Page 116 of Season of Gifts

Alice waved buh-bye to yesterday’s mix-ups and cross-purposes.Those were in the rearview.Today they were starting fresh.Everyone had the same knowledge.Except Ollie, but Alice would fix that after breakfast.Nine-something here was six-something there, and that was way too early for a Sunday chat.But while she waited to kick off that adventure, another one perched at her fingertips.

“Jay?”Henry’s cards rested against a small vase at the center of the table.She could absolutely reach them if she leaned forward.“Would you hand me today’s card before you sit down, please?”

Jay set a stack of diagonal-cut toast beside the assortment of jams before circling around to her side of the table.He plucked the front card and presented it to her with the flourish of the wine guy at a fancy restaurant.“Ahh, the twenty-two, an excellent date.”Bowing over the card, he held it flat in both hands.“Would madam care for anything else?”

His smirk was so fucking sweet.She kissed his cheek as she snagged the card.“Actually, would you make me some toast with blueberry jam?And ask Mother what she’d like, please.”

She could do that herself, too.But she couldn’t replicate the joy in Jay’s eyes or the care he put into his service.Those she could only get if she let go of the idea of doing everything for herself.He worked intently on the task while she slid her finger under the seal on the card.Henry, carrying his plate, took his seat at the table.

The seal gave easily; she tipped the card into her hand.

Henry flapped his napkin and spread it over his lap.“Mind the—”

An extra paper slipped from inside the card, and she snatched it just before it would’ve touched down on her omelet.“Whoops.That was a close one.”

Henry gave her a silent golf clap.“Excellent reflexes, my dear.You’ve discovered our substitution.”

A pair of ice skates, laces tied together, graced the original card.The thinner sheet, like the understudy announcement in a theater program, featured a gooey, dripping caramel apple.“I don’t know how you make me want to bite into a piece of paper.”

Mother leaned closer, and Alice angled the cards toward her.“It’s the shading.The highlight creates that irresistible sheen.”Mother traced the edge of the skates.A soft smile curled the corners of her mouth.“We used to skate every winter when I was a girl.”

“And we will again.”Stretching in front of Alice, Henry patted his mom’s hand.“The three of us will come up for a weekend in February and join you out on the pond, if your care team approves.”

He could’ve made the original card disappear, but he hadn’t.That was caretaking too, knowing how happy seeing it would make his mom, even if they couldn’t do something so strenuous today.Andcome up in February—that was for Alice and Jay.Subtle and obvious at the same time, Henry was telling them their separation wouldn’t be forever, that he’d be at home with them.He maybe thought he’d have to be the one to find an answer for his mom’s health care, but she could talk to him about that today.Four heads were better than one.

Her toast appeared at the edge of her plate; Jay stood curved over the table with the centerpiece flowers tickling his chin.“You want to eat ice skates?”

“Only if they’re in the shape of cookies.”She flipped the substitute card around, and Jay’s mouth rounded in an O.

“We’re having a makeup day!”He wiggled back toward his seat with a celebratory dance.

Henry tugged the bow at the front of Jay’s apron, and the strings fell loose.“Indeed we are.”

A makeup day?“I know people put avocado and honey and mayonnaise and all kinds of weird stuff on their skin, but we’re not rubbing caramel on our faces, right?”

Henry laughed.And kept laughing.He pulled her from her chair and set her on his lap, the cards still dangling from her hand, and he wrapped her up in his arms and pressed a kiss against the side of her head.

“Oh, that”—Mother sounded pleased with herself—“will be just lovely.Jay, darling boy, would you lean in?”

Henry slid the apron over Jay’s head.As the fabric fluttered to the floor, he curled his fingers into the neckline of Jay’s shirt and brought him in for a kiss.Absolutely a safe-for-mom kiss, not an I-want-you-upstairs-in-five-minutes kiss, but unmistakably a kiss of love and belonging.

“Does that suit, Mother?”Henry, his smile easy, stoked Jay’s cheek with his knuckles.“Sit and eat before your breakfast goes entirely cold.”Turning to Alice, he chucked her lightly under the chin.“And you, my troublemaker.Will you read the card that will answer your question, or shall I?”

If she’d ever forgotten why she fell in love with him, she remembered now.She wasn’t one for crystals and chanting and auras, but energy—energy was real.She could measure it and test it and determine how much of it any given system would need.And today, Henry was brimming with energy.Getting in one more good squeeze, she passed him the card.“I think we all like hearing your voice, if you don’t mind.”

As Alice reclaimed her seat, Mother tilted her phone screen and scrolled through the snapshots for her.“I believe that does suit me, Henry.The three of you look happy.”

“I daresay we are.”

“We are.”The photos showed it, but more than that, Alice felt it.The warm pulse in her chest filled the spaces where she’d evicted the worry and stress.

Jay squeezed Mother’s hand.“Me too, Mom.I know…” He glanced at Henry, then studied his plate, then lifted his head, blinking.“Henry’s been wanting me to come here for Christmas for a while.When I was ready, when you were ready.And this year isn’t the A-plus time for either of us—you’re recovering, and I’m trying to untangle the holiday from the family I usually spend it with.But I want you to know…” Shaking his head, he shrugged and sighed, his eyes a rich chocolate velvet.“There’s no place I’d rather be than at this table, having this breakfast with all of you.”

Mother laid her phone down and clasped Jay’s hand with her other hand on top, tendons tightening over a narrow wrist with the strength of her hold.“You always have a place at this table, darling.You and Alice are family.And you are welcome to visit whenever you like, whether Henry joins you or not.You are enough, all on your own.”

Jay blinked hard, his eyes wide and watery and his cheeks fresh-shaven.Sometimes he seemed so young—so innocent despite all the shit the world had put him through.“I’m gonna hug you now, okay, Mom?I do it to Alice, too, but usually I scoop her up in the air, and I think you want more warning than that, and I won’t lift you up because Henry would make panic sounds while he decides how to object.”

“A hug would be delightful, Jay.”Mother swept him in as he dropped to one knee beside her chair.“I live alone now, you know.Hugs are precious gifts to be savored.”

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