Chapter 39
~Riley~
Hudson takes the large present out of my hands as I step inside, leaving me with only the small poinsettia I brought for his parents.
The front door opens straight into the living room, and through a cut-out arch in the wall, I can see straight into the kitchen where Mrs Baker bustles around, working on the wonderful-smelling dinner that’s already making my stomach rumble.
She catches me staring and a wide smile stretches across her face, reminding me so much of Hudson’s easy grin.
A moment later, she’s striding towards me at the door, wiping her hands on the Christmas-themed apron she wears.
“How lovely to see you, Riley. Please, come in. Hudson, where are your manners?” she scolds her son who is busy trying to find a place under the gorgeous Christmas tree to fit his present. Zac hovers close to him, trying to guess what’s inside. “Leave your shoes there and I’ll take your coat.”
She holds out her hands for my coat and I awkwardly shove the poinsettia towards her instead. “This is for you. For the family. For Christmas.”
“That’s so thoughtful, thank you.” She beams at me before turning back to her sons. “Zac, will you come find a spot for this on the mantle? Hudson, leave the presents alone and look after your guest!”
It doesn’t take long to see that the loving, teasing dynamic the family had at the restaurant wasn’t an act.
It really is how they are all the time, and Hudson appears a second later, his cheeks flushed and his head hanging sheepishly.
“Sorry,” he apologizes to his mom before echoing the word to me in a softer tone. “Sorry. Let me take your things.”
His mother tuts once more before heading back to the kitchen, handing off the poinsettia to Zac, who takes his job of fitting the plant onto the already Christmas-stuffed mantlepiece very seriously.
“This is incredible,” I whisper to Hudson as I take in the fully-decorated living room.
Besides the enormous tree and the mountain of presents, there are decorations scattered around the room, snowmen and reindeer and stockings everywhere I look, but rather than appearing over-the-top or gaudy, it simply oozes warmth.
I want to curl up in front of the fire and never leave.
“It’s a lot, right?” he asks with a warm smile, and from the affection in his voice, I can tell he loves it too. “Did your mom go all out like this when you were at home?”
I can’t stop my snort of laughter before it escapes. “No. My mom was Buddhist.”
“Wait, really?” Hesitation underpins the question, uncertainty about whether I’m teasing him or not, but in this case, I’m not.
“Really. She moved to California from Tibet when she was a teenager so she could go to college. She never celebrated Christmas growing up so she never made a big deal of it for me. I got to see the decorations at the mall and stuff, but it wasn’t like this.”
I give the room another appreciative sweep with my eyes, trying to take it all in, before Sutton appears and announces that dinner is ready.
“Were you waiting for me?” I ask in dismay, but Hudson waves off my concern.
“We don’t eat until everyone’s here. You’re here now, so we’ll eat.”
He makes it sound so simple, as if I’ve always been part of the equation.
My spot is one side of the rectangular table, between Hudson and Sutton, while Tyler and Zac sit across from us and Mr and Mrs Baker fill out either end.
Between mouthfuls of incredible roast pork and baked potatoes, the family shares what they’ve been up to over the last week and I’m happy to just listen and laugh when someone makes a joke, until his mom asks if anyone has any other news and Hudson turns the spotlight on me.
“I just found out ten minutes ago that Riley is Buddhist and didn’t celebrate Christmas as a kid,” he exclaims.
Expressions of interest ring out around the table but I quickly shake my head before they can ask me any questions. “Not quite. My grandparents were Buddhist, but once my mom moved away, she didn’t practice anymore. I’m not really anything.”
“But you really didn’t have Christmas?” Tyler asks, sounding as horrified as if Hudson just announced I’d been tortured.
“Not at home,” I admit. “But I saw all the stuff on TV and exchanged presents with my friends.”
“Not the same thing,” Sutton insists. “You should spend Christmas here and get the full experience.”
I glance over at Hudson, horrified that I’ve somehow invited myself over for Christmas at his house after we’ve been dating for all of a week, but he’s still smiling. “I was going to ask you anyway since you’re not going home but she beat me to it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” all the Bakers say at once before Zac calls a jinx.
