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When Rafael returns from shopping, Sonny has to do everything in his power to not look inside the bags. He stands by the island and hops on his feet, chattering away about how excited he is for their first Christmas as a married couple. He has yet to decide on a perfect gift for Rafael, despite the other man’s insistence that any gift will be perfect. For Sonny, there is no gift that will ever symbolize how thankful and excited he is to have Rafael as a lover and a husband and the most important person in his life. But he will try and find it so that Christmas morning is spectacular.
“Between you and me,” Sonny says as Rafael takes two of the bags he had brought in and tucks them far in the cabinet, guarded by their near-collection of mugs Sonny has set out for this purpose exactly, “Amanda was wrong to convince me not to buy the Montauk lighthouse for you.”
Rafael laughs quietly and finally unbuttons his coat. “Oh was she?” He hums when Sonny lunges forward to run his hands over him, caressing the navy blue sweater and sturdy torso of this spectacular man. “I’d have to disagree. That would be a bit excessive.”
Sonny pouts, more playful than anything, and nudges his way into the crook of Rafael’s neck nose-first. “What’s excessive about buying a lighthouse for my husband?”
“As much as I love you—and trust me, I love you more than any language can say—buying a lighthouse, especially one as famous and beloved as the one over in Montauk, is like buying an entire island.”
“I mean, I would have bought the entire island of Cuba, but the whole communist thing sorta dampens the mood.” Rafael rolls his eyes and squeezes Sonny’s side to make him squawk and wiggle out of his grip. “Rude! Maybe I won’t kiss you senseless.”
Rafael purrs when he grabs Sonny’s hands and tugs him forward so he can make quick work of capturing his lips and sliding his way into his mouth. Sonny tries to nip his lip in retaliation but his husband—his wonderful, handsome, breathtaking man who just so happens to be married to him—is quicker and pulls back with a sly pop of his lips. “Let’s put this on hold. I wanna put away the mugs before I make a mess out of you.”
“If anyone is gonna be made a mess of, it’s gonna be you.” Sonny sticks his tongue out and proceeds to help barricade whatever gifts Rafael had bought. They had come up with the system as a nod to the Carisi tradition of hiding gifts behind items that would make a clear sound if moved or messed with or if a curious kid wanted to try and remove the bag from behind the fancy china. The only difference is the mild smell of animal food that is clearly roaming from the bags themselves. And Sonny won’t discover it until he opens the cabinets for the two weeks leading up to Christmas and grabs a mug.
Frannie hops up from the bed and nearly topples Jessie over in her dash to meet Rafael and Sonny at the door. Amanda rolls her eyes and takes the grocery bags from the couple so that she can properly jump on their guests. Every month, Sonny cooks dinner for Amanda and her kids, usually staying at her apartment so that Frannie could join them.
Sonny scoops up Jessie, causing the girl to scream with delight, and hugs her close. “How’s it going, cowgirl? You lose that tooth yet?”
“Not yet!” Jessie grins, pointing at the bottom tooth that’s been loose for a few days. “See, see?”
“Oh wow, that’s a big one.” He whistles and makes a show of making his eyes wide and his jaw drop. “You know, the longer you have a tooth, the bigger the gift from the tooth fairy.”
“Don’t start,” Amanda growls from the kitchen.
Jessie giggles, her arms tight around his neck. “I asked Mommy if the tooth fairy ever put dogs under our pillows, but she said no.” She rolls her eyes dramatically, something she could only get from watching her mom. Sonny laughs when Amanda does it almost in-sync with her daughter.
“I’ll put in a good word for you,” Sonny promises. He shuts the door behind him and looks over at Rafael, who is crouched on the ground and cooing at Frannie. The pit is more than happy to lap at his face and nuzzle her big nose against his neck. Sonny pats the top of his head while he walks past to say hi to Billie in her high chair. “You gonna stay there all night, Raf?”
“I’m tempted,” he says, more distracted by Frannie than him. He goes back to showering Frannie in warm affection as soon as Sonny walks away.
Amanda chuckles and takes Jessie so Sonny can pull Billie out of her chair and blow a raspberry on her cheek. Billie squeals and kicks her legs. “All three of them have been impatient all day,” she sighs. Her face breaks out into a wide grin when Jessie kisses her cheek, and she tickles her tummy. “All day, they’ve been talking about how excited they are to see Uncle Rafa and Uncle Sonny!”
“Do you blame ‘em?” Sonny smirks, swaying with Billie. He picks up the teething ring when she reaches for it and hands it over to her. “Don’t tell the squad, but it’s obvious who their favorites are.”
“Between the two of you or the whole squad?”
That’s a fun question, and an easy one at that. “Jessie, who’s your favorite uncle?”
“Uncle Rafa!” Jessie cries out, her arms raised in the air.
Amanda cackles at the drop in Sonny’s expression. “Unbelievable. You and Noah?”
Jessie shrugs innocently. “He plays with dogs like I play with dogs.”
Well. That was a fair point. Rafael has barely looked over at them and has gone from crouched on the ground to completely sitting. Frannie went from sitting between his legs to draping her front paws on his shoulders and smiling while he scratches her back and praises her for being the best girl. Sonny smiles; Rafael is his favorite too.
