Under the Mistletoe

His mother was positively beaming as she said, "You have no idea how happy I am. My beautiful daughter just married a wonderful man, and my son is here with an amazing, beautiful woman!"

Any doubts Kodi had about fitting in vanished. At least for the moment. She was much more concerned about his father than his mother, and until she knew how that would play out, Kodi couldn't help but be a little apprehensive. But for the moment she was very happy, and wanted to enjoy it for as long as she could.

Kathryn nearly flitted off looking for her daughter while Layton asked his new flame to dance again.

"I would love to," she told him as he took her hand.

"You know my family, but I don't know anything about yours," Layton noted as they danced.

"They're all in Michigan," she told him. "I met my former husband when we were students at Michigan State. He was a graduate student and I was a senior. We dated for a year then kind of drifted apart for several years. I won't bore you with the details, but we eventually got back together and things got serious. He was working for a firm in Lansing until your father recruited him. The offer was insanely good, and we moved out here to the rainy Northwest. So all of my family, my parents, my brother and my sister, and pretty much everyone else, all live in Michigan."

"May I ask why you stayed? I'm happy you did, it just seems logical you would go back home."

Kodi smiled as she explained.

"I stayed until the divorce was final, and I actually had plans to leave."

"What changed?" Layton asked.

"As lame as it sounds, when I heard this incredibly handsome, younger man who kissed me at a Christmas party was coming home, I decided to postpone my return."

"So...had I not asked you to dance tonight are you saying you'd have packed up and left town?" he asked with a smile of his own.

"Honestly? I never really believed this would happen, but I couldn't get you out of my mind, Layton. But had you been...dismissive...or in some way made it clear there was no interest on your part, I'd have..."

He stopped her from finishing by kissing her again.

She laughed when it ended, and he asked why that was so funny.

"Because if they weren't talking before, they will be now."

He looked around and saw more than a few people pointing and clearly talking in hushed tones.

"Ah, let 'em eat cake," he said before kissing her again.

She laughed a happy laugh then put both arms around his neck.

"I'm so glad you did ask me to dance, Layton."

"I'm glad you said 'yes'," he told her as he held her close.

"May I ask you a question?" Kodi said.

"Uh-huh."

"Are you really okay with...with me...not being...38?"

Layton pulled his head back, smiled at her then said, "Kodi? I don't care one bit how old you are. Not one bit. Okay?"

It looked as though she might be tearing up, so he asked her what was wrong.

"Wrong? Nothing. Nothing's wrong. It's just that for the first time since I found out about the affair, I can say that and mean it."

He could tell there was something else she wanted to ask, but when he told her to go ahead and do so, she shook her head and told him it wasn't important.

He had a sense of what it might be, and although they'd really sort of just met, he decided to say it anyway.

"I want you to know that even though we've only been together for maybe five minutes..."

He paused for effect and got a small laugh.

"I want to assure you that I...I very much want to have children someday."

The laugh stopped, and in its place he unmistakably saw tears in her eyes.

"Kodi, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Please for..."

She blinked several times very fast as she tried to say, "How did you know what I was thinking, Layton? How could you possibly know that?"

He had a white pocket square in his jacket which he pulled out. She went to take when he smiled at her and said, "Let me, okay?"

She stood there, and his carefully dabbed her eyes, she couldn't help but think she was already falling in love with him; a thought that scared her just thinking and one she wouldn't dare say out loud.

"Perfect," Layton said once he was through.

"No mascara?" she asked.

Layton smiled then said, "I was referring to you, beautiful."

The song they were dancing to ended and another one struck up so Layton asked her to stay and dance with him again.

"I'll never say 'no' to you," she said sweetly as he took her in his arms again.

A minute of so into the song, Layton felt a tap on his shoulder.

"May I cut in?" his father asked, a smile on his face.

Layton looked at Kodi and saw the apprehension.

"Sure, Dad," he said as he stepped aside.

The only other words he heard were, "May I?" and Kodi saying, "Yes. Of course."

He watched with interest as the two of them danced. Unlike Layton, his father was a very good dancer, and he was only a little bit surprised when Kodi kept up with him as he whirled her around the floor.

