“How do you know we’re having s’mores?”
“I saw the chocolate. I’m no dummy.” I wink and lead him out the back door, through the trampled snow to the side of the house where everyone else is already huddled around the fire, sticks of marshmallows in the fire.
“I can’t believe I didn’t know you guys did this every year,” I say as I sit next to Seth and Zack settles next to me. I grin to myself. I love being sandwiched between my guys.
“Can I have some hot chocolate?” Seth asks. “Please?”
“Of course.” I pour him a cup, then everyone else too, passing the cups around the circle.
“What do you do if it’s snowing?” Cara asks around a bite full of s’mores.
“This,” Josh replies with a shrug.
“What if it’s a blizzard?” Lo asks.
“This,” Zack confirms.
“Well,” Nancy adds, “the one year that we had twenty-below weather we had to take it inside and roast the marshmallows in the woodstove.” She grins as her gaze circles about the fire. “I’ve truly missed this. Think of how different last Christmas was.”
We all fall quiet lost in our own thoughts as Zack leans over and kisses my temple.
“So how did s’mores become a Christmas Eve tradition?” I ask as Zack blows the fire out on my marshmallows and helps me place them on my chocolate and graham crackers.
“I don’t remember,” he replies. “Do you, Dad?”
“I’m out of marshmallows!” Seth announces and licks his fingers.
“Stop sharing with Thor,” Ty says with a laugh, earning a wide grin from the boy.
“The boys were about five,” Jeff begins and passes a fresh bag to Seth. “And they wanted to sit outside to watch for Santa.”
“That’s right.” Nancy nods with a laugh. I’ve always loved the King family. Nancy is slim with dark hair like her boys. Jeff is tall and broad, but where his boys are dark, he’s got light hair, sprinkled with gray. They had the twins in their thirties after many years of struggling to have children. “They refused to sit inside and watch out the window. They didn’t want to miss it. So, Jeff built the fire and we bundled up and made s’mores to pass the time.”
“Did you ever see Santa?” Cara asks with a nudge to Josh’s arm.
“We always fell asleep,” he replies with a grin.
“And how did you know about this?” I ask Ty with a frown.
“The guys invited me out here on Christmas Eve in high school, and we’d hang out here, make the s’mores that Mama King bought for us, and lie to each other about girls.”
“You never mentioned it,” I reply.
“It wasn’t a secret,” he says with a laugh. “I guess I never thought to tell you.”
“Hey! I never lied about girls,” Zack insists.
“Right.” Ty rolls his eyes and then kisses Lo on the temple. “Do you need anything, sweetness?”
“Nope, I’m good.”
“Warm enough?”
“Mm.” She nods and smiles happily. “The fire is nice.”
“So, Seth,” I say and tousle the boy’s hair. “Are you going to stay up long enough to see Santa with me?”
“There’s no Santa,” he insists as he blows out a burning marshmallow.
“What did I say last week in my kitchen? Yes, there is. If you keep saying there isn’t, he won’t show up tonight, and I for one want to see what he brings you.”
Seth raises a brow and stares at me like I’m crazy. Conversation swirls around us as I scoot closer to the boy and wrap my arm around his shoulders and speak softly to him.
“Even if you don’t believe in the man himself, you have to believe in the magic of Christmas, Seth. That’s what Santa is.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s the whole season. The lights and decorations and good food. It’s sitting right here, by this fire in the middle of a snowy Montana winter, eating s’mores and slipping marshmallows to your dog.”
Seth smirks and flips another marshmallow to Thor as I continue.
“Christmas is the magic of being generous to others. And it’s about remembering that a little baby was born so that you and I are forgiven our sins. Christmas is special.”
I lean back to find that everyone sitting around the fire is watching us, listening. Nancy is smiling widely and nodding, and murmurs simply, “Well said.”
I shrug and feel my cheeks heat. “I like Christmas.”
“And that’s saying something, considering how shitty Christmases were in our house,” Ty mutters with a grimace.
I shake my head in warning. I don’t want to talk about Mom and Dad now, here in this special place. We’re having too much fun to bring old, bad memories into it.
Zack pulls me into his arms, cradles my face in his hands, and kisses me long and slow, right here in front of all of our family. When he finally pulls away, Josh yells, “Get a room!”
“What was that for?” I ask breathlessly.
“You’re a special woman, Jillian Sullivan.”
“I’m just a girl who loves Christmas. And s’mores. Give me some of those marshmallows, brat.” I steal the bag from Seth and giggle when he sticks his lower lip out in a pout.
Jeff stands to throw more logs on the fire and glances around the yard, taking in a deep breath. “We lucked out on the weather. Stopped snowing just in time.”