“Dad, we want to discuss something with you,” I said as Colt, Jacob and I entered the kitchen where our dads were preparing supper.

“What did you guys break?” Colin asked.

“Please tell me one of you isn’t pregnant,” Conner said.

“We did not break anything… this time,” Jacob said.

“Yeah, and please don’t try to be funny, although if you’d like me to try to get pregnant, I can ask Malkon over. I’m willing to give it a go,” Colt added. Malkon was my brother’s boyfriend.

“Lesson learned,” Conner said, shaking his head at my brother’s comment.

“What is it guys? I have to keep an eye on the garlic toast,” Colin said.

“We were thinking about Christmas. We all talked and… we don’t think we need presents this year.”

“Although stockings are still okay,” Colt said.

“Yeah, we all have everything already. We don’t need more stuff,” Jacob said.

“We were thinking we could give the money to someone who needs it, or buy presents for kids who don’t have all the stuff we do,” I said.

“Who are you and what have you done with our sons?” Colin asked.

“Dad!” Colt said.

“Okay. Okay. That’s extremely generous of you, but have you thought this through. Imagine no presents for Christmas.”

“We thought it through. That’s why we’d still like Christmas stockings. That will be enough for us,” Jacob said.

“What did we do to deserve such wonderful sons?” Conner asked Colin.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty awesome and deserve the best,” Colin said.

Conner stuck out his tongue.

“If you’re sure about it, then okay. You know, the Gay Youth Center sponsors a Christmas event for low-income families. It includes gifts for all the kids,” Conner said.

“Yeah, we kind of know about that because you volunteer us to bake cookies for it every year,” I said.

“You know you love it. Anyway, the kids who are attending write letters to Santa asking for what they’d like. How would you guys like to be Santa for some of them? You can read some of the letters and then shop for what the kids requests.”

“I’d like that. Maybe we should all dress as Santa when we shop,” Jacob said.

“I’ll be a sexy Santa wearing only boots, a cap and a thong,” Colt said.

“That’s a big no to dressing like Santa, then, but you can all be Santa,” Colin said.

“Come on, Dad. Let Colt dress as sexy Santa. You know he’s bluffing,” I said.

“Hmm,” Colin said as if considering it.

“Okay! I was bluffing, but only because it would be too cold!” Colt said.

“That’s settled then. Why don’t we go over to the center after supper and see if we can get a look at some of the letters,” Conner said.

“Get what you want to drink. The toast is almost done,” Colin said.

“What are we having, anyway?” Jacob asked.

“Spaghetti because Colin and I both got home late.”

“I love spaghetti,” I said.

Us three boys quickly set the table and filled glasses with ice. We mostly drank iced tea. We had soft drinks now and then, but they weren’t good for you and we all liked and needed to stay fit. We were definitely a sporty family.

We soon began to eat. I had friends that ate in front of the TV, but we usually ate together. Sometimes, one of my dads was gone or one or two of us boys, but whoever was here ate at the kitchen table. We even talked!

Today, the talk was about Christmas and what kinds of presents we might buy to give away. It was actually more fun than thinking about what I wanted.

After we finished dessert, cherry pie, yum, we took off for the Gay Youth Center. We’d all been there before. We took classes there and sometimes attending meetings. Today, we had another purpose.

We entered, passing the display case where the photos and soccer uniforms of two gay boys from way back in the 1980’s were on display. The center was even named after them, The Potter Bailey Gay Youth Center. We’d heard the story in one of the meetings. Being gay back in the olden days was much harder.

Colin went back in the office area to find someone and soon we were all inside a meeting room sitting around a table reading letters.

“Pick letters with requests that you think you can fulfill. The first name, age and sex are written at the top,” Conner said.

“How much money do each of us get to spend?” Colt asked.

“Since you are giving up your own gifts, we’ll give you each $500 to spend,” Colin said.

“You spend that much on us?” I asked.

“Sometimes, although it’s often less,” Conner said.

“Whoa. We are expensive,” I said.

“Yeah. If we’d realized the cost, we would have bought gold fish instead.”

“Yeah, right!”

