Chapter 10
Ilove Christmas.
The most wonderful time of the year… or so we wish it to be.
It always starts with the Christmas lights, the Advent calendars, the early Christmas shopping, and the pretty window displays…
Everything to remind everyone that the season of twinkling lights, Christmas carols, and grand trees is beginning.
It’s inevitable, from the Christmas sweaters that pop up in the office, the Christmas markets that land overnight, and all the decorations that spruce up every house, every street, every shop.
For many, it’s also the start of something less… visible, and yet just as significant.
It’s a month of making time to decorate, juggling holiday events, brainstorming gift ideas, coordinating with relatives, planning holiday menus, and scheduling travel.
It’s endless checklists, shopping trips, wrapping chaos, and text exchanges.
Sometimes, it’s a bit of financial stress, social anxiety, familial pressure, or a last-minute travel disaster that sends everything spiraling out of control.
And for some, the season carries the ache of missing someone we love.
If there is one thing I learned last year, it’s that Christmas is magic, but that magic is a labor of love.
It’s the friends, relatives, and loved ones who come together to make it happen.
When we were kids, everything seemed to appear out of thin air!
Like… magic. As adults, we know better. We know that behind every twinkling light, every cookie, every wrapped present, there is someone quietly making it happen.
Not Santa, not an elf, but a good soul who put their time into it.
And I believe this is where the real magic lies.
It’s holding hands with your partner as you shop for Christmas decorations for your new house and making a date out of it.
It’s bickering endlessly with your siblings over the best Christmas menu over many, many group calls.
It’s keeping your kitties from smashing the baubles and toppling the Christmas tree, and finding the patience to laugh about it when they inevitably succeed.
It’s showing up to work in ridiculous sweaters and sharing not only your holiday bakes with colleagues, but also the anxiety of the upcoming family spats.
It’s exchanging holiday playlists and Grinch memes with your little sister and laughing late into the night about it.
It’s planning your guests’ bedding with extra care so they feel welcome for their first Christmas in your new home.
It’s the sister-in-law who arrives the day before to wake up early to cook with you, and the nieces who proudly volunteer to help bake the cookies and set the table.
It’s the brother who makes every last-minute grocery run with his toddler in tow so his wife can focus in the kitchen, and chauffeurs your partner’s mother from the airport.
It’s the siblings and parents who travel long distances because they don’t want to lose a single minute together, and the ones who come a little later because they’re honoring what works best for their own little family.
It’s your partner who sends you stolen glances and warm smiles across the room, because there’s that magic sparkling between you.
Christmas is everyone who comes together to make that magic happen.
“Ophelia, this is beautiful!”
I can’t help but beam as Courtney gapes at our living room.
She’s been here before, but she hadn’t seen it in person with our Christmas decorations yet, and I have to admit, it is very close to my Pinterest boards!
Because we painted our living room a soothing forest green, it was easy to slip into that vintage Christmas theme I’d fantasized about.
That, and the fact that Nicolas definitely did not listen to me about the budget and went out of his way to make my vision happen…
I was ready to wait a year or two to see it finalized, and yet here I stand, on Christmas morning, ridiculously happy as our living room looks straight out of a Hallmark movie!
Of course, our Christmas tree is the focus of attention, with the roaring fire next to it, and the large leather couch facing it!
We went with a classic red-and-gold theme, with real pine branches everywhere, velvet ribbons, plaid accents, and earthy tones…
A warm, vintage, and timeless decor, right out of a Dickens novel!
“Thank you,” I beam. “Mom brought us a bunch of decorations she wasn’t using, and I got a ton of free tree branches from the place where we bought our tree… Oh, and Solange gifted us that beautiful golden cutlery set!”
“Did she?” Courtney whispers conspiratorially.
I nod. I have to admit, the golden tableware is perfect for my theme and our dinner table!
