Page 134 of Crazy Love

“I tried to get her to wait until five, but no go,” he says.

“Merry Christmas, you two,” Penn says. “We said to wake us up when you were awake—when did you get up?”

“She snuck in my room at four,” Sam says.

Penn sighs. “You mean we could’ve been opening presents by now?”

Sam’s shoulders relax and he laughs. He’s trying to be cool, but the excitement is bouncing off of him. “Sorry, Dad.”

We all pause, Penn gulping hard, and he reaches out and tugs Sam onto the bed with us, giving him a big hug.

I tickle Winnie’s side and then Penn’s and he jerks and lets out an exaggerated whoop, making us all laugh. I launch at Sam and hug him, tickling his side too.

“You guys look so cute in your Christmas jammies,” I tell them.

“You too, Mrs. Hudson. You too.” Penn grins at me as he gets out of bed and lifts Winnie up onto his shoulders, looking down at Sam and me. “Well, I’m ready. I’ve already been to the bathroom, brushed my teeth…checked on the felines…”

“You’ve been up for a long time!” Winnie shrieks when Penn bounces her.

“I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying,” I say, rushing to the bathroom.

I don’t mess around in there, doing only the bare minimum before rushing back out.

They’re waiting for me and we go down the stairs together.

“Do you think Santa came?” Winnie asks.

“Oh, I know he did. Mrs. Claus too,” Penn tells her. “It was a joint affair.”

He pauses and sets her down on the stairs.

“Wait right here. Let me get a picture of you coming down,” he says.

He takes one with me and the kids and then I scoot out of the way so he can get one of them.

As soon as he takes the pictures, they jog down the stairs.

“Come on, Daddy!” Winnie says. “Mama, Sam, hurry!”

“We’re coming, promise,” I tell her.

We round the corner and there’s a collective gasp. Winnie’s is so loud, I check to make sure she’s okay.

The Christmas tree is perfection, if I do say so myself. The stockings are overflowing, and the floor beneath the tree is covered with presents, some wrapped and unwrapped.

“There are more presents here than last night!” Sam says, his voice croaking mid-word. He rubs his Adam’s apple absent-mindedly, his voice is changing and normally, he’s so embarrassed when it does that, but this morning, he’s too mesmerized by the sight before him.

Winnie runs to the floppy unicorn with the fluffy mane and buries her face in it.

“I love it!” she says, voice muffled in the fur.

Penn was probably most excited to give Sam the skateboard he’s been eyeing for a while. Sam’s scary good on the skateboard and this one is his favorite skateboarder’s brand. Sam goes over to the skateboard, his face all lit.

“A Disorder,” he gasps when he sees that it’s signed by Nyjah Huston. “How did you do this?” he asks.

“Santa must have a few connections,” Penn says, grinning at him.

Sam turns and hugs him. “I can’t believe you got me a signed Disorder!” he says against Penn’s chest.

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