“Don’t say anyone’s name,” he warns me, cackling with delight. “No one else can talk until we say their names!”
I haven’t jinxed anyone since grade school, but the Baker family seems to take it seriously and Zac has way too much fun lording his victory over his family until Hudson begins to tickle my sides.
“Stop!” I beg between giggles, but when he doesn’t obey, I give in. “Hudson, stop!”
Free from his jinx, he quickly says everyone else’s names and conversation resumes as if nothing out of the ordinary just happened.
I honestly didn’t know that families like this existed in real life.
When dinner ends, I insist on helping with the dishes and Hudson and I clean up together while the others go into the living room.
A hockey game appears on the TV and the boys and their dad are quickly drawn into it, discussing the players with each other while Sutton and their mom sit on the other side of the room chatting quietly.
“You’re really lucky to have this to come home to,” I tell Hudson as I scrub at one of the saucepans in the warm, sudsy water. He stands next to me with a towel, waiting to dry what I wash and put it away since he knows where everything goes.
“I know,” he assures me. “I didn’t always appreciate it, but I do now.
That’s why I’m here every Sunday that I’m not away competing.
And I really was going to ask you to come for Christmas even before my family beat me to it.
That’s why I stuck your present under the tree; it’ll get opened on Christmas Day like everything else. ”
The idea of coming back here for Christmas fills me with warmth that’s only slightly chilled by Hudson’s next words.“What are Sundays like at your mom’s house?”
I grimace at the comparison but try to be as objective as possible. “My mom is amazing. She moved to a foreign country on her own because she loved American music. She got a job with a production company on a tour and worked her way up. Music is her life and she pursued it with her whole heart.”
“And where do you fit into that life?” he asks gently, hearing the words I didn’t say as much as the ones I did.
He’ll get it out of me eventually, so I might as well be honest up front.
“I wasn’t planned. Out on the road, a few too many drinks, a drunken hook-up with a musician that resulted in a baby.
That’s me.” I shrug as casually as I can.
“I had nannies whenever my mom needed to tour with the acts she managed so that I could have a stable home life. She’s always provided everything I need. ”
The differences between needs and wants were clear to me from a young age. I might want my mom to come to my school plays like other kids’ moms did, but I didn’t need it.
“And your dad?” Hudson is hooked on every word, absorbing them intently between every swipe of his towel over the wet dishes I hand him.
“They attempted a relationship when my mom found out she was pregnant, but he didn’t have a good track record of saying no to his fans. My mom realized pretty quickly it wasn’t worth it.”
“Is he someone famous?” Hudson asks curiously.
“I don’t know. My mom never told me who he is.”
Hudson gapes at me, his jaw slack. “Seriously?”
“Yup. So, he could be famous, but since he’s never made any attempt to be a part of my life, I’d rather not know, you know?”
Hudson starts to nod but it turns into a shake of his head instead. “I don’t know, Riley. Not at all. It must have been lonely for you.”
“Sometimes,” I agree, keeping my head down so I can avoid the sympathy in his sweet blue eyes.
“But when I found skating, something clicked. On the ice, I was never alone, and when I showed a bit of talent, my mom happily paid for all my lessons. She knows what it’s like to have a passion and work for it, so she’s always supported me. It’s more than a lot of people have.”
I hand him the last dish and reach into the sink to pull the plug. The water drains away, taking all the lonely memories with it. They feel out of place in this house. I can’t imagine anyone ever feeling alone here.
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” Hudson says, handing me his towel so I can dry my hands. “I feel like I know you better than I did at the start of the night, and I love that.”
My cheeks immediately warm at his use of the word ‘love’ even though he didn’t direct it towards me.
“There’s a lot more I want to know,” he adds, stepping closer until we’re within breathing distance of each other. “Like what it’s like to wake up in your house, for instance. Are you ready to get out of here?”
As much as I enjoyed my evening with the Baker family, heading home with Hudson sounds even better. “Ready when you are.”