Page 16 of A Love Like Christmas Time
“Hoped would be the better term, I guess.”
“I know how that feels.” She reaches across the table to squeeze my hand. “I’m sorry. They suck.”
“Thank you. They do.” I take a deep breath. “How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Cut off contact with your parents.”
“I mean, them knowing my sister and fiancé had an affair did the trick of me never wanting to speak to them again.” She pinches the bridge of her nose.
“Is it crazy to say that I wish my parents would give me an opportunity like that to say ‘fuck it?’ A proper reason to cut them off.” I wave my phone through the air. “This was shitty, no doubt, but it’s not quite the territory that justifies disowningthem, you know?”
“You don’t need a ‘proper reason,’ though,” Nic says softly, lifting her hands for air quotes. “That’s the beauty of it. Nobody can stop you from making a cut. If you dread even the thought of meeting them or your mood instantly drops if you only see their name on your phone screen, maybe it’s time.” She gives my hand another squeeze. “I’m just saying. But I’m also very much biased.”
“Your bias helps, though,” I admit and take a sip of my coffee. “You're the only person I know who has made the decision to cut their parents out of their life. It helps to hear your perspective.” I let out another deep sigh. “I don’t think I’m quite there yet. Though I think it’s about time I prepared myself for the possibility.”
“Well, if you want to talk about it, I’m there. Always.” She takes a sip of her coffee, ignoring my thankful smile. “When are you going back?”
I reach for my phone and scroll through my calendar. We moved here rather spontaneously, and I didn’t find buyers for my L.A. apartment in time. Now that there’s finally a buyer, I need to pack up my last items and either dispose of them or donate them.
“The end of next week.”
A soft ‘meow’from the carrier grabs my attention.
“Oh, someone has woken up!” Nic grins and makes a grabbing motion towards me. “Come on. Let them out. I’m sure they can use some cuddling after that scary, scary visit to the vet.”
Carefully, I lift the carrier onto the empty chair next to me and pull the zipper on top open.
“Here you go.” I scoop Taytay, the white kitten, up and hand her over to Nic. Immediately, the small creature climbs up her beige knitted sweatshirt, little claws tangling in the stitches.
“Ugh, you’re socute,” Nic mumbles, almost sounding disgusted with how adorable she finds this little cat. “God, I’m going to have to buy her a pink bow. She will look exactly like Marie fromAristocats.” She coos, followed by, “Your namesake is a genius; let’s see if you’ll live up to her name.”
“Don’t pressure my child! I named her after Taylor Swift because she’s got the same eye shape.” Nic stares at the cat, then shrugs.
“I don’t see it.”
“And you don’t need to,” I mumble. A loud and annoyed-soundingmeowfrom the carrier makes me scoop up Jenna, the orange kitten, named after the queen of YouTube herself.
“Oh, you’ve got an attention-starved one, too.” Nic grins at me, and I press a kiss to the cat’s forehead.
“She’s not as bad as Pumpkin. Though I do suspect the two of them share a brain cell. If you gaze deeply into her eyes, you might see it. It’s probably rolling from left to right, drifting along aimlessly like a tumbleweed. I can live with an attention-starved cat though, as long as she’s alright.” Which, thankfully, both appear to be. “Maybe it’s Chaos’ way of making up for dying on you.”
“Maybe.” Nic nods, reaching for her mug while stopping Taytay from escaping with her other hand.
“Anyway, now that Thanksgiving is over, we need to make some plans, Nic.”
“Oh, I’m all ears.” I rustle for a pen and notepad in the pockets of my coat, while making sure the cat doesn’t run off. “What mischief are we planning?”
“We are going to romanticize the fuck out of Christmastime,” I say solemnly, eyebrows furrowed together. “And we need to make a list, because time is running and we have less than four weeks until the holidays. So, chop, chop, what are your ideas?”
“Baking cookies has to go on there.” She taps her lip and peers into the distance as she contemplates. “Do you think we’ll get snow here? Because that would introduce a whole additional list of possibilities.”
“Then let’s do a snow-specific list too. Building a snowman…” I quickly jot it down, followed by “making snow angels, sledding down a mountain, snowball fight, a winter wonderland hike.” From the corner of my eyes, I see her nod along.
“I still have to decorate my house,” Nic points out. “You can add that to the list, because I imagine it will be much more fun if we do it together.”
“Decorating Nic’s house,” I whisper, a grin tugging at my lips.
