Chapter 25
Christmas Day
Me:
I miss him. Is that normal?
Piper:
Nothing about this Christmas has been normal, friend
Half an hour later, the living room was full of discarded wrapping paper, red ribbon, and a remnant of cold sausage balls.
I sat surrounded by a pile of gift cards, hardback novels, a beautiful handmade scarf (from Lydia, of course), and an endearing homemade coupon book from Janie, offering discount hugs and the opportunity to play with one of her new toys.
The invite probably didn’t extend to the new baby doll she’d opened, however.
She hadn’t put it down (or fed it yet, much to my dad’s relief) for the past twenty minutes.
She sat quietly by the tree now, brushing the doll’s long dark hair and singing “Jingle Bells” under her breath.
On the sofa, Ryan and Lydia shared a plate of powdered donuts, while Dad finished off the last sausage ball and Mom flipped through the pages of her new cookbook.
Next to me, Olivia, wearing the ball cap Nick had helped me pick out for her, smiled at Kat and Devin, who were acting more like Chloe and Axel than Chloe and Axel as they snuggled in the recliner and studied the ultrasound picture Kat had framed. Olivia let out a soft sigh. “I’m happy for her.”
“Me too.” I rested my head against my big sis’s shoulder and chuckled at Axel, who’d placed one of the red gift bows atop his blond hair. Next to him, Chloe kept angling her finger in various ways to catch the light with her ring. “I’m sorry Paul didn’t make it.”
“Things are a little worse than I let on with Mom and Dad.” Olivia rested her cheek against my head. “But it’ll be okay.”
Ugh. “I need to apologize.” I sat up and faced her. “I think I’ve been so caught up in not feeling seen that I missed what you and Kat and Chloe have been dealing with. I didn’t see you guys.”
“We’re all guilty. Plus, it’s not like I’ve been advertising it.” Olivia linked her arm through mine, and I rested my head against hers. “Speaking of dealing with stuff—how are you feeling about Nick?”
I released a long breath. “Ignored, honestly. But I deserve it. I never gave him a chance to explain, or else maybe he’d have told me the same thing Ryan did.
” I quickly filled her in on last night’s conversation with Ryan.
“It’s my fault, though. Maybe Nick will respond later, when it’s not so fresh. ”
“Well, it’s his loss if he doesn’t.” Olivia suddenly sat up straight, head cocked. “Mason, what’s wrong?”
He crawled out from behind the tree, green needles stuck in his mussed hair, face downcast. “I knew Santa wasn’t real.”
Olivia frowned. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged one shoulder like it didn’t matter, but the heaviness in his eyes suggested otherwise. “No basketball.”
Olivia sucked in her breath and cast a quick look toward our parents. Mom winced and Dad slowly shook his head.
“There’s been so much going on…” Mom’s soft voice trailed off.
Olivia sighed. “No, it’s my fault. I assumed after the mall…” She pointed to Mason. “Hey, you—come here.”
He rearranged his expression, pausing by the tree. “I love my other gifts, I promise.”
“I know you do. You’re not in trouble.” She motioned him to the couch and he squeezed between us, toting his new build-your-own-robot box. “It’s okay to be disappointed, kid. There’s room for both feelings.”
“So that’s that about Santa, right? Because I don’t think I was on the naughty list.” He scrunched his face. “I didn’t get coal.”
“Okay, look.” Olivia hesitated. “Santa isn’t real in the sense that, no, there’s not a man who scoots down every chimney in the world with gifts in one night.”
“I figured.” Mason sighed. “This is one of those hard parts of growing up you always talk about, isn’t it?”
Poor guy. I twisted to face Mason, pulling one leg up under me on the couch. “That’s just the bad news, though.” I glanced at Olivia, who nodded her permission. “There’s good news too.”
Mason raised a dubious eyebrow. “What?”
“There’s something way better out there than a man in a red suit with a bag of toys.” I waved one hand in the air.
“Flying reindeer?” Mason asked hopefully.
“No.” I leaned in, lowering my voice to a conspiring whisper. “The spirit of Christmas.”
“Like in that creepy Christmas story? I really don’t want to see any ghosts today.” He shuddered. “Even the Ghost of Christmas Present.”
“No, not like with Scrooge.” I laughed. “I meant that at Christmastime, people get nicer. They help each other out more and are less selfish. It’s not magical like flying reindeer, but it’s pretty special.”
Mason nodded a little. “I can see that.”
“Just look at you and Janie. You two have barely fought this whole week.”
“Which is much appreciated, by the way,” Olivia added.
Mason swiveled back toward me. “That’s the spirit of Christmas?”
