Free A Christmas Memory by Max Vos

working with his hands. After snooping around a bit, I got a look at most of his tools, seeing if there was anything that he might not have, and then I got an idea. I discovered he didn’t have any of those cordless power tools with rechargeable batteries.
    I visited one of those popular home remodeling stores and looked around a bit. When I saw a man who looked like he was a tradesman, I asked him which ones were the better ones. He was kind enough to offer his opinion, giving me pointers, so that I could make an educated decision. I picked one of the higher-end kits he had suggested that had several tools, and the batteries were all interchangeable. It was a little more than I had anticipated, but I genuinely wanted to do this.
    I made the purchase, took it home and wrapped it up as best I could, although I wasn’t very adept at it. I hid the package in the trunk of my car, hoping to be able to slip it under the tree without him noticing. There were several packages under his tree; all of them were for his nephews and mother, as best I could tell. The rest of his family drew names at Thanksgiving, and bought that person one nice gift, making sure that the kids were the focus of the holiday.
    For Christmas Eve, I decided to make a special dinner, going all out. Whenever Adam came into the kitchen, I shooed him away, wanting to surprise him. I almost had dinner done, when I asked him to make a run to the store for something that I’d ‘forgotten’, which was just an excuse to get him out of the house for a bit.
    After he’d left I ran outside to my car and got his Christmas present out from the trunk. Placing it under the tree, I noticed a gift shoved to the very back. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was addressed to me, signed ‘Love always, Adam’. Why... that devil. I smiled.
    Pushing mine in behind his, hiding it well, I went back to cooking dinner. I had the table all set and most everything ready by the time he got back. I was able to use what he’d gotten me at the store, making sure he didn’t get suspicious.
    Dinner was superb, even if I did say so myself. Adam was amazed at the high degree of skill I had in the kitchen, and kept complimenting me the rest of the night, and he’d not even had dessert yet.
    We lounged around in front of the fire, letting our dinner digest, deciding to put dessert off for a while since we were so full. Holding each other, the occasional kiss exchanged, we relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company. We lay there for a while, listening to a special Christmas program on the Public Radio Station, neither of us saying anything. The lack of conversation was not at all uncomfortable.
    During a break in the program, I looked up at Adam and asked, “What would you like for a Christmas Gift?”
    I’d always heard to be careful what you asked for, and now I understood why. Adam looked at me, a serious look on his face as he answered. “You. For you to marry me and spend the rest of your life with me, letting me take care of you, to let me love you for all time.”
    My whole world started spinning. The only thing I could see were his eyes boring into mine, the rest of the room falling away. I knew from the look on his face, he was deadly serious.
    “Adam…I…”
    “Shush, don’t say anything right now,” he said as he placed a single finger over my lips. “Just nod to let me know you’ll at least think about it, okay?”
    I nodded my head. He removed his finger, replacing it with his lips. The kiss became passionate quickly, and we moved things to the bedroom. Each of us were completely focused on the other as we revealed ourselves to one another. It seemed more intimate somehow this time.
    Adam crawled into the center of the bed, motioning for me to follow him. He pulled me on top of him where once again our kisses turned hot, our need for one another growing. Our erections battled each other, as did our tongues.
    Breaking the kiss, Adam looked at me intently. “I want