Page 223 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“That is a really cool dinosaur, buddy,” I said. He smiled back at me.
“It’s the best!” he said. “Everyone at school is going to be so jealous that I got it. Santa is awesome!”
He dashed out of the room as quickly as he entered. I was right. He was going to ignore me all day. I couldn’t blame him, though. The dinosaur was pretty cool.
“I’m actually going to Tiffany’s family Christmas dinner tonight,” I told my mom. “I hope it’s okay that I leave Austin here.”
“Absolutely,” she said. “That’s great that you’ll be meeting her family, too. Are things getting serious between you two?”
“I’m not sure,” I told her. “Things are definitely progressing, but I don’t think either one of us is walking into this blindly. She went through an awful breakup about a year ago and hasn’t dated since. The guy was a real asshole from what I could tell. It’s no wonder she’s reluctant to get into a serious relationship.”
My mom sighed.
“That’s too bad,” she said. “I hope for both of your sakes that you can get through your pasts and start a real relationship. Austin was talking about her all last night.”
“He was?” I asked. With all of the Christmas excitement, I hadn’t gotten a chance to ask him what he thought of her.
“Oh, yes,” my mom continued. “He couldn’t stop telling me how nice she was and how pretty she was. He said that she was prettier than his teacher.”
I laughed. It sounded like a typical thing for Austin to say.
“He’s not wrong,” I said. Tiffany was more attractive than Ms. Flowers.
“I am really happy for you, Cayden,” my mom said. “You deserve to be happy with someone else. It’s time.”
I nodded. It was time.
Later that morning, my sister came over with her family. Her kids bounced in, as crazy as Austin was. We were exchanging Christmas presents with them, too, so Austin had even more gifts to open up. As the kids opened their presents, I went into the kitchen to help my mom finish preparing lunch. Ham, dressing and all the fixings. It was like Thanksgiving on steroids.
As I was putting the finishing touches on the cranberry salad, my sister came into the kitchen.
“What’s going on, Cayden?” she asked. She came over to the salad and stole a cherry tomato from the top. She popped it into her mouth and smiled.
“Merry Christmas,” I said. She nodded, swallowing the rest of the tomato.
“Merry Christmas to you too,” she said. She hugged me and stole another tomato.
“Leave those alone,” I teased her. She swatted at me.
“So, I heard you brought Tiffany out last night,” she said. “If I would have known that, I would have shown up!”
We both knew that she was lying. Her husband was a very strict Catholic and they attended mass every Christmas Eve. I knew better than to invite her to the Christmas tree lighting ceremony, even though I did want her to meet Tiffany. There would be time in the future for that, though.
“It was a good time,” I said. “Tiffany seemed to enjoy the company.”
“Why isn’t she here today?” Sarah asked me. I shrugged.
“I thought it might be too much for her,” I said. “Last night was just getting her toes wet.”
Sarah nodded.
“We can be a bit much,” she said. “Especially my little ones.” Sarah wasn’t joking. Although she tried her best to keep them in line, her kids were crazy. They sometimes scared me, and I was their uncle. I could only imagine what Tiffany would think of them. Maybe I would find a way to introduce Sarah and Tiffany without bringing Sarah’s kids into the mix.
“I’m going to her family’s house for Christmas dinner,” I told Sarah. She smiled.
“That’s the spirit,” she said. “So, things are serious between you two?”
I shrugged.
