It was mind-bending that my aunt had set Instagram on fire with her donut pictures. People adored her, worshipped the bubbly woman, and we had a constant stream of visitors at the lodge who came all this way to meet her in person. To know Aunt Bessie was to love her, and I was so proud of her. And Mom too. Mom still struggled being the center of attention in town, but she didn’t run and hide any more, just faced it head-on and smiled her way through it, claiming that each day it got a little easier.
Cruz and Amory would also be joining us. They were eager to meet Kai’s parents, and eager to show off the newest edition to the family. Scotty the dog now had a sibling, a little fluffball named Hem. Amory worked hard planning parties, and keeping me sane at the lodge just like normal, but on Saturday afternoons she volunteered at the local dog shelter, and it lit her up from the inside out. While party planning would always be her passion, I think the work at the shelter grounded her.
Even Micah and Isla were taking time out of their renovations to the new house they’d just bought and would attend dinner tonight. They worked at the lodge during the day, and spent most nights bashing down walls and then rebuilding them, hoping to get their house finished by summer. I could only imagine how amazing it would look once Isla planted a garden out front and Micah painted the new roof. Their wedding had been a hugely fun night, our bellies had hurt from laughter, and it was obvious how perfect they were for each other. When Micah had serenaded her, there hadn’t been a dry eye in the house. I was glad they were taking a night off their renovations tonight, because I wanted them to share in the special moment with us too.
Summer was around the corner and the lodge was completely booked out for the season. We’d soon be run off our feet, which was very exciting – that and the secret we’d managed to keep thrilled me. I only had to keep my mouth clamped closed for a few more hours, and then I could tell my family and my friends. Finally! It had been torture not confiding in my best friends, but I figured our parents should all find out at the same time.
Everyone would be together and it would be the perfect time for Kai to brandish the tiniest of hiking boots we could find, and tell our loved ones there was a baby on the way…
When you know, you know.
As the sun colored the sky saffron, Kai leaned over and planted a kiss on the soft swell of my belly, and I sent up a thank you to the universe. It was true: coming home had been the best thing I’d ever done…
The office door swung open with a bang, bringing with it the sound of Christmas carols and Cruz’s dark face. Amory moved quickly to hide the gift she’d only half-wrapped.
“What is it?” I asked. Cruz was usually the epitome of cool, but something bothered him this fine Christmas Eve.
“Have you seen the ham hock?”
I pressed my lips together to stifle the laugh that threatened to escape. Ham hock? When no response was forthcoming from me he turned his steely gaze on Amory. “Well?”
She shook her head, innocent eyes wide. Just then a little giggle carried from down the hallway. We did our best to ignore it, knowing quite suddenly where the ham hock had gone.
“What did you need it for exactly?” I asked, buying time. The little giggle was edging closer, bringing with it the cheery notes of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’.
“I need the hock for soup; waste not, want not.” His words were clipped as they so often were, having given up on me and Amory eons ago when it came to our education in the culinary arts. The only part we were interested in was consuming the delicious dishes – quality control; we wanted no part in the making of them.
“Didn’t we just eat our body weight in ham?” Amory asked. We’d been feasting on Christmas menus for the month of December in light of our festive season guests.
“Yes,” he said, his voice huffy. “And the remnants would make a fine soup. Running a kitchen is all about budgeting and minimizing food waste…”
Amory held up a hand, her eyes getting that particular glaze when Cruz tried to explain his position to her.
Unbeknownst to Cruz, five-year-old Millie appeared, light shining on her blonde head like a halo, the perfect disguise for the little minx she was. In her hand was the vestige of the ham hock, or at least that’s what it appeared to be to my untrained eye. Either that or she’d been excavating the garden for dinosaur bones again, but perhaps not in such snowy weather. You never could tell with Millie, though.
Cruz sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “It was Millie again, wasn’t it? And she’s behind me, isn’t she?”
Millie let her giggles spill out, and we soon followed suit. “Yes,” I said, lips twitching. She wore a bright-red Christmas onesie whose padded feet helped her sashay about undetected.
The tension left Cruz’s face and he turned to the small child. “Ah,” he said, taking the hock from her hand. “I should’ve known you’d be the culprit.” His voice softened. Millie had stolen the hearts of everyone at the lodge, despite her rascally nature. “Who were you saving this time?”
“The doggies,” she said in her cherubic voice. “Amory helped me.”
Amory let out a gasp and said, “I most certainly did not.” And then made shushing gestures to Millie behind Cruz’s back. Those two were partners in crime and it warmed my heart, even though Millie often gave her so-called confidante up to save herself.
Cruz just shook his head. “At this rate we’ll go bankrupt but the menagerie will be plump enough to live through the winter.”
We had amassed a number of stray animals at the lodge. Dogs, and cats, and once a pony, which I had spirited away to a friend’s farm before Millie could lay claim. Amory took the dogs home at night, but during the day they roamed the gardens, or snuggled by the fire, being secretly fed by these two conspirators.
“Amory told me no one likes ham soup,” Millie continued, getting her godmother well and truly in trouble.
Cruz turned slowly to Amory. “Did she now?” Amory’s mouth opened and closed while Millie just grinned, like the Cheshire Cat.
“She did.” Millie shrugged her shoulders, as if such trivial things bored her. “Can we open the presents now?”
“Not yet.” Millie’s face fell.
“Maybe I can sneak you one or two later,” Amory said. “How about we go grab a snack while Cruz isn’t looking? Some of those Santa-shaped gingerbread men…?”
Millie squealed.
“I’m right here, you know,” Cruz said, but smiled. He loved feeding people, and secretly delighted that none of his cookies ever made it through a day. There were plenty of hands snatching from the cookie jar.
For someone who didn’t want children of her own Amory sure didn’t mind spending time with them. It was a godsend really. She was the fun aunt, the one who got up to mischief with Millie, or cuddled and crooned to baby Brooklyn when my eyes were
