Page 68 of The Jinglebell War
“Oh, my god,” Blue says. “How am I going to raise a kid when I’m the mayor? I barely get home before eight every night as it is, and you’re gone for days at a time sometimes. My mother would make a terrible babysitter, and—”
I pull her into my arms in a tight hug. It’s difficult in the small space of the cab, but I manage it. “We won’t worry about any of that now. Chances are you aren’t pregnant and we’re going to pretend you aren’t until we find out otherwise.”
“Good,” she says against my shirt. “I like that plan.”
“Of course you do. I always have the best plans.”
She snorts and pulls away. “Are we doing presents first? I need to go up to my room to get them if we are.”
My heart melts for her just the tiniest bit. “You brought presents?”
“I’m not going to come to your family’s home to celebrate Christmas and not bring presents, Evergreen. What kind of monster do you think I am?”
I pull her in for another hug, kiss the top of her head, and let her go. “Presents first, then a dinner of takeout Thai.”
“Yum. My kind of Christmas dinner.”
“Neither of my parents like to cook.” I open my door. “I’ll go with you to grab the presents. We don’t need you getting lost again.”
She doesn’t argue, which makes it clear just how freaked out she really is. We sneak inside and hurry to our room where she pulls out the largest of her two suitcases, puts it on the bed, and starts pulling out gift bags and wrapped boxes.
There’s so much stuff it covers the entire bed.
“You really didn’t have to do all this, Blue.”
She looks at me like I’m confused. “Of course I did. You want me to be a believable girlfriend? I’m going to bring gifts for everyone. Including you.”
I’m beyond glad I had the foresight to get a truly nice gift for her. I figured we could just say we were saving the gift-giving for the actual day, but this is better.
“Thank you,” I say. “I don’t think I’ve said it before, but I really appreciate you doing this for me. You’ve gone above and beyond what I could have asked or expected.”
Her smile is warm and open. “You’re welcome. I’ll expect you to work your ass off for the festival planning.”
I’m not sure I’m going to have much time for that at all. I’ve had three emails from Horizon Solutions since I’ve been at my parents’ house. They have a ton of requirements, and I’m going to have to work night and day to meet them all. But now is not the time to discuss how much I’ll have to give for the festival. “Ready to head down?”
She nods, and we gather everything up and head downstairs.
“There he is.” Mom hurries over to us with a tight smile. The rest of the family are seated on couches in the den at the back of the house. An enormous Christmas tree takes up most of theroom, its light almost blinding. Beneath it are piles and piles of presents.
My parents have always gone, and will probably always go, overboard.
“We were starting to worry.” Mom reaches for the bags and boxes we’re carrying. “Garrick, you didn’t have to do all this. I’ll put these under the tree.”
“I didn’t do it. These are all from Blue.”
Mom’s eyes widen in honest shock. “Oh, how sweet.” She takes the gifts and puts them under the tree, but she looks oddly uncomfortable.
“There you are.” I spin to see my dad walk in with a tall woman, her hair in a loose bun, wearing jeans and a hoodie. She looks familiar, but I can’t place her. “Look who decided to join us tonight.”
I grab Blue’s hand and drag her with me toward my father. I’m not sure why, but I’m definitely thinking having her by my side is a good idea.
“Hey, Dad.” I hold out my hand to the woman. “Garrick Evergreen, I don’t believe we’ve met.”
The woman laughs. “I told you he wouldn’t remember me, Howard.”
That laugh also sounds familiar, but… “Avery? Avery Blackwell?”
“See, he hasn’t forgotten,” Dad says with a brisk nod of satisfaction.
