Laurie sniffed softly, hiding her face behind the curtain of her hair. I saw her swipe her fingers beneath her eyes before she took a deep breath and looked up again, a tight smile fixed on her lips. “How about I go get started on mac and cheese while Jacob digs out the decorations and you two choose a movie?”
“That sounds awesome,” Allie gushed. She moved to her friend’s side and gave her a hug. “Tell me more about your mom. I wish I could’ve known her.”
“So do I.” They wandered over to the TV while I went to Laurie and put my hand on her back, stroking my thumb up and down in reassuring movements.
“It’s good for her to remember those things about her mother,” I said softly. “Look at her. She’s not broken. She’s smiling. That’s because of you, Laurie.”
Laurie leaned into me and closed her eyes as she rested her head on my shoulder. “It just gets me whenever she reminisces. It is good that she remembers Katherine, though. You’re right. I’m surprised she’s still smiling. Most of the time, especially when it comes to Christmas memories, she gets very sad.”
“We’re going to make today special for her. If she wants to be sad, we’ll let her know we’re all there for her. But we’re going to do our best to give her some fun memories.”
“I’ve tried every year, but I definitely think having you and Allie here has helped to keep her smiling.” She kissed my shoulder before bringing her head back down on it.
I lifted my gaze to check on the girls and found Allie giving me a knowing smile. She’s too wise for her own good.
Turning my head to kiss the top of hers, I realized there was no sense trying to hide my affection from the girls anymore. Allie clearly knew, and if Katie didn’t know yet, she would very soon. I doubted very much that my daughter would keep her discovery to herself, and I wasn’t going to put her in the position of having to deceive or lie to her friend by asking her not to say anything.
As if on cue, Allie nudged Katie in the ribs with her elbow and nodded at us. The other little girl dragged her over to the tree, where they broke off a tiny branch before running to us.
“It’s not mistletoe,” Allie said, “but it’s close enough.”
Laurie lifted her head to exchange a look with me. There was apprehension in her eyes, but the corners of her lips were tilted up, and she gave me a slight nod.
I faked an exasperated sigh, which made the girls giggle, plucked the branch from between her fingers and held it over our heads. Laurie laughed when I snaked my arm around her and positioned my leg behind hers but stopped abruptly when I dipped her down in a kiss worthy of one of those Christmas movies we would be watching shortly.
Chapter 37
Laurie
I snuggled in under a blanket on my sofa with a pile of wrapping paper on the coffee table and a heap of presents at my feet. “I dropped the girls off at Sue’s house. The sleepover is being chaperoned by her parents, her aunt, and her much older sister. They should be okay. I’ve given them both our numbers and told them to call if they needed anything.”
Jacob loosened his tie, set the bag of presents he’d brought over down on the floor, and sipped the mug of coffee I’d pressed into his hand when I’d opened the door. “Allie went to Sue’s Christmas sleepover last year. I promise you they will be fine. Sue’s parents always arrange it for the first or second Friday in December to give the other parents time to get their wrapping and shopping done.”
My brows lifted and I nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe we should return the favor? Ask them if Sue can come for a sleepover sometime soon to give them some time?”
“That’s a great idea.” He bent over to kiss my forehead, then straightened up and nodded toward my bedroom. “I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely not spending all afternoon and night doing all our wrapping in my suit.”
“Good point.” I pushed the blanket off and stood up, stretching my arms above my head. “Let’s go get comfortable.”
We changed into sweatpants and T-shirts, replenished our coffees, and made ourselves at home on the living-room floor. Allie and Jacob had offered to help us set up our Christmas tree, but we’d decided on doing it ourselves. It felt important that we do it together that year. Just the two of us.
It stood on one side of the room, the multi-colored lights bathing it in festive colors as the sun set outside. I had put on Christmas music, and the soft sounds of the classics played over the speakers next to our TV.
Jacob lit a fire in the hearth before joining me in the center of the room. “Right. Where should we start?”
“Do you know how to make corners, or are you more of a freestyle wrapper?” I asked, somehow keeping a perfectly straight face.
He managed to keep his own expression serious for only a beat before he burst out laughing. “I can make corners, but I consider myself decent at freestyle as well.”
I placed my palms on the floor behind me and lay back on them. “Really? Go for it. I’d love to hear that.”
“Ahh, I see what you did there but I’m not rapping. I came here to wrap.” He eyed the pile of gifts between us while I shrugged and let out a chuckle.
“It was worth a try.” I rolled my head to the side and took in the tree, a fond smile lighting up my eyes. “Katie and I actually had a good time decorating.”
“Yeah?” He leaned forward, crossing his legs and propping his elbows on his knees. “I’m glad. It sounded like it used to be a very special time for her.”
I nodded. “Like she said, it was their favorite tradition. These last few years, my parents and I have been trying, but I think it was just too different. This year, I did everything exactly the way Kat used to. We made a night of it. We had mac and cheese together again. We watched Christmas movies and pulled a mattress in here and slept on our very own Christmas bed. Basically, all the same stuff we did at your place the other day.”
“That was a good time. I think it might become a new tradition in our household to do it that way too.” He turned to look at our tree again. “Whose idea was it to add the chocolates as decorations?”
“Mine.” I sighed and lifted a hand to rub the back of my head. “I pulled all of Katherine’s Christmas stuff out of storage and put that up. It didn’t make me want to feel like I was about to fall apart, which I was immensely thankful for, so then I decided to add just a little bit of my own flavor too.”
“It’s a great idea. It’ll make the day you take it all down awesome if you wake up and have them for breakfast.” I winked. “I may know two people who will come help take some of them off your hands.”
“Is that so?” I laughed. “You’ll have to invite them then.”
“Great. We’ll be here.” He sucked in a breath, looking like he was trying to decide if he should bring up an idea. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”
“Really?” I cocked my head. “What’s up?”
He dragged in a breath through his nostrils before the words came rushing out. “How would you guys like to come spend Christmas Day with us?”