Chapter Twenty-Five
I was already awake , staring at the ceiling when my phone began buzzing. I glanced over at the window, noting that the sun wasn’t even up. Too tired to really want to move, I ignored my phone, but it was insistent. I already knew what it was about.
Today was Christmas morning and Paxon already warned me that Calvin was more excited about coming over for the holiday than anything else.
Finally, I groaned and grabbed my phone.
Paxon: Are you awake?
Paxon: This is Cal. I stole Paxon’s phone.
Paxon: Cadie?
Paxon: Are you awake now?
I sighed and finally put the poor little man out of his misery.
Me: I’m up. Go back to sleep.
Paxon: Once Dad gets up, we’re opening presents, then I get to come over.
Me: See you soon then. Go open your presents.
I put my phone back down and turned around to face the wall, letting myself doze off, but it didn’t last long. My phone started buzzing again.
What the heck was going on?
I grabbed my phone and blinked at the bright light before reading who was reaching out. The group chat with the guys was buzzing with messages from Paxon, Toby, Justin, and Seth. But it didn’t take long until Bryan responded too.
Everyone was sharing their excitement and plans for today. Once everyone spent the first part of the morning with their families, they were all going to take over Seth’s house. I felt bad for his parents. I hadn’t had a chance to meet them since it was so late when I’d gotten home, but I hoped they were ready for the chaos that was about to take over the house.
There was a soft knock on my door and then Janice soft whispered, “Are you awake?”
I blew out a breath. “I’m awake,” I called out.
The door opened slowly and Janice came in. She wore a grey tank top with green holiday pajama pants patterned with tiny snowflakes.
“Merry Christmas,” she said, giving me a tired smile.
“Merry Christmas,” I responded, pushing myself into a sitting position.
She came over and I gave her room on the bed. She sat down and looked at me a bit nervously.
“What?” I asked.
“I got you something.”
My eyes widened. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to. You’re doing a lot for me. Besides, don’t think I don’t know you got me something too. Come downstairs, I even cooked us breakfast.”
“You didn’t burn pancakes again, did you?”
She playfully hit my arm. “Shut it. You know why that happened.”
“Did you get to talk to your fiancé?”
“Yes, and everything is on track. They’ll spend the morning with his parents and then there’s a plane early afternoon. They’ll be here before dinner.”
“I’m glad they’re able to make it out,” I said.
She stood up and grinned, some of the tiredness slipping away. “Me too. I’m glad I get to introduce him to you.”
I grinned. “I get to see if he’s worthy of you.”
She laughed. “Just don’t judge him too hard. I already gave him enough hell.”
I grinned as I crawled out of bed and followed her downstairs. The house felt warm, filled with the smell of pancakes, cinnamon, and fresh coffee. The Christmas tree lights twinkled, casting a soft glow throughout the bottom floor.
As we walked by the living room, I looked at the tree and froze, staring inside. There were more lights up than I remembered putting. I didn’t want a big tree, so we got a small one, only a couple feet tall. It sat on a table near the wall. What I hadn’t expected was to see piles of presents that were under the tree and the table. There was no way Janice got this many presents for me.
“Santa came last night,” Janice said.
I snorted. “That’s impossible.” Still I couldn’t move as pressure built behind my eyes and my throat tightened with strong warm emotions.
When did they have a chance to do this? How hadn’t I noticed?
Janice only smirked at me as I narrowed my eyes at her and then she turned and went into the kitchen. I had to force my feet to move, still in shock at the sneaky guys.
In the kitchen, the table was set with two plates piled with more pancakes than either of us could eat. There was a bowl of pancakes and a bowl of whipped cream. She had all my favorite pancake toppings out, ready to be devoured.
“Wow,” I said, eyeing the table. “You went all out.”
Janice was smiling big, proud of herself. “And not a single pancake was sacrificed to the pan gods this time.”
I laughed, sitting down and going right for the strawberries, ready to bury my pancakes in them. There was even a bowl of strawberry sauce. This was exactly what we needed. Comfort food. Simple. Delicious.
“So,” I said after I devoured half of delicious fluffy pancakes. “Is your fiancé ready for all this snow? Snow and a bunch of people playing outside. You know what’s going to happen, right?”
Toby may have warned me to dress appropriately because once everyone arrived, there was going to be a massive snowball fight. No one was going to be safe.
Janice snorted. “Think I should warn him?”
I pretended to think about it. “No. It’s better he isn’t given time to prepare.”
Conversation was light and simple as we finished off the food and then we exchanged presents, just between us. We both managed to use Christmas giftbags so all we had to do was trade.
I quickly dug through mine and laughed as I pulled out a pair of thick fuzzy socks. They were light grey, decorated with music notes and the words ‘When words fail, music speaks.’
“So true,” I mumbled.
“Your house is too darn cold, so I figured you’d need something to keep your feet warm. My fiancé is always complaining about my cold feet. I didn’t want any of your guys to suffer for it.”
My cheeks heated at what she was suggesting. I cleared my throat and grabbed the other present. She used the tissue paper to wrap around what felt like a book. When I unwrapped it, I smiled big. It was a leather-bound journal with my initials on it and the inside was full of sheet music.
“This is perfect,” I said.
“I thought so.” Janice sounded so proud. “Keep that on you and write your songs in them.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I definitely will.”
“Now me.” Janice practically tore into her gift bag.
Nervousness hit me as I waited for the verdict. Buying presents was always nerve wracking. I wanted what I picked to be liked.
She pulled out the box and slowly unwrapped it. It looked like a jewelry storage box. It was, but also a little bit more. She opened it and a soft melody danced around us.
She gasped. “Is this...”
“Yes,” I said.
“How did you manage this? You didn’t even know I was coming.”
I shrugged. “It’s amazing what you can get done through the internet.”
She sniffled as she closed her eyes and listened to the song. I closed mine too, letting the soft melody warm me. I had written one song specifically for Janice. It had been more like a lullaby from all the nights we spent sleeping outside. I used to sing it to her on the rougher nights and I’d wanted to help her relax.
Even as the melody played, the words easily came to mind:
Silver threads across the sky,
Stars that hum a lullaby,
Moonlight dances, soft and slow,
Guiding hearts where dreams will go.
I softly sang the verse to go with the music and then before I could go into the next verse, Janice wrapped me into a tight hug, burying her head in my shoulder. Her body shook lightly as she squeezed tightly.
“I fricken love you so hard right now,” she said.
I chuckled and wrapped my arms around her.
“You have no idea what this song did for me when I left. And I sing it to Rowan at night when he’s fussy. He loves it too. He calms right down with this song. I tried other songs, but they never had the same effect like this one did. This is so fucking perfect. I don’t even...I can’t...I love you.” She squeezed me harder as she rambled.
“It helped me too,” I said, trying so hard not to break down.
Eventually we were able to pull away from each other, and neither of us said anything even though it was clear by our eyes that we had cried.
She sniffed and then stuffed the last bit of pancakes into her mouth before getting to her feet. “Let’s get cleaned up. I’m sure you’re going to be busy very soon.”
I groaned as I helped her clear the table and load the dishwasher. Then I headed upstairs to shower and get ready for the day.
More of the song came to mind. I wasn’t lying when I told Janice that the song had helped me.
Rest, my friend, the night is here,
Close your eyes, I’m always near.
Skies will sing in gentle light,
Holding you through the endless night.