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“Good luck with that,” I mutter, rolling out of bed to use the bathroom.
“What’s that meant to mean?”
“He’s still pining after a girl in the Heights. No one else stands a chance.”
“How don’t I know about this?” she asks, following me and standing in the doorway.
“He doesn’t talk about her.”
“Who is she?”
“Do you really want to talk about Conner, or are you going to come shower with me?”
She rolls her eyes and steps into the room and then my arms as I back up toward the shower.
“Shower, obviously,” she says with a smile. “I just worry about him.”
“He’s a big boy, he can deal.”
“I know but—” I cut her words off with my lips, plunging my tongue into her mouth so she can’t say any more on the subject. If she wants any more details, then she’s going to need to ask him. I’m not spilling any of his secrets.
By the time we make it downstairs, we are well past the ten-minute warning Conner gave us, but when we find him shoveling waffles like he hasn’t eaten all year in the kitchen with everyone else, I understand why he never came to find us.
“At last,” he says with a roll of his eyes when we take a seat.
“Waffles?” Sarah asks, lowering two plates in front of us.
“Thank you. This smells incredible.”
“Waffles are tradition for me and Remi, so we thought we’d continue. Did you three have any Christmas traditions as kids?”
Ace snorts in disbelief while my eyes widen.
“Sure did, Sarah. We always played the exciting game of trying to guess what was in the mystery can that we’d pushed to the back of the cupboard every year after the label fell off.
“If we were lucky it was custard, unlucky it was dog food that one of the neighbors gave us out of pity.”
Her chin drops at Conner’s words, and although I want to tell her that he’s joking, sadly, he’s not. Although he is exaggerating about the dog food, as far as I know.
“Oh, well…” She looks between the three of us awkwardly. “Are there any traditions you’d like to start, seeing as this is hopefully the first of many family Christmases we’ll have together?”
Ace shrugs while I shake my head, Conner, on the other hand, has plenty of suggestions.
“I didn’t see a box big enough under the tree that might be hiding my stripper.”
“Conner,” we all bark simultaneously.
“What? I’m joking, obviously. Just keep the food coming and I’m all good,” he says, reaching out for another waffle.
Once we’ve eaten, we move through to the living area where Sarah, Remi and Hadley set up a huge Christmas tree covered in white and gold twinkling lights and decorations. It’s really quite something.
Sarah and James both happily hand out gifts until each of us has a little pile to open while the two of them stare at us all with wide smiles on their faces.
I sit back and watch as Ace and Conner open theirs. I love seeing their eyes light up at the simplest of gifts.
Conner wasn’t lying this morning. We’ve never had this, and, although annoying as fuck, I totally understood his excitement. Just opening a new set of boxers is a serious improvement on our childhoods.
The gifts are all simple and understated, and I think there’s probably a very good reason for that. They know this is beyond what we’re used to, and anything extravagant would blow our minds. But this Christmas isn’t about money, or expensive presents. It’s about family. Just a few months ago, I’d have laughed if someone would have told me I’d be sitting here now enjoying this, but I am. At some point, this place became my home, and the people around me became an extension of my family.
