Gifted (A Sweet Christmas Romance)

  Gifted

  Edie Bryant

  Contents

  Copyright

  1. Elaine

  2. Gillian

  3. Elaine

  4. Gillian

  5. Elaine

  6. Gillian

  7. Elaine

  8. Gillian

  9. Elaine

  10. Gillian

  11. Elaine

  12. Gillian

  13. Elaine

  Epilogue

  Free Pumpkin Patch Preview

  14. Pia

  15. Lila

  16. Pia

  17. Lila

  Free Bonus Chapter

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2017 by Edie Bryant

  * * *

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  * * *

  This book is a reimagined version of a previously published MM romance novel. I really enjoyed revitalizing this story with lesbian themes and new lovers. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed rewriting it.

  1

  Elaine

  I excitedly opened up the Christmas boxes that had spent all year in the garage. I hadn’t lived in this house long, but in the past couple of years, I’d created a pretty big stockpile of decorations because I’ve always absolutely loved the holiday.

  And I was especially excited about this Christmas because I wasn’t going to be spending it alone.

  Okay, to be fair, I hadn’t really spent any of the last few Christmases alone. My girlfriend, Jenna, and I had been dating for several years, and she always came over on Christmas and everything. What I mostly mean is that, this Christmas season, I’m not going to be living alone. I’m going to be enjoying the season with her.

  And that starts today, decorating together. She’s not too big on Christmas, but I had made her promise to come over today to decorate with me.

  She hadn’t moved in yet, but she was going to later this week when she had some time off of work. I just didn’t want to wait until later in the week to decorate, though. There were only a few weeks until Christmas, and I had already waited too long! She was supposed to move in the last week of November, which was when I usually put the tree up, but things had gotten delayed.

  I started setting up the fake tree I had while I waited for her to arrive; that way, when she got here, we could do just the fun stuff like putting ornaments on it.

  I’m so excited about today that I can’t help myself from grinning ear-to-ear. It’s not just Christmas decorating that has me thrilled, either. I have a little surprise for Jenna once she gets here.

  Jenna has been living in a small studio apartment, so, while she loves animals, her ability to have pets has been very limited. Since we had decided that she’d move in with me, she’d been bugging me non-stop about when we could get a dog.

  Well, I’ve finally decided that I’m going to cave on this. Christmas seems as good a time as any to bring a new pup into our lives.

  I had an appointment with the local animal rescue to look at dogs in a few hours. So, right after we’re finished decorating, I’m going to spring on her that we’re about to head out to the animal rescue to pick our first dog together.

  I can see the look on her face already; she’s going to be thrilled. And, Lord knows I need her to be thrilled because, as of late, she’s been a little distant.

  I’m not sure why. I mean, we have been together a few years, and I’ll be the first to admit the relationship isn’t as exciting as it once was. It wasn’t awful or anything, either, we had just grown comfortable with one another. So, that might have something to do with it.

  Or, it could be that she’s always been slow to commit, and moving into my house is making her nervous. I mean, she has managed to put it off a few weeks.

  But, the issue is, I really don’t know which is the problem. And I think that having her move in would totally fix the problem of the relationship being boring and comfortable. This would be a whole new, huge step in our lives, and it’d bring a lot of excitement back.

  Of course, if the commitment is the problem, this will also be what drives her away. So, what is a girl to do?

  I know I should just talk to her about this, and I have. But every time I bring up the fact that she has been distant, she just pretends she hasn’t. She acts like everything is fine, just as it’s always been, and this is all in my head.

  It isn’t, though. I’ve known for years, and I know when something is different. And something is definitely different. But, all of these Christmas plans should help, I’m thinking.

  As I finished putting the tree together, I heard her unlock the door. Giddiness rolled through me as she walked in.

  “Okay, babe, so I’m all ready with the tree here,” I called out to her.

  She walked in, disappointment crossing her face. “Oh… Okay.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Is something wrong?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I’m fine.”

  Again, she was lying to me, but I had no way to force her to tell the truth, so I just moved on.

  “So I just got all these boxes of decorations here and—”

  She sighed and fell into the recliner.

  “What? What is it?” I asked.

  “I’ve had a long day, can you just do this yourself?”

  Now disappointment was on my face, I was sure of it.

  “But, babe, we set aside this time, and… I really want to decorate together.”

  “Why? You’ve always done it alone and been totally fine.”

  “Well, yeah, obviously I did it alone before because it was only my house. Now it’s our house, and I want it to be a special thing we do together. It’s going to be your Christmas here too, you know.”

  She shrugged again. “Maybe not.”

  I jerked my head toward her. “Maybe not what?”

  “Maybe it won’t be my Christmas here.”

  “What on earth are you talking about?” I asked.

  “I just don’t know if I’m going to be all moved in by Christmas time.”

