Holly had done it. She’d actually done it. She’d pulled off a spectacular Christmas, and no one died.
At least as far as she knew.
As Mildred liked to point out as she walked out of their house an hour ago, she still needed to digest those potatoes. And if anything happened, she’d be calling Holly in the middle of the night. Even though Holly was pretty sure they were in the clear, just in case she planned on leaving her and Ben’s phone in the living room.
You could never be too sure when Mildred was involved.
After dinner, everyone bundled up and went for a walk around the neighborhood to look at the Christmas lights. Which turned out incredible.
Holly wanted to pat herself on the back. Even though it was dark outside she’d only tripped twice. And each time Ben saved her from falling flat on her face.
Which was a record for her in the dark.
Then, of course, there was John the whole way around the block laughing at her, which of course included him bragging about his multiple race car wins. Although, Holly had a sneaking suspicion he was just trying to impress Emma.
John had even demanded to be the one to walk Bruce. Something about chivalry and all that.
And when John placed his arm around Emma’s shoulder guiding her along the way, Holly noticed the faint hue of red on Emma’s cheeks.
Maybe that was the real reason for her second almost face-plant. She was concentrating on them instead of where she was going.
At least she was now able to blame someone. And Holly figured that blaming John was just as satisfying as blaming Ben.
All in all, it really did turn out to be a perfect Christmas.
Holly: one million.
Everyone else: zero.
Wait, it’s the holidays. Everyone else: one million, as well.
Holly placed Helen in her crib gently tucking her in. “Love you, baby girl. I hope your first Christmas was everything you could’ve ever wanted.” Holly kissed her sleepy baby’s head as Peanut gurgled one more time before closing her eyes. “Love you, sweet one.”
“It was.”
Holly turned to see Ben leaning against the door of Peanut’s room. As she did a once-over of him, a soft smile appeared on her face.
“Come on, Holly.” Ben held out his hand for her to take which she gladly did. “Let’s go tuck our other tired boy into bed.” While they walked hand-in-hand to Jimmy’s room, the warmth of pure love and joy washed through Holly. Nothing could get better than this. Once they got into Jimmy’s room, they saw he was already in his pajamas and in his bed. His green race car tucked in right beside him.
“You can’t sleep with that, kiddo.”
“Why not?” he asked, eying Ben, nudging the toy closer to his side.
“It’ll end up falling off the bed in the middle of the night, scare Waffles half to death and then, in turn, scare your mom, who would probably end up falling out of bed as well.”
“Hey!” Holly punched his arm as she laughed. “Take that back.”
As Ben took the toy from Jimmy placing it on the floor, he smirked at Holly.
“He’s probably right, Mom.”
Holly crossed her arms over her chest narrowing her eyes at both of them, as a smile spread across her face. “Well, he doesn’t have to say it. And you don’t have to agree.”
Jimmy sent her a boyish grin. “Yeah, we do.”
“Whatever,” Holly mumbled, they were just lucky it was still Christmas.
Jimmy fidgeted on the bed, while he glanced up at them, biting his bottom lip. “Uh, Mom, Dad? Remember when we went to the mall and I sat on Santa’s lap?”
“Yeah?”
The sweetest smile appeared on Jimmy’s face as he spoke his next words. “I told Santa there wasn’t anything I wanted for Christmas ‘cause I already got what I wanted.”
Holly cocked her head to the side as she watched her son. “Really?”
“I got it when you adopted me.” His big eyes gazed up at her, revealing all the love he held for them.
“Oh, Jimmy…” Holly choked up as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
“It’s true, Mom. I love all this new stuff, don’t get me wrong. But I would’ve been okay if Santa came and only brought stuff for Helen, Waffles, Ripley, and Twitch. I got the best present already and nothing can ever top that. I got you guys.”
“Come here, Jimmy.” Ben pulled him and Holly into his arms. The emotions in the room were almost too much for any of them to handle. “I love you, Jimmy.”
“Love you too, Dad.” He faced Holly. “You too, Mom. Even when you try to cook.”
She leaned back cocking her head at her son. “Why do you have to ruin a perfect moment?”
“Every moment with you guys is perfect.”
Holly’s heart stopped as she watched her son give them a toothy grin that went from ear-to-ear.
Well, damn.
“This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had. Thank you.”
What could you say to that? And here Holly was most of the season flipping out trying to give Jimmy the perfect holiday. Instead, he gave it to her. Between, Ben, Jimmy, her dad, and Peanut she had all she could ever want or need.
She really did luck out in this lifetime.
Hell, even her friends, actually, wait no, her family made everything an adventure for her. Even John and his ridiculous need to always have food in his mouth. She shook her head. At least Emma loved to cook.
As Holly watched her son, her heart filled with a love she never knew she could feel. “I love you, Jimmy.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
Jimmy scooted himself further into his bed. As Holly did her best to keep it together, her and Ben tucked Jimmy in, making sure to both give him a kiss on the head before walking out of his room gently closing the door behind them.
When they made it back into the living room, they saw Waffles on the floor happily chewing on the bone he’d gotten from Santa. Holly already knew Ripley and Twitch were fast asleep in the dog bed by Peanut’s crib.
At least Waffles isn’t trying to argue with anyone for once in his life. I should stuff his face with bones more often.
Holly plopped herself onto their couch kicking her feet up. Thank God, her ankle really was fine. It hadn’t hurt once all day and she was sure as hell lucky she had Ben by her side. His medical expertise might be tailored to the four-legged kind, but it sure as hell helped her more times than she’d like to admit.
Holly let out a deep breath as she beamed at Ben. “This really did end up being a perfect Christmas, didn’t it?”
“It certainly did. Even if you didn’t get the Christmas cards out on time.” He gave her a half smile. “Plus, you didn’t break any bones in the process or strangle anyone. That makes it pretty damn perfect if you ask me.”
Holly instantly tossed one of their throw pillows at his head. Which the jerk expertly avoided. “I’m never letting you live that down. I’m even gonna hang the photo I got for you in the office tomorrow.”
Holly rolled her eyes. That’s okay. She’d get him back sooner or later.
Out of nowhere, Twitch strolled into the living room and jumped onto the couch. “You nearly killed me today.” Holly held up her bandaged finger waving it in his face.
Twitch ignored her as he bumped his head on her hand demanding attention. Holly sighed as she shook her head. “You might be a pain in my ass but I still love you.” She used her bandaged finger to bop him on the nose.