Holland + Aidan
Here’s the sneakiest of peeks.
On Aidan’s and my last night in Charlotte that Christmas break, we had dinner with the family. Ethan and Ximena were hilarious as usual, telling stories about trips they’d all taken together. One was about a trip to Mexico City to visit Ximena’s family. Aidan’s Spanish wasn’t as good as he thought it was—he was trying to tell one of Ximena’s tios a story about Ethan (meta, right?) but he kept referring to his esposo rather than his hermano. At first, Ximena’s Uncle Miguel was trying to listen and follow along, nodding. But the more times Aidan said mi esposo and pointed to Ethan, the more confused Miguel got. Finally, he figured out that Aidan was a complete dumbass (Ethan’s word, not mine!) and started laughing hysterically. And of course, so did we at the table.
“My brother isn’t kind,” Aidan said.
“Your esposo?” I asked. And Ximena and Ethan howled.
“Y’all are incorrigible,” Naomi said, a huge smile giving the lie to her reprimand. She stood and started clearing plates.
“Oh, let me help,” I jumped up.
“No, no,” Naomi said. “I’m good. I need a break from you kids. Go play.” Her wink made me giggle.
Aidan stood and offered me his hand. “Come outside with me?”
“Um, sure?” I looked out the dining-room windows to see if it was snowing yet. “It’s pretty cold out there.”
“I’ll keep you warm, Holly,” Aidan said low and lovely and right next to my ear. My butterflies got very excited. So, we got all bundled up and headed out the back door to sit on the porch swing that looked out over the lawn and the forest behind the house. After we were settled in and snuggled up, Aidan wrapped his arm around my shoulders to pull me close. He felt like heaven. It was the safest I had ever felt. I leaned my head against his chest.
“It’s so beautiful out here,” I said.
“You’re not too cold?”
“I’m too happy to be cold,” I said.
“I’m so glad to hear you say that,” he said. Then he slipped my very warm mitten off my left hand.
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