I smile. “I am too. Thanks for letting me crash your family celebration.”
She leans back and holds me by the shoulder. “Oh my goodness, you’re not crashing at all. We love having you over, Poppy. You’ve always been like a second daughter to me.”
My chest swells. It means a lot to hear her say something so kind right now.
Nick sets out the gifts he brought under the tree while I follow Shannon to the kitchen. I smile when I see that she hung big red ribbons over each of the cabinets.
“That’s so pretty,” I say, pointing them out.
“Oh, I’m so glad you like them. I saw that on Pinterest one day, and I thought it was the cutest thing ever.”
“Very cute, and it took forever,” Nick’s dad Scott says when he walks into the kitchen from the hallway.
Shannon rolls her eyes, still smiling. She playfully smacks her husband’s arm. “You’re such a whiner. It took less than an hour.”
He just chuckles and kisses her cheek.
He turns to me and gives me a hug. “So glad you’re here, Poppy. Merry Christmas.”
“Thank you. Merry Christmas to you, too.”
I ask Shannon if I can help her with anything, but she waves me off.
“I’ve got this all under control.” She pulls two casserole dishes out of the oven along with a sheet tray of cinnamon rolls. “We’re having frittatas for Christmas brunch. One with bacon and one with veggies.”
“Sounds yummy. It already smells incredible in here,” I say.
“Scott is making his famous spiced beef stew for Christmas dinner,” Shannon says.
“My favorite,” Nick says as he walks into the kitchen. He grabs a cinnamon roll straight from the tray, then takes a massive bite.
Shannon sighs and shakes her head. Then she hands him a small plate from the stack of china on the counter. “Where are your manners? Use a plate.”
He says “sorry” around a mouthful of cinnamon roll.
She looks at me. “I swear I raised him better than that. You’d think he was brought up by cavemen given the way he eats sometimes.”
I chuckle. Nick grabs my hand and leads me to sit at the kitchen island with him. He offers me his cinnamon roll and I take a bite, humming at the richness.
“Your cinnamon rolls are the best I’ve ever had, Shannon,” I say.
She grins wide as she slices up the frittata. “Ryker and Madeline are on their way. Anna will be here soon, too. I guess she overslept.”
“She must be catching up on all the sleep she missed during finals week,” Scott says. “She studied nonstop.”
I nod, not at all surprised at how hardcore my best friend is when she studies.
“She made straight As this semester,” Scott says proudly.
“I knew she would,” Nick says. He downs half a can of sparkling water and wipes his mouth with a napkin.
“How’d you end up doing?” Scott asks him.
Nick grins. “I got Bs in all my classes.”
“That’s so great!” Shannon says.
Scott pats his back. “Have you ever gotten such high grades since you’ve been in college?”
