When Opportunity Knocks - 14. Chapter 14

Kyle had no clue where his dream started and where reality kicked in. He knew he had been dreaming about Jett’s lips wrapped around his cock, but somewhere along the way he realized the dream was true. He opened his eyes to the sight of Jett’s mouth with his dick buried in it. That’s all it took for him to lose it and pump himself into that wet heat and empty out his balls.

He may, or may not, have shouted out a few expletives as his body shook. What a way to wake up. He was surprised he even had anything left in him. He had made good on his promise after they went to bed and both of them would have tender backsides for the rest of the day, without a doubt.

Jett let him go with one long lick and a kiss to the crown before scooting up and spooning Kyle. His hard shaft was nestled along his crack and Kyle reached back and grabbed a butt cheek to make more room. Sneaky Jett had already slathered some lube on himself and Kyle enjoyed the feel of Jett’s slick cock as it rubbed against the sensitive skin. Jett took his time and Kyle didn’t mind. When Jett reached the point of no return he pulled back just enough to get his hand in between them before painting Kyle’s lower back with his release. Yessiree, it was a damn fine way to start the day.

Jett peppered Kyle’s upper back and shoulders with kisses and Kyle flipped over to kiss him properly. “Good morning handsome.”

“Mmmmhmmm, it is a good morning isn’t it?” Jett hummed.

“I could get used to wake up calls like that one. Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?”

“For doing things like what you just did. My ex was a taker, not a giver. It feels nice to be spoiled sometimes,” Kyle admitted.

“You deserve to be spoiled sometimes and I like spoiling you, especially in a sexy kinda way. That’s my favorite.” Jett gave Kyle a quick peck before pinching his ass. “Time to get up. I’m starving and need breakfast. I can hear life signs coming from the kitchen and unless Noah knows how to cook we might be in trouble. Bo’s been subsisting on military food for ten years, I’m not sure if he remembers how to boil water.”

Kyle snickered at the mental picture that flashed through his brain of Bo standing over a stove scratching his head trying to figure out how to boil water. “Noah can hold his own in the kitchen. If it’s him in there he damn well better be making cinnamon coffee cake.”

Kyle followed Jett into the bathroom and shared the shower with him. He loved the way Jett took over and washed his hair for him, spending extra time massaging his scalp. He returned the favor and kneaded his thumbs into the hard muscles covering Jett’s broad back.

By the time they finished showering and were dressed, the distinct scent of cinnamon was drifting through the house. Kyle stepped into the kitchen and was greeted with the sight of Noah pulling a piping hot cinnamon coffee cake out of the oven.

As soon as the pan was safely on the counter, Kyle stepped up behind Noah and wrapped his arms around his friend and squeezed, lifting his feet off of the floor. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! It’s been too long since I’ve been able to taste the heavenly creation of Nonna’s coffee cake recipe.”

Noah elbowed Kyle in the ribs, making him let go. “You’re lucky Nonna gave me the recipe. She wouldn’t even let Mom have it. She told me she'd break every bone in my body if I gave it to anyone. Trust me, I’m guarding it with my life. That old lady scares the shit outta me!”

Kyle laughed and told Jett, “Noah’s grandmother is where he gets his short genes from. She is also the scariest octogenarian I’ve ever come across. Cross her and you are fair game for whatever cooking utensil she has in her hand. I’ve been hit with wooden spoons, spatulas and even a whisk.”

Noah laughed. “That’s nothing. She threw a big wooden cutting board at Dad once. Dented the kitchen wall. But she’s a helluva cook.”

“That she is,” Kyle agreed. “Besides, outside of the kitchen, she’s the sweetest little old lady you’ll ever meet. Just don’t fuck with her kitchen.”

“It sounds like she’d fit right in with my family,” Jett snickered.

“Who’d fit right in with our family?” Bo shuffled out of the guest room, still groggy from just getting up.

Kyle didn’t miss the way Noah checked out Jett's brother in all his rumpled morning glory. One glance into the living room had told him that Noah had indeed slept on the couch last night, but there were definitely fine tendrils of smoke starting to form between the two. Whether or not it ignited into flames? Only time would tell, and there wasn’t a whole lot of it. Noah was going back to Japan in a few weeks.

