Instead, they returned to their seats, this time falling into them with that particular post-Christmas heaviness that only came from a day done right.
For a while, no one spoke.
They didn’t have to.
The fire cracked. The stereo hummed something soft. Snow tapped gently at the windowpanes.
Erin leaned back into the sofa, head turning toward Alex almost automatically.
Alex was already looking at her.
“Hi again,” Alex said softly.
Erin let out a small, contented sigh. “Hi.”
“How are your knees?” Alex asked. “You spent an hour on the floor pretending to be various festive objects.”
“I’ll survive,” Erin said. “I’ve had worse missions.”
“None this important,” Alex replied.
Erin’s smile faltered slightly, then settled into something deeper. “No,” she agreed. “None this important.”
Alex’s hand found hers beneath the blanket. Fingers threaded through fingers.
On the other sofa, Vic watched them quietly, her head tipped against Julia’s shoulder.
Tonight, every part of it felt… right. As if the room itself exhaled.
“You’re staring,” Julia murmured.
“At them?” Vic asked.
“At all of us,” Julia said. “Your face does that thing when you’re thinking about six things at once.”
“I’m not,” Vic protested. “I’m only thinking about five.”
Julia hummed, unconvinced.
“It’s a good scene,” Vic said quietly, gaze returning to the ring of empty cushions around the table. “Isn’t it?”
“It is,” Julia agreed.
“Feels like… the picture I used to make up,” Vic went on, eyes unfocused now, looking not at the room but slightly beyond it. “When I was small. I’d lie in bed and imagine a house that was warm. People who weren’t shouting. Games after dinner. Everyone tired and… happy-tired. Not survive-the-day tired.”
“And now you’re in it,” Julia said.
Vic’s throat bobbed. “Now I’m in it,” she echoed. “Which terrifies me, because it means I could lose it.”
“You won’t,” Julia said.
“How do you know?” Vic asked.
“Because you won’t let yourself,” Julia replied. “And because you’re not holding it up alone anymore. Look at them.”
Vic did.
At Alex and Erin, curled together on one sofa, joined at the hand and shoulder and, more importantly, at the heart.
