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My father reached out to shake her hand. “I apologize that you’ve had to deal with him.”
A surprised laugh escaped from Lottie’s mouth, and she slammed her lips closed to try and hide it. A wry smile crackedacross my father’s face and the two of them exploded in a fit of laughter together.
“Thank you for taking care of our son,” my mother interjected. “Especially because we all know how difficult he can be sometimes.”
“Thanks, guys,” I sarcastically added, earning a laugh from all of us.
My mother reached out to pull Lottie into a hug. I watched her stiffen as my mother’s arms wrapped around her for a few moments before her eyes drifted closed. I knew I was watching a small piece of Lottie’s trauma begin to heal in my mother’s arms.
“You’re coming over tonight for Christmas still?” My father asked me as my mother began to ask Lottie about the sweater she was wearing.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I told him. I watched Lottie gush over my mother’s custom Nolan Hill sweatshirt. “I need Mom’s Christmas cookie recipes for something I’m planning tomorrow.”
“Do you now?” my father asked with a wry smile. He glanced between me and Lottie with a knowing look on his face before reaching over to squeeze my shoulder. “Are you still planning on that New Year’s Eve party?”
“If you and Mom are still okay hosting everyone,” I told him.
My father nodded his head. “Absolutely. We wanted to have an overflowing house one last time before we don’t get the chance again.”
“Well, thank you for that.” I reached over to shake his hand.
“We’re proud of you, son. Don’t ever forget that,” my father told me as he reached over for my mother. “Come on, honey, let’s let these two get out of here. We’ll see Nolan tonight.”
“But I won’t see Lottie,” my mother stubbornly told my father as she finished exchanging numbers with Lottie. “Please tell me you’ll be coming to the New Year’s Eve party we are having?”
Lottie looked helplessly between my mother and me as she tried to figure out what to say back.
“She’ll be there,” I told my mother, stepping in to save Lottie from having to respond. “I’ll see you guys tonight.”
My parents waved goodbye to us before they made their way out of the stadium.
“Your parents are sweet,” Lottie told me as she watched them leave the family room, a slight sheen to her eyes.
I nodded my head. “I’m extremely lucky to have two parents like them.”
“You did wonderful today,” she told me. I felt her pinky brush across mine as she reached for me in a room full of people.
“Can I come over tomorrow around eight in the morning?” I asked. “I want to cook you and Olivia breakfast.”
“Olivia is sleeping over tonight, so we will be there,” Lottie replied.
This time, I reached over to give her hand a quick squeeze. “It’ll be a stay in your pajamas all day kind of day.”
“Perfect, because I have a plan.” The glint in Lottie’s eyes had me questioning what exactly was up her sleeve.
“Should I be worried?” I asked.
Lottie shrugged with a wry smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” she called over her shoulder. As I watched her leave, I wished I could be waking up next to her on Christmas morning, but this would have to do for now.
The snow had piled up to nearly a foot overnight. Kids across Chicago would be waking up to a true white Christmas. I made my way across the city toward Lottie’s apartment, the back of mycar full of the ingredients to make chocolate chip pancakes and Christmas cookies later in the day.
My mother had thrust her secret Christmas cookie recipes in my hands as I was leaving last night after she’d beaten me down about my plans for today. She shouted after me that she wanted pictures without asking any further questions about why I was spending Christmas Day with my physical therapist, like the amazing mother she was.
Lottie held the door open for me after she’d buzzed me in. “What’s all that for?”
Her hair was braided down her back this morning and she was wearing a plaid pajama set that had a snowman on the breast pocket.
“We’re having the Christmas Day of your childhood dreams,” I told her as I went to set everything down on the kitchen counter. That was when I noticed Olivia in the same pajamas as Lottie with an extra set in her hands and an excited—maybe even a little bit evil—look on her face. “What are those?”