He also took note when he saw his father talking and paid careful attention to the expression on Kodi's face. The laughter and the smiles told him his father approved, and he silently let out a long sigh of relief.

"Your father is an excellent dancer," she said when Edward brought her back.

"He's a sly old fox," Layton said, a smile on his face, as well.

"You kids have a great time, okay?" Edward told them before excusing himself.

Kodi saw the look on her boyfriend's face and told him, "He told me he was very happy for us both."

"How did you know what I was thinking?" he asked, parroting what she'd said to him not that long ago.

Kodi laughed then said, "Do you know how happy I am?"

"No, but I do know how beautiful you are," Layton told her with a straight face.

She came very close to saying, "I hope you'll still think that ten years from now," but she had no idea if they'd still be together ten days from now let alone ten years.

"Thank you," she said instead. "When I'm with you I...I feel beautiful."

Layton smiled, checked his watch then said, "I know it's way past your bedtime, but...are you hungry at all?"

"I can stay up past ten," she said, almost in a pouty, playful kind of way. "And there's food everywhere around us."

Layton got more serious then took her hands and said, "True, but I can't really talk to you here, and I would love to go somewhere quiet and just get to know you."

He smiled then added, "And maybe eat."

"Okay. That sounds very nice," she told him.

"Come on. Let's go tell the bride and groom we're leaving then get your coat and get out of here."

Cassie was even more thrilled than their mom.

"Layton, I am SO happy for you! Both of you," she told them enthusiastically. "And Kodi? Thank you so much for coming!"

They all hugged, wished one another well, then said goodnight.

As they walked out, Kodi said, "I love your family."

He took her hand and looked her and smiled at the same time.

"All of us?" he asked, emphasizing the word 'all'.

Her heart was so full it felt like it could burst as she quietly said, "Yes. All...of you."

Layton squeezed her hand then asked to her wait while he brought the car around so it could warm up again.

"I don't want my beautiful girlfriend to be cold," he told her.

Kodi smiled happily and said, "I love having such a thoughtful, considerate boyfriend."

"I'll be right back," he told her before he kissed her and headed back to his car.

He pulled it around, got out and opened her door, and that, too, deeply impressed her. Her former husband never did that even when they were dating, and Kodi let him know how much little things like that meant to her.

"When I was younger, money and things seemed so important. But once I had them, I realized how empty I felt. Even then it took me several more years to realize how much more important the little things were than...things."

Layton reached for her hand and told her he agreed.

"It's so true when people say 'money can't buy happiness'," he said. "And for me, happiness isn't the goal."

Kodi turned slightly to look at him then asked, "No? May I ask why not?"

Layton squeezed her hand and answered her question.

"Happiness is temporary. It's fleeting. Some thing or some event makes us happy, but it doesn't last. So I contend that 'contentment' is the better goal. Feeling satisfied with life while always striving to be a better person."

He quickly glanced her way then continued.

"And that's another trap. People try to better than other people. But the goal should be to be a better you today than you were yesterday."

"How old did you say you were?" Kodi asked before quickly adding, "that was rhetorical."

Layton laughed and let her know he was full of 'dime store wisdom'.

"Dime stores. There's a blast from the past."

He briefly looked at her then as seriously as he could asked, "So...what were they like? Dime stores."

Kodi let go of his hand and pretended to be very upset.

"Ha! Very funny."

"That was even before pushbutton phones, right?"

"I...don't remember," she said, pretending to pout.

"You're even beautiful when you pout," Layton told her.

He kept glancing at her and when she finally smiled he reached for her hand again.

"Promise you'll be nice," she said as she extended it then quickly pulled it away.

"I'm always nice," he said in an overly defensive way.

She gave him a look then said, "Well, you are always nice to look at. I'll grant you that."

She let him have her hand, and Layton said, "Cassie thinks I look like some guy on TV."

Kodi laughed and told him he looked like a lot of guys on television.

"You remind me of someone, too," he told her.

"Uh-oh. If you say Roseann Barr, I'm bailing out," she said trying to sound tough.

"Um...gag," Layton told her. "No. Not her."

"Okay...who is it?" she asked.

"Jill Wagner."

Kodi reached into her purse and grabbed her phone.