Jett had pulled out some pans and he and Kyle started making scrambled eggs and sausage. Noah had already made a pot of coffee and Bo busied himself fixing everyone a mug and then got another pot brewing. Rosie and Bruce each got some of the scrambled eggs, but Jett and Kyle drew the line at sausage.

The easy flow of conversation and general teasing carried over into their breakfast time. Noah needed to take care of some last minute shopping and asked Bo if he wanted to tag along. Bo jumped at the chance and after they finished eating, he took a quick shower and got ready. Noah had showered earlier and he helped clean up the kitchen.

Once they had left Kyle turned to Jett, “What’s on your agenda for today?”

“Baking. Wanna help?”

“Define ‘baking’.”

Jett chuckled. “I’m in charge of pies for Christmas Eve. I have the fixings for apple, pecan, chocolate cream, lemon meringue and my favorite, chocolate peanut butter pie. Two of each and it’ll go twice as fast if you help.”

“You’re making ten pies?” Kyle asked incredulously.

“Yup. Just be glad I didn’t get stuck with stuffed manicotti this year. Skye drew the short straw on that one. I’m sure she’s roped Piper and Mom into helping. Everything has to be made from scratch except the ricotta. That gets bought at a specialty Italian bakery in Annapolis. It’s so time consuming and I kid you not, we make six extra-large baking trays full of them. There has yet to be a year with leftovers.”

“Exactly how many people show up to this shindig?”

“We’re up to about forty or fifty-ish. The aunts and uncles are getting up there in years so all of the kids have kinda taken over with the food prep. Certain dishes are assigned every year and everyone else brings something to contribute. There’s always plenty of food, but certain things like manicotti and meatballs are family recipes that have been handed down by our Nana. They tend to disappear rather quickly. One of my cousins is in charge of meatballs this year. We always stick Mom’s family with easy stuff like chips and dips and soda. They’re not known for their culinary skills.”

“Well, let’s get baking then.”

Kyle was a little overwhelmed at first when he saw Jett take out everything they would need. It was a lot. To Jett’s credit, however, he was well organized. All of the commonly used ingredients were in one place and then he divided the rest of the ingredients into stations where each pie would be made. Kyle was relieved to see that Jett had pre-made pie crusts and disposable aluminum pie plates with lids for everything. He had even bought pre-made chocolate pie crusts for the two peanut butter pies.

They worked well together, Kyle mainly sticking to slicing apples, making pudding and whipping cream while Jett measured out ingredients and stirred them together. The house soon smelled like a bakery.

Several hours later they stuck the cream pies in the fridge and left the others on the counter to cool completely before covering them. It was still light out so Kyle and Jett bundled up and took the dogs for a walk before it got too dark. Bo had shot Jett a text letting him know that he was going to spend the next couple of nights at their parent’s house. Beth had finally guilted him into staying there so she could dote on him for the holiday.

When they got back, Kim was getting out of her car and Tater started going nuts at the sight of Rosie and Bruce.

“Hey guys!” Kim called. She was trying to juggle Tater’s leash and a few grocery bags. Kyle and Jett each grabbed a bag while she tried to get Tater to stop dancing around. It was a lost cause.

Jett laughed at the little scamp. Ninety-nine percent of the time Tater was a well behaved dog. He just got so excited to see his best friends.

“C’mon, we’ll take these into the house for you and we can let these three out in the yard before Tater implodes,” Kyle said.

They followed Kim into her home and put her groceries down on the counter. The dogs made a beeline for the back door as soon as their leashes were off. Happy woofs and yips were heard as they romped around outside.

“You guys have time for a beer?” Kim asked.

Kyle looked at Jett and shrugged.

Jett smiled back at him and then turned to Kim, “Sure, we’d love one.”

They settled back in the living room and Kyle couldn’t help but glance over at the picture of Kim, Nikki and Heather on the mantle. He was still amazed at the resemblance between himself and Heather.

He was startled out of his reverie when Kim spoke. “I can get a copy made of that picture if you’d like. I can make one for Megan too, if you think she’d want one.”