  I scoffed, “You don’t think you’ll be able to move all your stuff in here in three weeks? I’m pretty sure we can finish most of it by the end of this week, babe.”

  She shook her head. “Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to tell you, I don’t think I’m going to be moving in at the end of this week.”

  “What?!” I snapped. “Please don’t tell me you’re postponing this again. Come on, you’ve already made me wait weeks. What is the point?! Don’t you want to do this? Don’t you want to live with me?”

  I was expecting an enthusiastic ‘yes’ while she gave me some other excuse about why she had delayed, which is what she’d been doing the last few weeks.

  Instead, her answer took me by surprise.

  “I'm not sure.”

  Now, I sank into a chair. “…What?”

  “I don’t know, Elaine, okay? I just don't know.”

  “So that’s what this has all been about. All the distance… It really was because you’re afraid to commit to me. "

  “No, it isn’t. That’s not my problem. I—”

  “Then what is it?! I’m tired of you brushing me off, Jenna! Don't you think it’s time to be honest with me?!”

  “Fine!” she snapped. “Fine! You want the truth? You really want the fucking truth?!”

  “Yes! I do!”

  “I’m cheating on you!”

  I felt a pit form in the bottom of my stomach.

  “What…?”

  “Yeah, if you want to know why I’ve been pulling away, I’m having an affair.”

  “With whom?” I asked.

  “A guy from work,” she said, coolly.

  "A guy?!”

  “Yes, a guy.”

  So many emotions were running through me. Shock, anger, sadness, shame… I never knew I could feel so much at once, and I honestly didn’t even know where to start. This was all nauseating.

  “Why are you telling me now? Why didn't you tell me before? Or why didn’t you just leave me?!”

  “I didn’t tell you before because I wasn’t sure what I was doing yet. I love you, and I didn't want to leave you, so… I thought I could just get it out of my system a few times and then come back to you. Things haven't exactly been easy for me lately, Elaine. And our relationship has been—”

  “Boring,” I finished her sentence for her. “You were bored, so you wanted to go hop on some dick?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” she said, coolly. I couldn’t believe she was acting so calm about this.

  Now I was infuriated. "What were you expecting here, Jenna?! Did you think you’d come clean and then we’d work things out and move along?! Do you really think I’m that much of a pushover? I’m not. I’m not just going to roll over and forget about this!”

  “No. That’s not what I had expected at all. I knew this would be a deal breaker. That’s why I didn’t tell you until I had decided what I was going to do.”

  “And?! What the fuck is it that you’re going to do?”

  “I’m going to leave you for him.”

  Another dagger to my chest.

  “Seriousl
y? Fucking really? You’ve been having an affair behind my back, gaslighting me by telling me that it’s all in my head, all so you could just leave me for him? Why didn't you leave me for him already?! Why torture me with all this?”

  Her face softened. “I’m sorry, Elaine. It was because I really didn’t want to leave you, and… I was trying to do everything I could to keep you.”

  “But now you just chose him, is that right?”

  “Not exactly. Elaine, I don’t have a choice. It’s not like I love him more than you or anything…”

  “But you do love him?” Every sentence that she uttered hurt me more deeply.

  “Actually, I don’t. But, like I said, I don’t have a choice.”

  “And why is that?”

  Her face contorted, as if she was debating whether or not to tell me this part.

  “Just spit it out, Jenna,” I insisted.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  I felt like I was going to vomit.

  I jumped out of my seat. “Pregnant, Jenna?! Are you fucking kidding me?! You’re goddamn fucking pregnant?! You didn’t even have the good sense to put on a goddamn condom?!”

  This brought a whole other thought to my head. We’d been having unprotected sex, so, was she just exposing me to whatever she might have without caring about it at all!

  “Elaine, I’m sorry…”

  “How long have you known?” I asked quickly.

  “What?”

  “How long have you known?!” I yelled.

  “About the pregnancy?” she asked, playing stupid. “Uh… a few weeks.”

  “A few weeks?! A few weeks you’ve been pregnant, and you still haven’t had the balls to tell me it’s over?! You thought you could just postpone moving in together and… what? The baby would fucking disappear?”

  Now she stood up, too. “Actually, that is exactly what I thought! I was considering an abortion. I thought if I had one, then things could go back to normal between us.”

  My jaw dropped. “And you changed your mind.”

  My jaw dropped. “And you changed your mind.”

  “Yeah, I changed my fucking mind!” She spat. “I couldn’t do it.”

  “So good to know you care about your unborn child and you’re not a completely heartless monster.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me.

  “Okay, I’m going, I think everything has been said here that needs to be said.”

  “Yeah, I think so,” I bit back. “Get the fuck out of my house now.”

  I could see shock on her face, like she wasn’t expecting me to come back at her with anger.

