Joel Waters-Baker

Every time Joel thinks he's reached his limit for happiness, that he can't possibly be any happier than he already is, something new happens to prove him wrong. Last week Spencer had come home with a plate of homemade cookies brought in by a customer who knows Joel has always preferred her sugar cookies to all others and he hadn't eaten a single one, wanting to make sure Joel knew they were all for him. (He shared, of course, because he might love cookies, but he loves his husband more.) Then just two days ago, Spencer had sneakily received what he claimed was a delivery for the store, but the way he'd hidden the box from Joel had made it fairly clear it was some kind of last minute Christmas gift, and he knows it doesn't matter what it is, because whatever it might be, Joel knows he'll love it.

It's impossible not to love everything about this life anyway. Maybe he's been having more and more premonitions and maybe there's a big part of him that thinks something is really about to happen, but he doesn't know what it might be. The premonitions come more often, but they're still more or less the same. A lightning storm, Amy's headstone, a woman in a hood whose face he's never been able to see. Shediac, Amy, a witch. That's all he knows. He's called people in Shediac twice now, lied about who he is, tried to get some kind of information out of them, but nothing has been reported as being out of the ordinary. So all Joel can really do is wait.

Last night Spencer had produced a pair of reindeer antlers to put on Dane and although their son had repeatedly yanked them off his head, it had still been one of the cuter things Joel had ever seen, filling him with a sense of joy that overshadowed how he'd felt even the day before. Their baby is happy and healthy and developing normally. They've begun to feed him some solid foods and Joel reads to him every night, which has produced a vocabulary of repetitive syllables, which is exactly where he should be. His hair is dark and his eyes are caught somewhere between his hazel and Erin's blue, a light grey colour that Joel thinks is absolutely perfectly.

And now it's Christmas morning. He knows Dane is too young to really understand what's happening, but that hasn't stopped Joel from waking up in the middle of the night and putting a few extra gifts under the tree. He's as happy as he's ever been and he turns over in bed, looking over at Spencer beside him, his husband still asleep -- or at least doing a very good job pretending -- before he glances toward the window. It's snowing lightly, big, heavy flakes drifting down outside the window and Joel smiles, then burrows closer to his husband again.

It's been over a year since their ruined attempt at a first date and Joel has been making plans for months now to celebrate. For a few weeks he had considered celebrating it on the same day, but he doesn't want to draw attention to the fact that it's been a year since Mark Fuller had kidnapped Spencer and dragged him up to the lighthouse to get revenge on Joel. He's in prison now, he'll be in prison for years to come, and his influence on their life together isn't something Joel wants to remember.

So instead of celebrating on the day, he makes plans for a week later. It's a Friday and he sends Spencer to work at the store with a kiss and a promise to call him later. He's made up an emergency repair in the bathroom and even made it look realistic by dumping a cup of water on the floor. (Something is leaking, he had insisted. I need to fix this because once the baby is here I won't have time to tear up the floor if I need to.)

Nothing is leaking. The bathroom is fine.

A year ago they had planned to meet on the boardwalk and watch a movie together and Mark had ruined that. So now Joel is bringing the boardwalk and the movie to their backyard. He's been very careful about his rentals, making sure to use the money he has in his own account so Spencer doesn't find out about any of it. There's a popcorn machine, a large, comfortable loveseat for the two of them to watch the movie, a projector and a giant screen all set up in the back yard. There's a cooler beside the loveseat with ice and beer -- because you can't get whiskey on the boardwalk -- and when Joel calls Spencer at the end of the day to make sure he's home on time, he's pretty satisfied with what he's put together.

"I took care of the leak," he promises. "But there's a bit of a clean up to do. You were planning on coming straight home, right? I could really use the help." And when Spencer promises he's on his way, Joel smiles before he ends the call.

A little over a year ago, someone ruined what was to be their first date. No one is going to interrupt this night. Joel isn't going to let them.