Kyle was surprised when he felt a lump in his throat. He hadn’t really given much thought to the whole matter the past few weeks. His brain just didn’t want to focus on anything that serious. He nodded and tried to speak, but only a croak came out. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I’d really like that and I think Megan would too. I’m sorry, It’s just hitting me kinda weird today.”

“Don’t be sorry for anything Kyle. You’re allowed to have different feelings about all of this. Believe me, I’ve gone through possibly every emotion imaginable in the past thirty years. Hell, I still have times when I get overemotional,” Kim admitted.

Kyle nodded, thankful that nothing else needed to be said. Changing the subject, he asked Kim what her plans were for Christmas. She told them that she had been invited to an open house at a friend’s for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day she was having dinner with Joyce and her family like she usually did every year.

“Are you participating in the Yankee Swap tomorrow Kyle?” Kim asked.

“Yeah, Jett conned me into playing along.”

“What do you mean ‘conned you’? You instantly agreed when I mentioned it,” Jett said, trying to hold back a laugh.

At the time he had asked him about it, Jett’s dick had been buried in Kyle's ass and was ramming his prostate. He would have agreed to commit murder at that point, so close to coming.

“Yeah, exactly,” Kyle raised an eyebrow and shot Jett a look that spoke volumes.

They stayed another hour, catching up with Kim before Kyle said he needed to head home. He had to work half a day tomorrow, there were only a few appointments and he needed to evaluate a couple of dogs to see if they were ready to go home. The boarding kennel was full and fully staffed for the next few days and barring any last minute emergencies he could leave by lunch time and finish up his Christmas shopping. He still had some wrapping to do before diving into Jett’s family’s evening of chaos.

He hated saying goodbye to Jett. He was getting used to spending the night cuddled up to the man and it was starting to get a little addictive. But, he did have things he needed to take care of so he rounded up Rosie, kissed Jett goodbye and was on his way.

Rosie conked out in the back seat on the short drive and when they got home he followed her lead and got ready for bed. He sent one last text to Jett to say goodnight before turning in.

Monday morning came all too quickly and his shift at the clinic passed with lightning speed. He stopped at two stores on his way home and picked up what he needed. He had just enough time to finish wrapping his gifts and take a shower before Jett stopped by to pick him up.

Kyle gave Jett a kiss as he came through the door. He inhaled the scent that he was now addicted to. Jett tasted like peppermint. He must’ve snatched a candy cane off of his tree.

“You ready?”

“Yup.” Kyle grabbed the gift bag that had his contribution to the Yankee Swap and clipped Rosie’s leash to her collar. “You sure it’s okay to bring her?”

“Of course. How else would she get her present from Santa?”

“Santa brings a present to your parent’s house for my dog?” Kyle mused. “On Christmas Eve?”

Jett laughed. “Yeah, I know. Santa goes overboard. Besides, having all the dogs there irritates Mom’s siblings so it’s worth it. Grandmother always wrinkles her nose whenever a dog comes close. Can’t wait to see how she reacts when Rosie tries to get ear scratches from her.”

Kyle just shook his head as they went out the door.

The street was already lined with cars and Jett had to park a little ways down from his folk’s house. He and Kyle made two trips to get all the pies and presents from the truck to the house. Jett had carefully packed the pies into three cardboard boxes and made sure the lids were on securely.

Kyle had never seen so many people crammed into one house. Chris and Beth had a good size home, but with forty or so humans plus half a dozen dogs, the place was crowded, not to mention noisy. Jett hadn’t been kidding when he described it as controlled chaos. Beth Anderson was at the helm making sure it stayed that way. The command center was the kitchen and it was a beehive of activity. Every inch of counter space was spoken for. Beth directed them to the dining room where long tables with festive tablecloths had been set up. There were two tables dedicated to desserts with just enough room for ten pies. Food was served buffet style and Beth had at least a dozen huge restaurant style warming trays with butane flames set up along three more tables. The living room housed another two long tables laden with all sorts of munchies. Chips and dip, salsa, crackers and cheese and fruit already had a sizable dent carved into them.

