CHAPTER 27
Summer
It’s Christmas Eve and the kitchen is absolute chaos, in the best way.
Lily is basting a roast the size of my torso, Penny is elbow-deep in bowls of salad, and Grace is showing Mia how to pipe tiny frosting snowflakes onto cookies.
I’m at the counter shaping the cake batter into a Christmas-tree mold when Mia’s voice rings through the kitchen.
“Mommy, look!”
She’s holding up a reindeer cookie with pink glitter antlers. Her eyes shine with so much pride I could melt faster than butter on the stove.
“It’s perfect,” I tell her, and she beams.
Grace leans in conspiratorially and whispers to Mia, “Want to know a secret? I once ate so much cookie dough I threw up on my brother’s boots.”
Mia bursts out laughing so hard her icing bag squirts a line straight across Grace’s sweater. Grace gasps, slaps a hand to her chest, and deadpans, “Well. I guess I deserved that.”
The entire kitchen erupts in laughter.
The men are somewhere in the living room “preparing something,” which only means trouble. Or glitter. Or both.
Suddenly strong arms wrap around my waist from behind, warm and familiar, and Ethan’s sandalwood-and-winter-spice scent surrounds me.
“I missed you,” he murmurs against my ear.
I snort. “You saw me half an hour ago.”
“Thirty minutes,” he says, nuzzling the side of my neck, “is torture.”
I turn toward him, catch those green eyes that undo me every single time, dip my finger behind my back into the whipped cream bowl, and swipe it across his lips. Ethan’s lips curl; he licks the cream off slowly, then kisses me, warm and sweet.
“Hey! Get a room!” Grace hollers. A dish towel sails through the air and smacks Ethan in the head. Mia giggles so hard she falls sideways into Penny.
Ethan doesn’t even turn, he just leans to my ear again, voice sinful. “Bring some of that whipped cream upstairs tonight.”
My face heats instantly. He pulls back with an innocent smile that fools no one.
Everyone is already in the pajamas Lily bought, Ethan in green PJs covered in tiny reindeer, me and Mia in matching red snowflake onesies. Santa hats, reindeer headbands, jingling elf slippers… the whole thing looks like Target and the North Pole had a love child.
Christmas music plays loud enough the walls hum.
“Come on,” Ethan says, tugging my hand. “We’re ready.”
“For what?”
He just grins.
We step out of the kitchen, and the second I walk into the living room, I gasp.
Mia outright squeals.
The entire place has been transformed into a full-blown Christmas wonderland, the kind of over-the-top magic you only see in movies and Pinterest boards created by people who definitely run on peppermint lattes and holiday spirit.
A thick blanket of soft fake snow covers the floors, crunching lightly under our slippers. Fairy lights twist around every ceiling beam, dripping like golden icicles. Hundreds of paper snowflakes hang from invisible threads, swaying gently as if a winter breeze lives inside these walls.
The doorway is framed by a massive archway of pine branches, velvet red ribbon, and shimmering ornaments. Glitter dusts everything, like someone shook the entire jar for fun. Even the air smells like pine and warm sugar.
Then I see it.
The table.
Stretching from one end of the living room to the other, long enough to fit the entire chaotic, loud, loving Hawthorne clan. It looks like something out of a luxury Christmas magazine.
A thick runner of evergreen garland runs down the middle, woven with red berries, golden ornaments, pinecones, and real candles flickering softly. Twinkle lights snake through the greenery, giving everything a warm glow.
Every place setting is perfect, white plates with gold rims, cloth napkins tied with ribbon, and nestled on top of each plate is a sparkling Christmas ornament, each one etched with a name in swirling script:
Josh. Lily. Ethan. Dex. Cas. Penny. Jude. Jace. Grace. Mia. Summer.
My name glitters back at me.
There are candles everywhere, big ones, small ones, lanterns, tea lights. The soft golden light makes the whole room feel like a warm hug.
And the food, oh God, the food.
Lily has laid out enough dishes to feed half of Wyoming.
A roast glistening with herbs, bowls of honeyed carrots, cheesy scalloped potatoes, fluffy rolls stacked high, salads sprinkled with cranberries and pecans, glazed ham, and an entire section just for desserts.
It smells like heaven. Like comfort. Like belonging.
Along the far wall, a mini Christmas village glows, complete with tiny carolers and a train humming in circles around it. A life-sized plush polar bear sits by the fireplace wearing a Santa hat, and stockings embroidered with everyone’s names hang from the mantel, even mine and Mia’s.
Mia squeals and runs straight into the snow, slipping, laughing, pointing at everything with wild excitement.
I stand frozen, overwhelmed, a knot forming in my throat.
Ethan slides up behind me, arms wrapping around my waist, chin resting on my shoulder.
“I want this to be the best Christmas you’ve ever had,” he whispers, warm and sincere.
I turn to him, heart full.
“Ethan… the fact that I’m with you already made it the best Christmas I ever had.”
And in the center, the Hawthorne men stand proudly like they built the actual North Pole.
Mia spins in a circle, arms wide. “It’s magic, Mommy!”
◆◆◆
We all take our seats at the table and Lily is glowing, clearly in her element.
Josh stands to say grace, and everyone grabs hands. Ethan squeezes mine under the table.
After “amen,” chaos erupts instantly.
Dex points at Jace. “Are you wearing cologne at the dinner table? Who you trying to impress, Santa?”
