Page 235 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

Molly is being strangely silent about the whole thing too, which I take to mean that she figured the whole thing out months ago and is letting Cal have his moment. I’ll bet her bags are already packed.

“Can I open them?” Aidan asks, looking from me to Jace. “I think it’s going to take a pretty long time.”

I already have a bag out for the wrapping paper, so I nod. “Do you know which one you’re going to start with?”

He takes a very long perusal, studying present after present, and Jace and I exchange a fond look. More sweetness added to my cup.

Finally, Aidan lifts up something bulky and, apparently, heavy. I neither wrapped it nor put it under there, and since there is no Santa Claus, my gaze shifts to Jace, even as Aidan says, “I want to open this one, Mom! It’s for both of us, from Jace. I’d rather open his present first, because he’s a real person.”

I whirl on Jace. “I thought we weren’t doing gifts!” He’d insisted that hiring Dennis was the greatest gift I could have given him and he didn’t want anything else. I had listened. Mostly. I helped Aidan frame the ankylosaurus painting for him. Plus, I couldn’t resist getting him a few odds and ends from “Santa.”

He smiles at me. “I never agreed to that. Are you going to open it?”

There’s something a little nervous about him, and it’s so charming that I almost kiss him, but even though Aidan knows about us, mostly, we agreed to take things slowly around him. So I settle for taking Jace’s hand and squeezing it. “Do the honors, Aidan.”

He very methodically removes the wrapping paper, as if we might want to turn around and use it for something else, and pulls out a beautifully polished wooden stand.

“You made that?” I ask Jace in wonder, because I instantly know he must have. “It’s the most beautiful—”

There I pause because, honestly, I don’t know what it’s for. I just know that I love it. Because it really is beautiful, and hemadeit, and when was the last time someone besides Aidan made me something with their own hands?

“You don’t know what it is, do you?” he asks, grinning at me.

“Of course I do! It’s…”

I was hoping my answer would buy me time, but I’m still clueless. Thankfully, Aidan steps in. “It’s for our blankets, Mom! Remember how you told Jace you didn’t know what to do with them, and then one day you found a bug wrapped up in one of them after you shook it out, and you screamed and hit it with a broom?”

In the past, I might have found that embarrassing, but I’m stuck on Jace’s thoughtfulness. That was such a small moment, but he remembered it, and he spent his free time—of which I know he has little, in between spending so many hours with us and working at his day job and helping Cal—to fix our problem. He made something for our household because he’s a part of it, and I suddenly have tears in my eyes.

Jace takes my hand again, weaving his fingers through mine. “You know, if you loved it because you envisioned some other genius use for it, you should know it’s an equal opportunity rack.”

“Um, actually,” Aidan says, “I think we do need it for the blankets.” He starts toying with his zipper. “You know, you can kiss each other if you want. I know people who are romantic kiss each other, and Dottie already told me everything.”

I look at my son with something like wonder. This is not something I expected, and based on the look on Jace’s face, he’s just as surprised as I am.

Glancing from Aidan to me, then back, his eyes warm and full of love, Jace says, “I won’t say I don’t like kissing your mom, Aidan, because I don’t want to lie to you. But right now, I think I’d like it best if we could all hug each other.”

And so we do.

It’s the best part of Christmas morning, even though I find two more surprise packages under the tree, one from Dottie—a tea blend attuned to my aura, which I will not be trying anytime soon—and one from Nicole—two tickets toGrease, which feels more like an order than a true gift. We’ll go, of course. She did save me from an inconvenience with Glenn, if not outright trouble from him. Besides, I kind of want to see Damien’s monologue.

“Is this it?”I ask, sucking in a breath.

“It is,” Jace confirms, pride ringing in his voice.

Heshouldbe proud. Although I don’t know what the house looked like before, it’s gorgeous now, like a dollhouse blown up to scale. There are purple shutters and a yellow door, and good lord, my sister is going tolovethis place. I think Cal will officially become Uncle Cal before too long.

“It’s lovely,” I say.

“Some present,” Roger huffs from the back seat.

“Roger,” Jace grumbles. “That was supposed to be a surprise.”

“Who’s it a present for?” Aidan asks with utter innocence, and since a quick glance around the car is enough to convince Jace that (a) all the adults already know, and (b) it’s very unlikely anyone besides Aidan will be surprised today, he says, “Your aunt Molly’s boyfriend renovated this house for her. A few other guys and I helped him. It’s her Christmas present.”

“Whoa,” Aidan says. “I didn’t know you could get a whole house for a Christmas present. I’ll have to rethink my Christmas list next year.”

Roger laughs as if it’s a joke, but I’ll probably have to have amanaging expectationstalk with Aidan in the near future.

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