“Start looking. It will be better to pick out too few letters than to pick too many. We can always come back.”

“Here’s one. Dear Santa, I want a fire truck with lights and sound and I’d like a little TV for my room,” Colt read out loud.

“Here’s an easy one,” Jacob said. “Dear Santa, I want ballet lessons. That is all. Violet.”

“Done. Keep that one for sure,” Conner said. Dad owned the local ballet school and he was a famous dancer.

“Dear Santa, Please bring me a soccer ball and also a mechanical dog that is as real as possible because I am allergic to real dogs and my mom won’t let me have one even after I told her I am willing to sneeze to have one. Moms!” I read and laughed.

We spent a long time reading letters out loud. I tried to pick both boys and girls, but had trouble finding girl letters because I didn’t understand some of the stuff they wanted. Girls were mysterious.

We left an hour or so later, each with a few letters to Santa and a mission to get the kids what they requested for Christmas.

“Okay, I want you to buy what you can locally. Whatever we can’t find in Verona, we can order,” Conner said.

“I definitely have to go to the toy store,” I said. “You think Gaylord’s will still be open?” I asked.

“I need to go there, too!” Colt said.

“Me too!” Jacob said.

“Yeah, they stay open later near the holidays,” Colin said. “We will head there next.”

Gaylord’s Toys was located downtown. It had been there my entire life. It looked very old-fashion from the outside, like a shop one might see in Diagon Alley in the old Harry Potter movies or like one in A Christmas Carol. It was currently decorated for the holidays with evergreen swag and lights bordering the windows and displays of old-fashioned toys and a mechanical Santa and elves behind one window and a family sitting around a beautifully decorated tree opening presents behind the other. Old Christmas music played from hidden speakers.

Inside, the store was packed with everything from old-fashion hand-made toys to the newest coolest stuff. When we were kids, we sometimes got to go there to pick out what we wanted for our birthday, although now we liked more grown-up stuff.

Real sleigh bells rang as we entered. I stood a moment to take it all in. There were toys everywhere. They were tucked into shelves and cabinets and lined the tops of cabinets. There were toys far too high on shelves to reach without a ladder. There were even more toys visible on the second level were a balcony extended around the entire interior. The whole place smelled like pine and gingerbread.

“Mr. Gaylord,” Colin said, greeting old Mr. Gaylord who owned the shop. It was rumored he was over a hundred-and-fifty years old, but that was just silly. I think Dad once told us he was about half that old.

Mr. Gaylord smiled and immediately produced chocolates in wrappers for each of us from one of his many pockets. He had given candy to everyone who entered for as long as I could remember.

“It’s so nice to see you all,” Mr. Gaylord said.

“The boys all wanted to buy gifts for others this year, so they’ve come with letters to Santa.”

“Well, we don’t have as many toys as they do up at the North Pole, but we do have a good many. If I can be of any help, let me know.”

We began to shop. Some toys were easy to find, but others were more difficult. The toughest was the mechanical dog. We had been shopping nearly an hour when I took a closer look at a dog sitting on a chair that I’d earlier taken for for a real dog. I picked it up and it barked at me. Its fur felt like real dog fur and I could feel a heartbeat.

“Wow, you are so cute!” I said and the dog barked in response. The head and tail moved, too.

Success! This was the next best thing to an actual dog.

We actually found most of the items mentioned in the letters. Colin said we could order what was left online. We departed absolutely loaded down with bags of toys. I already felt like Santa.

By the next evening, we’d ordered the rest of the gifts. After supper, Colt, Jacob and I helped our dads make sugar cookies. Actually, we did all the work. They merely directed us and gave instructions. Dads are good with that sort of thing.

We cut out shapes with the Christmas cookie cutters and then sprinkled on red or green sugar and slid them into the oven. Conner put on old-fashioned Christmas music while Colin got out the gift wrap and supplies. We gathered up the gifts we’d purchased and began to wrap them. Once again, we did the work, although our dads helped (and they’d paid for everything, so there was that).

“Make sure you tag the gift after you wrap it. Otherwise, we’ll have to unwrap everything and start again,” Colin said.

“That could be fun,” I said.

“Or not.”