Jett did his best to introduce Kyle to whomever was close by, but Kyle knew he would never in a million years remember who was who. There was, however, a clear divide between the Anderson clan and Jett’s maternal relatives. The Anderson’s were boisterous and outnumbered Beth’s side of the family by at least two to one. Kyle had to admit though that they took it in stride. Jett introduced him to his Grandmother and two aunts, along with their spouses. Kyle managed to get a small smile when he complimented Grandmother’s Christmas sweater. Really, who didn’t love a forest green sweater adorned with red poinsettias?

There were roughly a dozen or so young kids, the next generation, who generally spent the evening playing games with some of the older kids or getting underfoot, swiping food off of the tables whenever they got the chance. A few of them had latched onto their big cousin Bo and were using him as a jungle gym. Rory and Titan had parked themselves near one of the buffet tables, poised and ready to pounce as soon as someone dropped something.

In the kitchen Beth controlled everything with the precision of a conductor with a full orchestra trying to complete Mysterium by Alexander Scriabin, which has been described as being ‘impossible’. Chris’s mother, Jett’s Nana, was doing her best to aggravate her daughter-in-law in typical mother-in-law fashion. Jett wasn’t kidding when he said it was Christmas chaos at it’s finest.

There was no set time to eat, everyone just sort of grazed their way through the various trays and serving dishes. If something needed to be refilled then Beth would just grab the closest available able body and get it taken care of. The noise level ebbed and flowed as people mingled with each other. New stories were swapped and old stories were retold.

Kyle's ears perked up when one of the cousins mentioned Chris’s workshop. “What exactly is the deal with that?” He remembered Jett telling him that he and Bo weren’t allowed in the workshop anymore.

Jett’s cousin Kelly, or maybe it was Katy, laughed and was more than willing to spill the beans, despite the stink eye she got from Jett.

“The wonder twins were what? Fifteen? Maybe sixteen?” Kyle saw Jett nod.

“Whichever, they were at that stupid age. We had a huge snowstorm the day before and they decided that they were bored with the party and wanted to go tobogganing. Only problem was, their toboggan was missing a slat. So Einstein and Stephen Hawkings here decided to fix it. Now Uncle Chris has a pretty nice workshop, complete with a nice table saw. These two knew that if they went back to the party with sawdust all over them, they'd be busted and Chris would probably kill them. You see, they weren’t supposed to be in the workshop without him.”

Kyle looked over at Jett who was rolling his eyes. “We were fifteen and stupid.” Jett said.

Kelly, or Katy continued, “So to eliminate the sawdust issue these two decided to strip down, as in naked,” she laughed. “Naked woodworking is not recommended. Jett fired up the table saw while Bo measured for the piece they would need to cut. When Jett slid the board down the saw he had neglected to drop the shield into place. As soon as the board hit the blade a huge splinter shot across the room. Bo was bending over picking something up off the floor and the splinter shot into his back.”

“Holy shit!” Kyle exclaimed.

“Nevermind ‘holy shit’, all holy Hell broke loose,” Jett chimed in. “Bo screamed at the top of his lungs and next thing you know a dozen adults rushed over and there we were, flaunting our birthday suits with Bo howling that he was going to die.”

“I was not howling!” Bo yelled from the other side of the room, two of the little cousins clinging to him like burrs. He shook his legs trying to displace them, but they were tenacious little rascals.

Jett continued with the story. “Shut up, yes you were. So by the time everyone stopped panicking, Dad realized that Bo really needed to go to the hospital. He couldn’t tell if the splinter went in straight or sideways so they called 911. Once the doctors x-rayed him, they ended up needing to numb his back to dig the splinter out. It had gone in sideways. They pulled a five inch piece of wood out of his love handle.” Jett shook his head as he recalled how close his brother had been to a serious injury. He looked at Kyle, “And that is why we aren’t allowed in the workshop anymore.”

“I’ve still got the scar too!” Bo pulled up his shirt and Kyle could make out a thin scar along his lower back, just where love handles would be if he had any. One of the little kids poked at his exposed side and Bo scooped him up and started tickling him, thereby starting an onslaught of little ones attacking their big cousin. The noise level increased tenfold for a few harrowing minutes until Beth yelled from the kitchen for them to knock it off.

