it,” my grandmother says like she just solved all of my problems. I smile, shaking my head.
“I'm going to talk to him, just not on Christmas Eve. We should be having a good time visiting with friends and family.”
“Such a smart girl,” she says, pinching my cheek like I'm five.
“Thanks.” I smile.
“Okay, let me and your grandma finish these and you go visit with everyone,” Susan says, taking the knife and cheese away from me.
“Do you like it?” Asher whispers into my ear. It is Christmas morning and both of our families are over and most are still wearing pajamas. Somehow, everyone decided while they were drunk that we should all have breakfast and open gifts at Asher’s house.
Making early morning plans while drinking is not smart. I made the coffee extra strong and put out aspirin as an appetizer before breakfast. The first person showed up at eight. Asher kissed me and got out of bed. I hid under the covers, hoping everyone would forget I was even in the house. That only lasted about five minutes. Asher came back into the room and dragged me across the bed then tried to stand me up, but I was playing dead and slumped into him, not even opening my eyes.
“Baby, we gotta make breakfast,” he laughed.
“No, all I want for Christmas is to sleep,” I said, trying to cuddle into his chest.
“You can sleep later,” he said while rubbing my back, but that was making me sleepier.
“I’ll be your bestest friend ever if you let me sleep.” He started laughing harder.
“As much as I want you to be my best friend, I need help making breakfast for everyone. I'm pretty sure that last night you were jumping up and down while clapping and saying how much fun if was going to be to open gifts with everyone this morning.”
Crap, I did do that, but that was also after having four cups of eggnog, so I can’t be held accountable for my actions.
“I was drunk. It doesn’t count.”
“Hmm, so all the dirty things you said you wanted me to do to you last night don’t count,” he said, and I shoved my face deeper into his chest, hoping to block him out. I do not want to even think about what a drunk me would say to Asher.
“Don’t worry, baby. Tonight I’ll—”
I cut him off. I didn’t want to know what drunk me said. “I'm awake,” I blurted out. I ran to the bathroom and slammed the door before he could say anything else.
I made baked French toast and bacon. Asher made scrambled eggs that I swear could win awards. He uses whole cream and cheddar cheese. They melt in your mouth and each bite is like heaven. After we all ate, everyone was gathered around the tree. Asher pulled me into his lap so we could open gifts.
I had a hard time finding him something for Christmas, but since he was always on his phone at the job site either going through emails or putting together orders, I decided to get him an iPad mini. That way, he could have a bigger screen and wouldn’t go blind from looking at the small screen on his phone. Plus, I got him a case that has a built in keyboard, hoping that it will make his life easier when sending email and placing orders. I also got him a few shirts and a New York Yankees baseball hat. He isn’t actually a Yankees fan but I love him in hats and I'm a New Yorker, so it was necessary.