The first batch of cookies were soon done. Eating them slowed down the wrapping, but we did not care.

“You know what would be good with these cookies? Hot cocoa,” Jacob said.

“Later, after our next task,” Conner said.

“Next task? Will this involve work?” Colt asked.

“Some, but if you don’t want to go get the Christmas tree, we’ll understand,” Dad said.

“We want to get it!”

Knowing we were getting our Christmas tree made the wrapping go faster. Before long, we’d finished and the packages looked awesome, if I do say so myself.

“Okay, let’s put on our coats and head for the Christmas tree farm,” Colin said.

The local Christmas tree farm had been started long ago by Grandpas Brendan and Casper. It was now operated by Uncle Cameron and his husband, Spencer. We went there every year for our Christmas tree.

Less than half an hour later, we were on the farm, checking out the trees.

“That one,” Colt said, pointing to a pine tree in the distance that was at least fifty feet tall.

“If you can cut it down and carry it to the car, we’ll get it,” Colin said.

“Hmm, pass.”

“Remember, it has to fit in the house.”

“You say that every year,” I said.

“I wonder why.”

After much looking and many comments such as, ‘too tall’, ‘too skinny’, ‘too fat’, and ‘not full enough’, we finally all agreed on a tree. We would have taken longer, but our dads were wise enough, or cruel enough, to tell us we couldn’t have any of the cookies or hot cocoa that was available until after our tree was located and tied to the roof.

When that last task was done, we headed inside the small barn were the hot cocoa and cookies were located. On the way, we passed stacks of Christmas wreaths, both decorated and undecorated. Our dads had already purchased two for our doors.

“Grandpa Brendan! Grandpa Casper!” we said when we entered. Us boys rushed to them and hugged them. They lived down in Bloomington, so we didn’t get to see them as much as we wanted.

“You knew they were here!” I accused my dads after I’d given and received hugs.

“Did I forget to mention that?” Conner asked.

“Yes!”

“How long are you here?” Colt asked.

“Only until tomorrow. We came up to make sure your uncles were handling everything well,” Brendan said.

We hit the cookies while our dads talked to our grandpas. Brendan and Casper were in their seventies, but looked a lot younger. Don’t get me wrong, they looked old, but they should have look REAL old.

“You boys look like you need cocoa,” said Uncle Cameron as we neared the counter where the cocoa and cookies were set out for customers.

“You know us well,” Jacob said.

“Did you bake these, or did Uncle Spencer?”

“I baked them,” Brendan called out.

“I’ll pass then!” Colt said.

“You didn’t bake them, Grandpa. They aren’t burnt!” I said.

Jacob merely laughed. Everyone knew Grandpa Brendan was a disaster in the kitchen. It was a family joke.

“I baked them,” Uncle Spencer said.

“Good, yours are better than Cameron’s,” I said.

“You’re no longer my favorite nephew,” Cameron said.

“I love your cookies,” Jacob told Cameron.

“You’re my favorite.”

“What about me?” Colt asked.

“Eh.”

Colt stuck out his tongue.

After we nabbed hot cocoa (with mini marshmallows, of course) and cookies, we returned to our grandpas.

“You should come stay at our house,” I said.

“We’ll see you guys soon after Christmas. That’s when we’ll bring your Christmas gifts.”

Our dads then told them we’d decided to give gifts using the money that would have been spent on ours.

“I’m very proud of you boys, but we’ll still have something for you,” Casper said.

“Socks,” Brendan said.

“Used socks, right?” Colt asked.

“Of course, why waste money on new socks?” Brendan said with a grin.

Grandpa Brendan always told us we were getting used socks for Christmas. It was another family joke, like his cooking.

We stayed and visited a while longer, then we departed for home.

Once there, we pulled the tree inside and set it up in the stand with only minor difficulty. Conner went into the kitchen to make hot cocoa (which was a must despite the cocoa we’d drank on the farm) and the rest of us pulled out the boxes of lights and ornaments.

“I’ve got this,” I said after Dad plugged in the first set of multicolor lights. I scooped them up and ran around the tree yelling, “Ahhhhh!”

