"They can't eat takeout," I protested. "They need a home-cooked meal."
We made good time to the Airbnb. I hadn't unpacked, so it was a simple matter of carrying my things to the car. I dropped the keys in the mailbox.
"Listen," Jack said. "I want you to know you don't have to cook or hang decorations or anything. My brothers will live."
I gave him a scathing look. "Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I will have a Christmas celebration for the ages. Now take me to the grocery store."
He grinned.
But Jack's grin faded as I dragged him through the store. I wanted to buy things for the dinner that night, and I also wanted to shop for the Christmas Eve party.
"This is too much food," he complained as he dragged the two grocery carts while I dumped in bags of cranberries, flour, dozens of eggs, and other ingredients.
"You and your brothers are giants," I reminded him. "Plus all the Svenssons are going to be there. You guys are going to eat a lot. The stores are closing for Christmas, and we need to have enough food."
Jack loaded up the bags in the car then called his brothers and told them to be waiting downstairs to help unload.
"Wow!" said Matt. "That’s the biggest turkey I've ever seen."
"And there are two of them!" Oliver added.
Jack's fridge could barely hold all the food. I prepped the meats then washed my hands and told the Frost brothers, "We need to decorate. I want Jack's penthouse to look like a Christmas card."
I unpacked the boxes and started rifling through them.
"You have nice Christmas decorations," I remarked.
"Belle picked all of that out," Jack said. The brothers all looked sad. I didn't know where Belle had run off to, but I hoped she would return soon. She had come all this way. Surely she would show up for the Christmas party.
"She'll be here," I told them firmly. "But first we need to make this place sparkle for her."
I put Owen and Jonathan in charge of hanging garlands.
"They have to be hung evenly," I said, taking out a tape measure. "See? You just have these tacked up all wonky."
The younger two were in charge of hanging up lights, and once I was sure they had the hang of it, I told Jack to help me hang the crystal snowflakes in the windows.
"These are so beautiful," I said. "Tack them up firmly to make sure they don't fall down."
I watched him easily hang the snowflakes from the window frames. "It's nice to have a tall person around to help decorate. You don't even need a ladder."
"You do!" he snickered. "You need a step stool and stilts." He leaned down to kiss me.
"I'm not that short," I said, swatting him playfully. "You're just freakishly tall."
"It's that Nordic blood," he said, striking a pose.
When the boxes were empty, we all stood back to admire our handiwork. Jack wrapped an arm around me.
"It looks fantastic," I said. Owen dimmed the lights. Garlands punctuated by white and gold bows ran around the perimeter of the open kitchen and living area. The lights twinkled, making the crystal snowflakes sparkle.
Jack kissed me on the mouth, and I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him back. Jonathan let out a wolf whistle.
"Get a room!" Owen said with a smile.
"Food! Food!" the younger brothers chanted.
"Okay," I said, laughing. "But I’m going to need a helper."
