“I doubt it,” Zander chuckles. “But I thought it was appropriate for the little monster.”
Rylee laughs and presses her lips to his in a lingering kiss.
I turn my gaze to Owen and Stacey, who’s pulling a glitter-covered crocheted nightmare ornament loosely in the shape of a unicorn out of a gift bag.
Stacey studies it for a moment. “It looks like Lisa Frank threw up on a jellyfish.”
Owen grins. “Millie and I made it. Well, Millie did most of the work, but I helped.”
Stacey clutches the ornament to her chest. “It’s beautiful.”
Owen gives her a kiss on her forehead, then looks her up and down and asks, “Do you need water? A blanket? A snack? A foot rub? A helicopter extraction?”
Stacey smiles and rolls her eyes. “I need you to stop looking at me like I’m about to explode.”
His face softens, his blue eyes going warm as he hesitantly replies, “I just don't want to miss a moment this time around, you know.”
Stacey’s expression is tender as she takes his hand and puts it on her belly. "Yeah… I know."
He melts instantly, gently rubbing his hand over her, gazing down at her stomach as if transfixed.
“See? We’re okay,” she murmurs.
“Yeah…” Owen’s voice cracks. “Yeah, we are.”
Finally, I catch sight of Wilder handing Sutton a shiny red gift bag.
She takes it and murmurs, “If this is a mug that says‘Live, Laugh, Love,’I am jumping into the snow.”
“Don’t worry,” he assures her. “Nothing cheesy like that.”
She dips her hand into the bag and pulls out a green mug: The mug is a pickle wearing sunglasses, and with the words ‘I’m kind of a big Dill’ in big black letters on its chest.
“This is fucking amazing.” Sutton clutches the mug in both hands, as if it’s the most precious thing in the world.
“I thought you’d appreciate it,” Wilder chuckles. “I grabbed it when I realized we’d be among the only singles here.”
“Well, isn’t that a coincidence?” Sutton hands him the box with the mug she bought for him in town. “I had the same thought.”
His eyes light up and he opens the gift, pulling out the bear mug.
“Oh, sick!” he exclaims. “Great minds really think alike, huh?”
Sutton grins. “Hell yeah they do.”
They give one another a fist bump.
The evening continues with games, dessert, and plenty of wine. Jensen presents us all with matching red flannel PJs, insisting that we change into them to “maintain the vibe.” It’s very cheesy, but very fun and we all change before returning to the living room.
“Charades!” Rylee exclaims as we gather in front of the fireplace. She’s pulled her long blonde hair into a high ponytail, which swishes back and forth as she moves.
We all settle on the leather sectional or on the rug in front of it, facing the hearth like it’s a stage. I settle on the floor next to Carson and cuddle into his side.
“Who wants to go first?” Zander asks, shaking a green beanie filled with slips of paper with different topics written on them.
“I’ll go!” Owen volunteers, hopping to his feet. He digs out a paper and reads it, then nods.
“All right.” Zander sets the timer on his watch. “Ready, set, go!”
