“None,” Julia agreed. “If I see you even look at a bullet point, I’ll confiscate your laptop.”
“You’d have to fight Erin for it,” Vic mumbled. “She’s secretly on my side.”
“Erin wants an hour alone with her wife,” Julia said. “Trust me, she’ll burn your schedule if it gets in the way.”
Vic’s lips twitched. “Maybe we should… help with that.”
“Already planning on it,” Julia said.
She felt Vic smile properly against her skin.
Silence settled again — not heavy, not brittle. Easy. Warm.
After a while, Vic spoke again, very softly. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For reminding me I’m not just… useful,” Vic said. “That I’m… loved. Wanted. Even when I’m… messy.”
Julia’s throat constricted. She tilted Vic’s chin up and kissed her, slow and reverent.
“You are the love of my life,” she said. “Every version of you. List-making, meltdown-having, pumpkin-smeared… all of it. Nothing changes that.”
Vic’s eyes shone. “Even if I colour-code the stockings?”
“Let’s not get carried away,” Julia murmured, smiling.
Vic laughed, then yawned, the sound almost startling in its honesty.
“Sleep,” Julia said. “Before you remember something else that needs organising.”
Vic shifted closer, nestling into her like she was finally allowing herself to be held.
Julia lay awake a little longer, listening to Vic’s breathing deepen, feeling the last of the tension leave her body.
She thought of Alex and Erin downstairs. Of Hyz and the triplets dreaming of snow and Santa. Of dogs sprawled in hallways like furry landmines.
Of a castle full of people who, against all odds, had found each other.
No one here wants perfect, she thought. They want together.
Tomorrow, she decided, she’d fight for that. Not for the timetable. Not for the optics. For the heart of it.
For Vic’s wild, stubborn, frightened heart. For Alex and Erin’s bruised, defiant love. For four children who deserved messy, bright, unforgettable memories.
She pressed a final kiss to Vic’s hair.
“Tomorrow,” she whispered, to no one and everyone. “We do Christmas your way, love. With heart. Not spreadsheets.”
Vic murmured something unintelligible and burrowed closer.
Outside, the snow kept falling.
Inside, for the first time that day, Julia let herself close her eyes and rest — knowing that, for tonight at least, the only thing she had to hold together was the woman in her arms.
13
ALEX
