Page 26 of Home for Christmas

“Eat your pancakes.” It is all my mom will say.

After we’ve eaten -and helped with the dishes – we all bundle up and go outside. While the moms build their snowman, me and Tannen make snow angels and chase one another with snowballs. At one point, he captures me, snowball in hand, and spins me around until we both fall down. We look in one another’s eyes and the moment seems to stand still. For a second, I think he’s going to kiss me right in front of the moms, in the front yard. Instead, we are pulled out of our intense gaze by the flash of a phone camera. When we both turn, it’s to find both moms’ faces covered with their phones.

“Don’t mind us. We’re just doing what moms do. Taking pictures of their kids playing in the snow.”

“Actually, I’m recording them, Ruby.”

Both of us moan and fall back into the white fluff. Whatever they’re up to, I’m sure we’ll eventually find out. I just hope it isn’t going to be something that will leave me and Tannen scared for life. Or something that will end up breaking my heart into a million little pieces.

Chapter Twenty

Tannen

I watch as Marley helps my mom pour the pumpkin filling into the graham cracker crusts before gently placing both pies in the oven to bake. Whatever she says makes my mom laugh and her mom faux-swat her arm.

Every time I call Mom, she’s always talking about Ruby and Marley and what they’ve been doing, books they’ve shared together, funny stories or jokes they’ve told her. It makes me wonder if my mom has been lonely while I’ve been away. She never lets on that she is and is always upbeat and positive when I’ve talked to her, but still...I can't help but wonder.

“Let’s start the cookies for Santa…and us.”

I smile at my mom. It’s one of our traditions despite the fact I’ve not been a kid in a long, long time. Mom never stopped bringing the magic of Christmas to the season despite me growing older. That’s something I’ve missed, being away at school.

As soon as the first batch of cookies go in, I’ve made a plan. A plan I intend to set into motion Christmas Day. “Mom, can I talk to you for a second upstairs.”

My mom looks a little shocked but gives me a happy nod. “I’ll be back, you two. Don’t taste test the cookies without me.”

We eat in the living room around the tree laughing together when the lights flicker on. All of us cheer and clap and smileas every Christmas light my mom owns comes on and lights up the room with their warm glow. We stay up for longer than we probably should drinking eggnog and telling stories and laughing. By the time we go upstairs, I’m more certain of my plan than ever. It’s the right thing to do.

I lead her up the stairs and to our room where I should leave her alone enough for her to use the shower, but I can’t. I give her arm a gentle tug as I sit on the bed.

“Why don’t you come here and sit with me?”

“Sit with you?” She gives me a guarded look. “Is…everything alright? Is your mom okay?”

“Yeah. She’s happy everyone is over her celebrating with her. I think she’s been lonely a little bit. It was one of the reasons I wanted to talk to her. To kind of apologize for not realizing it until now.”

“That’s the sweetest…most wonderful thing I’ve ever heard. I bet that made her year.”

“She seemed pretty happy.”

I keep pulling until she comes to stand in front of me. She has to step across my knees to keep standing, but she’s still not close enough. Eventually, I pull her into my lap. “You know what I was thinking downstairs - well, actually I’ve been thinking about it since we were playing out in the snow?”

“What?”

“Well, I was thinking we didn’t get a lot of practice kissing last night,” I pull her close by cupping her ass, “on these lips anyway.”

She gasps and her cheeks bloom into a pretty shade of pink as she looks so deep into my eyes, I swear she can see my soul.

“I think we should fix that, don’t you, baby.”

I keep massaging her ass in her leggings.

“Practice? Kissing?”

I nod for her but I’m slightly distracted. “Marley, are you wearing underwear?”

She curls her lips in and shyly shakes her head no. “When we came back in, I…,”

I cut her off by growling and shoving my hand down the back of those stretchy pants she’s always wearing and telling me how comfortable they are. She yelps and tries to pull forward but it’s right into me. My hand finds bare skin and another groan rumples up out of my chest. I can’t hold back any longer and take her mouth with mine.

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