“Yep. The way it works is that the more you focus on other people and less on yourself, the happier you’ll be. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.” I swallowed. Too bad I hadn’t used my own advice sooner. “I used to feel like Christmas didn’t honor me, so I didn’t honor it.”
Olivia reached over Mason’s head and patted my shoulder.
I met his gaze. “But now I see it’s not about me at all—it’s not even about presents and sausage balls.”
“Or kringle, apparently.” Ryan shifted on the sofa. Lydia narrowed her eyes at him.
I ignored them. “It’s about giving to others, not about what we get. And being happy for what other people receive.”
“Like when Janie opened her doll, and I was happy for her.” Mason nodded. “I get it.”
It was true. So far, Ryan was the only person in my family who had told me happy birthday, and yet…my heart was secure. I didn’t feel threatened or unloved. I didn’t begrudge Christmas.
And if that wasn’t a Christmas miracle, I didn’t know what was.
Olivia wrapped her arm around Mason. “The only reason we give presents at Christmas anyway is to remember that we already received the best gift ever, God coming to earth as the baby Jesus.”
“Like we read last night.” Mason cut his eyes to me. “Before you started snoring.”
“Well, yeah. Forget the snoring part and remember the message.” I grinned, then sobered. “I’m going to try to do the same.”
With or without Nick.
Because whether he decided to ever speak to me again or not, he’d helped make this Christmas the best one I’d had in a long time. And that was a pretty priceless gift.
The front door creaked open. “Knock, knock.” A male voice echoed through the foyer, followed by footsteps.
My heart jumped and I twisted on the couch. Had he—
Paul walked in, wearing a long black coat and carrying a stack of wrapped gifts. “Merry Christmas.”
Not Nick. I swallowed as everyone greeted Paul. I forced a smile and a quick wave.
“Daddy!” Janie abandoned her doll on the floor and ran to him for a hug. Next to me, Olivia stood, eyes wide as Paul strode toward the tree and set the gifts on the floor.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I thought you weren’t…What are you…”
“Hey, sport.” Paul hugged Mason next, then his gaze landed on Olivia, and his hazel eyes softened. “I believe this one is for you.” He crossed the room and handed her a small box wrapped in red and gold.
She took it gingerly, her hands shaking.
“Oh, that’s jewelry,” Chloe said knowingly from across the room.
Mom shushed her as she stood. “Make yourself comfortable, Paul. I’m afraid we ate all the sausage balls.” She shot Dad a look, who guiltily wiped crumbs off his sweater.
“I appreciate it, but I’m not hungry. Drove all night to get here and ate some junk along the way.” Paul smiled down at Olivia, who had yet to take the ribbon off her gift.
“Oh! This one is yours.” He handed Mason a square package. “And for you, my princess.” He offered Janie a gift bag with pink tissue paper.
Mason immediately tore into the striped wrapping and pulled out a brand-new basketball. His mouth dropped open. “ What? ” He wrenched it free of the box and began dribbling. His shining eyes met mine and he grinned. “It’s a Christmas miracle, Aunt Holly!”
Olivia pressed one hand to her mouth, eyes wide as she looked up at her husband. “How did you know?”
Paul shifted his weight. “I listen more than you assume.”
She stiffened. “Can we not fight—”
Then he leaned in, his sandy hair falling across his forehead. “And I’m realizing there’s also a lot I should say, and don’t. Like…” He turned his head and whispered in her ear.
Olivia blushed and pulled back to grin at him. “Back at you.” They kissed.
My heart warmed as the room erupted into activity.
Paul and Axel shaking hands and meeting for the first time.
Chloe showing off her ring. Devin nodding a hello and refusing to get up because of Kat perched securely in his lap.
Janie plopping her doll in the backpack carrier her dad gave her and wearing it around the room.
Mason passing the ball back and forth with his dad while repeatedly shouting, “This is even better than coming from Santa!”
Watching my sisters and the kids get everything they wanted was such a gift. Sure, the rom-com lover in me still wanted Nick to walk in the door next, but I’d had my share of Christmas miracles today. I could wait.
There was always New Year’s, right? People made plenty of rom-coms about New Year’s Eve. Even New Year’s Day.
“Wait.” Olivia checked her watch, then squinted at me. “Wasn’t there one more gift?”
I squinted back. “What do you mean?”
“I swear there was something else for you.” She got up and dug around the discarded paper three feet deep around the tree.
“I think that was all, dear.” Mom frowned as she helped her look. “There are no more packages.”
“Oh my gosh. It’s still in the barn.” Olivia smacked herself in the forehead. “It was too big to completely wrap, and I didn’t want you to know what it was under the tree.”
“Oh! Is it that suitcase I mentioned?” I followed her to the back door.