"See? It's cordless," she said trying not to laugh as she Googled this Jill person.

"Oh, my goodness. She's beautiful," Kodi said.

"Yeah, but you're beautiful-er," Layton told her.

"I hope one day I'll be able to really believe you when you say that, Layton."

"It's the honest-to-God truth right now today, Kodi," he let her know.

"So...who are you?" she asked, referring to his doppelgänger.

"Some guy named Matt something or other."

"Matt Bomer!" she said immediately. "Oh, my gosh! You really do look like him!"

"Um...okay," Layton said, now ready to drop this nonsense.

"Did you know he's gay?" she asked, trying not to laugh.

"Uh-huh. I heard that, too."

"You're not...are you?" she asked, on the verge of laughing.

"I guess you'll have to wait and find out, won't you?" he said in a phony-sounding snide tone.

"Oh. Will I have to long?" she asked, her heart beating fast again.

"Well, that depends," Layton replied.

"On?"

"I guess I have a kind of confession to make now," he told her in a serious tone.

"Okay," Kodi replied, her tone now anxious with concern.

"I uh, I've kind of been in...hook-up mode...for all of my adult life."

It took her a second to process his words, but she understood.

"Well, as handsome as you are, and...being a man...that makes sense. I think."

"The point is, that's what I was referring to about being empty and seeking contentment over happiness. Sex is...nice. It's great even. But when it's just sex, it's...empty. And meaningless."

Kodi didn't respond so he said, "I don't want to have meaningless sex with you, Kodi. I want it to be..."

Layton couldn't believe he was using this word, but he did use it.

"Special."

"Now I feel terrible," Kodi replied.

"Why?"

"Because I was ready to ask you to come home with me and...you know."

Layton smiled then said, "I can't think of anything I'd like more, but I need you to know how much I like you."

"And that's the reason I was going to ask you to...you know. Because I like you...a lot...and I was hoping you feel the same way about me."

"I do. I like you very much," Layton told her.

He looked at her for a second as they drove along and said, "In fact, I've never liked anyone the way I like you. And I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that."

"By having meaningless sex with me?" she asked rather quietly.

"Yes. But if we were to have...meaningful sex..."

"You're a truly amazing man, Layton," she told him truthfully. "I...I haven't sex, of any kind, in so long I almost can't remember. And while I would love to have sex with you, I'm willing to wait in order to make love with you whenever it's right."

"I've never waited before," he told her, and that too, was true. "Ever. And I've never wanted to. Ever. But you are so amazing and so...special...I really want to get to know you better first."

He laughed then said, "I can't believe I just said that, but that's how I feel about you."

"You can't believe you just said I'm amazing?" she teased, finally smiling and feeling amazing. And...special. And, and crazy as it sounded, like she might be falling in love with him.

"Don't joke about that, okay?" he said quietly. "Because you are...amazing, Kodi."

For the first time she believed him. As the significance of what was going on between them hit her, she felt tears welling up in her eyes again. But these were tears of happiness. Or were they possibly—'tears of contentment'?

"I won't," she said just as quietly. "And I can wait as long as it takes."

Layton smiled at her then said, "See? Every time you say something to me, it makes me lo...like you even more."

"I...I know just what you mean," she told him just as he pointed to a place and asked her if that was okay.

"Yes. Anywhere you like," she replied, already aware she'd go anywhere with this amazing, handsome, younger man.

For nearly two hours, Kodi poured her heart out to someone who cared about everything she said. Layton rarely talked about himself choosing to comment on things she shared or ask how that made her feel. It wasn't that he didn't have plenty to say, he just loved being with her and learning about who she was and what she valued.

And as she spoke, he realized she wasn't complaining or venting, even though there was a bit of the latter going on. It was more her way of sharing what was important to her as she recounted things that either made her happy or hurt.

By the time they left, he had a fairly decent understanding of who she was, and the more he heard the more he liked about her.

Just before they left she said, "I feel terrible. I did nearly all the talking and you didn't get to say much about yourself."

Layton smiled at her then said, "It's okay. I already know all about myself."

Kodi was very tired but enjoying herself immensely. It took her brain a second to 'get it' and once she did, she laughed again.