Beer and wine flowed freely, but everyone seemed to stay within a reasonable limit and there were no drunken outbursts to contend with. A few happy buzzes were happening and Kyle was feeling the effects of his third beer quite nicely. Most everyone had eaten their fill and the tables that had been in danger of collapse earlier were now more akin to barren wasteland. The manicotti had been amazing, just like Jett said.

Kyle and Jett had taken their turn in the kitchen with Beth, washing empty crock pots, containers and plates, putting all the clean items on a table that had been wiped down so the owners could claim them at the end of the evening.

When most everything had been taken care of it was time for the Yankee Swap. Kyle had heard of them, but had never participated. Jett had briefly explained the rules. In a Yankee Swap, or White Elephant exchange as it was also known as, everyone who wanted to participate would bring a gift within a predetermined dollar amount. In this case the limit was $20.00. The gifts had to be wrapped and they were all displayed on a table. Each person who brought a gift would pick a number out of a jar which determined the order of gift picking. Number one went first and could pick any gift from the table. The subsequent numbers went in order and the person could either choose an unwrapped gift or they could steal a gift from anyone who already opened one and swap with them. When everyone had opened a gift then whoever had number one could then swap with any of the others seeing how they didn’t get a chance to steal at the beginning. Number one was a highly coveted number. The catch with this type of exchange was the fact that gifts could be something really nice and useful, or they could be gag gifts. Jett had also warned him that there was one gift that was recycled every year and had been in circulation since the first swap back in the mid 80’s. When Kyle had asked Jett what it was, Jett merely laughed and told him “Don’t worry, when it gets unwrapped you’ll know it.”

There was an undercurrent of excitement as everyone gathered in the living room and crammed into every available seat and open spot on the floor. Most everyone who had managed to snag a seat on a couch or chair had someone on their lap. Kyle was snuggled into Jett’s lap as he had beaten his sister Piper to the last spot on the couch. Bo was on the other side of him, a little cousin on each knee.

Beth’s family was the exception. Bo whispered, “They never participate, but just once I’d love to see Grandmother’s expression if she had to unwrap a dildo.”

Kyle snorted and almost fell off of Jett’s lap.

Beth came around with the jar and he and Jett picked their numbers. There were 26 people participating this year and Kyle had number 22. Jett got lucky number 1 and let out a ‘whoop’ when he saw it, once again nearly sending Kyle tumbling to the floor.

Once everyone had their number the fun began. Jett got up and carefully perused the offerings. Each participant had one minute to choose either an unwrapped gift or a steal. Beth was the keeper of the timer.

Jett chose a small rectangular box and was rewarded with a sample pack of whiskey nips in assorted flavors.

“Should we drink them now so no one can steal them?” he asked.

“Isn’t that cheating?”

“All’s fair in love and Christmas gift swaps!” he retorted.

Kyle laughed, but they left the whiskey alone. They still needed to drive later and they had both stopped drinking about an hour ago.

Kyle had fun watching Jett’s family go through a few battles over gifts. In addition to the whiskey nips that Jett had, there were a few other alcoholic offerings. When Skye’s turn came she cracked up when her gift turned out to be a back scratcher in the shape of a giant penis. The way Bo laughed was a dead giveaway as to who had purchased it. It was promptly stolen on the next turn by one of their cousins.

So far the most popular gift was a tie dye lava lamp. It had been stolen and swapped three times and there were still eight people left, including Jett who had eyed it every time it was swapped. Kyle had a feeling it was going to be setting the mood in Jett’s bedroom very soon.

When it was finally Kyle’s turn he got up and examined the gifts that were left. He chose a medium sized gift bag decorated with a jolly Santa standing next to a chimney with his reindeer in the background. There were a few layers of red and green tissue paper obscuring the gift from view. He discarded the paper and reached in the bag and pulled out a box. The moment it became visible the majority of the room broke out and chanted at the top of their lungs, “CH-CH-CH-CHIA!!!!” and then erupted into laughter.

Kyle had picked the annually recycled, re-gifted Chia Pet that had been making the rounds since the very beginning. The box was slightly battered, but was still sealed. It wasn’t a Chia Pet, but rather it was the Chia Head. A very ugly, somewhat disturbing, terra cotta, creepy, thirty-something year old head that one was supposed to spread seeds on and wait for it to sprout.

