Page 14 of A Very Addicted Christmas

“Ugh,” she grimaces. “Can we get back to the topic?”

“Mom would’ve let me go,” Daisy suddenly says to her sisters. “A tour bus full of adults with the possibility of being publicized in magazines,especiallyif it was for modeling—she would’ve let me go at thirteen. I think she would’ve let me go at twelve.”

The air deadens.

Lily wears a deep frown.

Rose solidifies, her eyes burning. “We arenottaking a page out of Samantha Calloway’s parenting handbook.Never.” Rose has always brandished the anti-Samantha handbook where our children are concerned, and in this instance, I know Daisy would want to do the same.

“The answer is fuckingno,” Ryke says. “We’ve all agreed. What else is there to talk about?”

“Maybe we should say some nice things about the presentation?” Lily says. “They did work hard on it.”

“I agree,” Daisy says with a big breath, possibly trying to let go of the past. Ryke has an arm around his wife. “Let’s put some positivity into the air. I think the music was a nice touch.”

“The music wasn’t what I would choose, but it was okay,” Lo admits.

Ryke thinks for a second before saying. “It was fucking brave of them to present that to us.”

“I agree with Ryke,” I say. “It was brave.”

Everyone looks at me like I’ve lost my mind by agreeing with him. Ryke looks skeptical. So I add, “Brave because it had all the makings of a project created at the very last minute.”

Ryke nods. “There it is.”

Rose says, “I love how they came together as a unit to fight for something they wanted. It’s very sweet, even if it’s a failure.”

Lily finishes with, “I liked the transitions.”

We all laugh.

She blushes. “What? They were good.”

Lo hugs her closer to his side. “So which one of us is going to give the final blow?” he asks, looking around. The air stills.

“I’ll do it,” I say. “I can be diplomatic about it.”

“Without insulting the presentation,” Daisy says.

“It wasn’t effective, but yes, I won’t insult it.”

“We’ll do it together,” Rose says. “Lily and Daisy can say the positives.”

Lily extends her hand out. Daisy put hers atop it like they’re in a football huddle. They’re the only two to do it, and then Daisy says, “Break.”

We all split apart again and face the girls.

Audrey, still doe-eyed, stares at me earnestly. Hands cupped together.Do not fall for your daughter’s doe-eyes.

I take a breath. “We have discussed it. And while some of us have clearly been impressed by the quality of your presentation, our answer remains the same.”

“I’m sorry, girls,” Rose says. “It’s going to be ano.”

Audrey starts to cry. “Really?”

“Really,” I say with the same calm cadence to my voice.

Kinney puts an arm around her. “You all suck,” Kinney snaps.

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