Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
She went to the last bag and pulled out a creamy, thick throw that was fake fur on one side, and had the forest design with deer and mountains in black on the other side.
I made a mental note to steal that for my house while Eric came back with Gracie and a packet of AA batteries.
They got to work unboxing three glass trees of varying heights that looked great with the moose, and even better when they got the batteries in and lit them up.
I got to work on trying not to sigh like a grown-up Victorian lady at how adorable they were with all their dark heads bent together putting batteries into glass trees.
I’d turned into a total sap.
I didn’t care even a little bit.
“Can we eat now?” Roam asked.
“Meatballs!” Maisie shouted and raced to the kitchen.
Ava sighed and got up. I got up with her, since everything was in the oven keeping warm so we had to respread the spread.
In the end, the food was great, and although the extra touches to the Christmas décor weren’t splashy, they definitely upped the ho-ho-ho factor. Better still, they’d always remind Eric of Gracie and Maisie. Huge bonus.
And I was thinking Maisie had an eye, because the deep purple she picked provided the perfect pop of color and looked really good on the tree.
Most of all, through this, I was struck by three things.
Christmas blessings, if you will, of the early variety.
The first, the present company made Jeff instantly comfortable. The getting-to-know-you portion pretty much ended at introductions, and then it was all about football, strategizing how to hide all the cords (Jeff pulled that off with some bough placement magic and a slight adjustment to the tree) and an in-depth discussion about Phoenix’s shooting ranges.
The second, Henny loved the girls. Henny loved the adults. Henny could give two shits about cat toys, but he loved batting ornaments along the floor, even if they broke and necessitated me finding Eric’s broom and dustbin to sweep them up.
Henny was having the time of his life, perhaps literally.
Henny was finally home, and Henny had a family.
The last, I didn’t have to worry anymore, because Eric had the same.
He had a lot of brothers. He had sisters. He had nieces.
And they were all the best kind. The ones he chose for himself, and the ones who would take a bullet for him (definitely literally).
I was thinking this thought as Eric and I were in the kitchen, cutting pieces of cake to pass around.
I felt his hand come to rest on the small of my back and looked up at him to see he was very close.
“Hey,” I whispered.
“What’s got you looking like that?” he whispered back, tenderness in his eyes as they moved over my face.
My gaze wandered to the living room, the sectional filled, the girls on the floor with some leftover ribbon playing with Henny, people talking, laughing, drinking, spent plates and napkins everywhere, Bing Crosby crooning, and the tree, boughs and décor glowing.
“How I cope,” Eric stated, and I turned back to him.
“What?”
“With losing Mom. I don’t know what I believe about life after death. If it’s possible, or if it’s just hopeful. But what I think is, if it’s real, and Mom can see what I earned in my life, she’d be happy for me.”
Liking this thought a whole lot for him, I forgot all about the cake and leaned into my guy. “Yeah.”
“She’d be a lot happier recently,” he remarked.
Oh God.
“Yeah,” I repeated, but his time it was husky.
He bent and touched his mouth to mine.
Really, really loved it when he did that.
After he lifted away, though not very far, he said, “Those meatballs were insane.”
I grinned at him, “I know, right?”
“Ugh! Mommy! Uncle Eric and Aunt Jess are like you and daddy!” Maisie complained.
We looked to the living room.
Shirleen was coming our way, saying, “I’ll help pass those around.”
But my eyes had gone to Ava.
She was cuddled into Luke but twisted to gaze over the back of the couch at me.
She was smiling.
She approved.
Oh yeah.
I didn’t have to worry.
Eric had a ton of family.
I noted Jeff turning his head away when my eyes caught on him, but that didn’t hide his smile.
And Eric’s family was only going to get bigger.
And as things like this were wont to be…
Better.
For your edification, the Battle of the Best Christmas Song was hotly debated.
In the end, it became a girls versus boys thing, with the finalists being Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” versus Taylor Swift’s “Christmas Tree Farm.”
Jeff, Roam and Cap were blindsided when Eric, Moses and Luke switched teams at the last minute so Gracie and Maisie’s favorite song would win.
Listening to, singing with (and sometimes dancing) then ribbing each other through the voting process of all the songs was a blast.