Page 5 of This Christmas

“I think your brother is showing my sister the world,” Nate said with a grin. “I have it—” he started and then shook his head.

“What?” Faye and Ally said at the same time.

“I’m not supposed to…” He held up a finger and pulled out his phone. He texted someone and, after he got a reply, he dialed a number.

“They’re both here,” he said when someone answered. “I’m putting you on speaker.” He held his phone out.

“Hey.” Max’s voice sounded on the speaker. Ally’s heart raced. “So, yeah, um, we’ll be home in four months, which will give us a couple months to get the nursery ready.”

Faye frowned and shook her head. Ally signed what their brother had said, which had both of them squealing with joy.

“You knew before me?” Faye slapped Nate’s shoulder playfully. Nate winced.

“I overheard Juliette telling my folks,” he said, laughing. “Thanks, Max. I hope all is going great down there.”

“It is,” Max said cheerfully. “Ally, did you and Charlotte get there okay?”

“We did. I haven’t unpacked everything yet, but I’ll get there.”

“Remember, our home is yours while you’re there. Take whatever rooms you want. The warmer ones during cold nights are⁠—”

“Upstairs,” she finished. “Faye has just clued me in on that.”

“Good. Well, they want me back on the set. Who knew being a producer would be this demanding.”

“You love it,” Faye added. “Give our love to Juliette.”

“Will do, love you all,” Max said and then hung up.

“Well.” Nate stood up and stretched. “We should get heading home. The weather is getting worse out there.” He helped Faye take all the trash into the kitchen. “Max said he stocked the kitchen for you.” He glanced in a cupboard and smiled. “Looks like he overstocked it for you.”

She hadn’t looked yet. Hadn’t even thought about food since arriving. She was just grateful to be out of the city for once.

“Good night,” she said as she walked them to the door. Charlotte rushed to hug them both before they left.

“What do you say we head upstairs and unpack?” Charlotte let out a groan at this idea. “I know, but you need your bath and I want to make sure we’re nice and cozy for the night.” She lifted her daughter in her arms as she walked by and turned off the television set. Then she made sure all of the doors were locked before heading up the stairs.

The house was huge, easily bigger than the one she and Ted had lived in all those years ago. Which gave her pause. She’d grown accustomed to living in smaller spaces. She and Charlotte had shared a room at her mother’s house, then she’d rented a few small apartments in the past year or so. Whatever she had been able to afford.

Tonight would be the first night her daughter slept in her own bedroom. How was she going to make it through a night in a bed without Charlotte kicking her?

While her daughter played in the bathtub, Ally unpacked her small suitcase and two boxes that held everything she owned.

After getting Charlotte out of the bath and dressed in her unicorn pajamas, she braided her daughter’s long hair while they talked about the room she was staying in.

Charlotte had so many questions about the place. It wasn’t the first time they’d stayed there. They had visited many times before, but they had always slept in that room together while her mother had taken the room she was going to stay in.

“Why isn’t there a TV in here?” Charlotte asked when she was done braiding her hair and had lifted her up to the bed.

“Because there isn’t,” she answered as she pulled back the covers and motioned for her daughter to climb under.

“There’s a TV in the room downstairs. I could⁠—”

“No,” Ally said with a shake of her head. “We talked about this. Bedrooms are for sleeping.”

Her daughter rolled her eyes again.

“Play me a song?” Charlotte started jumping on the bed.