A few minutes later, with Sonny preparing dinner and the girls in the living room for now, Frannie hops up when Amanda pours her fresh water and food. Rafael stands, dusts off his pants, and washes his hands. “Welcome back,” Sonny teases, bumping his hip. Rafael returns the movement with a smirk and kisses his cheek. “You’ve been missed.”
“Frannie needed some love and attention,” he shrugs. He cleans off his hands and takes the pot Amanda hands over. “There’s no way that pup isn’t a southern belle. She’s too sweet to be from the city.”
“Actually, she came from the humane society,” Amanda says. “Went in on a whim, back when I owed money and needed protection. I fell in love with her.” She smiles wistfully at her dog, who looks up at them in the middle of a bite.
“Sounds like true love,” Rafael teases.
Amanda snorts. “You should know. You were practically drooling over Sonny when he was hired.”
“With that mustache? I don’t think so.”
“Hey,” Sonny protests, “I got rid of it, didn’t I?”
“Not soon enough,” Rafael mumbles. He grins when Sonny jabs his side, and he leans up to kiss his cheek, distracting Sonny from the next three questions he asks related to adopting a dog.
“Get the other ones, cariño , we need the animal-proof ones.”
Sonny frowns and puts the set of lights back. “We don’t have any animals.” He hands over the other set of fairy lights. After the increasing smell of dog treats from their kitchen cabinets and Rafael’s sneaky questions about adoption, Sonny doubts the curiosity is related to anything but genuity. Or maybe it’s just the cop instincts in him.
Rafael puts the box into the basket hanging from his arm without a second glance. “No, but if my mother brings her poodles over, or if Frannie comes over, I don’t want to be responsible for harming either of them.”
Sonny accepts that answer, at least for now, and moves on.
Rafael cuts himself off when they’re walking up to Lucia’s apartment building. A black lab is sticking her large head out of the window of a car parked in front of the stoop. He asks the woman standing next to the car if he can pet her, to which the woman grins and nods.
“Her name is Steffi,” the woman says. “She loves to meet new people.”
“Is she full lab?” Sonny asks, smiling at the dog when she looks up at him and gives him a squinty, happy grin. There is no doubt she’s a labrador, but she looks bigger than the ones Sonny’s met.
“We think she has some mastiff in her because her head is so huge.” The woman reaches through the car window to pet her dog. Steffi arches into the touch and licks her human’s hand.
“She’s beautiful,” Rafael sighs. “What a good girl.”
Sonny has to practically drag Rafael away from the car; they only see Lucia so much, and she’d probably criticize them for stalling. He can already imagine her scolding Rafael’s excitement over a stranger’s dog when she has two poodles.
Rafael rests his head on Sonny’s shoulder while they wait for the elevator. “We could get a dog.”
“Yeah?” Sonny murmurs into his hair, pecking and nuzzling the crown of his head.
“Yeah. Like raising a child, only more rewarding.” He looks up at Sonny with an affectionate pat to the back of his neck. “Unconditional love, not as high maintenance, fun excuses if we need to leave.”
“Fun excuses?”
“‘Oh, I’m sorry, we need to walk the dog.’ Quick and easy out.”
Well. That was a fair point. Maybe a bit excessive, or a little dramatic, but he would love nothing more than a dog. So he was just as excessive as his husband. And that was okay.
Everything makes sense Christmas morning.
Sonny wakes up to an empty bed and a steaming mug of coffee. He can hear Rafael in the kitchen, humming and pouring a cup of coffee; they had decided that their tradition for Christmas would be a shared cup of coffee and a silent morning huddled under giant blankets and taking their time to get through whatever presents they bought each other. The one thing he hadn’t been expecting was the high-pitched whines and eager clacks against the polished wood.
After taking a moment to roll his shoulders and stretch his legs, Sonny gets out of bed, coffee mug in hand, and stands in the doorway to the bedroom. Rafael has a cup of coffee in one hand and a golden retriever puppy in the other.
“Good morning,” he greets him, warm and tender, paired with a loving smile. The puppy starts to wiggle instantly, and Rafael places it down so it can run over and hop around Sonny’s feet. “Merry Christmas.”
“You got me a dog for Christmas,” Sonny says, disbelief clouding his voice. He squats and runs a hand over the dog’s head, fighting a smile when the pup licks his hand and whines.
Rafael grins and sips at his coffee. “Well, yeah. Recently rescued from a puppy mill in Maine. The shelter called him the runt of his litter; his siblings were already adopted when I got there.” He walks over silently and takes his coffee so Sonny can sprawl out on the ground. The puppy hops into his arms and paws at his chest. “He doesn’t have a name yet though.”
Sonny answers instantly. “Piccolo.” He breaks into a grin and starts to laugh; Rafael sets their coffees down and joins him, rubbing the dog’s head and smiling just as big. It may be excessive, but Sonny expects nothing less from either of them.
The black labrador puppy—Sonny’s gift to Rafael, because there’s no way he wasn’t going to catch on to what was going on—joins them at noon. Rafael falls in love with her at first glance and names her Reina. They have to go to Staten Island for dinner, and they convince Lucia to drive them there. There’s no way they were going to leave without their newest family members.