  But what did she expect? For me to cry? For me to roll over and beg for her to stay with me? She fucking cheated. I have absolutely no tolerance for cheaters. There is not a forgiving bone in my body when it comes to people cheating. She knew that, and she still chose to do what she did.

  Maybe she thought when push came to shove, I wouldn’t really kick her out of my life. And a part of me can understand why she believed that, because, honestly, I’ve always been a bit of a people-pleaser.

  Okay, so, that’s an understatement. I am a giant people-pleaser. I’ll do pretty much anything for my family and friends if I know it’s going to make them happy.

  But, the thing is, that doesn’t mean I’ll let myself get walked all over. I might be a little self-sacrificial, but not to the point that I’ll let you crush my soul and continue to date me.

  In fact, I was already beginning to feel more angry than sad about this. I can’t believe she would fuck me over this way. What I thought was love between us apparently wasn’t.

  And, I had always known she was a little selfish, but this? I had never imagined she’d take it this far at all.

  “So, that’s it?” she asked. “It’s really over?”

  I laughed. “Are you kidding me? You really expected that I was still going to fucking be with you after this?”

  “I mean, I wasn’t expecting, but I had my hopes…”

  “What the hell do you want from me, Jenna?! You’re having a baby with a man!”

  She started tearing up. “Look, I know I fucked up, baby. But I love you. He means nothing to me, and I have to raise this child, but—”

  “But what?! You want me to be here for you while you raise a child?”

  “I think I’ll need your help,” she said, sadly.

  “Oh, this is comical. This is genuinely laughable.”

  “I’m not ready for this, Elaine! I don’t know how to be a mom! You know I’m not mature enough for this.”

  Yeah, I damn well did know that. She was a child herself. This was something I had seen past because I had loved her, but I had constantly had to force her to do everything. Make appointments for herself, clean her studio apartment, not skip out on days at work. If it weren’t for me, she’d still be doing the same bullshit.

  I have no idea how she’s going to have a child. I don’t think she knows anything about children. And yes, I do, and, honestly, if it had been me who’d somehow magically had an accidental pregnancy, I probably could have handled it pretty well.

  But there was no way in hell I was going to help her.

  “Get out,” I told her.

  ‘Baby,” she cried.

  “Get out of my house! I don’t know how you’re going to raise that child, but it isn’t my fucking problem. Go talk to the man you had a goddamn affair with, all right? Bye!”

  Her crocodile tears dried up, and rage flashed on her face.

  “You’ll come back to me. You fucking love me! This is not the end of you and me at all! Believe me on that.”

  I just laughed again. “Whatever you gotta tell yourself to sleep at night. Bye.”

  She began to walk out, slowly at first. And I thought of one last thing to say.

  “I was going to take you to get a fucking dog today, you know.”

  She whipped around. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah, I thought, why not? She really wants one, it’ll make her happy, she deserves it. It was my Christmas gift to you. I imagined us as a perfect little family.”

  “We can still have all that, babe!” she pleaded, flipping back from angry to sad and then pathetic again.

  “Psh, yeah, and baby makes three? I mean, what the hell does a dog matter when you’re going to have a fucking child? And to think, I questioned if you were responsible enough for the dog.”

  “Is that the only reason you’re telling me this? To hurt me? To get back at me?”

  “Isn’t that the reason you had an affair? To hurt me?” I narrowed my eyes.

  “No! I didn’t, I did that just for… for fun.”

  “For fun. You’re right, that’s so much better. Go ahead and go now, please.”

  “Fuck you, Elaine!”

  She stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

  I had thought if Jenna and I ever broke up, I’d be devastated. I’d spent three years of my life with the girl, and I truly thought we were going to end up married one day.

  What I didn’t factor in was Jenna having an affair and completely betraying me. I’d had a moment of sadness when she’d first told me, but, honestly? Right now, I’m just furious.

  I can’t even imagine being sad about this piece of shit right now. In my mind, she’d been nothing that I thought she’d been. The girl I knew and loved had never even existed. She was a fucking fraud, through and through. And I won’t mourn the loss of a fraud.

  No, honestly, fuck her! A fucking baby with a man? God, I should have asked how long it had been going on! Has she been having an affair for months? Longer than that, even? Over a year?

  Actually, I’m glad I didn’t ask, because I don’t care, and it doesn’t matter. Whether she betrayed me for a week, a month, a year… doesn’t fucking matter to me. She’s still a complete and total piece of shit.

  I’m not going to let her ruin my Christmas, either. I love this time of year. Yes, my world might have just been flipped upside-down, I might have been excited to have a Christmas with her. But I can do this alone, too. I don’t fucking need her.

  I probably should cancel my appointment at the animal rescue, though. Obviously there isn’t any reason for me to go look at dogs anymore.

  I sighed and lay down on the couch, pulling my phone out of my pocket so I could call the rescue.