“Very good, Blue. We really needed the lights to overlap three times around the bottom,” Colt said.

“No?”

“Time to get serious,” Dad said.

“Okay, I guess we’ll do it the old-fashioned way then,” I said.

I unwound the lights from the tree. The four of us spaced ourselves out around the tree and passed each string of lights up as we wound them around up to the top.

When we finished with the multi-colored lights, we put on clear lights, which helped brighten up the tree. By the time Conner came in with hot cocoa and cookies, we were beginning to put on the long strings of red glass beads we used instead of tinsel.

“You guys work fast,” Conner said.

“We would have been finished if they did it my way,” I said.

“Your way?”

“You don’t even want to know,” Jacob said.

“Yeah, and we’re not doing it Blue’s way because we don’t want the tree to look like crap,” Colt said.

“Well!” I said, crossing my arms and pretending to be angry.

I uncrossed them for cocoa and cookies. One can never have too much of either.

“You guys want to see my new method for putting ornaments on fast?” I asked.

“No!” my brothers answered.

“I’m picturing broken glass everywhere,” Colt said.

“Okay, if you want to do it the old boring way.”

After a cookie or two, we got to work, but each of us frequently stopped for a sip or a bite.

“Catch, Blue!” Colt said and whipped an ornament at me.

“Ack! Oh, it’s wooden,” I said. I thought for a moment he’d shot a glass ornament in my direction at high speed.

“Chill out, guys,” Colin said.

“Does that mean I should open a window?” Jacob asked.

“Um, no.”

We kept decorating. Most of the ornaments were glass. Our dads bought us each one every year, usually connected to some event in our lives, like a football ball for playing on the football team. There were also ornaments we’d made in grade school, which were sad, although we’d thought they were great when we were younger.

After a good deal of work that no one minded, our tree was finished. We turned off all the other lights, sat back and gazed at it.

“It’s our best tree yet,” Colin said.

“You say that every year,” Colt said.

“Because it’s true. Every year we get better at this.”

“If you say so.”

“He’ll want us to write Santa next,” Jacob said.

“Nope, ‘cause you’re getting nothin’ for Christmas,” Colin sang.

“Stop! Stop! My ears!” Colt said and held his. We all did the same, although Dad sang pretty well.

“Are you guys still okay with your decision?”

“Absolutely,” I said.

“Yeah, gifts are nice, but the music and the food and the decorations are even better,” Colt said.

“I like giving presents better then receiving anyway,” Jacob said.

“Well, in that case, I’d like…” I said, but then began laughing.

“I agree with Colt, but what I like best is when we are all together,” Conner said.

“Especially when Great Uncle Skye is here,” Colt said.

“Yeah, we’ll have the old guy over for Christmas,” Colin said.

“I’m gonna tell him you said he’s old!” I said.

“Please do.”

I grinned.

You’d think time would pass quickly since we weren’t getting any presents for Christmas, but the days passed as slowly as they ever did before Christmas Day. We didn’t mind much because we loved listening to Christmas music, watching Christmas movies, baking and especially eating Christmas cookies and basically overdosing on Christmas.

Finally, it was Christmas Eve. We watched A Charlie Brown Christmas like always and sat around eating Christmas cookies. We stayed up pretty late because we didn’t plan on getting up early the next morning. There was no point since we wouldn’t have presents to unwrap. We’d still get Christmas stockings, because we told our dads they were okay. I think I liked a stocking better than gifts anyway.

I awakened about nine the next morning, dressed and then walked into the living room. Yes! We had stockings. Colt’s was missing, which meant he was already up. I took mine down and checked it out. Inside, I found special Christmas candies, including gold foil coins, candy canes and candy from different countries.

It was then when I noticed the large package under the tree wrapped in red and green tartan paper with a huge red bow. I guessed my dad’s had bought something for great uncle Skye. I went over, just to have a look, but there, on an extra large tag was written, “To Colt, Cyan, Jacob and Malkon for being extra good this year. Santa.”

This was a surprise since we truly did not expect any presents. I took my stocking to my room and put it on the bed before heading for the kitchen.

“It’s about time you got up. I just sent Colt to wake you guys,” Conner said has he stood at the stove.

