She’s not naked, of course—she’s wearing snowman pajamas—but somehow that makes her even harder to look away from. She looks good in everything.
Especially in my home.
A few minutes later, she pops back out with her hair swept into a messy bun and a cherry-sweet scent trailing behind her.
“Like I said…bye,” she calls over her shoulder, already halfway down the hall.
I breathe in the sunny morning, glance out the window, and grin. It flurried overnight.
A white Christmas—with her. Just like I’d hoped.
We planned this out an hour ago. Plotted it right down to the shriek Mia emits when she rips open the shiny red paper with jumping Rudolphs on it. “TheIce Spectacle! I can’t wait!” Mia says, throwing her arms around me. All part of the act since she’s known since this morning that I’d snagged herIce Spectacletickets. I had to tell her, since well, she had a plan too for the ice show.
“I can’t wait to take you,” I reply.
She flashes me a mischievous little grin. “Can I give Isla her present now?”
I fight off a smile. “You sure can.”
Isla furrows her brow. “You got me something?” Isla’s probably doing the math, trying to figure out when Mia bought a gift for her.
“My dad helped me early this morning—while you were still asleep,” Mia says proudly.
My mom smiles into her coffee. “Clever girl.”
My dad scratches Wanda’s ears. “Try keeping up with that one,” he says.
Isla shrugs happily. “Challenge accepted.”
Mia dips her hand into a brand-new stocking—one with an ice skate on it that I bet Sabrina gave her last night to use for Isla, and I love that my kid thought of everything. She fishes out a small, red-wrapped box from the stocking next to Wanda’s and hands the gift to Isla.
Curious, Isla peels back the paper, opens the box, andpulls out a printed sheet of paper. “Tickets to theIce Spectacletoo. This is amazing.”
“Right next to us,” Mia emphasizes, since she double and triple checked that detail earlier when I added on the ticket for Isla to our existing ticket order. “We can all go together.”
Isla jumps up from the couch and hugs her. “I can’t wait.”
And really, neither can I.
Later that morning, after Mia finishes opening the gifts I bought her—a new ice-skating outfit for her lessons, an apron with pictures of Wanda all over it, and a gift certificate for a pottery class in the city—Isla hands me a red and gold envelope.
Now I’m doing the math. “When did you…?”
“’Tis the season to not ask questions,” she says.
I open the envelope. Inside is a white sheet of paper. It says,Good for one surprise city date.
“To make up for the one we missed here,” she says.
I tug her next to me on the couch. “I’ll redeem this soon.”
Then I plant a kiss on her cheek in front of my parents and Mia.
When we’re done, I point to the kitchen. My sister’s going to be here any minute with her family, so that makes this raincheck even sweeter. “Redo.”
And I make pancakes for my daughter. My parents. My sister’s family. And for Isla, myrealChristmas girlfriend.
Later that day, when we’re alone in my room whileeveryone’s reading books or playing games, Isla grabs another gift from her bag.
