“If you say so.” Jude shrugs and I playfully punch his arm.
“You’re such an ass.”
He winks just as Del walks up and slaps a twenty-dollar bill against Jude’s chest. “Betting both sides is cheating,” she says with mirth dancing behind her glare.
“Oh, baby cakes, it’s called playing to an advantage.” He wraps his muscled arm around her waist and pulls her close. “If you want, I can teach you all about playing the field.”
She pushes at his chest. “Get off me you caveman,” she huffs and turns on her heel.
Here’s the thing about these two—I’m convinced that they have either already fucked, and she hasn’t told Tyler, or they will fuck—and soon. Jude is the exact type of man Del is attracted to, but for some reason, she doesn’t seem to buy into his antics or come ons. She seems annoyed and sometimes even disgusted, but not always. Every once in a while, I can make out just a hint of something-other-than-anger behind her eyes when she looks at him.
It’s familiar. The way I used to look at Tyler from a distance.
Before I can go too much further down that rabbit hole, Tyler appears by my side, dressed, hair styled to perfection, and a bright smile to finish off the look.
“Wow. I have no words,” he says under his breath.
“Just wait.” I tighten my arm around his shoulder and kiss the side of his head. “Okay everyone, let’s get this party started. Dinner is ready.”
Everyone falls in line around the kitchen table to sit. Ella has already brought out all of the food and set the table, which we’ve extended to fit everyone comfortably; a traditional Christmas dinner; ham, mashed potatoes, veggies, rolls, cranberry sauce. The two little ones are seated at the island and the adults at the table.
I take a seat at the head of the table and Tyler sits to my right. I look around at everyone here. Ella, Kyle, Del, Damon, Jude, Sarah, Isabel, and David—fellow teachers from my school and their dates—plus the rest of Damon’s family. His mom and dad, two younger brothers, and his sister.
Dishes and trays are passed around as everyone fills their plates with food. We spend our time eating and talking and laughing about everything and nothing. As the last bits of food are cleared from plates and everyone is full, I decide now would be a good time to play a game and exchange some gifts before we put the little ones down to sleep.
“I planned a game for everyone.” Groans ring out over the table. “Don’t worry, it requires very little effort for your full bellies.”
Mason and Hudson come up behind me. “Can we play too?”
“Of course. You can even help me set up.”
We usher everyone into the living room, and I hand Mason and Hudson each a stack of pencils and paper plates. “Give one to everyone sitting down and then you each take one, okay?”
“Got it,” Hudson says and follows after Mason to do as instructed.
Once everyone has their supplies and the boys are seated next to Tyler on the floor, I move to the center of the room to explain the game and announce the prize.
“This is an easy game; I’m going to set a timer for thirty seconds. When I say go, you will place the plate on top of your head and using the pencil you will attempt to draw the best snowman you can. At the end of thirty seconds, Mason and Hudson will pick the best one and the winner will get the first prize.” I hold up a shiny red gift bag containing a set of hot cocoa mugs and all the fixings.
“Ohhh…I’m gonna win.” Tyler excitedly bounces between the boys.
“Nuh-uh, I am,” Mason argues.
“Okay everybody, ready?” I set the timer on my phone. “Go!”
Laughter filters up as everyone realizes that drawing in this position is not as easy as it sounds. There are also a few selective curse words thrown out, but I choose to ignore them since the little ones are otherwise distracted by trying to knock Tyler over.
My phone beeps in my hand. “Time’s up! Let’s see what we got. Mason, Hudson, come here, let’s pick a winner.”
We slowly walk to each person, reviewing their attempt at drawing a snowman, one at a time as they each hold up their plates in front of them as we pass by. When we reach Tyler, I can’t help but burst into hysterics.
“Don’t laugh. The boys were pushing me,” he pouts petulantly.
“Oh my god, babe. It’s horrific. Aren’t you an artist?”
“Stop being mean or I’ll turn Wham! back on,” he threatens.
“Okay, okay, sorry. You win. It’s gorgeous. But…I’m not the final judge.” I deflect to the two innocent angels in front of me. “They are.”
Hudson speaks over everyone, “The winner is David!”
I look over to David who is the only person who not only managed three somewhat circular shapes but also the makings of a top hat in the correct order.
“He cheated!” Tyler cries.
“How would he cheat?”
“I don’t know but there is no way someone could draw circles that well on their head!”
“Stop being a sore loser.” I walk over to David and hand over the gift bag to him and his wife, Jasmine.
“We have another game for the adults later, but for now, let’s open some presents.”
“Yay!” The boys take off running and immediately settle themselves on the floor cross-legged in front of the tree.
This is going to be fun.
Chapter Six
My smile has surpassed painful at this point; I’m pretty sure I’m losing feeling to my face, but I can’t drop it. The upturned corners of my mouth stretch across my cheeks, which are now burning, and I couldn’t care less.
I was a bit suspicious when Damon called and asked me to help his momma today, on Christmas Eve, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Chance gave no hints away that he was up to anything. Honestly, I was more suspicious of Damon and Jude pulling off something ridiculous and coercing me into participating than anything else.
Color me surprised when I came home this evening to a driveway full of cars and a house full of our friends and family. Chance blew me away.
I’ve tried not to let the damper of missing Aunt Dee impact me this season, since I have Chance and our life together. But clearly, I wasn’t as successful in hiding my feelings as I thought, or maybe Chance just knows me better than I think he does.
Because this?
This is everything.
Family Christmas.
A tradition he created for me. For us. And one I hope we keep up with for the rest of our lives. Seriously, the smile, I can’t get rid of it. Just when I think I can’t love this man any more than I already do, he goes and pulls off something like this—tooth-achingly sweet and perfect—and I’m proven wrong, and I fall just a little bit deeper for him.
Dinner was unquestioningly delicious, as I would expect nothing less from Chance’s cooking. I’m not alone in that thought either, the number of moans around the table and compliments served to Chance as we ate solidified my thought.
Then the game, how simple and silly yet marvelous? I’ve never seen a group of grown adults get so competitive in such a short amount of time and the fact that the little ones could play as well?