Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
R obin led the way downstairs, her husband right behind her. She’d sent out a text to everyone at the holiday house last night after their Christmas Eve festivities, saying they would be opening presents as a group at eight a.m. She still had fifteen minutes to spare, but she wanted to make sure that everyone had whatever they needed before the gift wrap came off.
“I wonder if people will really wear their pajamas,” she said, feeling a flicker of self-consciousness at the blue and green plaid pants she wore with a dark green shirt—her pajamas. She hated feeling nervous and anxious about what she looked like or wore, as she felt too old to have to deal with those things.
“The girls will be,” Duke said. “I am. You won’t be alone.”
Robin didn’t do well alone. She wanted to belong and feel like she belonged wherever she went.
“Did your dad say if they were coming?” Robin asked as they reached the second-floor landing.
“Yeah, he texted about ten minutes ago,” Duke said. “He said Mom isn’t feeling well, so they won’t be here.”
Probably for the best , Robin thought, because her mother would be, and for whatever reason, Jennifer Golden had never taken to Duke’s parents. El’s mother had decided to come as well.
So Robin wasn’t surprised to find Dawn in the kitchen with El and Aaron, all three of them sipping coffee.
“Merry Christmas,” Robin chirped, relief flowing through her when she saw that Eloise still wore her pajamas and Aaron wore a simple T-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts.
“Merry Christmas,” El said with a grin. She got up and hugged Robin and added, “Well, we made it.”
“Almost,” Robin said, glancing around for her mother, but she hadn’t arrived yet.
Christmas had fallen on a Sunday this year, but they’d decided to have their own festivities at the holiday house. Anyone who wanted to go to church could, and Robin simply wanted to be with the people she loved most and create the memories that she could take with her into the future, and that was right here at the holiday house. No sermon needed.
She and Duke emptied the coffee into their mugs, and Robin set a new pot to brew as more and more people emerged from their suites and rooms.
She didn’t see Jamie or Mandie. She wondered if she’d have to go wake her girls to come open presents. What a difference from when they had been little and come climbing into bed before six a.m., so excited that Santa had come. Robin loved every stage of her children’s lives, including this new one where they were independent, did a lot on their own, and still got excited about Christmas—just at a later hour.
An excited squeal lifted into the air from the living room, and Robin looked over to where Asher stood next to the pile of presents. AJ and Matt watched him with such fondness, even as AJ gently corrected him that he couldn’t pick up the presents and start opening them right then. He could say some things that Robin could understand, but right now, he babbled something unintelligible, probably due to his excitement.
Robin took her cup of coffee into the living room and pulled a kitchen chair over near the Christmas tree. Since they had so many families celebrating in the Starlight Manor, the gifts seemed to go on in waves out from underneath the pine boughs.
El had asked her to hand them out and try to make sense of the chaos that would be gift-opening on Christmas morning, and Robin had happily said yes.
Later, Jean, Clara, and Laurel and their families would make a waffle breakfast, and then they didn’t have anything else planned for the rest of the day.
Robin loved an easygoing, casual Christmas Day where people could enjoy their gifts, enjoy the weather, and enjoy each other.
“Mom,” Charlie said as he came downstairs, and he seemed just like a little boy on Christmas morning. “Did you see it’s snowing outside?” He glanced around. “Oh, my mom isn’t out here.”
“I’m right here,” Alice called from the formal dining room, and Robin hadn’t known she was there either.
“It’s snowing,” Charlie said, hurrying that way. “We opened the windows in the bunk room upstairs, and it’s snowing .”
He acted like he’d never seen snow before, but he definitely had, as it snowed in the cove every year, and it definitely snowed in New York City. They didn’t get much in the cove, and it didn’t stick around for very long due to the more temperate environment of the islands, but it definitely snowed.
Robin got up and moved over to the sliding glass doors and pulled open the curtains so that she could see the snow too. Something magical accompanied snow on Christmas morning, and she smiled as a sense of nostalgia and wonder filled her.
Someone came to stand next to her, and Robin glanced over to her daughter. “Merry Christmas, Mandie,” she said softly.
Mandie put her arm around Robin’s waist and leaned her head against her shoulder. “Merry Christmas, Mom.”
Robin had not asked her a single question about Charlie, though they talked about school and their jobs and how things were going in the city. Both of them had given her some fairly enthusiastic answers in somewhat false voices, but Robin hadn’t called them on it.
They’d each only completed half of their second year of college, and they’d been navigating all of the challenges of those classes, jobs, and their deepening relationship. No matter how she sliced it, they both had a lot on their plates, and she wanted them to deal with whatever things they needed to, knowing that Mandie would come to her if she wanted her advice. Since she hadn’t, Robin had decided to keep her mouth shut.
It had been one of the hardest things she’d done, though she’d lain in Duke’s arms at night and poured out her worries and fears to him. They’d talked through it all, but that didn’t mean that Robin had to bring it up with her daughter.
Now, though, she wondered if she could ask a question and get a decently honest answer. So she pressed her ear to the top of Mandie’s head, though her daughter stood taller than her, and asked, “Do I need to put a date for your wedding on my calendar? I usually get a lot of calls in January and start scheduling spring and summer weddings, and I’d hate to book someone else when it could be yours.”
