“Yes, she’s had a busy day. Never fear, her eyes will pop right open at present time.”
Niko plopped down on the couch and held his hand out to Alice. She took the seat next to him, relaxing back into the cushions. He put his arm around her shoulders. She rested her hand on his leg, a bit overwhelmed by the emotions rushing through her head. This was her dream house. He was her dream man and she never wanted to wake up.
Sarah entered the room followed by Niko’s father, Marc. Both carried a tray.
“Good evening, Alice. Great show tonight with a very happy ending,” Marc said, handing her a Christmas-themed mug of tea and offering her a sugar cookie.
“Alice doesn’t eat sweets, Dad.” Niko rubbed his thumb along the material of her dress, the motion oddly comforting. “Of course, she did have some of my chocolate tonight.”
Delicious chocolate kisses and not the Hershey kind. “Since I’ve already cheated on my low-carb diet, I’m willing to indulge.” She accepted both the cookie and the tea, allowing the warmth of the mug to heat her cool hands.
“I couldn’t do a low-carb diet, I love bread too much,” Sarah said.
“I love it too, that’s why I’m on the low-carb diet.” As kids, she and Brooke survived on white bread and peanut butter. While not exactly the ideal diet, it was still her go-to comfort food, even after all these years.
“Well, you’re in luck. Christmas in our house is a guilt free zone. Eat all the cookies you want and I promise, I won’t tell a soul,” Marc said, a mischievous smile lighting his eyes.
Alice took a sip of her tea, wishing she could erase the deeper thread of guilty that ran ever-present through her mind. Lowering the cup, she forced a grin. “Not even Santa?”
“Not even Santa,” Niko whispered in her ear.
She patted his leg and felt the muscles bunch beneath her palm. If she could only stay like this forever. “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am for Niko. He deserved the win, his desserts were innovative, and from what the judges shared with me after the show, the flavors were exceptional. If he’s interested, he can pretty much write his own ticket right now.”
Marc rocked back on his heels. “Really, my boy could have his own TV show? He always was a ham in front of the camera.”
“They’re lying, I was modest as the day is long,” Niko said, coloring a bit. Was it from her compliment or his dad’s teasing, or perhaps both? While in many ways he was self-assured, he wasn’t arrogant like she’d assumed when she first met him. Far from it.
“Only one way to prove it.” Marc took a seat in one of the recliners and lifted the remote from the side table. “I have it primed and ready to go.”
“Oh God,” Niko said, shaking his head. Marc laughed, the sound reminiscent of his son’s. Although Niko looked more like his mother, he possessed his dad’s broad build and sense of humor.
Alice glanced from one man to the other. “What?”
“Every year, we watch our past Christmases from the time we were born until the previous year. Don’t worry, they’re edited into one-minute segments per year. Otherwise, we’d be watching home movies until past New Year,” Marc said.
“And this is just mine and Hallie’s Christmases. We have days’ worth of Chloe’s footage which we’ll watch tomorrow night after her birthday celebration.”
“Who’s the family photographer?” Alice asked, anxious to view both. She’d have an unfettered look into Chloe’s life before cancer, to see how the girl had grown over the years and witness her happiness. Because if nothing else came out of this, she knew Chloe was living a good life despite the tragedy.
“I am.” Sarah raised her cup and sipped at it. She sat in the recliner next to her husband, a blanket over her lap. “Ever since Marc bought a video camera for me when Niko was born.”
“I wasn’t important enough for a video camera. I had to settle for photos,” Hallie said, laughing at the eye roll her mother gave her.
“You’ll see the progression from beginning to ending. I’m much better at it now.”
“I can’t wait to see them.”
Marc hit the start button and a splash page came up that said “Stavo Family Christmas.” A picture of Marc, his hair flattened by sleep, sat next to Sarah who wore curlers in her hair, mascara smeared under one eye. She held Niko in her arms swaddled in a blanket and Hallie slept on her father’s lap.
“Weren’t they adorable?” Sarah asked, sighing.
Alice couldn’t agree more. She’d tried to record Brooke’s childhood through pictures and videos because she’d wanted to give her sister the same advantage other kids received in normal families.
Hallie appeared, her ponytail askew, a tooth missing in her wide smile. Niko walked into the frame, a toddler in a Santa onesie, a bar of chocolate in his meaty fist, the candy smeared all over his mouth and chest as Sarah chased him. She snatched him up and he broke out into childish giggles.
Alice’s smile deepened. She couldn’t help it. He was so damn adorable. If they had children, would the child look like her or him? Or a mixture of both? “So you’ve literally been obsessed with chocolate your entire life?”
“Yes, he has,” Sarah said.