Jace flips his hair. “If Santa’s helper is a hot girl, I’m not opposed.”
Everyone groans.
Cas nudges Penny. “Tell them about how you tried to make gravy for tonight.”
Penny throws a roll at him. “Shut up, Cas!”
Grace laughs so hard she nearly spills her drink. “Cas, the gravy was gray. GRAY.”
Jude, grumpy as ever, mutters, “Can we eat without reliving Penny’s culinary crimes?”
Dex leans over to him. “Jude, bro, you planning to smile at least once today?”
Jude gives him a flat stare. “No.”
Ethan squeezes my thigh under the table, smirking. “Welcome to the circus,” he whispers.
Mia is between Grace and Cas, chattering while Grace cuts her food and Cas sneaks extra mashed potatoes onto her plate like it’s a covert mission.
Penny and Lily are laughing, Josh is telling some long-winded story about “back in ’96,” the brothers are bickering about who cheated in last year’s gingerbread-house contest, and the whole table is loud, messy, loving.
A real family.
A home.
I look around, heart full to the brim.
Ethan catches my eye, gives me that soft smile that’s for me and only me.
This, this moment, is Christmas.
After dinner Dex rolls in the karaoke system like he’s presenting a national treasure.
Ethan pops up the second the wheels squeak to a stop, grabs the mic, and clears his throat dramatically.
“Since the last karaoke night was such a fun experience,” he announces.
I groan. Loudly.
“We are officially introducing a new Christmas tradition,” he continues, totally ignoring me. “As of this year, Christmas Eve Karaoke is a must.”
He grins straight at me like he’s daring me to protest. Jace lets out a cowboy-style yeehaw, Cas and Penny crack up, and Dex… oh, Dex just smirks like he’s plotting my public humiliation.
“I think I’ll start,” Josh says, already standing before any of us can object. He takes the mic, leans toward Dex, and whispers something that makes Dex’s smirk sharpen.
Then Josh turns, eyes softening. “Lily, baby, come here and help me sing this.”
Lily’s face lights up. She slips to his side just as the opening notes of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” float through the room.
They sing it terribly adorably, Josh slightly off-key, Lily trying not to laugh through her lines.
Halfway in, the entire family joins because of course they do.
Ethan shouts the lyrics like he’s on stage at Madison Square Garden, Jace adds dramatic backup vocals, Penny harmonizes beautifully, and Cas does that deep radio-announcer voice on the low parts.
Grace stands on a chair recording everything with her phone, narrating like she’s filming a documentary: “And here we observe our natural habitat: chaos.”
The room glows with twinkle lights and candlelight, everyone laughing, everyone loud, everyone together.
And it feels, just for a moment, like the kind of tradition that’s been here forever.
Jace hops to his feet next, swagger in full force, and leans down to whisper his song choice to Dex. Dex doesn’t just smirk this time, he bursts out laughing.
Oh dear. This is either going to be good… or very, very bad.
The speakers crackle, and the opening notes of “All I Want for Christmas” start to play, except it’s not Mariah’s version. It’s the upbeat, Bollywood-inspired remix.
Jace jumps in immediately, singing at full volume, complete with dramatic head tilts and dance moves.
Cas takes a sip of his drink at the exact wrong moment, and chokes, spraying water across the table. Penny collapses against his shoulder, wheezing with laughter.
Mia giggles so hard she snorts, Jude rolls his eyes like he’s questioning every life decision that led him here, Josh and Lily are just shaking their heads in secondhand embarrassment.
Grace lifts her phone and yells, “I’m so tagging you on socials!”
That’s all it takes. The whole family joins in, bad accents, off-key chaos, clapping wildly on the wrong beats. It’s a disaster. It’s perfect.
And it’s exactly the kind of memory Christmas Eve is supposed to make.
Grace practically leaps to her feet, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Okay, okay, my turn. Penny, Summer, come on.” She crooks a finger at us like a ringmaster calling her performers.
Penny and I exchange a look.
Uh-oh.
But Grace is already scrolling through the karaoke list, humming dramatically until she finds it. The first bright, jangly notes of “Underneath the Tree” blast through the speakers.
“Oh, we’re doing this,” Penny says, grinning.
“Apparently,” I laugh, and Grace shoves mics into our hands before striking a pose like she’s auditioning for a girl band.
We jump straight into the song, loud, energetic, definitely not Mariah-level but full of chaotic confidence. Grace is belting like she’s headlining a world tour.
And then, of course, Penny and I do what any troublemaking women would do with microphones and an audience.
We sway.
Slowly. Dramatically. Directly toward our men.
Penny sashays over to Cas, running a teasing hand down his chest. His face goes red enough to blend in with every decoration in the room.
I strut toward Ethan, hips swinging, singing right into his face. He’s grinning at me like I’ve just hung the moon, eyes burning with amusement and something warmer.
The room erupts.
Dex wolf-whistles.
Jace yells, “Work it, ladies!”
Jude grunts what might be a laugh, or a cough, hard to tell.
Josh and Lily clap like proud parents at a school play.
And Grace, still singing her heart out, spins between us like a backup dancer who finally got her moment to shine.
By the time we hit the last note, the entire family is cheering, the lights are twinkling, and it feels like pure, ridiculous, magical Christmas madness.
Exactly the way I like it.