Let anger and fear and hate disappear
Let there be love that lasts through the year
Let it be Christmas
Christmas everywhere.
-Alan Jackson, "Let it Be Christmas"
Brooke
I leaned in toward the mirror, putting the finishing touches on my makeup.
"Brooke!" Luke called from the living room. "Are you almost ready? We're supposed to be at Rachel's in twenty minutes!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be right out!" I called. "I need you to zip me up!"
He appeared in the doorway within seconds. "Gladly," he said, smirking at me.
I grinned and gestured at the halfway zipped back of my green form-fitting maxi dress.
He appeared behind me in the mirror and hissed through his teeth as his fingers brushed the bare skin of my back. "Damn, I've missed this," he whispered, and instead of feeling the zipper slide up, his finger brushed down to the waistband of my lace underwear.
I smiled at him in the mirror. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be putting the dress on, not taking it off," I teased.
He put his hands on my shoulders and slid the fabric off and down my arms. I stepped out of the dress instinctively and lay it on the top of the laundry hamper.
I watched him in the mirror as he planted little kisses on the corner of my shoulder, all the way across my upper back to my other shoulder. I felt a shiver run through my body.
"I thought we only had twenty minutes," I murmured as he ran his hands down my sides until they rested on my hips.
He turned me around to face him and gazed at me. "They can wait," he breathed as his lips closed over mine.
***
Forty minutes later, we pulled up in front of Rachel's house, still on a high from our little liaison in the bathroom. We were definitely the last ones there.
"Oops," I giggled as Luke opened the door for me and we made our way to the front door.
"It's fine. We weren't eating first anyway; they were going to serve cocktails first," Luke said.
"Oh, okay, good. I didn't want to hold up dinner," I said, relieved.
Luke shook his head and laughed. "Please. Everyone knows you're always late."
I bumped him with my hip as he rang the doorbell.
Rachel flung open the door and opened her arms. "Hi y'all! Merry Christmas!" she said, her voice cheery, her dress and makeup immaculate. But I knew her well enough to know she had been crying. The tip of her nose was slightly pink, a dead giveaway.
I pulled her to me after Luke gave her a quick hug and moved to find Miles.
"You okay, sweetheart?" I whispered in her ear.
"Yeah. Please Come Home for Christmas– " she started, and I nodded.
"Say no more." I kissed her cheek. "He's still here with you, you know?" I said, wiping my lipstick off her skin with my thumb.
She smiled, her eyes glassy. "I know. Love you, B," she said.
"I love you too, Rach. Now let's enjoy this party, yeah?"
She nodded, and when she turned around, Miles and Luke were there with drinks for all of us.
"Thank you!" she said, gratefully taking the martini from him and taking a sip.
"You're welcome. Your dad is really bringing the bartender game tonight," he said, taking a sip of his drink.
"Yeah, he was a bartender back in college," Rachel said. "Did you not know that?"
"No way!" he said, turning back to look at Bradley. "Damn, he just keeps getting cooler and cooler."
We all sat down in the living room, and Katherine joined us from the kitchen.
"Sissy!" I shrieked, getting up and hugging her like I hadn't seen her in weeks.
"Hey Brookie. Merry Christmas," she said, kissing my cheek. "Merry Christmas, y'all," she said to everyone else, and we sat down together on the loveseat.
We sat and talked until Adam called us all into the dining room for dinner.
As we all took our seat around the Cross' giant dining room table and I realized how lucky I was to have them all, I felt a warmth spread through my veins – better than any high I'd ever chased.
Luke
"Mom, Susan, that was so good," I said, rubbing my stomach and pushing my plate away.
Everyone chorused their agreement and we made our way back to the living room. We sat and chatted for a bit until Rachel just couldn't stand it anymore.
"Okay, can we do gifts, please?" she begged, literally bouncing in her seat. "I can't wait to give you guys your gifts!" she exclaimed.
"Remember, Rach; we're not doing gifts 'til in the morning, and that includes you and Miles," Susan cautioned.
"I know, I know," she said, waving her off.
Bradley laughed. "Okay, let's do gifts," he said, and Rachel squealed and ran to the tree, handing me, Brooke, Katherine, and my parents each a gift.
"Wait," Brooke said, jumping up and grabbing the gifts we had brought and handing them out.
