Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Can I give you a hand?” I ask Savannah as I pick up a dish and start loading the dishwasher.
We’ve always started Christmas morning with the same egg bake recipe that Mama used to make.
In the past, Savannah and Shane would celebrate as a family of five in the morning first before coming over to our parents’ house in the early afternoon.
But this year, Shane will be picking up the girls at two p.m. and have them until just before their bedtime to celebrate Christmas with them.
With all the insanity of last month’s abduction, and Shane nearly dying, at least it seems like the guy has gotten a few of his priorities straight, like actually showing up for his girls.
So, this Christmas is a little different in multiple ways.
We have more people joining our celebration like Theo, who recently became Savannah’s fiancé, his daughter Gigi, Vivian’s new husband Walker, Vivian’s baby bump that is impossible to miss as it seems to grow daily with my identical twin nephews—not that I’d ever admit that to her—and of course, Cami.
Cami was hesitant, to say the least, when Savannah initially invited her, but we managed to convince her to at least come over for Christmas dinner.
She’s been staying in my guest room and being far too polite of a houseguest. I don’t want her to feel like a houseguest; I want her to feel like she’s home, but I understand that’s going to take time to adjust, get to know each other, and figure out what it means to be a part of our family.
It’s all going to take time.
The conversation with our dad went about as I expected it to go, but I was thankful when Savannah stopped by our dad’s without her girls just before we dropped the bomb about who Cameron Maura Walsh is.
Savannah helped us keep perspective on what matters but still managed to punch me in the arm for not telling her immediately.
It’s going to be messy for a bit while we all navigate this new chapter in our family, but that’s okay. We can handle messy.
I can’t handle thinking of one of my siblings living in a broken RV without heat in December. I don’t know how the gift Liam mentioned to me is going to go with Cami, but I hope he took my suggestion and waited to talk to her first before steamrolling her.
“I don’t see the issue. She loves that RV? Great. I’ll replace it with a state of the art one that runs, is safe, and has every amenity that’s possible for an RV. What’s the big deal?” Liam asks.
“The problem is that you can’t just replace her home.”
He tilts his head at me. “Why not? It’s not an adequate living space, and it’s not a big deal to give her a better one.”
“It might be a big deal to her, though. I don’t know, it just feels like too much and too soon when we just found her. I don’t want to scare her away from our family, Liam. Can you just be a little more … subtle?”
“I don’t understand the issue. I think it will be fine, but I’ll consider it.”
He didn’t agree not to replace her RV, but him considering it may be the best outcome I could have hoped for. I had to be in New York for a few days, so I haven’t had that many conversations with Cami, but I’ve learned a few things from our limited interactions.
She is extremely optimistic in situations and in life, even when something seems hopeless, she seems to intentionally find the good. That said, while kind, she is also very guarded. I’m hopeful that more time together will allow some of her walls to come down, but it’s going to take time.
And I have all the time in the world—so long as she doesn’t go back to that broken RV. We will likely overwhelm her today with the gift that Savannah and Vivian planned, but that was going to happen one way or another.
“Thanks, I always appreciate an extra hand.” She glances around before leaning closer to me.
“That is, unless it’s Finn. I think he makes a bigger mess than what I originally started with whenever he helps.
” Savannah grins, and she may be right. But in Finn’s defense, it’s usually because he gets distracted by something and then has to investigate it.
Like at the last family dinner, he was helping clean up, and Dad mentioned the garbage disposal was making a funny noise, so of course, Finn and Liam had to take the entire thing apart—right in the kitchen—instead of finishing the dishes first.
“How are you doing?” While I know she’s excited about her recent engagement, I know she is also dreading not being with her girls all day today.
“I’m trying not to think about this afternoon, just focus on the now. And when I can’t stop my mind from going there, I try to remind myself that my girls deserve to spend time with their father … so long as he shows up.”
