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    First Christmas
    First Christmas
    First Christmas
    Ebook95 pages1 hour

    First Christmas

    By Debbie McGowan

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    About this ebook

    Remember the way you used to feel when you were little? So eager for Santa’s visit, sleeplessly counting the minutes till morning, trembling with excitement and anticipation... Will I get what I wished for? Have I been good enough?

    Josh and George spent half a lifetime apart, so it matters not that they’re all grown up now. For this is their first Christmas together, in their new home. They finally have all that they wished for...

    ...But perhaps Santa still has a few surprises in store.

    This Christmas, join Josh and George for a Christmas story full of festive magic and romance.

    Best read in December, in front of a roaring log fire, by the twinkling light of a Christmas tree.

    * * * * *

    First Christmas a novella-length character special. Part of Hiding Behind The Couch series.

    The story follows chronologically from The Harder They Fall (Season Three) and continues in In The Stars Part I (Season Four).

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBeaten Track Publishing
    Release dateDec 1, 2013
    ISBN9781909192546
    First Christmas
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    Author

    Debbie McGowan

    Debbie McGowan is an award-winning author of contemporary fiction that celebrates life, love and relationships in all their diversity. Since the publication in 2004 of her debut novel, Champagne—based on a stage show co-written and co-produced with her husband—she has published many further works—novels, short stories and novellas—including two ongoing series: Hiding Behind The Couch (a literary ‘soap opera’ centring on the lives of nine long-term friends) and Checking Him Out (LGBTQ romance). Debbie has been a finalist in both the Rainbow Awards and the Bisexual Book Awards, and in 2016, she won the Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) for her novel, When Skies Have Fallen: a British historical romance spanning twenty-three years, from the end of WWII to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967. Through her independent publishing company, Debbie gives voices to other authors whose work would be deemed unprofitable by mainstream publishing houses.

    Read more from Debbie Mc Gowan

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      Book preview

      First Christmas - Debbie McGowan

      Chapter 1

      22nd December

      For a sizeable hatchback, it was fairly crammed full of thick plastic bags in red, green, gold and silver, all vying for space and threatening to explode their contents as soon as the boot swung open. George caught hold of the two loops of braided handle in the nick of time, positioning his leg against the bumper to stop the rest from sliding out.

      So, this is what Christmas shopping with Josh is like… A single, eight-hour expedition that started in the crowded shopping mall, followed by the zigzag, stop-and-start traversing of supermarket aisles while trying to dodge the ankles of other "equally inconsiderate shoppers, who persist in halting directly in front of us without warning!"

      It would have tried the patience of a saint, and Josh didn’t have that. At his fourth threat of abandoning the loaded trolley, George suggested he’d return alone, should they have inadvertently forgotten anything. His offer worked exactly as he’d anticipated, and they made good speed through the last few aisles before taking up residence in the closest checkout queue. And, because Josh hated shopping, he didn’t so much as touch George while they were out, which was almost a good thing, although, truth be told, he was starting to like it.

      Two journeys between car and house saw all of their purchases piled in the hallway and with only one ripped bag. Fortunately, George was carrying it, so their new neighbours were spared Josh’s cursing on this occasion, although barely. George stepped carefully to one side, shoving with his heel to clear a space, and Josh still caught his foot in a handle.

      For fuck’s sake! he spat, shaking his shoe free of the consumerist man trap they had unwittingly created between them. George ignored him and closed the door. It was done now, and soon, all would be well again.

      I’ll stick the groceries in the kitchen, he said, hoisting the first two of the half dozen supermarket bags off the floor.

      Josh moved out of the way and grunted. We forgot wrapping paper. Shit!

      George dumped the bags on the kitchen cupboard, returning for more. No, we didn’t. It’s in there. He tapped a corner of red and green with his toe and then disappeared again.

      And labels? Josh shouted. He was determined to prove their first Christmas shopping trip together had been a failure. It would pass.

      In that one. George nodded at a tiny gold bag as he made his third journey to the kitchen. With all the groceries gone, the mound in the hallway didn’t look anywhere near as intimidating. He heard Josh grunt again as he began moving the rest of their shopping into the lounge. Apparently, they were going to wrap everything today too.

      George had a trick or two up his sleeve to hopefully make the process a little less painful. Top of the list: coffee, before Josh lost it completely. George filled the filter machine, using the time it took to brew to put away the chilled foods—cheese and paté, plus several pots of cream with various additives of both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety—a fairly modest selection, given that the fridge was already at full capacity on account of all the beer and juice.

      The coffee machine glugged away merrily in the background, making its own music in the absence of more festive melodies. That was easily fixed, just as soon as the coffee was ready, whatever Josh had to say about it. It was only three days away, after all. Even he couldn’t complain it was too early for a little Christmas music to help the proceedings along.

      Josh dumped the last of the bags on the floor and flopped onto the sofa. What he hated most about shopping was putting it away, and he was eternally grateful to George for rescuing him from that weekly torture. The only thing worse than shopping was Christmas shopping and the hellish hours of wrapping gifts that followed. If he’d still been on his own, he’d have probably opted for in-store wrapping and maybe even tried to bribe the shops where that service wasn’t available. Still, if the only thing I have to suffer is an evening of fighting with sticky tape and scissors, it’ll be worth it to be spending Christmas with George.

      Christmas with George…wow! His stomach did a little somersault at the prospect. Sure, they’d spent last Christmas together, but it wasn’t the same. This time last year, they were still playing a game, pretending to be nothing more than good friends. Now it was different, so wonderfully different, and he suddenly needed to tell George how he was feeling. He switched on the tree lights and loaded up the Christmas playlist they had put together. Much better. He was ready to face the evening’s toils. But first, he had a treat in store for them both.

      Here, George said, holding out a cup of coffee as they met halfway between the kitchen and lounge.

      Josh took the cup and kissed him, a waft of alcoholic steam rising up between them. What have you put in it?

      Cognac.

      He sniffed it and nodded his approval. You’re not trying to get me drunk, are you?

      George grinned.

      Have you seen how bad I am at wrapping presents?

      Yeah, right! All those precision corners, exactly the right length of tape, perfectly centred labels. I bet you’ve got your ruler and set square out already.

      Josh stuck out his tongue, and George went to bite it. He wasn’t quick enough but thought he’d stay there anyway and try to tease it back out.

      I was going to, Josh murmured into the kiss, make us— very difficult to talk with someone’s lips pushing against his —one of those— and his mouth full —orange-liqueur desserts, he finished, turning so they exchanged places without breaking contact.

      George pulled away. Bring it on! He took the cup back. Josh leaned in to take a quick glug and went through to the kitchen, gathering together the ingredients, which Wotto had divulged, eventually, after much cajoling and a couple of down-and-dirty mind hacks on Josh’s part. He did apologise later, and he told Wotto how he’d done it, promising not to share the recipe with anyone else because it was one of Wotto’s trademark desserts. It didn’t require much in the way of skill; it was the order and combination of ingredients that made it so special—what George had

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