Mandie straightened, and a sigh slipped between her lips. “I mean, I don’t know,” she said. “We’ve talked about marriage, and of course, I want to get married on the beach, or maybe our backyard, or maybe the lighthouse—I don’t know—but here in the cove.”
Robin nodded and lifted her coffee mug to her mouth again so she wouldn’t ask another question.
“But he hasn’t asked me…” She trailed off, her voice becoming a little more uncertain. “And I don’t know, maybe it will be another year.”
“And that’s okay with you?” Robin asked. She personally didn’t understand it. Mandie and Charlie already lived together. Why not go ahead and get married? She didn’t know what there was to wait for or how a person could possibly be ready for marriage until they did it.
No matter how prepared someone could be, it would never be enough. Marriage didn’t work that way. Heck, life didn’t work that way. And the best part about marriage was that she could figure it out as they went, day by day, situation by situation, in the good times and in the bad.
But Robin simply said, “Okay, well, let me know as soon as you know, would you?”
“Of course, Mom,” Mandie said, and she gave her a small smile. “I love him, Mom, and he loves me. We’re going to get married.”
“Okay,” Robin said, and she found the idea didn’t bother her nearly as much as it had a few months ago. She certainly couldn’t object to people getting married young, as she and Duke hadn’t been much older than Mandie and Charlie. She’d fallen for him hard and fast, and her mother certainly hadn’t approved of the wedding, though it was because it had happened too fast, not the other way around.
“All right,” Duke called, and that made Robin turn away from the gently billowing snow outside. “It’s time to open presents.” He glanced over to Robin, and she realized that she’d lost track of the time as she’d stood at the window talking to Mandie.
“Yes,” she said, raising her voice to be heard above the din, as Asher clapped his hands and bounced on his little boy feet. “It’s time to open presents.” She set her coffee cup on the dining room table and took up her perch on the chair. “And I know who the first one goes to.” She picked up a long rectangular box and said, “Asher.”
He looked up at his mom, pure delight on his face.
AJ said, “Go on, go get it,” and the little three-year-old came toddling over to her.
Robin handed him the gift, and he took it back over to his parents to open it.
With most people focused on him, Robin quickly handed out several more gifts. As Asher finally unearthed a long white toy semi-truck, he held it up with both hands and yelled, “Truck!” as if he’d just gotten the greatest gift imaginable.
Scattered chuckles and giggles ran through the crowd, and Robin nodded over to Laurel. She started opening her gift, as did Mandie, Jean, Kristin, Julia, and Parker. Since they were older, the gifts got unwrapped much faster, and they each held up what they had gotten.
Mandie, an insulated mug that kept things hot that should be hot, and cold when they should be cold.
Jean, a luxurious skin care kit.
Parker, a wireless gaming headset.
Julia, a gift card to the spa where she liked to get pedicures and massages.
As Kristin held up the sweater that Alice had gotten for her, Robin handed out another round of gifts. Present by present and person by person, they went through everything on and under the tree, only pausing for the small children to open their gifts alone.
It didn’t take long, and Robin knew that Matt and AJ had put a little tree in their suite for Asher as well, and that they would have their own private family Christmas together. Maybe they’d already done it; Robin didn’t know.
She knew Alice had something planned for her family after breakfast, and she glanced over to her best friend. Alice had been nervous to tell her about it because she wanted Mandie to come…but not Robin.
Robin could still hear herself saying, “Of course, of course,” in that super fake voice, because she did feel like she was missing out.
With the last of the presents opened and shown, Laurel, Jean, and Clara got up to move into the kitchen to start breakfast. Duke appeared at her shoulder and handed her another cup of coffee.
“Good job, babe,” he said as he swept a kiss along her cheek. “You’re staring at Alice pretty hard.”
Robin tore her eyes away and got to her feet. She turned into him, and he put his arm around her, further concealing her from the rest of the group.
“We’ve had Mandie for twenty years,” Duke said quietly as they moved into the formal dining room and over to the windows that overlooked the yard. “It’s okay to share her.”
Robin had not thought of it like that. And of course, Alice would want her son’s very serious girlfriend and soon-to-be wife involved in their family traditions as well. She would want Mandie to feel comfortable and accepted. And Robin nodded, grateful for the steady wisdom of Duke.
“Let’s go for a walk before breakfast,” she said.
“All right,” Duke said. “In our pajamas?”
She grinned at him, tipped her head back so that he would kiss her. He did, always able to read her cues so well. “No,” she murmured against his mouth. “Let’s go get dressed first.”
“Maybe we could get undressed and then redressed,” he murmured.
Warmth filled Robin as he pulled her against his side, and she laid her head against his chest. “That does sound nice,” she murmured, but neither of them moved from their perch at the window quite yet.
Behind them, the bustling activity of Christmas continued with various toy noises, video game sounds, and people talking. But the warmth of the manor enveloped her, and the scent of yeast and bacon filled the air, and the sight of snow and the good feelings of Christmas reminded her of how very, very good her life was.