*
“Good news, honey!”Natalie shouted into the living room, sliding her cell phone back into her jeans pocket. “The kids are alive and with your sister.”
Anthony strode into the kitchen, a cluster of tape stuck to the front of his sweater. He’d been on gift-wrapping duty for the last hour, and apparently he was over it. “I figured they hadn’t run off to join the circus,” he said, rubbing his lower back with a groan. “I think I’m getting too old. I shouldn’t have back pain from wrapping a video game.”
Natalie approached her husband, carefully peeling the tape ball from his clothes. “You should have used the kitchen counter. There’re hardly any secrets with the kids and their gifts.” Natalie rolled her eyes. Both kids had shared their Amazon wish lists back in August, as they were very particular. The days of surprises under the Christmas tree were sadly over, replaced with electronics, cosmetics, and other grown-up requests. Both parents were eager to spoil their children, but Natalie would be lying if she didn’t admit to missing the doll babies and dinosaur toys.
“So what’s the plan for the rest of the day?” Anthony kissed her quickly before rummaging in the junk drawer for the ibuprofen. “I thought we were going to do holiday stuff once I was done with my notes for work.” He threw two pills in his mouth and swallowed them dry.
“That’s still the plan, but we’re changing the location. We’re going over tonight after I make a pot of chili.”
Tossing his head back, Anthony made an NSFW sound. “I cannot wait. You haven’t made that in a minute.” Natalie’s chili was famous in town for its spice and the array of toppings Natalie always included. If you didn’t leave with heartburn and covered in corn chip crumbs, you weren’t living.
“I just need an hour to get everything prepped.” Turning to the cabinet, she retrieved a few cans of beans, but Anthony stopped her progress with a hand to her shoulder. She spun to face him, a tower of pinto beans between them. “What is it?”
“Thank you,” he muttered, staring into her eyes. His were flinty storm clouds, and Natalie frowned.
“For what?”
Resting his forehead on hers, Anthony sighed. “Getting me elected. I know the last two years haven’t been a picnic, but I couldn’t have done it without you, Nat. And now you’ve got Christmas well in hand; you continue to impress me. I love you.”
Natalie’s bottom lip trembled while she tossed the cans with a clatter onto the counter. “Oh, honey, I love you, too.” She wrapped her arms around him, running her fingers through his hair. “It was my pleasure to help, because I know you’re going to be the best state representative Ohio has ever seen.”
Anthony’s cheeks turned pink at her praise. He dipped his head to capture her lips in a passionate kiss, filled with years of love, promise, and devotion. In his haste to get closer, he knocked another can onto the floor. It rolled all the way across the kitchen until it hit the fridge. “I need those for dinner,” she said in between kisses.
“And you need an hour for the chili?” he asked, nibbling her ear lobe.
“Uh-huh?” Natalie asked, her brain currently focused outside her recipe book.
Anthony pulled back and made a show of checking his watch. “And we’re not expected until dinner?”
Natalie raised an eyebrow. “I know that look.” Waggling his eyebrows, he kissed her again. He whispered something in her ear, causing the hair on her neck to rise. “Representative Snyder, I’m scandalized,” she teased, trailing a finger along his jawline. His five o’clock shadow had turned white over the election, but she loved it. Her husband was aging like her favorite bottle of merlot.
“Don’t tell the voters,” he said with a wink, leading the way to the bedroom. Natalie nearly stumbled in her haste to make it upstairs, grinning like the lovesick fool she was.
*
Five hours, two pizzas, one movie, and four gallons of soda later, Natalie and Anthony barged through the front door. Anthony carried a stock pot large enough for Otis to hide inside, Natalie behind him with a box. “Ho, ho, ho, we’re here!” she said, kicking the door shut.
James hurried to help Anthony with the pot, while Alice relieved Natalie of her load. “What’s all this?”
“Cheese, sour cream, corn chips, and a million other toppings for the chili. I couldn’t remember what everyone liked, so I went a little overboard.”
As soon as the first bowl clattered onto the counter, the kids arrived with ravenous expressions. “Please say that’s dinner, I’m starving.” Otis pushed his way to the front of the line, nearly trampling his sister and aunt’s feet in the process.
“Wow, it’s a shame you didn’t just finish a whole pizza,” Alice remarked, still shocked her nephew didn’t weigh a metric ton.
James ruffled Otis’s hair as he served his chili, adding a worrisome amount of corn chips to the bowl. “I was impressed with his restraint. When he realized his aunt didn’t get anything, he gave you that corner piece.”
Alice fluttered her hand in front of her face. “It was a gift I will cherish.”
Otis rolled his eyes before strolling back to the living room. Madeline made up her dinner and followed her brother to the peace of the couch.
“Now that we’re alone,” Anthony deadpanned, doling out bowls for the adults. “How are you guys settling back in?”
The foursome fell into the easy conversation they’d perfected over the last decade—the men laughing about something at town council, the women gossiping about the kids and their friends. It was comfortable and warm, like that ugly holiday sweater you pull out after Thanksgiving.
“I think it’s time for cookies,” Natalie suggested as she helped herself to a second glass of wine. “Are we making traditional Snyder chocolate chip and those lovely little honey cookies James makes? What are they called again?”