Kyle joined in the laughter. The gift was utterly ridiculous and he loved it.

Jett’s eyes were watery with laugh tears as he told Kyle, “Now you have to be here next year so you can keep the tradition going.”

A slow warmth spread its way through Kyle when Jett said that. Just knowing that Jett was thinking ahead to next year and including Kyle in his future gave him a tingly, fuzzy feeling that he couldn’t quite place. It made him happy though.

Even if someone else wanted to, the Chia Head was the one gift that could not be swapped. It did, however, come with bragging rights for the next year.

After the last gift had been opened, Jett exerted his right as the number one spot to make a final swap and stole the tie dye lava lamp from his Dad who reluctantly handed it over and took the box of whiskey nips in exchange.

The end of the Yankee Swap was the signal for most of the guests to head out. There were a few little kids who were getting antsy because they were afraid Santa would skip them if he saw that they were still up.

Jett and Kyle said their goodbyes and it took fifteen minutes before all the hugs and kisses were given out. The silence that descended as they got the dogs situated in the truck was welcomed. Both Rosie and Bruce had received more than their fair share of attention, not to mention the stockings that ‘Santa’ had left for them. Jett had kept a close eye on Bruce to make sure his relatives weren’t slipping either dog food they shouldn’t have. Bruce had played a few games of hide and seek with the younger kids and he won every single time. Kyle was surprised that Rosie didn’t have a bald spot on her head from all the pettings she got, although none from Jett’s grandmother.

They had already decided to spend Christmas Eve at Jett’s place. Kyle would go over his parents in the late morning and spend the rest of Christmas Day with his folks and his sister. Jett would go back to his parents to exchange gifts and polish off some leftovers.

It was just after midnight when they got back to Jett’s. “So do you wanna open your present now or wait until morning?” Jett asked as they hung up their coats and kicked off their boots.

“If by ‘opening’ you mean undoing buttons and zippers, I’m all in,” Kyle wagged his eyebrows at Jett playfully.

“Well, that too. But really, do you want to do presents now?”

Kyle laughed. He could practically see the inner child in Jett begging to open his present. “Fine, it’s under the tree.”

Jett practically skipped as he crossed the living room in three long strides. He grabbed two presents, one that Kyle had placed there earlier for him and the other he handed to Kyle.

Kyle let Jett go first. Jett tore through the festive, sparkly paper that Kyle had painstakingly wrapped his present with. His eyes lit up as he saw that Kyle had gotten him a bottle of Aberfeldy 18 Year Limited Edition Single Malt Scotch Whisky. There was also a set of two Glencairn whisky glasses.

“I love it! Thank you so much!” Jett leaned over and captured his lips, just a flick of his tongue, hinting of more to come soon. Pulling away Jett said, “Open yours.”

Kyle turned over the 18 x 24 flat, rectangular package. He carefully peeled off the end of the paper, trying not to rip it too much. Jett huffed impatiently.

Slowly Kyle revealed a beautiful canvas painting. While the frame was beautiful, a dark, polished cherry wood, it was the painting itself that made Kyle gasp. It was him and Rosie. He was sitting on a large rock outcropping with his back to the picture and his head turned slightly in profile. Rosie was next to him, leaning her body against his and her head was tilted up and the look in her eyes was one of pure adoration. The sun shone on Rosie’s golden fur, giving it the impression of almost glowing. Kyle had to swallow the lump in his throat before he looked at Jett.

“How?” Kyle asked.

“On our second date, up at the reservoir. I had taken a few random pictures of you, the dogs, you and the dogs. That one spoke to me. I printed the picture and gave it to an artist friend of mine and she painted it on the canvas,” Jett admitted.

“Oh. My. God! This is signed by Kim! You had an award winning artist paint us! It’s stunning. And it’s perfect. I absolutely love it. I love---it.” Kyle stopped short, almost blurting out something that he wasn’t quite sure he was ready to say out loud yet.

He leaned over to kiss Jett and it only took a moment for the kiss to take on a life of its own. Kyle and Jett ended the day in a similar way to how it started.