Under the Mistletoe: A Blythe College Holiday Story Read online

  It was our turn to host everyone, which was why I’d done so much baking leading up to Christmas. The size of our crowd had grown throughout the years, and every single one of the kids had a sweet tooth. I was always amazed by how many cookies and cupcakes they could polish off when their bellies were so small.

  “It’s almost as though they’re born with a second stomach just for dessert,” I muttered as I refilled the plate of chocolate chip cookies from the dwindling supply on my kitchen counter.

  “Especially the boys.” I whirled around at the familiar feminine voice, and my heart was filled with pure joy when I spotted my best friend standing in the doorway.

  “You’re here!” I shrieked, running across the room to give her a hug.

  She squeezed me back. “Yup, and everybody else shouldn’t be too far behind us. Mom wanted to clean stuff up before she and Dad headed over, and Kassidy had a teenage emergency so who knows how long Jackson and his crew will be.”

  Aubrey, Luka, Veronika, and Maxim had flown into town yesterday morning to celebrate the holiday with her family. They’d done Thanksgiving with Luka’s family in Chicago this year, which made it her parents' turn for Christmas since they rotated each year. Since Kaylie hadn’t seen her aunt in years, Jackson never had to worry about splitting their family’s time with anyone else. Which was great for Aubrey and Jackson’s parents since it meant they always had some of their grandchildren around to spoil.

  “What kind of emergency?” I asked, wondering what could have delayed my honorary niece when I knew how much she’d been looking forward to coming over to our house today.

  “Something to do with wanting to try the makeup she got for Christmas.” Aubrey widened her eyes, pasting an innocent expression on her face that I wasn’t about to buy since I knew her too well.

  I shoved the plate of cookies into her hands and headed over to the fridge to pull out some additional snacks. “Who did she get that present from? It doesn’t sound like something your brother would’ve wanted under the tree.”

  “Who else would it be from except her favorite aunt?” Aubrey teased.

  I grabbed the cheeseball I made last night and pulled the cellophane off the top so I could spread crackers around it. “That’s impossible since she hasn’t had the chance to open what I got for her yet.”

  She rolled her pretty blue eyes. “Ha-ha. Funny.”

  Although Aubrey was related to Jackson’s daughters by blood, I had the advantage of spending more time with them since we lived in the same town. Kassidy and Kennedy adored us both just as much as we loved them, but that didn’t stop my best friend and me from teasing each other over which one of us was their favorite aunt.

  We were laughing as we walked into the living room to set the plates down on the long, narrow table behind the sofa where I’d laid out all of the snacks. Luka came over to give me a hug. “Merry Christmas, Lexi. Thank you for having us all over.”

  “It’s my pleasure.” I grinned up at the man who spent every day of his life making sure my bestie and their daughters were as happy as he could make them. “You know how much I love it when you’re all here.”

  He flung his arm around Aubrey’s shoulder. “You get almost as excited about our visits as moya printsessa.”

  I loved when Luka spoke in Russian, especially when he used his adorable nickname for my best friend. And how growly he got when I teased him about his daughter’s crush on my son. “But someone else looks forward to your trips down here more than both of us combined.”

  Luka’s gaze searched the room, and he stomped off when he spotted Veronika and Tanner sitting next to each other on the floor near the Christmas tree. Her insistence that she would marry him someday hadn’t waned over the past few years, no matter how much her daddy wished it had. Nothing romantic was really going on between the two kids, but it was fun to yank his chain every once in a while.

  “That was mean,” Aubrey murmured when her husband crossed the room and dropped onto the floor next to their daughter.

  “Maybe,” I conceded with a grin.

  Aubrey jerked her chin toward the loveseat, where Marie and Maxim were sitting side by side while my daughter showed off her Once Upon a Unicorn to him. Drake was standing behind them with his arms crossed over his chest. “Payback is a bitch.”

