The Stacks

Chapter 32: Christmas

As planned, Harry and I spent Christmas Eve - the better part of the entire day, actually - with my parents. We had continued talking and texting throughout the week. I managed to pull a little more from him about how keeping the peace meant keeping Cathryn happy. It appeared she was fiercely loyal to her family. Stupidly, even. She had done to Harry the same thing he did to me. Countless times. She had failed to defend him in front of her parents and had never thought twice about it. Harry had never made it a point of contention because he just wanted to keep the peace with her as well as her family. It didn't affect his opinion of her, it seemed. He just reasoned that it was the way she was raised and he loved her in spite of it.

What all of that told me was that Harry was going to be very devoted, but that he was also going to have to learn to fight. Thus far, when we'd had disagreements, ironically, they had mainly been because of Harry's reluctance to upset the peace. Even when he stayed away early on in our relationship because he was afraid of falling more deeply in love, it had been because he didn't want to confide that he was struggling, even if the struggling pushed him towards me. He was afraid I wouldn't understand if he told me about it. 

Christmas Eve was an enjoyably relaxed day with my family. I remembered some Christmas Eves in the past when it had been so incredibly stressful that we all wondered whether the holiday was even worth celebrating. Obviously we had all learned to let some things go in order to keep each other happy. And of course, Mom didn't have as many kids in the house anymore, so her preparation was cut in half, aided by the fact that we were all adults and helped to prepare. 

Harry fell into a happy rhythm with my family as he'd done on Thanksgiving. He seemed at ease with them, but still, during a quiet moment between the two of us, I felt compelled to ask, "Do you feel comfortable with my family?" 

"Of course. Do I seem like I don't?" He asked with concern.

"No, it seems like you get along great with them. I just want to make sure you're not holding anything back," I told him. "I'm pretty sure my parents are much more relaxed than your in-laws, but they're not perfect. If there was anything you had major concerns about, I'd want you to talk to me about it." 

He looked mildly defeated, but maybe in a relieved way. "Yeah, I know. I'd tell you if something was really wrong. But as it is, they seem so much like my family and that makes me very happy. I feel right at home with them."

"That makes me very happy," I reassured him.

Together with all my siblings, we frosted cookies and drank mulled wine. The cookies were much more maturely decorated than past holidays when we dumped piles of decors on them or attempted to make replicas to honor our favorite celebrities. Collin, however, did decide to try to re-create the design from Ariana Grande's latest album cover. We all knew she was his favorite and that he secretly wanted to marry her, but he wouldn't admit it. 

"Very nice," I admired.

"Stop making fun of me," he snorted.

"I'm not making fun of you," I argued.

Harry broke in, telling Collin, "Nice work. She is a hottie." 

I burst into laughter, thinking it sounded odd yet adorably cute to hear Harry call someone a hottie. "Oh really now?" I bantered with him. "Then you might as well know that I fancy Shawn Mendes a bit." 

It was Harry's turn to laugh. "He's a child!" 

"No he's not," I laughed. "And I like his music, so there."

Dinner was lovely as always. My mom had such a flair for entertaining - she put in tons of work but she still made it look effortless. We exchanged gifts and ate our cookie creations around the fireplace. Maybe that was one of the reasons I craved a fireplace of my own. In addition to the fact that warming by a fire and watching the flames dancing beneath the hearth was so mesmerizing, I also had such sweet and pleasant memories surrounding this fireplace in particular.