“Yes,” he says. “It’s still Christmas. It’s early, but night has fallen, and we aren’t going back out. We can very much wear these Christmas pajamas now, right?”
It’s still Christmas.
I don’t know why, but this simple sentence brings me so much joy and relief, I’m nearly brought to tears again. Gosh, I really need to stop crying; there will be no face masks or cream good enough for my poor eyes to recover if I keep going!
“Of course,” I reply with a big, silly smile. “…Do you want to go shower? I’ll put my things away while you do.”
“You’ll wear yours too, right?” Nicolas frowns.
“Definitely,” I grin.
“Alright. I’ll go take a shower then.”
“Okay.”
He stands up, grabs his underwear from his bag, and then heads to my bathroom.
And here I am, sniffling again! This time, it’s tears of relief, because just like that, I know we’ll be fine. We need to talk and address things, but I know we’ll be fine. Because if we can wear matching Christmas pajamas like two silly dorks, we’re definitely okay, right? More than okay.
“Meow.”
I grin at Muffin, who’s standing by my suitcase, staring right at me with his expectant look. Meanwhile, Coconut is already whiskers-deep in Nicolas’s bag, visibly looking for some hidden treasure. I lean to pet my cat.
“Give me a minute to put my mess away, Muffin,” I smile, “and then I’ll feed you boys, okay? It’s been a long two days, you know. We missed you a whole bunch.”
Muffin doesn’t look convinced; he’s staring with that distrustful look that makes me think some of my scrunchies are most definitely going to be pilfered again soon in retaliation. But it’s fine; I have plenty of them, and now that Nicolas is back, my mood is soaring!
I quickly unpack, and the task is over in minutes as I was carrying more presents than actual changes of clothes… Everything will have to wait, I suppose; I can always look up how to ship everything later! Right now, what I need is to focus on the two of us. So, because hot cocoa makes everything better, I head into the kitchen next and quickly fix us some hot cocoa in our favorite mugs. I even add two scoops of mini marshmallows each, some whipped cream, and a dash of sprinkles! It’s a lot, but I have a feeling we could use some extra sweetness tonight…
I’ve changed into my pajamas, settled on the couch, and am looking up how to ship packages to Quebec City while keeping our fur babies away from the whipped cream when Nicolas emerges from the bathroom, his hair a bit wet and looking all handsome in his Christmas pajamas!
“Honey, they look amazing!” I beam.
“It feels nice,” he nods, “and we’re matching.”
“We are,” I smile.
For a second, he stands there, and a hint of worry comes nagging again, but before I can overthink it, he comes to sit beside me and frowns.
“…I think we should talk about Christmas.”
Eight
Chapter 8
Iwas so desperate to fix my mistake earlier in the car. I just wanted to try and fix everything at once, to get the hard part over with… but now that we’re sitting on my couch, wearing our matching Christmas pajamas, and with hot cocoa to warm our hands, I understand Nicolas was right. We both needed a bit of time to cool down our emotions.
We weren’t ready to talk about what happened, but now, we are, and I am confident that we can find a solution. Together.
I put down my phone, and Muffin immediately takes the empty spot on my lap, settling in for a round of biscuit-making like he knows I could use a little bit of “ronron therapy,” as Nicolas calls it.
“Right. I also think we should talk about it,” I admit. “Things at my parents’ house—”
“I’m sorry.”
This time, I blink and look up at him.
He’ssorry?
