To our collective shock, Owen grabs his crotch and flexes, biting his bottom lip and narrowing his blue eyes cartoonishly.
Stacey drops her head into her hand, nearly dislodging the big red headband she put on to keep her red hair out of her face. “Honey, no…”
Rylee bursts out laughing from her perch on Zander’s lap at the end of the couch, and I’m not far behind her.
“What is it?” Jensen asks, looking baffled.
“It’s Christmas themed, remember,” Wilder murmurs, stroking his long beard thoughtfully.
“Oh! I got it!” Carson raises his hand and waves it like a little school kid. “Nutcracker!”
“Bingo!” Owen nods.
I shake my head at Carson, grinning. “Of course you’d get that.”
We go a few more rounds until it’s Wilder’s turn, and when Zander tells him, “Ready, set, go!” he doesn’t move.
He sits perfectly still on the floor, his pajamas stretching a little tight across his chest, staring ahead.
“Is…is this a trick?” Owen asks in a hushed tone.
Wilder’s deadpan response of, “I’m acting,” nearly makes me spit wine out of my nose.
“Silent night!” Grace yells, slapping Jensen’s knee next to her in excitement.
“Got it,” Wilder nods, grinning.
“Woohoo!” Grace cries, pumping her arms into the air. “Suck it!”
“Easy, wifey.” Jensen grabs her waist and pulls her onto his lap. “Your hyper-competitive dark side is coming out.”
We continue playing as Christmas songs play in the background off Zander’s laptop, and there’s some themed mocktails of cranberry juice and ginger beer that Stacey and Rylee can enjoy. It’s so fun that the time flies by, and before I know it, the sun has set fully and it’s dark outside.
It’s also snowing, making the fire crackling in the hearth even cozier.
Zander busts out a karaoke machine at some point and in the middle of his and Rylee’s enthusiastic rendition ofBarbie Girl, Carson leans over and whispers in my ear.
“Come outside with me.”
I glance at him with a grin. “What? Why?”
“I want to play in the snow.”
There’s a heated gleam in his eye that tells me he wants to do a lot more than play in the snow. Nodding, I give him my hand and he helps me up off the floor. While the others are distracted, we grab our coats and slip outside.
The quiet and cold that envelopes us as soon as the front door closes behind us is refreshing. I close my eyes and suck in a deep breath.
“Come on,” Carson says, tugging on my hand.
Giggling, I follow him off the front porch and into the yard, which is covered in fresh snow. I slip from his grasp and scoop up a handful of snow, packing it into a snowball.
“Oh, Caaaaarson.” I sing out his name, and when he turns around, I nail him in the chest with the snowball.
“Hey!” he yelps. When his lips curl into a wicked little grin, I know I’m in trouble. “You think you’re funny, huh?”
He charges me and I squeal, turning to try and run. I don’t make it far, though, before he catches me around the waist. We go tumbling to the ground, the snow cushioning our fall. I laugh and wiggle to try and escape when Carson starts tickling my sides.
“Ahhh! Let me go! Stoooop!”
