“Good.It’snot a tradition in my family either.Watchinga movie and drinking peppermint hot chocolate are both on the list—how about we head back and have a marathon?Thenwe won’t need the two points from the group activity.”
Shesmiled—something she wouldn’t have guessed she’d feel like doing at all tonight. “Deal.Butonly ifIget to pick the movie.”
Twelve
Parker
Parkerwokeup to the most beautiful weather he had ever experienced over the holidays before.Asmuch as he was dreading everything that was also aChristmastradition for his own family, there were parts of celebrating the season that he was actually enjoying.Hehadn’t seen that coming.
Andtoday, an excitement ran through everything.ItwasChristmasEve, all twelveZentCubeemployees were helping out at theChristmasvillage that ran through a huge portion of the resort grounds, andGrahamwas returning with his wife,Tessa, and babyHope.TheChristmasEvedinner was tonight, andKelliwas back to smiling again.
Hehad been curious last night and had wanted to hear more about her family situation, but he wasn’t about to ask and have her go through more grief.Butas they were making hot chocolate, she told about how it had just been her and her dad growing up, and that he recently got remarried and didn’t want her to spendChristmaswith his new family.
Andif that wasn’t bad enough, she didn’t have a mom.Hehad assumed that her mom had passed away, but thenKellitold him that she’d left them whenKelliwas thirteen.Whenhe asked, she’d said she got a birthday card from her for the first three years, but she hadn’t seen her after that day, and she hadn’t heard from her in ten years.
Hethought back to how awkward he was at thirteen, and couldn’t even imagine having one of his parents leave at that age.Ithad to have been devastating to her.
Itmade him grateful all over again that he had been lucky enough to have two parents who were both great people and who loved each other and loved him andEthan.Theyhad even been willing to cancel an anniversary trip that they’d been planning for decades just so he wouldn’t be alone atChristmas.Andknowing them, if he hadn’t been invited on this trip, they might’ve canceled even after he told them not to.
Lastnight, he’d been careful to pay attention and followKelli’slead.Asmuch as he would’ve loved to just hold her all evening, protecting her from harm, he hadn’t known what she’d needed.She’dbeen vulnerable, and it would’ve felt like a violation if he just stepped in and assumed that he knew how she needed to grieve.
And, based on the movie she picked, a lighthearted, funnyChristmasromance was her coping mechanism of choice.Hehad sat in the recliner next to her in the theater room, and they’d laughed hard and often.Thatlaugh that he loved.Thatsmile that he loved.Thatteasing back-and-forth banter that he loved.
Ashe had been sitting there with her, feelings he hadn’t fully understood or even known he had burst to the surface.Andnow that they were fully noticeable, he realized that those feelings weren’t new.Hehad been falling for her since the beginning when he first started working atZentCube.
He’dbeen falling through their awkward date, through the awkwardness of working together in the weeks afterward, and through all their office pranks over the years.
He’dthought he’d pretty successfully suppressed all feelings he had forKelliduring the two years he’d been datingStephanie, but now he wondered if, deep down, during all that time, he’d been subconsciously filing all his feelings for her in a storage box in his heart that he hadn’t even known he had.
Andby coming here, he had opened that box, letting his feelings for her burst free, filling him with a happiness he hadn’t felt in a long time, and allowing him to fall for her completely.
Beforelong, they were joined in the theater room byMeritandElise, and eventually by a handful of otherZentCubeemployees.Withall the laughing, it felt like a party.Hedidn’t know ifKelliwas amazing at bouncing back after hard things, or if she was just excellent at putting on a happy face over inner turmoil.Whicheverit was, she was a lot stronger than he had given her credit for.
TheChristmasvillage thatEliseand her team had set up was amazing.AbigNorthPolearchway led into the village, and a train ran around the outside of the grassy area, enclosing the village within.Apathway led through a sugarplum forest, another led throughBethlehemto see a living nativity, and another led throughSanta’sworkshop, complete withSantaand his elves at the end.Therewere tables with crafts, booths with food, and kids and parents everywhere.
Eachof theZentCubeemployees was helping with a different part of the village, and he andKelliwere, sadly, not assigned to the same place.Parkerwas helping get kids onto the train, letting it run around the track, then helping one group of kids unload and the next ones get on board.Butfrom where he worked, he could seeKelliat a table, helping kids make headbands they could wear that had reindeer antlers wrapped with little blinking lights.
Justas he was getting a new group of kids onto the train,Merit,Graham, andTessa—whom he had first met at aZentCubeChristmasparty—came into the village.Grahamwas holding his wife’s hand and cradling their baby with the other arm, looking blissfully happy.
Assoon asParkergot the train started, he turned to them and said hello, shaking hands.
“Parker,”Grahamsaid, “I’dlike you to meet my daughter,Hope.”
“Wow,”Parkersaid, leaning in closer to the perfect child inGraham’sarms. “Sheis beautiful.”
“Wouldyou like to hold her?”
Hiseyes flew toGraham’s, thenTessa’s.Theyboth looked like they were saying yes, so he looked around, hoping to find somewhere to wash his hands—he’d been around a lot of kids today—but he didn’t spot anything.Tessaopened her bag and pulled out a wipe.Hequickly cleaned his hands, and then carefully cradled the baby asGrahamtransferred her into his arms.
Thebaby was sleeping, so her eyes were closed and her face was perfect and peaceful and so beautiful.Silkysoft brown hair curled on top of her head, and as he cradled her in his arms, she snuggled into him.Holdingher was like holding a bit of heaven.
Heknew that most guys his age or younger didn’t spend their time dreaming of starting a family, butParkerhad been dreaming about it for a while.Hecouldn’t wait until it was his own child he was holding.Whenhe’d been engaged toStephanie, he thought he’d get that chance before long.Whenshe had broken it off, losing not just her, but the family he’d thought they’d one day have, had been hard.
Butshe had revealed a part of herself during the breakup that he hadn’t seen before.Orthat he hadn’t wanted to see.Hewas grateful that she’d broken it off because he never would have.Andnow, holding this baby, it hit him all over again what a mistake marrying her would’ve been.
Hesmiled at the baby.Hestill hoped for this one day.Therewas something about holding the beautiful bundle that made him feel like any worries or troubles he had just washed away.Hefelt as peaceful as she looked, and he could’ve stood there holding her for hours.Heshifted his arms a bit so he could pass her back, but whenMeritstopped the train as the kids came back around and started loading and unloading the next group, he took the opportunity to hold her longer.
“Youtwo must be in heaven every second of the day,” he said, looking up atGrahamandTessa.
