Christmas Concerns

Written By: LJ


TJ was having a hard time containing his excitement. He could barely sit still. It seemed to be taking forever to open the few gifts under their tree.

‘Finally!’ he sighed deeply, his face lighting up as he reached behind him and pulled out a beautifully wrapped cylinder package. “This is from me, Glen, and you know we always save the best for last.”

Glen accepted the present, turning it several times while speculating, “Hmm, just what could this be?” He chuckled at his partner’s giggle of delight. Tearing off the paper, he peered in one end before withdrawing the rolled-up picture inside. Flattening it on the coffee table, he glanced quizzically at the love of his life. “It’s a photo of a large television,” he softly stated, obviously confused.

“It is an entertainment center,” TJ excitedly informed him. “A 50-inch Plasma Widescreen HDTV home theatre package, complete with a new satellite system; all the bells and whistles and it is being delivered in two days. There would be no way to keep it a secret if I brought it home before Christmas, so I thought of this instead.” He pointed at the picture still clutched in Glen’s hand.

Moving closer, Glen hugged and kissed TJ. “It’s a lovely thought, baby,” he murmured. ‘This is going to be difficult,’ he thought, worriedly contemplating the best way to approach what could turn out to be a rather volatile situation.

Pushing back, TJ stared suspiciously into the older man’s deep blue eyes. “But; oh yeah, I can tell there’s a ‘but’ hanging on the end of that sentence.”

“I am sorry, love; you’ll have to cancel the order.” Glen’s heart broke at the expression of shock and disbelief on his lover’s beautiful face. ‘There, I said it; now to do damage control.’

“What are you talking about? Why the hell would I do that?” The volume of TJ’s voice was steadily climbing as he got to his feet and stood with hands on hips glaring down at the man on the sofa. “I’m not going to! You mentioned a while back it would be nice to have. I got it, we’re keeping it, and that’s all there is to it!” he yelled and stamped his foot. He would have stormed off in a huff had Glen not reached out and grabbed his arm.

The slightly bigger man had no trouble unbalancing his drama queen and hauling him onto his lap. “Settle down, TJ!” Glen ordered. “We’re going to talk this out like two reasonable adults. There’ll be no tantrums, screaming or any other dramatics. Is that understood?” The response was a reluctant nod accompanied by a pout.

In the silence that followed, Glen waited patiently for his Brat’s rigidly-held body to relax. For several minutes, he rhythmically rubbed circles on TJ’s back and murmured all the nonsense words his partner found so comforting.

Finally, TJ slumped and buried his face in Glen’s shoulder. In fact, he drooped enough to become a dead weight, making it necessary for Glen to slide out from under him in order to keep his legs from becoming numb. TJ mumbled a complaint and tightened his arms around the other man’s neck.

“We have to talk, babe,” Glen calmly insisted, his lips pressed lightly against TJ’s wiry black curls. “We both agreed on a spending limit a few years ago, didn’t we?” Getting a nod, he continued, “and you’ll have to admit that you have more than surpassed that limit, right?”

“But we changed it this year.” TJ’s aversion to dealing with the situation was evident in his whine. A whine Glen would be the last one to mention.

“True, we decided to double it.”

“Nooo, you decided but I didn’t.” TJ shifted to hide his face even further under Glen’s chin. “I just didn’t tell you,” he quietly admitted.

“TJ, sit up and look at me!” Glen waited for his order to be obeyed. “That is not acceptable. Going a little over might have been, but thousands of dollars is a definite no-go. How were you even planning to pay for all if it?”

“I can afford it now, Glen. I do have my own business now, remember?” TJ immediately dropped the belligerent attitude when his Top’s eyes narrowed. “The store is doing real good, Glen. Besides, I don’t have to make any payments until a year January and I can have it paid for long before then.”

“Seems we’ve been this route before, TJ, and ended up paying out a lot of interest when plans fell through,” Glen reminded him. He had to bite his tongue to keep from smiling at the eye-rolling and expression of exaggerated annoyance on the younger man’s face. “You have been in business for less than four months and while it appears your first quarter was very profitable, much of that is probably due to the season. I think you can expect sales to drop off in the New Year.”

TJ released an inaudible mutter. He hated it when Glen resorted to logic. It seemed so unfair when he himself preferred to function on an emotional level.

Glen’s voice became firmer as he added, “And as much as I appreciate your generosity, I am not prepared to put up with you stressing out over unnecessary financial burdens. You have enough on your plate.”

“In other words, the discussion such as it was, is now closed and I have to stop delivery of my gift to you.” Much to TJ’s chagrin, tears of disappointment formed and he had to blink several times to keep them from falling. “It’s punishment, isn’t it?”

“No, love; it’s common sense. The set of wood chisels you gave me for my lathe and the silk shirt are absolutely perfect. I could want for nothing more.” Glen gently kissed his lover and used his thumbs to wipe away the lone tear that escaped. He watched various signs pass over TJ’s unhappy face; first, the search for additional argument; next, reluctant resignation; finally, hard fought-for acquiescence with the older man’s judgment.

