Contessa (47 page)

“
Liv!
”
Jon says, laughing.

“
I have pictures somewhere.
”

“
I bet you do. That
’
s awesome!
”

“
Well, I learned my lesson. Last year, every cookie had to be approved by one of my cousins. We may have each done a few zombies, though, and eaten them behind our parents
’
backs.
”

“
Maddie and Jackie can
’
t keep secrets,
”
my mom says about my cousins.
“
They reported everything back to me.
”

“
Snitches, those two,
”
I say with a laugh.
“
I wish they could have been here for this.
”

“
I
’
m sure Kelly does, too. I think Christmas is a little off for them this year, with Brandon
’
s issues. I don
’
t think the girls want to be around to see what happens at the hearing today.
”

“
Some paternity thing,
”
I explain to Jon. He nods, his eyebrows lifted.

“
Maddie and Jackie picked up Andrew and they
’
re taking him skiing today.
”

“
They
’
re not going to be with us for Christmas?
”

“
They
’
ll be at the lake house Friday morning. I think Kelly and Thomas are okay with that, so they can try to make sense out of whatever happens.
”

“
Did Thomas go with Dad?
”

“
No. Apparently he and Brandon aren
’
t even talking.
”

“
Oh. That sucks.
”

“
Yeah. I hope it goes okay today. I hope your dad doesn
’
t come home in a bad mood.
”

“
He
’
s never in a bad mood.
”

“
He was pretty tense when he left this morning, but I
’
m ready for anything,
”
she says, pointing to a crystal decanter on the counter.
“
Oh, do you two want something to drink?
”

“
I
’
m not big on scotch,
”
Jon says cheekily.

“
Ha ha,
”
my mom responds.
“
Soda?
Eggnog
? Water?
”

“
Milk?
”
Jon asks.
“
With all of these cookies...
”

“
Milk, sure.
”
My mom looks at us both with flour-covered hands.

“
I
’
ll get it,
”
I tell her.

“
Thanks, sweetie.
”

“
So, Jon, what is your family doing for Christmas?
”

“
We
’
re going to get up as soon as the boys want to and open presents,
”
he says.
“
And I imagine we
’
ll throw some balls around if the weather
’
s nice. Max is getting a new mitt. He
’
s been asking for one for more than a year.
”

“
That
’
s sweet of you to get him one.
”

“
Oh, I didn
’
t. That
’
s all Santa
’
s doing. He told us what he was bringing so we could coordinate,
”
Jon says.
“
I got him a few new balls. And Will
’
s getting a new bat.
”

“
What
’
s Santa bringing you?
”
my mom asks as I set our drinks down and take my seat next to him.

“
He, uh... well, of course he didn
’
t tell me that. I
’
ll have to find out if there
’
s something for me under the tree on Christmas morning.
”
He winks at my mother, and I can tell that his confidence isn
’
t fooling her. We both realize he
’
ll be lucky to get anything this year from Santa or his family.

I hope he likes the presents we got him..
.

“
Of course,
”
my mom smiles.
“
I
’
m sure your mom takes pictures or something Christmas morning.
”

Jon starts to shake his head, as if he
’
s never even considered such a thing.
“
No.
”

“
No?
”
He again shakes his head.
“
Maybe that
’
s just a Holland tradition,
”
she adds.
“
We like to look at photos of Christmases past to see how much we
’
ve all changed. They make fun of my hair, you know. General self-effacing mockery. I
’
m tough, though,
”
she says.

“
Awesome. Can we do that tonight?
”
Jon asks.

“
No, Mom!
”
I beg. I turn to Jon to explain.
“
They take pictures on Christmas morning, when we
’
re still in our pajamas and we look completely horrible.
”

“
Liv, we look at those pictures every Christmas Eve! Why not do it a few days early?
”

“
Oh, I can
’
t wait,
”
Jon says.

“
Please, please, please don
’
t.
”

“
We won
’
t embarrass you too much, honey.
”

I duck my head into my crossed arms on the table.
“
Oh, God.
”

“
Hey,
”
Jon says as he nudges my shoulder.
“
I swear I won
’
t laugh too hard. And I
’
ll show you all of my class photos. They
’
re horrible. I
’
m the least photogenic person in the world, I promise. Your just-woke-up pictures won
’
t hold a candle to my school pictures.
”

“
Okay,
”
I tell him.

A grin spreads across his face.
“
Okay.
”
He leans over and kisses me on the forehead, and then immediately turns his focus back to the gingerbread man he
’
d been working on. I look up at my mom, who saw his sweet gesture and is smiling at me. We
’
ve passed the first test. I can
’
t believe how smooth he is, how effortless that seemed. I feel silly for worrying about it at all right now, in front of Mom, at least. She
’
s always been a hopeless romantic, though, so it shouldn
’
t surprise me.

Mom makes lunch for us, allowing us to take a much-needed break. After my brother eats, he heads to his room to play, completely bored with the decorating process. I
’
m surprised he lasted this long. After my mom checks on him, she comes to sit with us at the dinner table where half the table is filled with naked cookies, and the other half is filled with colorful and holiday-appropriate treats.

“
They look great, kids,
”
she says.

“
Did you expect any less from us?
”
I ask.

“
Zombies,
”
she deadpans, glaring at me.

“
Right.
”

“
Listen, Jon,
”
my mom says as she sets my digital camera down on the table next to him.
“
I happen to know that Santa is bringing a new one of these for Livvy–
”

“
Really?
”
I ask.

“
You hadn
’
t figured that out?
”
she asks me. I shake my head.
“
Well, there goes one surprise. Anyway, Jon, I was wondering if you might want to take this with you, and maybe document the Christmas for your mom or something. I know those pictures are some of the ones I cherish most. I know she would probably like that, as a mom.
”

“
I couldn
’
t take that, Emi,
”
Jon says.

“
Just borrow it, then.
”

“
Jon, I
’
ll just end up donating it,
”
I try to convince him.

“
Well, then you should do that, Olivia. I don
’
t want you to donate it to me, though. We
’
ve talked about that.
”

“
Do it for me, Jon,
”
Mom says.
“
Just for Christmas, then. You can give it back after you get the pictures printed.
”

“
Okay,
”
he agrees.
“
But I
’
m bringing it back.
”

“
Deal.
”
Mom gets up from the table to make some more icing.

“
After that,
”
I tell him quietly,
“
you can borrow my camera any time. We can go shoot your brothers
’
games together or something, if you want. What
’
s mine is yours.
”

“
You don
’
t have to do that,
”
he says softly as he brushes my hair aside, getting green icing in my hair.
“
Oops,
”
he says as he tries to get it out. His effort just gets more icing on my cheek.
“
This isn
’
t working.
”
He laughs, picking up a paper towel and wiping off his fingers. Instead of using the cloth on my face, though, he moistens his lips and removes the icing from my cheek. He then closes his eyes and kisses me, right on the mouth, right in front of my mom. His hand rests gently at the nape of my neck as his thumb caresses the hollow beneath my ear.

In my head, I
’
m freaking out, but the rest of my body continues to kiss him back, slowly and sweetly. When he pulls back, we simply smile at one another and get back to work on the cookies. When I get the nerve to glance up at my mother, she catches my eye and has this smitten look on her face. Yep, that
’
s pretty much exactly how I thought my mom would react.

“
Livvy, come help me take these cookies to the car,
”
she says.

“‘
Kay.
”
Jon squeezes my knee before I get up, but continues to concentrate on his gingerbread man.
“
I think you
’
re spending too much time on that one,
”
I tease him.

“
Right,
”
he answers.
“
Go help your mom.
”