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“Annie, you must come this year. Black tie formal required, of course,” Grant smiled, scurrying back toward the kitchen.

“Um—” Annie began, but she didn’t know how to finish the sentence because she was afraid that if she admitted she didn’t own a ball gown, Noelle would suggest a shopping montage moment at some downtown boutique catering to dated fashion trends, and that was a step further than she could reasonably handle.

“It’s on Christmas Eve, after the Christmas play and once the local business is awarded their funds,” Felix explained.

“Wow, sounds like quite a full day,” Annie said, purposely eyeing Felix for a reaction because that day would indeed be a busy one for Santa.

“Okay, my merry friends, I hope you’re hungry,” Grant sang out, carrying a big tray of food and another pot of hot chocolate. “Wait until you try my candy cane pancakes! Old family recipe,” Grant exclaimed. He dropped two plates in front of Annie and Nick. On top of the red and green sprinkled pancakes were two mini candy canes shaped together to make a heart.

“Great presentation,” Nick said to Grant, and Grant let out a little squeal of delight and shimmied his shoulders. It was the closest Annie had seen of the real Grant, and it gave her a small shot of unexpected joy. She happily took a big bite but stopped chewing when a particularly pointy piece of candy cane became lodged in her back molar.

“Ouch,” Annie said, trying to use her fork to loosen the piece.

“Don’t you love it when a piece of candy cane gets to stick around a little longer?” Noelle asked.

“That’s one way to put it,” Annie grunted, still trying to get it out, but to no avail.

“It’s like a little kiss of peppermint; your breath will be fresh all day!” Noelle said as Annie finally dislodged the errant shard and gave herself a high-five in celebration. “Aw, too bad, maybe next time it’ll stay. I’m keeping one in now!” Noelle made a loud sucking sound with her teeth for emphasis.

Annie looked to Nick for confirmation that Noelle was seriously praising a piece of stuck candy cane in her mouth. He looked at her, grinning, his own teeth purposely plastered with tiny pieces of red and white.

“Fresh breath all day, Annie. In case you get caught under the mistletoe!” Nick told her.

“Exactly!” Noelle exclaimed, but when she caught Felix’s curious eye, she returned her gaze to her pancakes.

“You never know when the moment may strike,” Felix smiled.

“Well, it’s never happened to me before, but I’ll certainly keep it in mind,” Annie answered back.

“She says that, but she caught me under one many years ago,” Nick casually told Noelle and Felix.

“What?” Annie barked out a laugh. “No, I did not.”

“You did,” Nick said.

“When?” Annie demanded.

“Um, a few nights before Christmas. My freshman year of high school,” Nick said, clearing his throat.

“Nick, what are you talking about?” Annie asked.

“You kissed me under the mistletoe,” Nick said.

“No, I didn’t! I would never do that!” Annie said, putting her fork down. Nick’s ears had grown quite pink.

“You kissed me,” Nick repeated softly, the back of his neck racing to match the pink hue of his ears. Noelle and Felix looked on, their eyes flickering with excitement.

“No way,” Annie said, shaking her head, but when Nick refused to yield she stared back at him, trying to read his face. “Nick, I didn’t do that, did I?” Annie asked, her voice nervously trembling.

“You and Marsha had experimented with peppermint schnapps and chocolate syrup … and some old wine coolers that night,” Nick whispered so only Annie could hear him. “Our parents were all at that annual neighborhood Christmas party down the block, and all the neighborhood kids came over to my house to watch movies. I had mistletoe under my bedroom doorframe, kind of as a joke, kind of because I was already a hopeful romantic.” Nick shrugged with a small self-deprecating laugh.

“Oh, Nick, I didn’t like, force myself on you …?” Annie asked, clutching the table.

“No, no, nothing like that. It was very consensual!” Nick reassured her, but Annie only loosened up a little. “It was a passing moment, our, um, lips barely brushed each other. I think you may have planned to kiss me on the cheek, and I swerved my head …”

“Oh my,” Annie whispered, “I’m so sorry. We were probably snooping around upstairs, trying to get into your siblings’ rooms or your mom’s closet, we had no right to be there—”

“No, please don’t be sorry. It was my first kiss, if you could even count it as one, which I absolutely did,” Nick said, a small smile flirting with the corners of his mouth. Annie groaned and covered her face in her hands. “I was this nerdy theater kid, and you were this cool, older girl. It made my Christmas,” Nick admitted.