Page 5 of Fated Midlife Christmas
All of the adults were watching him, but the children had gone back to their game. He decided the story was safe enough to share, and everyone was looking at him so eagerly.
“My cousin Roald usually camejulebukkingwith us,” Lars began. “He’s quite a bit older than my brother Erik and me, so he was always the one who got the drinks and the rest of us got candy. One year, when we were teens, Erik had just had a growth spurt. He was much taller than he’d been just a few months earlier. We’d come around with some other friends of ours, and the neighbors guessed that Erik was actually Roald.”
He smiled fondly as he recalled the story, his mind flying back to his homeland. “Erik played along and told them that he was, and they gave him a drink. He thought it was hilarious, and he did it again at the next house. Erik was soon so drunk he could hardly walk. We had to drag him back home and sneak him into bed without our mother finding out.”
“How did you manage that?” Chelsea asked. “A mother’s instinct is pretty good.”
“Yes,” Lars agreed, “and that’s why I went into the kitchen and told her my stomach was upset. Meanwhile, my friends had brought Erik back to our room. She gave me some medicine and a long lecture about eating too much candy, and then she sent me up to bed. Erik had a terrible stomachache the next day, and she blamed that on the candy, as well.”
Kristy turned to Maeve while everyone laughed. “What do you think, Mom? Would that have worked on you?”
Maeve snorted. “If you put that much effort into it, I would’ve probably let it go even if I did know about it. Besides, it sounds like Erik got his own punishment.”
“That he did,” Lars agreed. “The next year, he made sure everyone knew who he really was.” A wistful stab of sadness struck briefly through his heart as he thought about his brother.
The front door opened just then, and a man in a dark blue uniform stepped inside.
“Daddy!” Sage had been absorbed in the game with the boys, but now she bolted to her feet and went running through the room. She threw her arms around the man.
He laughed as he spun her around. “Hey, sweetling! I missed you, too!”
“You made it!” Tina looked almost as happy as Sage as she stood up to give the newcomer a kiss. She then turned around. “Lars, this is Dex. Dex, this is Lars. He’s here from Norway.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Dex walked over and held out his hand. “I’m sorry I couldn’t join all of you earlier. Work.” He gestured vaguely at his uniform.
Lars could see now that he was a paramedic. “Can I interest you in a drink?” Lars held up the bottle, which still had a bit of aquavit left.
“I wish I could, but I have a feeling they’re going to call me out again tonight.”
“Again?” Tina asked. “But you’ve already had to work so much this week!”
Yet another man came in the door, and this time it was Arden who went running. “Daddy!”
Lars was soon introduced to Jace, who’d been out piloting a tour boat. “Even in this cold weather, people still like to get out on a luxury yacht. Of course, they spend most of their time in the cabins, but if that’s how they want to spend their money, I’m not going to argue with them.”
“Well, you can come warm up with some hot food!” Lilith announced from the kitchen doorway. “Everything is ready now!”
The whole group got up and started making their way into the other room. Lars observed them all, the smaller clusters of family sticking together even there around friends and family. Tina and Dex with Sage, Beck and Chelsea with Corbin, Erin and Jace with Arden. Kendrick had his hand on Maeve’s lower back, ushering her through the doorway ahead of him. His polar bear rolled with an inexplicable yearning.
The long dining table took up the length of the room, and it was laden with enough food that Lars doubted Lilith hadn’t planned it all out this way, no matter what she’d said before. His eyes roved over the table, and he spotted Amanda down near the end.
Kristy had just put her hand on the chair next to Amanda, but then she looked up at Lars. She let go and moved around to the other side of the table, one eyebrow lifted slightly.
Lars went for the newly freed chair, his polar bear urging him on.
Amanda glanced up, giving him a nervous smile as he sat down. “That aquavit was really good. I wasn’t sure about trying it on an empty stomach.”
“They say that it’s supposed to help digestion before a heavy meal.” Lars accepted the platter of roasted potatoes being passed to him. “I don’t know how true that is, but at the very least it makes it all more enjoyable.”
Not that Lars needed a single drop of alcohol to enjoy spending time with Amanda. He hardly knew her at all, beyond the most basic details, but he definitely wanted to know more.
“It’s nice that you could bring a little bit of home with you to share with us,” she said as she accepted the potatoes from him and carefully put a scoop on her plate. “It must be hard for you not to be near your family at this time of year.”
“It is,” he admitted, his mind briefly flashing back to his brother and bringing a bit of guilt with it. Lars quashed it quickly. He didn’t want to think about the responsibilities he’d left behind, at least not right now. “It’s also nice to see new places and meet new people.”
“Is that why you came?” Amanda turned to him more fully now. Lilith had lit elegant taper candles all along the center of the table, and their gentle fire reflected in Amanda’s eyes. Her dark hair fell in soft waves against her shoulder, a few strands catching in the soft knit of her sweater.
“I suppose something just drew me,” he finally managed, suddenly unsure of exactly why he was there at all but glad that he was. He mindlessly put more food on his plate as it was passed around. Lars was hungry, but his only focus was on Amanda.
