Page 73 of Not Another Christmas Movie

“I know it all sounds unbelievable,” Annie said before stopping herself. “Wait, Marsha, why are you and Pete here? I thought you’d be at his house by now? Learning about Hanukkah and possibly getting engaged.”

“Annie,” Marsha said seriously. “You are my family. My best friend. My true number one. No matter what is happening in my romantic relationship, I’m never letting you go. Nothing is ever going to change that,” Marsha finished, and Annie couldn’t help it, she burst into tears. The restless anxiety that had once twisted inside her had transformed into a comforting confidence: their unbreakable friendship would withstand anything. They didn’t have to traverse separate paths; they could expand the forest together.

“I feel the same way, but thank you for saying it,” Annie cried as Marsha hugged her closer.

“Marsh—Nick let me get ejected from the chair! It was incredible!” Pete squealed, running inside. Marsha and Annie shared a warm look. There was something endlessly delightful about her best friend’s love befriending her own. Nick returned, his cheeks flushed with color and bashfully grinning. Marsha rifled through her purse before pulling out a bottle of champagne, a bag of popcorn, and a wrapped piece of brie.

“Nigel with the brie!” Annie cheered.

“Do you always carry that around?” Nick asked.

“Dinner,” Annie and Marsha said together.

“What?” Nick asked, and Annie and Marsha rolled their eyes at his lack of understanding.

“Duh. In case I ever need dinner,” Marsha said slowly as if Nick was the dumbest person on the planet.

“This is your life now,” Pete sighed to Nick, giving him a knowing squeeze on the shoulder.

“I’m going to grab some things from my house—I had an idea. I want to try and make your grandfather’s lemon cookies and something chocolate too …” Nick trailed off in thought.

“I love you,” Annie blurted at him. “I’ve never said that to anyone first. And I’ve never meant it until now,” Annie said, overflowing with feeling.

“It’s always been you, Annie,” Nick said, coming closer. “And now it’ll always be us. I love you too,” Nick told her before they kissed. “Now I’m really going to grab cookie stuff; I know the order of priorities,” Nick said with a playful smirk.

“I love him,” Annie said, overcome with emotion as Nick scurried to his house.

“I always knew you’d get your happy ending with the guy of your dreams,” Marsha said. “I never thought it would be Nick Laurel or that it would happen immediately after I asked you what it would take to make you believe it could happen, but you know what, it’s Christmas and I’m all in on you guys.”

Annie gave Marsha another hug, and when Nick returned after multiple trips, they turned on a made-for-TV Christmas movie (after Nick put the remote back together) and transformed the space with cheer. Marsha and Pete stayed for a bit to enjoy the champagne and brie before eventually heading off on their own holiday adventure.

“Hey,” Annie said to Nick a little while later, when it was just the two of them again, as he was mixing dry ingredients, “you know how you said some of the movies do a ‘one year later’ check-in right before the credits?”

“Yeah, I’m familiar. Aren’t you a little star student?” Nick smirked.

“I learned from the best,” Annie admitted, finding herself immediately distracted by his mouth and wanting to bite down on his lower lip. She took the opportunity to put a dab of flour on his nose. “You’re so truckin’ cute. Do we get one of those?”

“Do we get a check-in one year later?” Nick asked, putting his arms around Annie’s shoulders and pulling her closer. “Truck yeah, we do,” he grinned before putting his own dab of flour across Annie’s lips and then covering her mouth with his.

There will never be a time I don’t love this, Annie thought, letting herself sink into the kiss, tasting the sweetness of pure holiday joy. It was delicious.

“I love Christmas,” Annie said, staring into Nick’s eyes. She felt as splendid and illustrious as Scrooge himself upon realizing he could now live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.

EPILOGUE

One Year Later

Annie and Nick made out. Hard. The space was technically considered a closet, but it felt more like a narrow, mostly neglected nook, buzzing with the hum of nearby industrial freezers and crammed with boxes of canned eggnog concentrate.

If they had still been in their alternate universe made-for-TV Christmas movie world, this is the part where they’d speed through a year of happy moments to get to this specific point. No need to share the less-than-glamorous times or anything too boring, let’s keep it to the good stuff.

After the new year, Nick nailed his interview with the Bushnell Theater and was hired to oversee the installation of the touring sets he had once helped to build in New York City. He moved in with Annie within a few weeks, and like Annie knew he would, he shared each and every one of his Lilith Fair holiday playlists. Their parents were so delighted and made countless jokes about “cruising together more often” that eventually, they took advantage of a President’s Day trip deal, and Annie and Nick enjoyed house-sitting for them again. Biblically speaking, of course.

“Are you two done yet?” Marsha asked, banging on the kitchen closet door. “I don’t think I can fend Grant off much longer—”

“No, you cannot,” Grant huffed, emphasizing each word as his shoes squeaked closer, that speed-strutter pace undeniably his.

“Hurry, he’s coming,” Marsha whispered as Grant planted himself in front of the door and immediately beat two fists against it.