Wishing Star

Chapter 30

Christmas morning had Max waking up earlier than usual. She recognized that this was often the case when it came to Christmas morning, but she only experienced this phenomenon up until her mom died. After that, there were no Christmas trees, no decorations, no presents. It was just another day.

So Max wasn't sneaking out of bed at the crack of dawn to open presents but to start on preparations for their Christmas breakfast. Another new tradition she wanted to incorporate.

She slipped on her matching Christmas green loungewear, a pair of leggings, and a crop top and slipped on a hoodie to fight the morning chill. She glanced out the window to see that the skies were the unique grey color that was a prelude to snow. Her excitement grew at the thought of a white Christmas.

Copper lifted his head from where it was resting on Caelum's ankles; his body tucked perfectly in the crook of Caelum's knees. She walked toward the pair and took a couple of seconds to pet Copper back to sleep.

"Good boy," she whispered, tiptoeing to the door and shutting it softly behind her.

Once she was in the kitchen, she started preparing for the admittedly over-the-top Christmas breakfast she's been planning. When she was fighting the thoughts of Beck and what had happened in that bathroom, she forced her mind on planning and cooking. Just like she always used to do.

She knew what she was planning was much too elaborate for three people, but she had already texted Sarah, who was more than willing to take any leftovers.

She hated lying to her friend about what happened when Sarah asked her how she was feeling, but she knew there was no way around it. She had informed Sarah that she was out of the woods, and while that might be the case physically, mentally, she knew it would take much longer.

She pushed those thoughts away and focused on her fruit Christmas tree, covering the cone-shaped foam with plastic wrap. With toothpicks in hand, she focused on assembling the tree with strawberries, blackberries, oranges, blueberries, grapes, and even a piece of pineapple, shaped into a star to put on top. Finally, in her element, with all thoughts of Beck forgotten, she completed the tree. She moved on to the much simpler dishes of biscuits and gravy because while she wanted this breakfast to be fancy, she knew Clark and Caelum would be more appreciative of some simple dishes.

At least the biscuits were homemade.

She frosted her homemade cinnamon rolls with a special Christmas glaze complete with hints of orange and cranberry and set them in the oven to keep warm.

She decorated the kitchen table with a white tablecloth and then decorated it with a garland she had created from the evergreen trees outside. She sat Christmas balls strategically throughout the garland and added some pinecones she had frosted with fake snow.

She saved cooking the meat for last, knowing that once the scent of bacon was in the air, the guys would waste no time making their way downstairs.

Sure enough, twenty minutes later, the table was set and piled with the food, and their low voices carried through the door as they walked down the stairs. Clark continued to the front door to let Copper out to do his business, but Caelum opened the kitchen door and stopped short, his eyes widening.

"Holy fuck," he whispered, his eyes taking in the table before meeting her own.

She gave him a sheepish smile, and he rushed across the kitchen, giving her a hug and crushing her to his chest.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered.

He leaned back to look at her face, and his smile was so wide, that both dimples had made an appearance.