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“You know what she’s like.”I smirked, even though Nova wasn’t looking at me.“She just told me to have fun, but with that knowing look in her eyes.”
Nova laughed.“I know the look.My mum gave me the same look when I was leaving her house the other day.”
Ohh.That was why she was blushing the day we went there to pick up the crutches.
“Speaking of my mum,” she said.“She called a little while ago because, before you arrived, she asked me if your nan would want to spend Christmas Day with us.Since you got here, though, I assumed Mum had realised June wouldn’t be coming.But Mum has now asked if both of you want to join us.I was going to ask your nan, but I also wanted to see how you would feel about it too.”
I raised my eyebrows.Christmas with just me and Nan was what I’d been expecting.I’d also expected it to be quiet and fairly depressing.Her first Christmas without Grandad was never going to be a bundle of laughs, and it was one of the reasons I’d originally intended to leave right after Boxing Day.But if we were to spend it with Nova...
The idea made me...excited?
Not in the way I’d been when she was sitting on my lap earlier, but in a way I hadn’t experienced since I was a kid.Like something incredible was about to happen and anything was possible.It was a rush of seasonal joy I was sure had long since left me, and it made me laugh out loud with surprise.
“Bad idea?”Nova asked, her eyes remaining on the road.
“No!”I said, wanting to quickly clear up any misunderstanding.“That wasn’t why I was laughing.I think it’s a good idea.Do you want me to ask Nan, or do you want to do it?”
“Up to you.Are you sure you’d be okay with it?If you’d prefer to spend it just the two of you, I totally understand.”
I knew she would, but the tiny glimmer of hope in her eyes that we would spend the day with her family did something to my gut.It wasn’t just about me.She adored my nan, and I think a part of her wanted Nan to be surrounded by as many people as possible to ensure she didn’t feel alone.
And all that did was make me like her more.
“I think it would be great for us all to be together for Christmas,” I said.“I’ll ask her tonight and let you know.”
“Mum also said you can both stay the night because she has plenty of room.I’m staying over anyway, and it means you can have a drink if you want to.”
Easy to see where she gets her thoughtfulness from.Nova’s mum, Anita, was always so kind.Not as over-the-top excitable as my own mother, but still always fun.Her dad, Oliver, was quiet, from my recollection.Friendly, but much more introverted than my dad.It would be nice to see them again, and offering for us to stay over was especially kind of them.I wasn’t sure Nan would go for the sleepover, but I thought she might like to at least spend the day with the McKays.
I grinned.“Are we too old to sleep in the same room now?”I teased, then taking it a step further, I added, “I noticed you never put sleepovers on the list.”
“Ha ha,” she said, trying to sound stern but failing and breaking into a laugh.“We only ever had one sleepover when we were kids.Plus, I thought you were unbearable when I wrote our list.I didn’t want to spendthatmuch time with you!”
Leaning my head back against the headrest, I chuckled.“How about now?”
She shrugged with fake nonchalance.“You’re all right, I suppose.”
“I’ll take that.”
Snorting out a laugh, she reached over and turned on the car radio, and Christmas music played softly.It was only then I looked up and realised where we were.
“Are we doing the Christmas lights tour?”I asked as we ascended the hill onto Coronation Avenue, a street that had once been renowned for having the best lights in town.Grandad Cain told me that they used to hold a carol concert outside one of the family’s houses to raise money for charity, but I’d never got to see it myself.
“We are,” Nova replied.“I do this every year, but I haven’t had a chance yet.So, I thought this might be a good thing to do since your dad always used to take us on this drive.”
I looked around at the Christmas lights that adorned windows and the light-up reindeer and snowmen in people’s front gardens.Not all of the houses were decorated the way they used to be, but there was still plenty to look at.
Nova and I used to sit in the back of my dad’s car, pointing out the best displays and getting excited when we saw something especially impressive.My mum sat in the front seat, singing her head off to Christmas music, and Nova would giggle at her tuneless wailing.The memory made me smile.
“Do you remember the time my mum and dad tried to do a rendition of Fairytaleof New York?”I asked, another long-buried memory springing into my head.
“Oh my God, yes!”Nova turned into another street I didn’t know the name of, where the houses were bigger and the displays more exuberant.
“Probably a bit inappropriate with kids in the car now I think about it,” I said.
“Eh, it’s a classic.”
She slowed the car right down, just like my dad used to, so we could look at the festive lights as we went by.Nova hummed along quietly to the music, and the glow of the bright lights seemed to make her delight at seeing them shine even brighter.