“He must have gone the other way. I didn’t see him. What’s with the gift under the tree? We’re not supposed to get anything.”

“Santa Claus dropped that off last night. I think he heard about your selfless act,” Colin said.

“Hey, that wasn’t selfless. I like giving presents.”

“Well, I hope you like setting the table because that’s what you get to do now,” Colin said as he operated the microwave. “The guys should be here soon.”

He hadn’t more than said it when great uncle Skye appeared at the door.

“Did I time it right? Am I too late to help?” he asked.

“Hey, Skye!” I said and gave him a hug.

“Almost perfectly. You can help Blue set the table if you want.”

“No, I’m far too lazy.”

“Ha! You’re not lazy!” I said.

“I am today and to prove I’ll sit down and do nothing.”

I set the table. Colt soon reappeared. Jacob finally did as well.

“What’s with the present?” Jacob asked as soon as he entered the room.

“You’ll see after breakfast,” Conner said.

“Well, I suppose waiting won’t be too difficult since we weren’t expecting any gifts.”

The kitchen was filled with the scent of French toast and bacon, which was our traditional Christmas breakfast. It wasn’t just any French toast. We had it with real butter, real maple syrup and wild blackberries we’d gathered in the warmer months. We also had scrambled eggs with melted cheese and orange squeezed on top.

“They’re here!” Jacob shouted as he looked out the window.

Moments later we heard a knock at the door. Colt answered and in stepped Malkon and his dad, Marshall.

“Finally! We have been waiting forever,” I said.

Marshall checked his watch.

“We’re early,” he said.

“Okay, it only seemed like forever.”

Jacob and I helped Marshall out of his coat, toboggan and scarf, while Colt helped Malkon. I thought about making a comment about him stripping him, but thought better of it. They kissed. My brother and Malkon could usually be found joined at the lips.

“Breakfast is almost ready,” Conner said.

“I am so glad we did not have to get up early, but from the scents in the kitchen it would have been worth it,” Marshall said.

Soon, we were all seated and Christmas breakfast was served.

Knowing that a gift was waiting for us under the tree made it more difficult to concentrate on breakfast, but the food was so incredibly delicious I didn’t rush. Besides, our dads wouldn’t and I’d only have to sit and wait on them.

“You know, you could tell us what’s in the box in the living room,” Colt said.

“We could,” Conner said.

“Well, I hate to be the one to ruin the surprise, but I saw your dads following a dog around yesterday with a pooper scooper,” Skye said.

“That would be too cruel,” Jacob said.

“No, it wouldn’t. You guys weren’t even expecting a gift,” Colin said.

“Dog doo is still not an acceptable Christmas gift.”

“I wish we would have known. It would have saved us a lot of trouble,” Colin said to Conner.

“Ha. Ha. So, funny,” Colt said.

We gave up and focused on eating. I didn’t want to know what was inside before we opened it anyway. To be honest, it didn’t much matter. It was just super cool to have a present to think about.

“Can we open it now, Dad?” Colt asked Colin after everyone had finished, which was quite a while later.

“Maybe I should make some hot cocoa first.”

“Nooo!” Colt, Jacob, Malkon and I said together.

“How about a nice hike first,” Skye said.

“Noo!”

“Oh, I suppose we can at least go take a look,” Colin said.

We pulled our dads, Skye and Marshall to the living room, where the large balsam pine tree we decorated with hundreds and hundreds of multi-colored lights and scores of ornaments stood.

The only thing under the tree was the box wrapped in red and green tartan paper with a big red bow on top.

“Can we open it now?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Perhaps we should sing carols first,” Conner said.

“Not funny!”

“Can we open it now? Please. Please. Please. Please,” Malkon asked.

“You know they’re going to be truly angry with us when they discovered there is only socks and underwear inside,” Colin said.

“Yeah, right!” Colt said.

“Okay, everyone gather around in a circle,” Connor said.

We did so with the present sitting in the middle. Colt and Malkon sat so close they were nearly one. Great Uncle Skye sat next to me.

“Who gets to open it?” Jacob asked.

