Page 92 of Don't Remind Me
A massive Christmas tree came into view, pristinely decorated with white and red ornaments, that looked like a Pinterest post come to life. Alec sat on the floor in front of it and pointed the phone to face Stephanie beside him, Oliver in her lap.
She lifted Oliver’s arms, his snowflake onesie stretching across his round tummy. “Merry Christmas!”
“Is that your brother?”
Jase tensed slightly beneath me at his mother’s voice, but his own was steady as he spoke. “Hey, Mom. Merry Christmas.”
The video jostled again, and then Mrs. Beauford filled the screen. It was the second time I’d seen her since I’d broken up with Alec, the first being a video call over Thanksgiving. We hadn’t spent that with them in person either, choosing instead to join Aubrey and Evan at Evan’s dad’s house. Despite their protests, he hadn’t let Aubrey or Jase do any of the cooking, and it had still been delicious.
Jase’s mom gave us the same sullen stare she had then, words clearly on her tongue that she was actively holding back. Jase’s hand tensed on my back, and I rubbed mine in circles on his chest. It didn’t bother me what his mom thought anymore. Not about me, at least.
Jase had been consistent in his boundaries with his parents, talking with them over the phone a couple of times a month, shutting down the conversation any time it took a turn into unsolicited advice or criticism territory. His parents were trying. I gave them that much. Maybe over time, they’d be able to rebuild in the way Jase had hoped.
For now, it was tense video chats over the holidays.
“Merry Christmas,” she finally said. “Do you have plans for the day?”
“I think we’re keeping it just the two of us,” Jase said, his hand resuming its circles on my back. “Gifts this morning. Dinner later.” He glanced at me and mouthed, “Dancing in between.”
I grinned. Our dancing almost always led to something else entirely unless we were in public. And even then, Jase liked to tempt me.
“Well…that’s nice.”
“Here, let them see Oliver, Mom.”
She handed the phone back to Alec, and we watched Stephanie open the gifts we’d sent as Oliver bobbed adorably in her lap. Sometimes he grabbed for the paper or ran his hand over the toy packaging, but mostly, he was oblivious to what was going on.
By the time they reached the last of Jase’s gifts, Oliver was crying, and Stephanie excused herself to go nurse him.
“You two still planning on coming to Jillian’s New Year’s Eve party?” Jase asked.
The party was serving as the soft opening for Ardena’s new division, Arden Catering. It had been Jase’s idea in place of his accessible fine-dining restaurant. He said there was more he wanted to do with Ardena, and with Aubrey heading up the catering division, he could do that while still taking full advantage of all the interest they’d generated at the symposium.
Plus, Jillian had agreed to let him feature an accessible menu once a week at Ardena with a significantly lower price point. It would allow a wider range of customers to eat at the restaurant while giving Jase and Jillian more information to work from if they decided to invest fully in the accessible fine-dining concept.
“Yeah. Mom and Dad are going to watch Oliver.”
“Will that be your first time leaving him with someone else?” I asked.
Alec sighed. “Yup. I’m both eager for it and dreading it. I think Steph feels the same.”
“Your next visit, you can bring him along,” Jase said. “I’ll cook something just for him.”
“Next thing I know, you’ll be coming out with a gourmet baby food line.”
Jase chuckled. “You think there’s a market for that?”
“Diamond pacifiers exist, man,” Alec said. “I think anything’s fair game.”
Jase flashed me his brows. “Should I pitch it to Jillian? Matice Munchies. Practically sells itself.”
“When this goes big, I want half the profits,” Alec chimed in. “Seeing as I gave you the idea.”
Jase scoffed. “Ten percent, max.”
My stomach rumbled, and I got up, leaving them to their banter so I could finish cooking the pancakes. A few minutes later, Baxter made his way into the kitchen, rubbing against my legs before crouching at his food bowl. I set the island with two plates and placed the maple syrup out, then mixed some hot cocoa.
Jase made his way over and set his phone on the island just as I finished with the last pancake. He wrapped his arms around me, this time from the front.
