A warmth settles inside of me once I’m pressed to his side. He meets my eyes and gives me a soft smile and a wink before looking away.
“I’m impressed, Riley,” Hayes says.
“With what?” She tilts her head sideways.
“No screaming, no hyperventilating, no nothing? What gives? I thought for sure you’d trip over your words or your feet when you met her." I elbow Hayes in the side, rolling my eyes.
Riley’s cheeks flush a little, but she holds her own against her brother. “I’m notyou. ‘Oh please Jersey take my phone number. Please, Jersey, date me.’” She puts on her best imitation of Hayes, lowering her voice a few octaves.
I cover my mouth with my hand, stifling my laughter. Hayes playfully glowers at her. “That’s not what happened. Is it, Jersey?”
“I don’t know. Sounds pretty spot on to me.”
The group busts into laughter as Riley reaches over to give me a fist bump. Hayes pretends to look wounded. “I have the feeling you two are going to be ganging up on me from now on.”
“You know we will.” I wink at him and lean into him more.
We all chat for a while, eating some of the snacks Hayes’s chef prepared for us before Riley takes it upon herself to play Santa. She crawls closer to the tree on her knees, reaching under the fluffy branches and pulling out a package. She reads the tag and then hands it to her mom. The process continues until each of us has a small pile of three to four presents in front of us.
I learn the Vogt family are very orderly when it comes to opening presents. In my family, as soon as the presents are divvied out, it’s a free for all and everyone opens their gifts at their own pace, tossing out quickthank you’sbefore moving onto the next one. I always take my time, unwrapping the gifts leisurely and appreciating the care that went into the wrapping—a habit I inherited from my mother.
With the Vogt family, every person gets a chance to open one, and everyone takes turns. I’m finding I like the orderliness of the Vogts’ traditions, despite having grown up with the chaos and appreciating the sentimentality of those memories. Even though they all take turns with their process, they don’t waste time on the wrapping paper, ripping right into it just like Hayes had me do earlier.
Hayes’s family turns out to be excellent at giving gifts. They don’t go over the top, but I can tell all of their gifts have had a lot of thought put into them. From his parents and Riley, I receive a personalized yearly planner that I can customize and a gift basket full of personal spa-day items like bath bombs, candles, and lotions.
My phone chimes with an incoming text. I pull it out of my back pocket and can’t fight the smile off my face when I see the most awkward selfie of my twin giving me a thumbs up whilewearing a Santa hat. He probably picked up on my curiosity as to what he was doing today via twin telepathy—which we don’t have, but often joke that we do.
Roman
Merry Christmas, little sis!
Jersey
Merry Christmas! Miss you!
Still smiling, I type out a similar message to my mother and hit send. After, I set my phone down on the table and look around the room at Hayes and his family, feeling just as welcomed with them as I would my own. Over the last few years, it’s been a rare occurrence that I would be with my family for any major holidays. Even though it was something I requested, more times than not, the schedule got in the way and I was somewhere else, far away from my family, celebrating on my own or with my close friends.
I might not be with my family this year, but Hayes’s family easily welcomes me into their circle as if I’m one of their own. Their love fills me to the brim and reminds me exactly what this holiday is all about.
When the presents have been opened and the discarded wrapping paper is cleared away, Hayes’s father stands and rubs his hands together. “All right. Onto the next tradition.”
I sit up straighter, watching with interest, when Riley hops up from the couch and bolts into the kitchen. Hayes leans forward, grabbing the remote off the coffee table and turns on his TV, opening up a streaming app.
“What’s the next tradition?” I ask, not patient enough to wait and see.
“We always watchThe Santa Clauseafter opening presents,” Hayes explains. He finds the movie on the app and clicks on it, hitting pause before it starts playing.
“I’ve never seen that one,” I admit sheepishly, and Hayes turns to me with wide, surprised eyes.
“How?”
I shrug, feeling a little embarrassed. “We’re more of aChristmas VacationandHome Alonekind of family.”
Hayes nods, as if that’s permissible. “Also classics. Can’t go wrong with either of them. You’ll love this one, though.”
Riley comes back moments later with more snacks, a bowl of fresh popcorn and a plate of Christmas cookies. “Here, Jersey, you’ve got to try these Oreo Balls.”
“Better grab the peanut butter for her,” Hayes says to his sister.