“I don’t care, as long as someone does!” Malkon said. “The suspense is agonizing!”

“You can all open it,” Colin said.

“Now?” I asked.

“Now.”

Us boys grabbed the box, ripped through the paper and sent it flying. We peered inside. It was empty!

“Not funny! Whoa! What’s happening?”

I could swear I felt myself being pulled toward the box. In another moment, I was sure of it. What’s more everyone else was being pulled in as well. I felt myself falling and moments later landed on… sand?

I stared up at the cloudless sky. The hot sun beat down upon me. I could hear waves in the distance. I sat up and saw a lagoon. Not a lagoon but my lagoon.

“We’re on my island!” I said.

“Merry Christmas!” our dads and Marshall said together.

“How is this possible?” Colt asked. Marshall raised an eyebrow. “I mean, how did you do this? Did you know about this, Malkon?”

“Not a clue,” Malkon said.

Skye grinned at us. He was in on it too and never said a word.

“Colin and Conner came up with the idea. I made it happen,” Marshall said.

“What if…” I began, remembering that time was often out of sync between Tydannon and our world. On my first trip to this island, over two years passed here while minutes did back home.

“I’ve taken care of that,” Marshall said. “We are staying for a two-week holiday. When we return, will be arrive exactly one second after departing.”

“Two weeks on my island! This is the best!” I said, standing up to strip off my shirt. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Who wants to swim?”

All of the other boys shouted ‘me’ and began to strip. Our dads and Skye undressed more slowly because, you know, old people move slower, only they weren’t older here. They were teen boys. That would have freaked me out but this wasn’t my first trip to Tydannon, or even my second. No one here every looked older than fifteen or sixteen.

Once we’d stripped nude, us boys ran for the lagoon. Our dads and Skye stripped, too. We often skinny dipped in our little lake back home. Marshall was a bit more reluctant, but he joined us.

I couldn’t believe I was back! I had hated to leave my island and hoped to return someday, but now here I was! This was some Christmas present.

The water in the lagoon was the perfect temperature, just like I remembered it. I had swam here hundreds of times, mostly alone, then with Jacob when he joined me and finally with my dads when they arrived with Marshall to rescue us. Now, my entire family was here. I had dreamed about this!

We swam, wrestled and played in the water for I don’t know how long, then dried ourselves in the sun and redressed in the shorts our dads had thoughtfully brought along for the trip. I sure didn’t want to wear my sweater. I had no plans to even wear a shirt the entire time I was here. This was island life.

“Hey, when are we?” I asked Marshall later as we sat around a fire roasting wieners. Our dads had packed those too and well as lots of other stuff we might want or need.

“About a week after you departed last time.”

“So, we’re here and we’re also…” Jacob began.

“It’s best not to think about it,” Colin said.

“Yeah, or smoke will come out your ears,” Colt said.

“Go ahead. Think about it. I’d like to see that,” Skye said.

“Pass.”

“We should check out our hut. Want to see it, Skye? Colt? Malkon?”

“Yeah, since we were left out last time,” Colt said.

“You also weren’t grounded for six months,” I reminded him.

“There is that. You getting in big trouble also makes me the good son.”

Jacob cleared his throat loudly.

“Okay, I’m the best, then you, then Blue,” Colt said.

“I thought I was the best,” Jacob said.

“You’re all equally horrible! Now, go away and give us some peace,” Conner said.

“Well, Merry Christmas to you, too, Dad!” I said, but grinned.

Colt, Malkon and Skye followed as Jacob and I led the way to our hut. Without the small stream to guide us, we might not have found it because the jungle had largely retaken the narrow path we’d cut through the vegetation.

“What do you think?” I asked when we reached the little hut that I’d constructed all by myself by bending over small trees, tying them together and weaving in vegetation for walls and a roof.

“Nice, but I was expecting a tree house. I always thought you should live in a tree with the other monkeys,” Colt said.

“Funny! Hey, look, here’s some of the pottery we made,” I said.

“I am so jealous you got to live here for so long,” Colt said.

“Good. That makes it much better.”

“It’s a bit primitive for me,” Malkon said.

“I thought you liked primitive things. You like Colt,” Jacob said.