I tilt my head at that in agreement. Shane was a shit father for a while there, and while we have all noticed an improvement since he got out of the hospital, time will tell if this newfound dedication is legit or just a brief afterglow from surviving a close call with death.
“Are you ready for Cami to arrive?”
“Yeah, but I wish she was already here,” Savannah admits. “But I was texting with her a little last night and she said she was going over to Cara and Max’s before she came here, so at least she’s coming.”
“I’m sure she wanted to hear all about yesterday from them too.”
Max and Cara had an insane November, and they deserve a peaceful and happy holiday.
I know Max gave Cara, her nephew Dante, and her niece Mila an amazing Christmas gift yesterday.
Liam helped pull it off, and it sounded like a pretty epic surprise.
From getting to know Cami, I’m glad she has the friendship she found with Cara.
It must be helpful for her to have a friendship that is independent of who she’s related to, especially now that she has two sisters and four brothers kind of forcing their way into her life.
Max is head over heels with Cara, and if Max chose her, then I know Cara is good people, even if her life is more than a bit complicated.
It’s nice to see Max so happy, too. When everything happened with his mother and my sister almost a year ago, I wasn’t sure what normal would even look like for him in the aftermath, but I’m glad he found his way—and his way back to Cara.
“I think I’ll invite Cara over for dinner or something with Cami.
Maybe that would make her feel a little more comfortable around us if her best friend sees how awesome our family is, and how much we want to have her with us.
Or maybe Viv, Cami, Cara, and I can go have dinner just the four of us or something.
” Savannah is convinced they have to prove to Cami that they’re worth taking a chance and getting to know, but I think Cami just needs a little time to calibrate everything.
She was in Forrest Falls for close to a year and never uttered a word to any of us about who she was—I don’t want to scare her off, not that all my siblings seem to grasp that concern.
“And if Liam went through with his idea of replacing her RV without her permission, I will throw a shoe at his head. Please tell me you talked him out of that,” she pleads.
I shrug. “He said he would consider it, and that was the best I could do.”
Savannah sets down the last dish in the drying rack and wipes her hands on the hand towel draped over her shoulder. She looks around the room and nods before going into the mudroom.
“What are you doing?” I call after her.
“I’m going to set a shoe by my chair, just in case I need it when we exchange presents. It’s better to be prepared, and when it comes to our brother, I don’t think one can be overprepared!”
Valid point.
“Okay, everyone, sit down, sit down. There are plenty of presents and we will get through all of them,” Savannah declares, as one of my brothers whine in protest. “Really, Finn?”
“If you want to be the fun police, I reserve the right to protest.” Finn sticks out his hand and Emily turns to give him a high five in agreement. “And it’s called a childlike appreciation for joy!”
“Okay, Captain Joyful, you’ll get your turn. But I’m going first with a special gift.”
“Oh, yeah!” Finn gets up with his face all excited, until Savannah gives him a look that has him sitting back down while he mumbles something about stupid birth order.
Eloise reaches over and sympathetically pats his shoulder while I hold back a laugh.
I pull my reading glasses out and slide them on, shaking my head at my youngest brother—I hope he never changes.
Savannah picks up a large box and carries it over to Cami, who is sitting on the couch between Vivian and Ryan.
Her eyebrows shoot up as she looks around.
“I wasn’t aware the adults were exchanging gifts …
I wasn’t prepared, maybe someone else should go.
” Cami is crawling out of her skin, and I told Savannah this would happen, but she assured me she would handle it.
I’m about to get out of my seat to fix it when she shoots me a look, and I huff, staying put.
Savannah shoos at Ryan for him to scoot over and she sits next to Cami.
“Then don’t think of this as a gift. Think of it as a gesture. You wouldn’t refuse a kind gesture from your sister, would you?” Savannah is laying it on thick as she mocks clutching her pearls.
“Uh … no, I suppose not.” Cami looks at the gift and then back at Savannah, who nods for her to open it. She pulls the ribbon—lavender, of course—and opens the box with a gasp. “Oh, Savannah! You didn’t!”