Page 94 of Theirs for the Holidays

They all turn to look at me, and I put on my best puppy dog expression, making them laugh.

“What kind of tree is this?” Lennox asks, changing the subject. Rhett answers, showing off his knowledge of plants and growing things in his calm way.

It’s nice to just watch them, and I take over directing for a while, pointing out where I want ornaments on the tree. As I watch, I’m more aware of Lennox’s issues, noting that he often goes out of his way to avoid using his bad hand for things.

There’s a pit in my stomach that he feels self-conscious about it at all, especially here with me and his family. No one here would ever judge him for it, and I wish there was some way to let him know that.

Silently, I vow that I’ll do everything I can to make sure he knows how amazing he is. Injury or not.

“What do you think of this garland?” Sawyer asks, stepping back from the mantle to show off what he’s been doing.

“It’s crooked,” Rhett and Lennox say at the same time.

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Well then come show me how to make it not crooked then,” he says, folding his arms. “Since you’re such Christmas experts.”

“It’s not about being a Christmas expert,” Rhett says. “It’s about having working eyes.” He adjusts the garland, and Lennox gives him a thumbs up.

Sawyer rolls his eyes and adds the lights we got, going with the pale white ones that have been dubbed the ‘elegant, rich bitch’ lights.

Just like at the store, their snark is much less loaded than before. Rhett and Sawyer aren’t treating Lennox with kid gloves or anything, but they’re softening the usual blows, and he’s doing the same for them. It’s like the camaraderie they used to share is clicking back into place.

Maybe it’s a Christmas miracle.

Either way, my heart swells to see it. I love when they’re like this. Even outside of anything that’s happening between me and the three of them, I know this is how they were always supposed to be. If they don’t have anything or anyone else, they’re meant to have each other.

“Why do you have that mushy look on your face?” Sawyer asks, startling me out of my thoughts.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yeah, you do. You’re thinking something sappy about holiday magic or something. It’s pretty obvious.”

My cheeks go pink because he’s not strictly wrong. “Leave me alone. What’s next.” I try to change the subject, and he laughs, but lets it go.

“Come help us get the stockings up.”

I haven’t had stockings up since I was a kid, and my parents would put one out for each of us. Of course, Isabelle usually got the better haul, her stocking full of candy and makeup and jewelry. I usually got some baked goods from the store and candy and maybe one or two toys, with the excuse that it was hard to know what to buy for me because I wasn’t into the same things Isabelle was into.

As an adult, I never bothered with it, but it makes me feel warm to see four stockings on my mantle, one for each of us in the house.

I already have some ideas about what to fill the guys’ stockings with before Christmas, and I have a pretty good feeling that they won’t let me be forgotten either.

“How does it look?” Lennox asks, coming to stand next to me.

I take in the sight of the tree and the decorated mantle, the result of hard work from people who actually care.

“It’s beautiful,” I say sincerely. “Thank you.”

“We’re not done yet.” Rhett grabs a bag from the floor. “Do you have a ladder?”

“There should be one in the shed. What are you going to use it for?”

“Lights on the house. All the other houses in the neighborhood have them, and yours shouldn’t be left out.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” I tell him. “It’s so cold out.”