"I've laughed more tonight than in all the time since I found out about..."

She stopped and said, "I promise not to bring that subject up again."

"No. Don't promise that," Layton said. "It was a pivotal event in your life that's helped shape who you are, so please, talk about it as much as you need, okay?"

As she fought off another round of tears she forced herself to smile.

"We...we really should be going."

"Right. Yes, I hear they get very upset when the elderly come back to the home too late," Layton replied with a deadpan delivery.

Kodi looked for something to throw, and the only thing she could find was a pack of Splenda which she weakly tossed at him.

"Hey! If you're gonna try and sweeten me up, at least use the real thing," Layton said with a faux sense of disgust before laughing and throwing it back at her just as gently.

She put it back, then on the verge of getting emotional, said, "I can't imagine you being any sweeter, Layton."

He almost said, "Gee, now I've been called 'sweet' by two women. My mother and you."

Instead he just smiled and said, "Come on. Let's get you back to your car so you can get home and go to bed."

Kodi thought about saying, "Right. Alone," but didn't.

She, too, only smiled and thanked him for the best time she'd had in years.

"You need to get out more," Layton told her as he stood up then reached for her hand and helped her do the same.

When they were face to face, she said, "If that's an invitation, I accept."

He stood there looking at her for a few seconds then told her, "How can I possibly be so lucky as to have you in my life?"

"You know, I was just thinking the same thing," she told him before she kissed him.

They were all alone except for one person at the register, and Kodi wouldn't have cared if the place was packed.

Layton took her hand and walked her to the door then asked her to wait for the car to warm up.

"I'll be okay," she told him with a smile. "Besides, I'd rather be cold with you than warm by myself."

She realized how corny that sounded and nearly said so. But the way Layton looked at her helped her understand he didn't think it was corny at all.

When he pulled in alongside Kodi's car in the reception parking lot, he insisted she let him turn it on and warm it up for her when she clicked something on the fob and it started up.

"Oh, right. You have a nice car," he said with a laugh.

"More importantly, I have a nice boy..."

When she stopped, Layton leaned over to kiss her.

"I'd be honored to be your boyfriend," he said very quietly when the kiss ended.

"May I tell you something else?" she asked very softly.

"Of course."

"I never really gave any thought to dating a younger man, and the few times I heard about woman who did, I always imagined I'd not only feel older but...smarter and better informed, and like I was with someone who couldn't possibly hold their own."

"And now?" Layton asked as he stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers.

"I...I feel like I'm with someone who knows more than me about everything, and who makes me feel...safe and happy and..."

"Loved?"

Kodi looked down then said, "I wasn't going to use that word, but yes. That's exactly how I feel."

"I know we just met, but I really care about you, Kodi. And you make me feel that way, too."

She smiled as she looked at him again then told him, "I'm glad, Layton. And I'm so happy you're in my life, too."

"Kodi?" he said.

"Yes?"

"I'd like to stay in your life, and I'll be there for as long as you'll let me."

"I'll gladly let you, Layton. You can stay for as long as you like."

"Yeah?"

"Uh-huh."

"Goodnight, beautiful," he said as he kissed her again.

"Goodnight, handsome."

Layton went around and opened her door and then her other door and helped her get in.

"Oh. I don't have your number," he said as he reached for his phone.

He opened it to 'Messages' and handed it to him.

Kodi typed in her number along with some heart emojis and hit 'send'.

"Now you do," she said with a smile.

"Goodnight," he said again.

After saying it back, Kodi drove away feeling truly happy for the first time in at least two years, which was about the same time the affair began. Things had changed very rapidly after that, but until she learned the reason why, she spent a very miserable year trying to figure out what she'd been doing wrong. The answer, of course, was 'nothing'.

"You were just with the wrong man," she told herself as the warmth of feeling like she might be in love again washed over her and lasted until she got home—and a little later when she pleasured herself for the first time in weeks just before falling asleep.

Her fantasy never went beyond dancing with Layton as he smiled and kissed her while she wrapped her arms around his neck. For now, at least, that was all she needed as her last thought was, "He was right. This will be worth waiting for."

Kodi awoke to a text the next morning and that started her day off with a smile.