After seeingwhat Santa brought the kids, we catch a double feature and eat our weight in lo mein before ending up back at Ben and Ellie’s. Noah and Emily have long since passed out, proclaiming this as the best Christmas ever, leaving the rest of us to enjoy some wine and Cards Against Humanity.
It comes as no surprise to anyone that Aunt Rose wins every round.
Lucy slaps her cards on the eat-in dining table. “Damn it! I was so close!”
“Let’s go again,” Willow says, shuffling the cards. “This is fun.”
Aunt Rose takes a sip of her wine. “Ready to admit defeat again, I see.”
“You’re gonna have to count me out on this one, kids,” Mom says with a yawn as she stands. “I’m beat. I think I’m going to head on out.” She peeks at the clock on the microwave above the stove. “It’s already after eight.”
“Are you sure?” Ellie asks. “You can stay in the guest room, if you like.”
Mom leans down to kiss her cheek. “You’re sweet to offer, but when you get to be my age, you need about seventeen pillows to sleep and not wake up feeling like you’ve been bludgeoned with a bat.”
“It’s true,” Aunt Rose agrees as Lucy and Willow rise to give Mom a hug.
“Merry Christmas, Mom,” Lucy says.
“Merry Christmas to you, my dear.” Mom leans over to plant a kiss on top of Ben’s head. “To all of you.”
She moves to give me a hug, but I push out of my chair. “I’ll walk you out.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
Everyone sings out their goodbyes as Mom and I shrug on our coats, and I walk her outside while my siblings’ laughter carries out into the silent night.
Mom curls her arm around my shoulders and smiles. “That’s my favorite sound, you know? When you were younger, you three used to laugh yourselves silly. You loved playing little pranks on us. And each other, of course. Your father and I used to stand outside the room, just out of sight, and listen to your giggles.”
“You did?” I ask. “How did I not know this?”
“We nearly gave ourselves awaymanytimes,” she says as we reach her car. “We’d be shaking with laughter, tripping over ourselves, listening to y’all carry on.”
I grin and lean into her shoulder. “Today was a good day, Mom.”
“It sure was, kid.” She rubs her hand along my arm. “You should go back inside. It’s cold out here. Do you want me to come back and get you in the morning?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll have Ben bring me over after this next round.”
She nods and moves to open the car door.
Before she can even climb inside, I blurt, “Do you think I made a mistake?”
“What?” she asks, her hand frozen on the handle.
“With Oliver. Do you think I ended things too quickly?”
She takes a beat and presses her lips together. “Doyouthink you did?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” I admit, grinding the toe of my boot into the gravel driveway. “I just really miss him.”
She opens her mouth as though she’s going to say something but shuts it and nods.
“Take some time and think it over,” she says. “Listen to what your heart’s telling you.”
“That’s just it. I don’t know. I’m a mess and a half.”
She places a gloved hand on my cheek. “You’ve never been a mess. Not now. Not ever. One thing about you kids is, you’ve always known exactly who you are and what you want. Gosh, when you were younger, we had to beg you to stop studying and go outside to play during the summer. Do you remember that?”
