The 12 Dates of Christmas

The One With the Ex (feat. Chris Evans)

His face was the last one Sonja was expecting to see when she and her boyfriend Chris walked into her parents house for Christmas dinner. Rob was a nice guy. He was. They just didn't work as a couple. That had been a disappointment to both her parents and his- they'd been friends for years.

His face had lit up when he saw her.

“Foxy!” he'd exclaimed, enveloping her in a hug.

Chris had quirked an eyebrow and waited for an explanation.

“In a past life and a parallel universe, Rob and I were an item for about four minutes.”

“Five,” Rob corrected her.

“Ah,” Chris made a little sound of understanding and nodded. “Nice to meet you man. Thanks for splitting up. Worked out for me.”

They shook hands and Rob and Sonja’s parents retreated further into the house while she and Chris took off their coats and boots. She practically held her breath, waiting for the questions.

“So he's here because..?”

She stuffed her scarf into her coat sleeve and put everything in the closet.

“My guess? His folks and mine are good friends. His are probably in Florida with his sister's family for the holiday and my mom didn't want him to be alone.”

"Foxy?" he asked as he yanked his boots off.

"An old nickname he should really drop."

Chris tucked his boots out of the way and pulled her tight against him as she tried to walk past. “How many past lives ago are we talking?”

She kissed him hard but quick. “Like four or five years. It's fine. We run into one another, obviously, but it's very, very over.”

He let Sonja go and grabbed her hand, walking into the house with her. “I know it is.”

Her parents had some cheesy movie playing loudly on the TV, and finger foods on the coffee table. They settled into the sofa and grazed while they chatted and watched the movie. Rob was politely curious about Sonja and Chris. It had been a while since Sonja had seen him.

Chris answered every question he was asked nicely, but didn't seem to want to elaborate much about their life together. He was normally so open that even Sonja's father gave her mother a look of confusion.

Her mother just kept a watchful eye and insisted they keep eating. Chris kept feeding her, and she finally had to put a stop to both of them insisting she eat so there'd be room for dinner.

Sonja couldn't help but notice Chris’ eyes wander to Rob more than once as he pushed food to her face. It took every ounce of self control she had not to roll her eyes at him.

Dinner finally came, and the five of them sat together, talking easily and joking. Chris kept finding excuses to touch Sonja; wiping her mouth with his napkin, brushing hair out of her face, asking for bites of her food.

“Get your own,” she teased.

“What's yours is mine,” he replied, grinning.

Sonja took some of his yams off his plate. “Likewise?”

Chris put his arm around her and pulled her close, kissing her forehead. “No. What's mine is mine.”

It was hard to miss that he was directing his words to Rob, who'd been watching the two of them with an amused expression.

“Do you have siblings, