“Let’s do Elf. I can’t think of anything that would make me feel more Christmas cheer than Will Ferrell being an idiot.”
A few hours later, I was so stuffed that I could barely move from my spot on the couch, where I was lying with my head on my mother’s lap, with her tucking the stray blonde wisps of hair that had escaped from my bun back from my forehead. We were watching as George Bailey went back to his family and was told by his little girl about angels getting their wings. As always, my heart gave a little clench as I watched George put one arm around his kids and one around Mary, looked on by Clarence the way that we did every year.
As the movie wrapped up, I dragged myself up to a seated position, rubbing my painfully expanded belly and groaned a little. “Jeez, Mom. You outdid yourself.”
“You say that every year,” she said.
“Well, I think every time you use a new marinade, it ups the ante,” I said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever eat again.”
“Of course, you will,” she said. “You lost too much weight while you were at school. I’ve been worried about that waistline of yours since you came home.”
I rolled my eyes as I bit down on my lip. “Okay.”
“Do you like your presents, honey?” my dad asked, leaning forward. “Doc Boyd said that those were the shoes most recommended by farm veterinarians.”
“I love them,” I said, grinning widely at them. The expensive, hardy shoes were sitting in front of me, as if ready for me to jump into at any moment for work. They’d been recommended to me too when I’d taken off my shoes one day and set my foot on an ice pack after a long day of appointments. I was so focused on saving, though, that I knew it would have to wait at least a few paychecks for me to get them.
Between the shoes and the gift card to Amazon they’d gotten me, I was feeling pretty dang happy.
“Where are you going?” my mom said as I started getting up, reaching for my gifts. “Heading over to meet one of the Kent boys?”
I shook my head. “I promised Molly I’d call her. I just need to do it before I pass out into a food coma.”
“If you say so,” Dad said, reaching for the cup of regular coffee that my mom had made for him. “Just know that if we can’t find you later—”
“I’ll be passed out in bed from the insane amount of food. You won’t have far to look. Thank you so much for the presents, guys,” I said, getting up and wrapping my arms around both of them. “I know I’ve been a little bit busy since I’ve come home, but I’m so grateful to you guys for everything that you guys do for me and have been doing for me for the last decade. I don’t ever want you to think I’m not grateful.”
My mom blinked up at me before turning to my dad, and they took each other’s hands as they looked up at me.
“Honey,” my mom said slowly, “we’re thankful to you too. We know how hard you’ve worked over the last few years to get where you are, and we couldn’t be prouder of you.” She picked up the gift certificate that I’d printed off the internet, waving it at me. “Seriously. We couldn’t think of a more amazing daughter than one who spoils us.”
That was the other reason why my shoes had had to wait. I might’ve gone all out on buying them a voucher to use toward any kind of vacation they wanted.
“Talk to you later, guys.”
I went to the hallway, where my heavy jacket and boots were waiting for me to step into them and opened the door. I didn’t want to risk the possibility that my parents would overhear this part, or they really might freak out.
“Hellooooo, bestie,” Molly crooned into the phone as soon as she answered, and I immediately heard her turning down some music down in the background. “How’s Christmas going with Marge and Eddie? They driving you crazy?”
“Amazingly, not at all. It’s been a great day.”
Molly fell quiet for a few seconds, and I waited for her next sentence, which I knew was going to tell me that she read me like a book. “Something’s up with you. You sound weird.”
I sighed, blowing a little bit of air through my nose. “I went to Christmas Eve with the Kents last night.”
“Okaaaaay,” she said. “I fail to see what’s weird about that. Alice and your mom are friends, and Adam is your second-best friend.”
I laughed a little. “Well, Adam and I were catching up about stuff. I went to his room to see whether it looks the same, and we were just talking—”