Twenty-Four | Sam
Twenty-Four
Sam
“H ow’s your chicken lo mein?” I asked Avery as I popped a piece of orange chicken into my mouth and chewed.
“It’s delicious. You should try it.” She leaned over on the couch and held her hand beneath the noodles she’d twirled around her fork as she held it out for me.
I took the bite and closed my eyes, savoring the flavor as it hit my tongue.
“That is good,” I said, wiping my mouth as I finished chewing. “Do you want some orange chicken?”
“Sure.” She grinned and waited for me to feed her and I couldn’t get over how incredible it felt to be having moments like this with Avery.
“Oh my gosh,” she moaned, making my dick twitch. “That’s delicious, too.”
“I think it’s safe to say that everything they make there is going to be five-star. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten food from them I didn’t like.”
“Well, they might be my new go-to when I don’t feel like cooking. I bet Kennedy would love it, too.”
“Does that mean you’re planning to stay in Sugarplum Falls for good?” I asked with a little too much hope in my voice.
“Honestly? I haven’t decided. When I was little, I kept telling myself that someday I would grow up and move away to a big city where the opportunities would be endless. When I had Kennedy, I always felt that I wanted the same for her. But being back in Sugarplum Falls, it’s kinda nice not having the rush of a big city, even if everyone knows your business all the time.”
“I know big cities have their appeal, but where else can you go that has a hot barista that makes the best gingerbread lattes?” I teased with a wink.
“You have a point,” she replied with a giggle. “But it’s hard because it’s not just me I have to worry about. I have to think ahead to the future and what might be best for Kennedy. I want to make sure that I give her everything I can and that I set her up for whatever path she decides to go down. Sometimes, I worry that I will limit her if we stay here.”
“I get that, and I can’t imagine how stressful it is being a parent and having to make those kinds of decisions. And while I’m not trying to sway you to stay, I think it’s important to note how many incredibly successful people have come from Sugarplum Falls. Some have moved and travel across the world for work, while others have built their empires here. Kennedy is an incredibly smart little girl with a momma who will move mountains to give her what she needs. I think she’s going to be more than fine, no matter what path you choose.”
Avery smiled, but I could see the way my words weighed heavily on her mind.
Once we finished dinner, I poured each of us a glass of wine and grabbed the supplies so we could start wrapping presents. Avery came out of her bedroom with shopping bags lined up on each arm and grinned when she saw the pile I’d already set out.
“Do you think we went a little overboard?” she asked, chewing her lip as she added her bags to the pile.
“No. There’s no such thing as going overboard when Kennedy is involved.”
Her face softened as she gave me the sweetest smile. I wasn’t lying when I told her that I loved Kennedy like she was my own child. It didn’t take long before she’d worked her way into my heart and I knew I would do whatever it took to make that little girl happy.
“I don’t even know where to start,” Avery admitted, looking around the room.
“Well, find a spot and get comfy. We’ll dive in from there.”
She sat in front of the couch and leaned against it as I handed her scissors, several rolls of tape, and wrapping paper. I grabbed the bags my parents had dropped off earlier from Frosty Fest and decided we would start there.
“Have you decided which gift is from Santa?” I asked, looking through the other rolls of wrapping paper to find the one I was looking for.
“I think I’m going to go with the dollhouse that she asked for today when she sat on his lap. I had no idea she wanted one, but Cassidy made it her mission to find one at Waldon’s before they sold out. I guess it’s convenient she works there and was able to pull some strings. It should be that big box over there,” she said, pointing to the one in the corner with a bag pulled down over it.
I walked over and grabbed it, surprised by how heavy it was.
“So, the gift from Santa—is it wrapped and left under the tree, or do you assemble it and leave it out for her to find in the morning in front of the tree?” I asked, not remembering how my parents used to do it.
“I’ve always wrapped them and put them under the tree with the other gifts. I recently saw a post on social media where they assembled the gifts and left them out in front of the tree, but I kinda like her getting to open it instead.”
“Sounds good to me. Did you want to assemble everything first so she can play with it right away?”
“Oh yeah. Definitely. I learned the hard way early on about how impatient kids are on Christmas morning. Now I make sure everything is out of its packaging and batteries are installed if it needs them.”
“That’s smart. I like the way you think.”
I opened the box and started pulling pieces out when Avery came over to help me. It was like we were parents, tag-teaming Christmas duties to make sure our child had the best Christmas ever.
There was far more assembly than I would have imagined, and I didn’t even bother to ask how much Cassidy had spent on the doll house. I knew her employee discount helped, but it still had to cost a pretty penny. It was three stories with an elevator in the middle and tons of little furniture to go inside. It also came with the cutest family, which included a mom, a dad, a little girl, and a baby swaddled in a blanket.
“She’s going to love this,” Avery said, stepping back to look at it once it was complete.
“Yeah, she is. I mean, I love it and I’m not a five-year-old little girl,” I joked, though I seriously hoped Kennedy would let me play with it with her.
Now that it’s built, I don’t know how we’re going to wrap it,” Avery noted, chewing her nails.
“We can put it back in the box carefully, then wrap the box.”
“Do you think it will fit? It looks too big.”
I scrunched my face and grabbed the box, holding it beside the house.
“You’re right. It’s too big.”
She pulled her mouth to the side as she contemplated.
“We could cut the box and make a bigger one that covers the top half of the house,” I offered. “Then that would allow us something to attach the wrapping paper to. As long as the paper goes to the bottom, it won’t matter if there’s a box there since it’ll still cover it. We’ll just have to be careful moving it.”
“That could work. Do you want to wait until we’re done wrapping everything else? We might have a few more boxes that are trash that we can use and MacGyver them into one big box.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that. We can save this one for last. The nice thing is that it’s already built, so we know how big it is.”
She nodded her head and then looked at the pile of gifts we still had to wrap.
“It’s going to be a long night,” she said, grabbing her glass of wine from the coffee table and taking a sip.
“Yeah, but it’ll be fun.”
She rolled her eyes playfully, but there was nothing more I wanted to do right now than spend time with her—even if we were up to our elbows in gifts to wrap.