Jude, grumpy as ever, mutters,“Can we eat without reliving Penny’s culinary crimes?”
Dex leans over to him.“Jude, bro, you planning to smile at least once today?”
Jude gives him a flat stare.“No.”
Ethan squeezes my thigh under the table, smirking.“Welcome to the circus,” he whispers.
Mia is between Grace and Cas, chattering while Grace cuts her food and Cas sneaks extra mashed potatoes onto her plate like it’s a covert mission.
Penny and Lily are laughing, Josh is telling some long-winded story about“back in’96,” the brothers are bickering about who cheated in last year’s gingerbread-house contest, and the whole table is loud, messy, loving.
A real family.
A home.
I look around, heart full to the brim.
Ethan catches my eye, gives me that soft smile that’s for me and only me.
This, this moment, is Christmas.
After dinner Dex rolls in the karaoke system like he’s presenting a national treasure.
Ethan pops up the second the wheels squeak to a stop, grabs the mic, and clears his throat dramatically.
“Since the last karaoke night was such afunexperience,” he announces.
I groan. Loudly.
“We are officially introducing a new Christmas tradition,” he continues, totally ignoring me.“As of this year, Christmas Eve Karaoke is a must.”
He grins straight at me like he’s daring me to protest. Jace lets out a cowboy-styleyeehaw, Cas and Penny crack up, and Dex… oh, Dex just smirks like he’s plotting my public humiliation.
“I think I’ll start,” Josh says, already standing before any of us can object. He takes the mic, leans toward Dex, and whispers something that makes Dex’s smirk sharpen.
Then Josh turns, eyes softening.“Lily, baby, come here and help me sing this.”
Lily’s face lights up. She slips to his side just as the opening notes of“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”float through the room.
They sing it terribly adorably, Josh slightly off-key, Lily trying not to laugh through her lines. Halfway in, the entire family joins because of course they do. Ethan shouts the lyrics like he’s on stage at Madison Square Garden, Jace adds dramatic backup vocals, Penny harmonizes beautifully, and Cas does that deep radio-announcer voice on the low parts.
Grace stands on a chair recording everything with her phone, narrating like she’s filming a documentary:“And here we observe our natural habitat: chaos.”
The room glows with twinkle lights and candlelight, everyone laughing, everyone loud, everyone together.
And it feels, just for a moment, like the kind of tradition that’s been here forever.
Jace hops to his feet next, swagger in full force, and leans down to whisper his song choice to Dex. Dex doesn’t just smirk this time, he bursts out laughing.
Oh dear. This is either going to be good… or very,verybad.
The speakers crackle, and the opening notes of“All I Want for Christmas”start to play, except it’s not Mariah’s version. It’s the upbeat, Bollywood-inspired remix.
Jace jumps in immediately, singing at full volume, complete with dramatic head tilts and dance moves.
Cas takes a sip of his drink at the exact wrong moment, and chokes, spraying water across the table. Penny collapses against his shoulder, wheezing with laughter.
Mia giggles so hard she snorts, Jude rolls his eyes like he’s questioning every life decision that led him here, Josh and Lily are just shaking their heads in secondhand embarrassment.