“How about we tidy up in here and get dressed? We’ll have to leave soon if we want to make it to your parents’ home in time for dinner.” Glen smiled as he encouraged TJ to get off the sofa. He didn’t for a moment delude himself into believing this was the end of it. He was more than aware of the difficulties his Brat had in accepting things not to his liking. TJ needed and wanted the structure, but often wrestled with the emotions some restrictions stirred up.

Although their visit with TJ’s family started out well, it slowly but steadily went down hill as the afternoon moved on. During the long drive, TJ had let his mind conjure up negative thoughts of how unappreciative his partner had been. His earlier acceptance gradually dwindled, leaving him feeling put out and sorry for himself. His nastiness towards his sister used up the last of Glen’s patience and even though TJ had sincerely apologized, they left for home earlier than originally planned.

TJ was not at all grateful for Glen’s hasty intervention. He resented his partner smoothing things over and offering excuses for his behaviour. He wasn’t feeling at all under the weather; he was bloody-well pissed-off. The entire drive home, TJ sat sullenly feeding his anger. It was far from being an amicable trip.

“I think it best you have an early night,” Glen stated upon their return. He plugged in the kettle to make the cup of tea he felt in dire need of.

“Like hell!” TJ stepped out of his boots and threw his jacket down. “It’s still Christmas and I’m going to have a good old-fashioned, rum-laden drink of eggnog.”

“You most certainly are not!” Glen returned the milk and shut the refrigerator door. Turning his Brat towards the kitchen door, he smacked TJ’s backside, hard. “Bed!”

TJ gasped at the unexpected pain. He would have screeched had he had the breath to do so. He stomped from the room, down the hall and up the stairs; each footstep echoing throughout the house.

The door slamming hard enough to shake walls was the last straw for Glen. His tolerance exhausted, he unplugged the kettle, locked up for the night and turned out the lights. Well versed in his partner’s needs, Glen resolutely headed for the master bedroom.

He found TJ savagely ripping his clothes off; dress pants landing on the floor next to the matching jacket with a crumpled shirt lying on top. Glen wondered if the glare coming his way could possibly freeze water.

“I’ve put up with all I am going to, TJ. This comes to an end right now!” Grabbing the other man’s arm, Glen steered him to the foot of the bed, sat down and hauled his Brat face-down across his lap. The very last thing, Glen wanted to do on Christmas day was spank his lover. But he loved this man with all his heart and was more than willing to do whatever was necessary to keep TJ happy, even if it first meant making him unhappy.

No words were spoken, as none were needed. TJ was fully aware of his having pushed well past what was in compliance with their relationship. He knew his tantrums would bring retribution and yet he had stubbornly clung to and nurtured his feelings of malcontent. All attempts to rationalize his actions were put on hold as Glen’s left hand began to pepper his now bare-bottom with a rapid barrage of painful swats.

The spanking didn’t last long; it didn’t have to. TJ was emotionally spent and unable to stop the tears from flowing almost from the first spank. He kicked his legs a couple of times before resigning himself to what his behaviour had earned him.

Glen picked up on TJ’s almost immediate submission and quickly brought the punishment to an end. He set TJ on his feet, stood up and pulled the sobbing man into his arms. “Shhh, it’s all right, love. It’s over and all is forgiven.”

Several minutes passed until the sobs shaking TJ’s slender body turned into intermittent hitches and sniffles. Glen gently manoeuvred his Brat around to the side of the bed. Maintaining his hold with one arm, he reached down to pull back the covers. Next he lovingly lowered TJ and drew the sheet over him.

“Don’t go,” TJ whimpered when Glen straightened up.

“I’m just getting undressed, baby. I’ll be right there.” The older man hastily shed his clothing, tossing everything on top of TJ’s pile. After turning off the overhead light, he crawled into bed to cuddle with his lover.

TJ wrapped his arms around Glen and dropped his head onto the bigger man’s upper body. “I’m sorry, Glen,” he whispered. “I just couldn’t stop.”

“I know, sweetheart. I can certainly emphasize with your disappointment,” Glen assured him, tenderly kissing TJ’s head.

“I just wanted to give you something special and instead I ruined Christmas for both of us.” TJ murmured his sad lament as he nestled in closer.

“You have not ruined anything, my love. Just spending this wonderful holiday season with you is special enough for me. Besides, we have all day tomorrow to make up for today,” Glen promised, his spirits lifted by the younger man’s contented sigh and enthusiastic nod of agreement.

TJ raised-up and gazed into his partner’s beautiful blue eyes. “I love you, Glen!” was his heartfelt declaration before laying his head back on the other man’s chest to listen to the steady sound softly thumping against his ear.

“I love you too, baby…..” Glen’s deep voice trailed off and he smiled when TJ finished the sentence; “with every beat of your heart.”

The End