smitten [s. clearwater]

santa claus is coming to town

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-CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN-

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"Stop eating the popcorn!" Jillian complained as she pulled the bowl of popcorn they were using to string their garland.

Delilah snatched the bowl back and stuck her tongue out. "You're piling all the cranberries on, so it's only fair. It goes popcorn cranberry popcorn cranberry and so on, not cranberry times eighty-five and then a hint of popcorn."

As the bowl returned to its spot on the table between the Albright girls, Jillian shrugged. "The cranberries make it cute and pink. Like a Hello Kitty Band-Aid."

"Go buy a box of them, then?" Delilah suggested.

They continued stringing their garlands until there was a knock on the door. "Who's boyfriend and/or fiancé is at the door?" Jillian asked in a voice that resembled a game show host as she laid her garland out on the coffee table. Opening the door, she smiled and turned to Delilah. "It's both!"

She straightened her back out to see over the couch, smiling when she saw Seth with a tray of takeout cups in his hand. Delilah stood and ran over to him, quickly pressing her lips to his under the mistletoe Jillian insisted on hanging. "Is that the new peppermint coffee from the diner?"

Seth nodded and handed her the tray which held four cups. "Two for you and two for your mom."

"You are angels."

Stuffing his hands in his pockets as Jillian beamed at him, Charlie stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Well, the kid got the coffee, I just almost hit him trying to get into the driveway."

"Who would you have called for that accident?" Delilah asked, taking a sip from one of her two to-go cups.

Before Charlie could answer, Jillian kissed him swiftly and then pointed up at the mistletoe. "It's the law."

They kissed once more and Seth and Charlie were ushered into the house out of the rain. Charlie stood over the coffee table, his head cocked to the side as he looked at Jillian's strand of garland. "It looks... festive," he decided. "Different, but very much your style, Jill."

"Thanks," she hummed, happily wrapping her arm around his waist as he put his around her shoulders. "Dee kept eating the popcorn."

Pointing at the popcorn bowl, Delilah jumped to her own defense. "I was only eating the popcorn to even it out from how many cranberries you were using. It's not my fault that things need to be even. That's the law."

Seth watched her as she held her coffee with one hand and animatedly pointed at the bowl with the other. "Dee's is a lot more organized, no offense Jill."

She frowned playfully as she was handed her coffee. "Just to let you know, I'll be crying myself to sleep tonight because of that comment."

"We need to watch The Grinch now since you're both here," Delilah said, grabbing the bowl of popcorn to repurpose it as Jillian jumped into action setting up the movie in the VCR. She frowned and sat down on the smaller couch with Seth. "I wish my Christmas pants were clean."

"Don't people in hell want ice water or something?" Jillian joked as she and Charlie staked their claim on the other couch. Delilah threw popcorn across the short distance between her and her mother.

Seth and Charlie didn't feel out of place as the movie started and the mother daughter duo recited the movie and kept up with their banter. Instead, they smiled and realized how lucky they were to be with the Albright girls, who could never fail to make a gray and rainy day brighter and happier. As they watched Jillian and Delilah act like they were the best friends each other could have, Seth and Charlie fell even more in love with the girls they had their arms around.