  “At least Drake will be the one paying it.” I wagged my brows, and we burst into laughter. Our giggles didn’t draw any attention since everyone was used to how we were together. Plus, our husbands were too busy glowering while my in-laws and dad were occupied with pulling all the new toys out of their boxes. It wasn’t until the front door flew open and Aubrey’s mom, dad, Jackson, Kaylie, Kassidy, and Kennedy walked into the house that everybody looked up from what they were doing.

  Kassidy made a beeline over to us. After we hugged, I gripped her shoulders while I peered at her face. She’d definitely put her gift from Aubrey to good use without going overboard. “You look stunning.”

  “Thanks, Aunt Lexi.” Her cheeks tinged pink at my compliment, and she ducked her head as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

  Jackson came up behind Kassidy and dug his fingers in her ribs, making her giggle. Then he moved to her side and complained, “She doesn’t need makeup. She was already beautiful without it.”

  Kaylie walked over to us while Kennedy headed over to where Tanner and Veronika were sitting, and the Silvers joined the grandparent huddle around the pile of presents. Wagging her finger at Jackson, she chided, “No more complaining about the makeup. The rule was she could start wearing it when she turned thirteen. You’re lucky she’s only used mascara and lip gloss until today.”

  “Yeah.” Kassidy nodded before she elbowed her dad in the side and wandered over to the table of snacks. After she put a couple of things on her plate, she turned to me and asked, “Do you have a knife for the cheeseball?”

  “Darn it,” I muttered as I moved toward the kitchen. “I forgot. Let me go grab one for you.”

  “No rush,” she assured me when I walked past her. She waved one of the crackers in the air before dipping it into the cheeseball. “I can get creative when cheese is involved.”

  I kept going just in case anybody else wanted to use a knife instead of a cracker. After I grabbed one from the drawer and turned back around, I almost crashed into Tanner. “Oops, sorry. I didn’t know you were behind me.”

  “My stealth skills are getting better,” he joked.

  My son wasn’t naturally light on his feet, and I had to remind him to work on that whenever he sounded like a stampede of elephants while he was upstairs. “Good job.”

  He surprised me by wrapping his arms around me and squeezing. His hug lasted longer than usual before he leaned back and whispered, “We’re really lucky, Mom.”

  “We sure are, buddy.” I smiled down at him.

  “No, I mean really really lucky.”

  The light bulb finally went off in my head, and I realized where this was coming from. “Our visit to the homeless shelter really got to you, huh?”

  “Yeah.” He heaved a deep sigh and shrugged. “I guess I never thought about how there could be kids who stayed in places like that. But there were so many of them.”

  I gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Yeah, that’s a big part of why I thought we should do the baskets for the shelter. To help make their holiday a little better.”

  “I’m glad we did.” He paused before announcing, “But I want to do more, so I’m going to talk to my coach and see if we can volunteer there this season.”

  Tanner had followed in his dad’s footsteps and started playing rugby when he was only five years old. His coach for the past two years had the players doing community projects to help build team unity. “I think that’s a great idea, kiddo.”

  I was a little teary-eyed, which made Tanner roll his eyes and walk away. Drake looked up when we returned to the living room. The smile I aimed his way was wobbly, which he spotted right away. After patting the top of Marie�
��s shoulder, he headed my way and pulled me close. Whispering in my ear, he asked, “What’s wrong, baby?”

  “Nothing at all.” I rubbed my cheek against his chest. “Our son just reminded me of how blessed our lives are.”

  If you don’t already have Push the Envelope, Push It Forward, and Winter Wedding (the three Blythe College series stories featuring Drake & Lexi), you can grab them all for only 99¢ in this collection for a limited time! (As of December 2020.)

  If you’ve read the entire series, remember Josie from Outside the Box? She gets her story in Sucked Into Love!

  About the Author

  I absolutely adore reading—always have and always will. When I was growing up, my friends used to tease me when I would trail after them, trying to read and walk at the same time. If I have downtime, odds are you will find me reading or writing.

  I am the mother of two wonderful sons who have inspired me to chase my dream of being an author. I want them to learn from me that you can live your dream as long as you are willing to work for it.

  Connect with me online:

  www.rochellepaige.com