I had honestly planned to save us some money and use Nicolas’ silverware this year, but when I took Solange with me on one of our shopping trips after she arrived, she insisted that my vision would be “complete” and that every home needed a nice cutlery set. And honestly, I couldn’t refuse…
Nicolas had been right: his mom was a lot easier as a guest. Maybe it was because she’d participated in the preparations, or because she’d softened since becoming a grandmother, but this year, Solange seems much kinder.
Not only has she been generous in helping us with all the shopping and around the house, but last night we heard her praise our new house and its decor to my mom, and she complimented us on our cooking many times!
Of course, she still let out a snippy comment now and then, but well, all I had to do was look at her wonderful son, and let it snow…
And Solange wasn’t the only one I found more relaxed! It wasn’t easy to get everyone to agree to the change, but this Christmas feels completely different from last year’s, and I can’t help but marvel at the changes it’s brought to our loved ones.
For someone who had ranted again and again about not hosting Christmas, Mom seemed pleasantly surprised when she arrived at our house last night to find pretty much everything ready and a nice cup of mulled wine waiting for her.
Of course, she offered to help, but the dinner table was set, Parveen, Nicolas, and I had the dinner well under control, and all she had to do was help take care of Ash, now an energetic toddler, or chat with my dad and Simon.
It had taken all of an hour for her to start relaxing, bicker with Dad, and make silly faces at her grandson!
And I have to admit, it’s been wonderful to see my mom getting to relax and enjoy herself after all the years she spent making our Christmases magical.
Jordan, too, got to relax after driving them down to Boston.
Our parents praised his driving skills, and for once, no one could say he didn’t contribute after he drove three hours to get them here!
And right after they arrived, after being the perfect copilot, Rosie went straight to play with our nieces.
This year, we made sure to set up a playing space in the office, so my nephews and nieces can make all the noise they want and play to their heart’s content there!
Nicolas and I even prepared little baskets of activities for my nephews and nieces to play with, and now that the last three have arrived, they’re all split between the living room and the office, filling coloring books or playing with their newly opened presents.
Do we expect random dashes of crayon on the furniture and Christmas stickers all around the house? Yup!
And while showing her our living room decor, I can’t help but note that Courtney looks infinitely more relaxed than she did last year; she and Beckett keep trading soft smiles across the room, and their children keep running to them to show off their new toys and drawings.
Even rambunctious Kenny seems a little more tame than usual!
“How was Christmas Eve?” I ask, a bit curious.
“It was… really nice,” she says with a happy sigh. “We just got whatever food they wanted, put the kids in pajamas, watched Christmas movies, and ate s’mores. And we chit-chatted a lot.”
“That sounds amazing,” I beam.
Courtney grins.
“It was.”
I smile back, so glad things worked out for everyone.
Courtney had taken a little while to admit she wanted Christmas Eve to be just the five of them, but honestly, I understood her completely now.
Nicolas and I also worked hard to prioritize our relationship this past year.
Buying a house together, moving in, and preparing to host the holidays certainly came with its own challenges!
But each hurdle also taught us a lot about our relationship.
We each did our share to ensure we got some time dedicated just to each other, not just whatever life threw at us.
We still went on dates, missed each other when we were apart, and bickered about how much money we spent on the cats.
Now, instead of taking each other for granted or withholding our issues, we talk.
And we still choose each other, every time.
Feeling warm inside, I leave Courtney to catch up with Parveen and head to the kitchen, where I find Nicolas deeply focused on arranging the foie gras on the gingerbread toasts.
“Is everything going well, honey?” I rub his arm.
“It’s a bit too cold,” he frowns. “I need even slices, but it’s proving difficult.”
He’s so adorable when he’s concentrating.
“Try the cheese-wire slicer,” I suggest, already reaching for it.
I love our new house, and of course, the kitchen is my favorite room!
It’s fully equipped for all our cooking dates and my baking adventures, with appliances that are cute and modern but quiet, another way Nicolas and I prioritize each other, even in the small details.
All over our new home, we mixed and matched a lot of things we kept from our previous apartments, so it feels both familiar and new!