“Happy birthday to Noelle,” her dad said loudly, and everyone, including Connor, replied back with “and to Noelle a good night!”
It was bound to happen at that point in the video, so Katie had included a few seconds of Jack and Noelle just smiling ateach other, not saying anything, so her family wouldn’t miss words while they said it.
And then, with almost perfect timing, if she did say so herself, Noelle said, “And now our baby is going to have a birthday at this time of year, too.”
The next several clips were of her nieces and nephews and her sisters and their husbands. She liked sitting in the spot at the edge of everyone so she could see all their faces as they watched the video. It was how she determined whether she hit the mark on what she chose to include, and seeing them enjoy it was the best kind of payment for all her work.
The clip came up that she’d gotten of Aiden sitting next to Connor on the hay ride, with him saying. “My uncle Jack fell in love on this hay ride two Christmases ago,” and she felt Connor chuckle at the memory. Then it cut to Jack and Noelle all snuggled up together, Jack kissing Noelle’s temple. Then she had the part where Aiden said, “And my mom fell in love” with Holly interrupting to say “with my dad” before Aiden finished “last Christmas,” and showed Rachel and Nick sneaking a kiss as they walked from the hay ride toward a house they’d be caroling at.
She had debated including the part where Holly said, “Maybe you can fall in love this year,” followed by a clip of her and Connor together. But they hadn’t actually said the L-word to each other yet. She wasn’t sure why because she definitely felt it. Maybe it was because eight days— even if it felt like it was fifty— just seemed too soon.
Plus, if she had included every clip of Connor in this video that she wanted to, a good fifty percent of the video would be just him. To keep herself from doing just that, she put all those clips in a separate video to enjoy later.
Instead, she went to a clip of her parents saying how much they enjoyed seeing their family grow and find love andhappiness and watching everyone figure out what they were really good at.
She also included a clip she got of Holly saying that Bailey had five of the cutest puppies, then showed those puppies. She figured that since Jack and Noelle were getting one of those puppies and that Rachel and her family were keeping at least one, those puppies were going to be in family Christmas videos for years to come.
Her stomach started getting fluttery as one of her favorite parts came up— all four of her sisters standing side by side, near the end of the Santa Hat activity. Hope said, “The most surprising thing about this year’s Santa hat activity was that Katie drew dinnerand it was really good!”
She grinned at Connor and he grinned right back and then gave her a quick peck on the lips as everyone in the room laughed. She was already enjoying that trophy sitting on a shelf in her living room, and she was going to proudly display it all year.
She also included an interview she’d gotten with Connor. It was right after Erika and Sadie had presented him with the tree their family had decorated so he could have it in his hotel room. Connor had a very wide, very genuine smile on his face, and he was clearly thrilled about the tree he was holding.
“This might be the coolest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you for making such an awesome tree and for giving it to me.” Katie glanced at Becca and her family and could see that they were all beaming, just like they had that night. “And I would like to thank Reid and Elizabeth and every single member of the Allred family for inviting me into your home and into your family’s traditions before you even knew me. It means a lot to have a family to celebrate with when I can’t be with my own.”
A chorus ofAwws sounded in the room. Connor put his arm around Katie and pulled her close, kissing the side of her head.Every time Katie watched this part while she was editing and as she was watching it now, she felt the same emotions she had felt when Connor had gotten down to Erika’s and Sadie’s heights and thanked them— like she was being swept off her feet.
She had only known Connor for a few hours at that point, and she was already more gone for him than anyone she’d ever dated. Did she know that night how hopelessly in love she was about to fall?
She always included in the video an interview with herself, and in this clip, she had taken on the hay ride, she’d handed the camera to Noelle, who aimed it back at Katie. “One of my favorite things this year has been how Connor sang so enthusiastically while we were caroling that it inspired Captain to do the same.”
And then she showed a clip of Captain caroling, seeming to pour his soul into it. At hearing it, Captain sat up from where he was nestled among the kids on the floor and sang right along with himself. Everyone’s laughter made her smile. That was what she went for in these videos— a trade-off between the laughter and theAwws.
“That,” she said in her interview, “and being with everyone as we watched the skits at the Santa Hat activity.” She cut to a clip of Julianne and her family pretending to be on a Christmas cooking show, just as Ben “stirred” his dough using a battery-powered drill, their four-year-old’s eyes going wide as he stirred his with a socket wrench. Everyone laughed now and in the video clip, and in both places, she could easily pick out Connor’s laugh the most. She loved that laugh.
She ended with her parents saying how much they loved spending Christmas with everyone and got a hearty applause.Thiswas why she made videos. Not because she got praise, but because it led everyone to feel all the emotions that compelled them to clap enthusiastically. They weren’t clapping for her; theywere clapping for the experience that they enjoyed. And that was everything she hoped for.
All the little kids had bedtimes soon, so her dad slipped out to grab the sleigh bells he kept in the garage and ring them in front of the house, causing all the little kids to jump up and scramble to gather everything they had brought, put on their coats and shoes, so they could hurry home and get in bed before Santa arrived at their house.
Connor pulled Katie close, his arms wrapped around her, and she snuggled into him. She was still feeling the high of her dad watching the videos she’d submitted to the Glaciers of Connor and of her family watching the Christmas video. But the last few days had been insanely busy, and she was exhausted. It was wonderful to just relax and melt into him, feeling the strength of his arms. He kissed along her jaw, and when he got close to her ear, he breathed, “You truly are incredible at what you do.”
His words sent goosebumps all over her body. “Thank you,” she said and pressed her lips against his.
sixteen
CONNOR
As everyone was gettingready to leave, Katie’s dad looked out the living room windows, and everyone else crowded around to look, too. A good amount of snow had fallen. A foot, maybe?
“It looks like the snow plows are keeping up just fine.” He turned to look at everyone. “But they’re expecting it to keep dumping for quite a while. Will you all text the group chat when you get home and let us know you made it safely?”
Katie’s sisters said yes and they, along with Katie’s brothers-in-law and her nieces and nephews, all said their goodbyes. He was sure he heard at least twice as many callouts of “Merry Christmas!” as there were people present.
And then they all shuffled out into the snow, leaving just Katie, her parents, and Connor in the home. Without everyone’s shoes and coats strewn about, Katie noticed his bag. “Oh! I didn’t even think to show you to your room when you first got here!”
He picked up his bag and followed her down the hallway and into a bedroom. He had kind of expected a typical guest bedroom— white or cream-colored walls, a queen bed with acomforter in a neutral color and pattern, a dresser, maybe a generic piece of art hanging on a wall, but not much else. Instead, this was a bedroom filled with personality and items.
The walls were painted lavender. The bed was queen-sized, but the comforter was teal and purple and had a handful of fuzzy throw pillows. A dozen square, black-and-white framed photos hung on the wall above the bed. Inspirational quotes about dreams and creativity were on the walls and on objects on the dresser and shelves. A few trophies stood tall on shelves.
