Again, it felt strange, but that didn’t mean it was bad. And what had Levi said? I couldn’t cower forever.
For Max, I could step outside my comfort zone and try something new. If I didn’t like how this morning went, we didn’t have to do it next year. I could make something up or be straight-up honest with her that we had our own thing Christmas morning.
Until then, I had to face this morning.
We’d done everything we usually did, except this morning, after Max was done opening his gifts from me, I made him get dressed instead of making him breakfast. He knew we were headed over to Rich and Darcy’s so he didn’t even complain.
Their house was beautiful this morning. The tasteful Christmas lights and mounds of white snow packed against their house made it look like it belonged in a snow globe. It didn’t always snow over Christmas, but I loved when it did. This year, we’d been blessed with mountains of snow and especially cold weather.
I wasn’t going to complain though. The weather only added to the magic in my opinion.
“Where’s your coat?” Rich asked as we shook off our boots just inside their door.
My blush warmed my frozen cheeks. “Oh, I have one in the car. I just hate wearing it.”
“It’s miserable out there!” Rich exclaimed. “But at least it’s in the car. I would hate for you to break down in this weather and freeze to death.”
I blinked at him. “Me too.”
“Don’t look at me like that,” he scolded. “It can happen. You wouldn’t believe how many cars break down in this weather. Good cars even. It’s too cold for anyone to be safe from this. Do you have gloves in your car?” I was a little freaked out by his warning so all I could do was shake my head no. “Scarves? Snow pants? Candles? A weather radio? Blankets?”
“No, I don’t even own most of that stuff.”
He made a sound in the back of his throat. “Are you sure you’re from Nebraska?”
“Uh…”
“I’m just teasing.” He smiled widely, reminding me so much of Levi. “I’ll put a cold weather car bag together for you. I’m sure we have almost all of that stuff lying around somewhere.”
“Oh, you don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do. And besides, I want to. Better to be safe than get caught off guard.”
“O-Okay.”
“Dad, stop harassing Ruby.”
Rich turned around and shot a sheepish grin at his son. “You have your cold weather kit in your truck, don’t you?”
Levi nodded patiently. “And we’ll send Ruby home with one but let her in the door first.”
“Oh, right,” Rich murmured, stepping out of the way for us.
“You’re here!” Darcy cheered as she rounded the corner with two mugs of coffee in her hands. “This is for you,” she told me. “Levi says, you need creamer. I hope I didn’t put in too much. He just said you prefer it the color of sand.”
I looked into the cup and smiled. It was perfect. “Maybe not quite sand,” I said. “But this looks great.”
She smiled proudly and then turned to Max. “And for you I have hot chocolate. Does that sound good?”
He nodded excitedly. “Okay, follow me. We’ll have some pancakes and eggs and then we’ll see what Santa brought us.”
“Santa comes to your house too?” Max asked, trailing after her into the kitchen. “You don’t have any kids here. Mom says Santa only comes for kids and that’s why she never gets any presents.”
Darcy sent me a knowing look over her shoulder and I tried to will myself invisible, but it didn’t work. “I sent him a letter telling him I just discovered you were my grandson. And I asked him to come specifically for you. Guess what?”
I heard his curious, “What?”
“He did come. And I think he felt bad for missing so many Christmases from years past, because he brought way too much stuff!”
