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“Fall. For sure. Visiting apple farms, the color of the trees, the way the afternoons still feel like summer but aren’t sweltering—”
“That surprises me.”
“Because of the clowns?” He predicted.
I nodded and attempted to hide a smile.
“Yeah, I like Fall, not Halloween,” he shivered dramatically. “No, thank you.”
“You don’t hand out Halloween candy?” I teased.
“Nope, I lock my doors and turn off my porch light.” He winked.
Memories of my childhood flashed through my mind.
“My dad would take us around on Halloween,” I said abruptly. “That feels so weird to think about now after everything. It feels like another lifetime—one that maybe wasn’t even mine.” I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. “Did you know I was a twin?”
“I’d heard that, yeah.”
“His name was Cole,” I said. “When we were younger, my parents liked to dress us up as matching sets of things.” I laughed. “He hated it.”
Seven chuckled, and a vivid memory of me and Cole dressed up as peas and carrots, of all things, came to mind. I smiled even through the pain it caused in my heart.
I fell silent. “I think I like winter best.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, because of Christmas.”
“I didn’t really experience many fun Christmas memories growing up,” Seven admitted lightly and when I looked at him, he shrugged. “Foster care kid.”
“Well, we’ll need to change that,” I declared. “So, you’ve never looked for a pickle on a Christmas tree? Or—”
Seven’s eyebrows rose. “A what?”
“A pickle.”
“A pickle,” he stated.
“Yeah, it’s some sort of German tradition I think—”
“I didn’t know you and North were German.”
“We’re not—”
“Then why?”
I laughed and shrugged. “I don’t know actually. It’s fun though. You’ll see.”
He seemed playfully skeptical. “Alright, I’ll trust you. Hopefully it’s not a real pickle.”
“Of course not!”
He laughed softly. “Alright, what’s your favorite pizza topping? And if you say pineapple, I don’t think we can continue to be friends—”
I looked at him sheepishly.
“No!” He groaned. “Not you too! G insists it’s a topping too. I say fruit doesn’t belong on pizza.”
