Page 16 of Snowed in with Scrooge

“Beautiful, it’s okay,” he says intently as he looks into my eyes and then taps on his phone screen.

When I look at it with him, I see he has a few cameras that show the outside of his house. In one of them, I see a white SUV that has come to a stop out front.

“Shit,” Fraser mutters.

“What? Is it a crazy ex or, um, someone else?” I glance at Mina, not wanting to say my stepfather’s name out loud.

“I don’t have an ex,” Fraser says as he types in a code on his phone. The words alarm disengaged flashes across the screen right before there’s a knock at the door.

“Who dat?” Mina points to the door.

“I’m going to go ahead and apologize now,” Fraser tells me.

“Why? You said it’s not a crazy ex.” I’m guessing it’s not my stepfather either if he is shutting off the alarm so easily.

“She means well, I promise, but she’s going to freak out.”

“What?” I say before I hear a voice on the other side of the door.

“Fraser? It’s freezing out here. Let your mother in,” a male voice says.

His mom? Dad? Oh my god, I can’t meet his parents.

“Honey, get your key.” From the sound of things, I don’t have much of an option and then suddenly the door opens.

To my surprise, a young boy darts in first. He looks to be a couple of years older than Mina. He’s followed by an older couple, and they both have their arms filled with things.

“Did I see a tree in the window? I—” His mom stops speaking when she sees me standing there, and then her eyes widen. She takes a second to look me up and down right before my sister breaks the awkward silence.

“I’m Mina!” she says proudly, not the least bit shy.

“I’m Grandma,” the woman tells her as she steps inside.

Fraser's dad shuts the door behind them and while they’re distracted, I turn to Fraser.

“And I need pants,” I whisper-hiss before I bolt from the room. As soon as I get in the bedroom, I close the door behind me and lean against it.

It might have been better if it was a crazy ex.

CHAPTER 12

FRASER

“So,” my father says as he looks around the living room and tucks his hands in his jeans. “A tree?”

“Um...” I’m just about to answer him when my nephew AJ comes running over. I’m grateful for the distraction. “Hey buddy. What are you guys up to today?”

“Grandma made you food. Who is the girl that ran away?”

“That’s Nyah.” I look up at my parents and they’re both staring at me like they’ve never seen me before.

“Nyah my sissy,” Mina offers helpfully as she comes over and takes AJ’s hand. “Let’s watch Mickey.”

“Okay,” he agrees and follows her over to the couch. “You can play with my car if you want. It turns into a robot.”

“Ohhh.” Mina sounds both curious and excited as the two of them go over to the coffee table and AJ shows her how it transforms.

“Fraser, you better start talking and I mean fast,” my mom says quietly as she looks over my shoulder to the bedroom where Nyah fled. “Who is this girl and what’s going on? You have a Christmas tree, for crying out loud.”

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