Page 48 of Puck the Halls
“Merry Christmas, Wade. Sorry for barging in,” Mr. Hughes says. “Didn’t realize you were still here.”
“I wasn’t sure what time you were getting in.” I’m tossing Isabel in the air as I scramble to get down off the couch. “This is my girlfriend, Erika.”
She waves and smiles. “Hi.”
“Erika, these are Michael’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes.”
“Call us Lorraine and Clayton,” Michael’s mom says. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Erika. We’re very fond of Wade.”
Damn. I almost blush. The Hughes’ are good people.
“We can be out of here in ten minutes,” I tell them. “And here, let me help you.”
They’re loaded down with luggage and giant shopping bags overloaded with gifts.
“Thank you. And nonsense about rushing off. Do you have plans for lunch? We have a whole slew of people coming over. We’d love to have you join us.”
I look at Erika. She gives me a small shrug and a smile.
“We’d love to.” I’m not supposed to meet up with my own family until six so we have plenty of time. “Thank you.”
I’m grabbing bags and trays of food while Erika takes Oliver and peels his hood down off of his face.
Kevin screams and runs around the house on the TV and that’s kind of how I feel.
My phone buzzes.
It’s Mr. Armstrong.
Hope you're getting your balls jingled. Merry Christmas, Wade.
That makes me laugh out loud.
A lot has changed in three years.
All of it good.
CHAPTER 13
Crew
A lotof people compare really great times to Christmas morning. As in, “It was like Christmas morning,” or “It was better than Christmas morning.” As if Christmas morning is the epitome of all things wonderful.
And yeah, as a kid, Christmas morning, with Santa and everything was sick. Obviously.
But as I sit in our home in Chicago on Christmas morning, surrounded by so many of the people I love, I realize that I’m lucky that pretty much every day of my life now feels like Christmas morning.
It’s not unusual for Michael to be in the kitchen with his mother and Dani’s mom while my mom and dad sit at the table in the dining room with Michael’s dad talking about books, politics, hockey, and a million other topics.
“I can’t believe this video of you singingMy Favorite Thingswith the nuns in the van went viral,” my mom calls, holding up her phone.
I grin. “Why not? That is a fantastic video.” It’s got nearly three million views now.
The song seemed appropriate since it’s fromThe Sound Of Musicand Maria was, after all, a nun. Tons of people in the comments got it and I’m proud of my fans for that. I’m also getting a lot of love for my singing voice which I appreciate.
“I can’t believe you know all the words to that song,” my dad says.
I laugh. “I’m full of surprises.”