Pretty soon, everyone had at least one gift in their hand to open, and we tore into them like animals.
I opened the box from Rachel first since she was so excited, and I laughed when I opened it. It was the special edition Blu-Ray of Grease and the soundtrack to match. "This is great, Rachel, thank you," I said, reaching over to hug her.
"Just so you never forget our run as Danny and Sandy," she said, winking.
I snorted. "I don't think I could ever forget the time we almost got crushed by stage lighting," I said, and she giggled. Miles glared at me and I shrugged. "Sorry, bro."
"He still can't joke about it," she stage-whispered.
Miles opened his new baseball glove and bat from me, and the PlayStation 4 from our parents.
"Yas, I can hook this up to our new big-ass TV when we get home," he exclaimed, hugging them. "And I'll need this stuff soon when baseball season starts. Thanks bro," he said, giving me a side hug.
"No problem." I held up the new camera lens he had gotten me. "I love this lens. I've been wanting a fifty-fifty lens for a minute," I said.
He nodded. "I know."
Brooke was clasping the Pandora bracelet Rachel and Miles had gotten her, and it struck me again just how glad I was to have her back in my life.
"Brooke?" I said quietly, but she heard me even over the noise.
"Yeah?" she asked, looking up at me, her brown eyes wide and her raven hair falling over her shoulders.
"I love you," I said simply.
She grinned. "I love you too, Luke. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, B."
Miles
"Bye y'all!" I called, waving to Katherine, Brooke, Luke, and our parents as they got in their cars to leave.
I closed the door and leaned against it. Rachel came up to me and laid her head on my chest. "I'm sleepy," she said, yawning.
"Me too," I agreed, kissing the top of her head. "Let's help your mom and dad clean up and then we'll go to bed."
She nodded against my chest and we joined Bradley and Susan in the kitchen.
"What can we do?" I asked.
"We're almost done, but if you could just rinse and dry these dishes?" Susan requested.
"Of course," I said, and we started the task.
"So," Susan started. "What are your plans for New Years?"
Over Rachel's head, my eyes snapped to Bradley and he gritted his teeth. I guess he still hasn't told Susan.
Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. Miles, do we have plans?"
I cleared my throat. "I – I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it yet," I lied.
"Oh," Rachel said. "Well, I'm sure we'll go down to the beach and watch the fireworks like usual."
I nodded, probably too quickly. "Sounds good, babe," I said.
Bradley kissed Susan on the side of her head. "Why don't you go up to bed, honey? We'll finish all this. You worked hard enough. You too, Rachel. We'll be up in a few."
Thank God, I thought.
"Well, okay, if you insist," Susan said. "Come on, Rachel. We can take all this makeup off together," she teased.
Rachel grinned and looped her arm through her mom's, and they disappeared up the stairs.
"Jesus," I breathed, leaning against the counter and throwing the drying towel over my shoulder.
"Sorry," Bradley said, laughing a bit. "I haven't told Susan because I want her to be surprised too. I never dreamed she'd bring up New Years!" he said.
I shook my head. "It's fine. But dang, that was close."
"Yep. Only one more week, though. Now let's finish this so we can go to bed," he said.
Within ten minutes, I was sliding into bed next to a sleeping Rachel.
"Merry Christmas, my darling," I breathed into her ear.
She didn't wake up, but she shifted into me, and I pulled her close, kissing her forehead gently.
Rachel
When I woke up on Christmas morning, it was 9:30 and Miles wasn't in bed. I jumped up, threw on my Christmas pajamas and ran downstairs.
When I bounded into the living room, my parents and Miles were already in front of the tree, mugs of coffee in their hands.
"Merry Christmas!" I exclaimed, taking the mug Miles held out to me and dropping to my knees next to him.
"Merry Christmas, precious," Dad said, smiling at me. "We thought you'd never wake up," he teased.
I grinned. "Can we do presents now!?"
Mom laughed. "Rachel, please don't ever change."
"Is that a yes?"
Mom got up and handed me a large red box in response.
"Yay!" I squealed, ripping the paper open.
It was such an amazing Christmas, we gave each other perfect gifts, and we enjoyed the time together so much, I forgot about the little twinge of desire I'd had for an engagement ring.
Well, almost.