Pawliday Love

4. Tangled Tinsel

CHAPTER FOUR

TANGLED TINSEL

SEBASTIAN

T he tangled Christmas lights in my hands were an unsolvable puzzle. Once neatly coiled strands were now a mess, dwindling my patience.

How did Frances even manage to string some of these up already? Was there some secret technique?

“Just figure it out, man,” I muttered to myself.

The living room was quiet, save for the soft hum of the music still going in the kitchen and the occasional jingle of something being knocked over by a certain furry menace. Remmy was somewhere nearby—silent, for now. That should have worried me more than it did.

I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair. The room still looked half-finished, like a holiday explosion that Frankie had tried to control before giving up. Boxes of ornaments were scattered around, tinsel draped haphazardly on the couch, and the tree still leaned slightly to the left, mocking me.

It’s not for you. It’s for them.

And I’d almost ruined it.

As I fought with the lights, my thoughts continued. Frankie deserved someone who didn’t just show up at the last minute, distracted and stressed. Joey deserved a dad who didn’t let his hang-ups ruin her first Christmas.

The guilt weighed heavy in my chest as I draped one end of the lights over the tree. I had just started unraveling another knot when a blur of orange darted past me. The cat had somehow latched onto the other end of the lights, and before I could stop him, he took off at full speed, dragging the entire tangled mess with him.

He darted under the coffee table, the lights catching on one of the legs and yanking the strand taut. Bulbs jangled and jingled as I scrambled to grab the other end, but Remmy was too fast. He weaved between chair legs, skidded around the couch, and zipped past the tree like a furry orange comet.

“Rem, drop it before your mother kills us both!” I whisper yelled, chasing after him. I hoped neither of my girls could hear us.

He, of course, ignored me, making a sharp turn. The strand snagged on the other chair. With a mighty tug, he dislodged it.

“Remmy!”

By the time I caught up, he had tangled himself in the lights. He sat proudly in the middle of the mess, blinking up at me as if to say, “You’re welcome.” I stood there, hands on my hips, staring at him.

“Seriously?”

Remmy yawned, then began grooming himself, completely ignoring the strands still looped around his body.

I knelt down, carefully unwinding the wires. To my surprise, the once-hopeless tangle had mostly sorted itself out during his chaotic sprint.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” I chuckled. “You actually helped.” He flicked his eyes to mine in response before hopping out of the mess and sauntering over to the tree as if nothing had happened. I swore I saw him roll his eyes.

With the lights finally untangled, I got back to work, thinking about everything I still needed to do.

A crash behind me jolted me out of my thoughts again.

“Gremlin,” I groaned, turning to see the orange terror perched atop an overturned box of ornaments. His green eyes gleamed with mischief, a single bulb clutched delicately in his teeth. He stared at me like he was daring me to take it from him. Or maybe he was telling me what to do next. “I’ll get to them, I promise.” Great. Now I was talking to the cat like I always gave Frances shit for. I went back to the lights again.

No more than thirty seconds later, a loud thump made me whip around. The coffee table was now home to an upended box of tinsel, and Remmy sat proudly beside it. He looked at me like, “Well? Are you going to use this or what?”

“I told you. I’m getting to it.” I closed my eyes and sighed, accepting the fact that I was probably always going to have conversations with Remmy now. He stretched lazily, flicking his tail before hopping off the table and onto the couch. "Chaos incarnate," I muttered, but a small smile tugged at my lips despite myself.

The minutes passed in a blur of motion. Ornaments found their places on the tree—some crooked, some perfect. I draped garlands, strung up the last of the lights, and even managed to get a little star on top without toppling the whole thing over. I even made a quick trip to the store that was thankfully open twenty-four seven.

I worked on presents, my wrapping skills about as good as a bear with gloves on.

Remmy supervised, of course, occasionally swatting at ornaments, chewing on ribbons, or rolling on the gift wrap.

His “help” throughout the night was questionable . Especially when I was mixing the cookie dough. If he wasn’t trying to trip me, he was trying to jump up on the counter. Between swatting him and trying not to fall to my death, I may have missed an ingredient or two. It was hard to tell.

“There,” I smiled to myself, getting the last of Joey’s gifts wrapped. I was finally done. Well, for a little. I planned on getting about three hours of sleep before getting back up to finish the last of everything. There had been so much to do. I loved Frances to death, but the woman was known for procrastination. Unless it had something to do with work.

Behind me, I heard a soft, “Mrow.” I turned to find Remmy sitting on the counter, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air. His expression was unimpressed. I was about to scold him for being on the counter when the smell hit me.

Something is burning.

My eyes widened.

“Shit!” I yelled, moving as fast as I could to the oven.

I was in for an even longer night.