“Ha!” Colt said.

“You like history. This is probably how people lived thousands and thousands of years ago,” I said.

“I prefer civilizations with writing. There aren’t any snakes here, are there?” Malkon said, looking around uneasily.

“You take on goblins, but you’re afraid of snakes?” Jacob asked.

“They are better at sneaking up on you.”

“Don’t worry. The snakes here are so huge you can hear them slithering your way from half a mile off. There’s plenty of time to run,” I said.

Malkon’s mouth dropped open. I couldn’t maintain my serious expression. I laughed.

“You are so full of crap, Blue!” Colt said.

“Don’t worry, Malkon. There are no snakes here. I never saw one in over two years.”

“I never saw one in my year here either,” Jacob said.

“That’s too bad. I wanted to see a giant snake,” Skye said.

“This is really cool, Blue,” Colt said.

“We mostly used the hut to store things and shelter from the storms. We slept on the beach.”

“I’ve missed that,” Jacob said.

“Well, you can do it for the next two weeks. This is the sweetest Christmas present ever!” I said. “Don’t you think so, Colt?”

“We lost them,” Jacob said. Colt and Malkon were making out, again.

***

The following days were absolutely incredible. We slept as late as we wanted, swam all we wanted and cooked out right on the beach. Colt and Malkon slipped off now and then to… I don’t even want to know, but they disappeared at times. Mostly, we all stayed together.

One day, I led everyone into the interior of the island and up the slope of the volcano, which was inactive, thankfully. I showed everyone who hadn’t been there before the ruins of the ancient Egyptian temple. Malkon had sworn up and down that I had to be mistaken and that the Egyptians couldn’t possibly have been here because they wouldn’t travel so far from Egypt. Apparently, if they died in a foreign land and their body wasn’t returned to Egypt, they lost their eternal afterlife. It was with great satisfaction that I watched Malkon examine the ruins and translate some of the hieroglyphs. He had to admit I was right! The ancient Egyptians had most certainly lived on my island.

We had bonfires and races and wrestling matches. We had seen them young before, but it was still kind of weird to see our dads and Skye look like they did when they were teens. I hadn’t even recognized my dads when they came to rescue Jacob and me from the island my first time here. I think they liked being young again. It probably wasn’t all that fun being old.

I can’t even begin to list all the fun we had. We spent two entire weeks on my island and it was Christmas Day the entire time! This was, without doubt, the best Christmas ever, and it was even over yet!

The day after Christmas we attended the Holiday Party at the Potter Bailey Gay Youth Center. We had delivered our gifts to the center well before Christmas and now we’d get the chance to see them opened.

We showed up early to help since Skye and our dads all volunteered at the center. Axel and Phoenix O’Connell were there to help, too. They were old guys like our dads, but also like them were very fit. They taught gymnastics at the center. With them, and others, we put the finishing touches on the big event room, which was already decorated with streamers, lights, a real Christmas tree and lots of other decorations. We helped carry in big trays of Hanukkah, Yule, Kwanza, Christmas and Saturnalia cupcakes, cookies and cakes, bowls of Chex mix and lots of other food.

Soon, guests began to arrive. Some kids from the music school just outside of town played live Christmas music and everyone began to mingle and eat. I especially like the little wienies in barbeque sauce, but one can’t go wrong with frosted cookies, brownies and cake.

After everyone had more or less finished eating, the gifts were handed out. For most of the kids here, they were the only gifts they would receive, which made me sad, but I also felt good that we’d done what we could to help. Sure, it was our dad’s money, but we decided to spend it on these kids instead of ourselves.

The little girl who wanted ballet lessons cried when she opened her gift, which included not only a gift certificate for the lessons, but toe shoes. I knew Dad would outfit her with whatever else she wanted, too. I came close to crying when the boy who had asked for a realistic dog open his gift and began crying because he was so happy. All the kids here appreciated what they received so much. I didn’t know about my brothers, but I wanted to do this every year. The last thing any of us needed was more stuff. When I was older, I’d keep doing it, with my own money. Our vacation on my island had been incredible, but I liked this party even more. It really was a Merry Christmas.

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