Page 22 of Home for the Holidays

Iris reached up slowly and made sure her mouth wasn’t hanging open. It had every reason to be.

“Mom, I want you to meet someone,” Zac said. “Come here.”

Iris had no idea what to do with her hands, so she shoved them into her jeans pockets. She blinked once, twice, three times, hoping maybe she could pull anI Dream of Jeannieand disappear. When she opened her eyes, disappointment flooded her body. It hadn’t worked. She looked away once again, disappointment replaced with dread and nerves.

“Iris,” Zac said as his hand landed on her arm. He gently pulled her away from Oscar, Adrien, and Shaun toward where he was standing. She stumbled over, stiff as a board. “This is my mom, Heidi.”

When Iris finally got the courage to make eye contact with Heidi, the look on her face was unmistakable. She was flabbergasted. And for good freaking reason! “Iris?”

“Yeah, Mom, she’s mygirlfriend.”

All Iris could do was stand there. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to say anything, but even if she was, she couldn’t find her words. At all. She couldn’t even find the place in her brain that made her take a breath. She was filled with embarrassment, with worry, with fear, with everything.

“Iris,wow,” Heidi said softly. She reached up and pulled the antlers from her head, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. “It is solovelyto meet you.”

“Thank you,” Iris whispered. “It’s lovely to meet you too.”

Heidi put her arm around Zac’s waist. “I’ve heard literally nothing about you, Iris.” She smacked Zac’s butt. “Thanks to this guy here. I’m so sorry if I seem taken aback.”

Iris forced a laugh, finally feeling her brain’s realization that it took oxygen to survive. “Yeah, I’m finding out that no one knew about me. Not sure if I should feel happy or sad about that.”

“Let me be the first to welcome you to the family,” Heidi said, but the conviction in her voice sounded much more despondent than she probably intended. The look that passed over her face had Iris’s heart in a vice because—that wassorrowall over her face. Everything inside her body screamed to correct the situation. This woman was perfection, and to not pursue her would be a crime, wouldn’t it? Or, god… Iris swallowed around the lump that had formed in her throat. She needed to stop, didn’t she? She needed to let this one go.This one?She laughed to herself. Let Zac’s mom go. Her best friend’s mom. The mother of her roommate. The higher powers, whoever they were, had an awful, sick sense of humor.

“Thank you so much,” Iris finally managed to say. It’d be so nice if she could telepathically apologize, tell her,This isn’t what you think, Heidi. I didn’t cheat on your son with you!

Silence fell among them all—an awkward silence, more icicle than snowdrift—before Heidi turned to Zac and said, “I’d like to have a word with you, please.” She turned and exited the kitchen.

“Whoa, bro, you should have let Ma know you were bringing someone home,” Adrien commented.

“She did know. She’s the one who sent me two tickets, you asshole.” Zac huffed, then turned to Iris. “She’s okay. I promise.”

Iris tried to look unfazed, but she knew immediately that she’d failed. “Just go fix it,” she said before he turned and followed Heidi out of the kitchen. Oscar held the coffee pot up and offered her more. “Is there vodka in this one?” she asked.

“There can be,” he said with a laugh. “Don’t take Mom too seriously. She’s fine. I promise.”

Adrien put his arm around Iris’s shoulders. “Listen, Zac is the favorite—”

“No, he is not.” Oscar rolled his eyes. “Adrien is the favorite. We all know this.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll allow it.” Adrien laughed. “But seriously, Zac left and she’s not even mad at him. He can never do any wrong, so him not telling her about you is probably throwing her for a loop. She feels left out, I’m sure. As do I. He always confides in her. And now that I think about it, he always confides in me too. So, why didn’t he tell us about you, hmm?” He winked, which helped. Not much, but a miniscule amount.

“I honestly have no idea. I guess because it’s so new? And, honestly, I thought you all didn’t talk much. Especially not them.” Iris couldn’t seem to peel her eyes off the closed door Zac and Heidi had disappeared behind. “They, um, they talk? A lot?” If she didn’t stop stumbling all over herself, she was going to sound like an imbecile.

Adrien nodded. “He talks to her daily. She used to visit him all the time but then he said he moved in with a new roommate and she just hadn’t been out there yet.”

Iris opened her mouth to speak, but Oscar cut her off.

“Truthfully, I always thought he was gay. No offense.”

“Literally same,” Adrien said with a laugh. “But whatever. We’re happy to meet you.”

“Wait.” Iris held her hand out to stop them from moving the conversation along. “They talk a lot?”

Oscar’s forehead wrinkled. “Yeah, why? He’s not like a weird mama’s boy that needs her approval or anything, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Adrien cleared his throat as he hid his very apparent laughter. “Sure.”

“I’m sorry,” Iris said. “I don’t mean to question this. It’s just that Zac made it sound like, when he left for New York, he sort of, well, left you all in the dust.”

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