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I open my eyes to look at her, only to realize that hers are still closed, her head still tilted back at the sky.
Right here, in this moment, Selena might be one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. And I couldn’t be more grateful that she is here with me.
Sensing me looking, Selena opens her eyes and peeks at me. Then her face twists into a smile. “I’m sure there’s something else we could plan.”
I already have an idea in mind. “Actually, let me make a call.” I whip out my phone and go to my sister’s contact info. When I call her and tell her the situation, she’s more than thrilled to have me and Selena come over to her house.
“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Selena tells me as we get back into my car. I feel like a whole different man already than the one who had just left it.
“Yeah, two nephews, too,” I tell her. I start the car and head over. On the radio, Selena fiddles with the stations until she can find one playing Christmas music. Then we both belt out Christmas carols the entire drive to my sister’s house.
* * *
“Uncle Kenny!”my youngest nephew, Noah, calls to me as Selena and I get out of the car outside of my sister’s small family home.
I feel bad about not having got them gifts, so I whip out my wallet as Noah hugs my leg. At this, my other nephew, Benny, perks his head up over on the porch.
My sister, Isabell, and her husband, Josh, are standing on the porch with him waving at us. From inside their house, I can smell the fresh cinnamon rolls.
I give Noah a tight squeeze and ruffle his cute brown head of hair, then I pull a twenty out. “Merry Christmas, kiddo,” I say to him.
“Wow! I am going to buy Legos with this!” Noah tells me. I can’t believe he’s gotten so big already. Every time I come over, it’s like they’ve aged a hundred years. Maybe I need to come over more often.
At least they’re all happy to see me.
I hold my wallet up to Benny, who is a little bit more on the shy side. “Don’t you want to see your Christmas present, too?” I ask him.
My sister gives him an encouraging little shove, and Benny steps off the porch and heads my way. Next to me, Noah is eyeing Selena. “I’ve never seen you before,” he points out.
Selena giggles. “I’m your Uncle Kenny’s friend, Selena.”
Benny doesn’t hug me, but he stands there with a shy smile, so it’s good enough for me. I pull out another twenty and hand it over to him. Then I introduce everyone to Selena and go give my sister and brother-in-law hugs.
We all go inside the house and immediately dive into the cinnamon rolls. Even though I haven’t seen my sister in months, and even though when we were texting the other day, she told me my idea to go to dad’s was stupid, Isabell has always had a way of acting like everything is fine, and that no time has passed. I’ve always loved that about her.
And even more so, she doesn’t try to push any awkward questions on Selena. She just accepts her as easily as she accepts me, regardless of not knowing whether or not she was ever going to see her again.
So, while I may not have gotten to see my dear old dad or Eliza this Christmas, and while Selena didn’t get to be with her family or the people she loves, I think the two of us ended up having a pretty darn good Christmas anyway.
24
DAMASCUS
Idon’t want to be that person, the one who barges in on my girlfriend’s Christmas when she doesn’t want me there, but I just want to explain myself. Ineedto explain myself. I don’t want Blair to be mad at me anymore. I don’t want to be with Jennifer. The second I saw the look on Blair’s face when she caught me with her at the town square yesterday, everything became clear to me. Blair is who I want to be with. And while she might be mad at me right now, she is a girl worth fighting for.
So, hopefully she answers the door.
I walk up the icy steps to the front door of Blair’s parents’ house and knock a few times. It’s pretty early, barely even seven, but if I know Blair, she’s awake already. She lives for Christmas.
I hear shuffling coming from inside, but the person who answers the door is probably the last person I would’ve ever expected to see. I’m so startled that a supermodel is in Blair’s parents’ doorway that I gasp and fall backward off the steps and into the snow.
I don’t know why I didn’t put it together sooner. Giselle Cosgrove.BlairCosgrove. Now that I can see Giselle up close, I see the resemblance between the two of them.
“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?” Giselle Cosgrove asks me. I stand myself up and brush the cold snow off with my bare hands.
“Yeah, sorry,” I start, feeling slightly embarrassed. Then I clear my throat. “Uh, I’m here to see Blair. Is she… is she here?”
Giselle Cosgrove, the supermodel, bites her bottom lip. I partially feel like I’m dreaming. “You must be Damascus?” she says in a question-like tone.
