Page 48 of Blame It On the Lattes

“I get that, and I can’t imagine how stressful it is being a parent and having to make those kinds of decisions. And while I’m not trying to sway you to stay, I think it’s important to note how many incredibly successful people have come from Sugarplum Falls. Some have moved and travel across the world for work, while others have built their empires here. Kennedy is an incredibly smart little girl with a momma who will move mountains to give her what she needs. I think she’s going to be more than fine, no matter what path you choose.”

Avery smiled, but I could see the way my words weighed heavily on her mind.

Once we finished dinner, I poured each of us a glass of wine and grabbed the supplies so we could start wrapping presents. Avery came out of her bedroom with shopping bags lined up on each arm and grinned when she saw the pile I’d already set out.

“Do you think we went a little overboard?” she asked, chewing her lip as she added her bags to the pile.

“No. There’s no such thing as going overboard when Kennedy is involved.”

Her face softened as she gave me the sweetest smile. I wasn’t lying when I told her that I loved Kennedy like she was my own child. It didn’t take long before she’d worked her way into my heart and I knew I would do whatever it took to make that little girl happy.

“I don’t even know where to start,” Avery admitted, looking around the room.

“Well, find a spot and get comfy. We’ll dive in from there.”

She sat in front of the couch and leaned against it as I handed her scissors, several rolls of tape, and wrapping paper. I grabbed the bags my parents had dropped off earlier from Frosty Fest and decided we would start there.

“Have you decided which gift is from Santa?” I asked, looking through the other rolls of wrapping paper to find the one I was looking for.

“I think I’m going to go with the dollhouse that she asked for today when she sat on his lap. I had no idea she wanted one, but Cassidy made it her mission to find one at Waldon’s before they sold out. I guess it’s convenient she works there and was able to pull some strings. It should be that big box over there,” she said, pointing to the one in the corner with a bag pulled down over it.

I walked over and grabbed it, surprised by how heavy it was.

“So, the gift from Santa—is it wrapped and left under the tree, or do you assemble it and leave it out for her to find in the morning in front of the tree?” I asked, not remembering how my parents used to do it.

“I’ve always wrapped them and put them under the tree with the other gifts. I recently saw a post on social media where they assembled the gifts and left them out in front of the tree, but I kinda like her getting to open it instead.”

“Sounds good to me. Did you want to assemble everything first so she can play with it right away?”

“Oh yeah. Definitely. I learned the hard way early on about how impatient kids are on Christmas morning. Now I make sure everything is out of its packaging and batteries are installed if it needs them.”

“That’s smart. I like the way you think.”

I opened the box and started pulling pieces out when Avery came over to help me. It was like we were parents, tag-teaming Christmas duties to make sure our child had the best Christmas ever.

There was far more assembly than I would have imagined, and I didn’t even bother to ask how much Cassidy had spent on the doll house. I knew her employee discount helped, but it still had to cost a pretty penny. It was three stories with an elevator in the middle and tons of little furniture to go inside. It also came with the cutest family, which included a mom, a dad, a little girl, and a baby swaddled in a blanket.

“She’s going to love this,” Avery said, stepping back to look at it once it was complete.

“Yeah, she is. I mean, I love it and I’m not a five-year-old little girl,” I joked, though I seriously hoped Kennedy would let me play with it with her.

Now that it’s built, I don’t know how we’re going to wrap it,” Avery noted, chewing her nails.

“We can put it back in the box carefully, then wrap the box.”

“Do you think it will fit? It looks too big.”

I scrunched my face and grabbed the box, holding it beside the house.

“You’re right. It’s too big.”

She pulled her mouth to the side as she contemplated.

“We could cut the box and make a bigger one that covers the top half of the house,” I offered. “Then that would allow us something to attach the wrapping paper to. As long as the paper goes to the bottom, it won’t matter if there’s a box there since it’ll still cover it. We’ll just have to be careful moving it.”

“That could work. Do you want to wait until we’re done wrapping everything else? We might have a few more boxes that are trash that we can use and MacGyver them into one big box.”

“Yeah. Let’s do that. We can save this one for last. The nice thing is that it’s already built, so we know how big it is.”

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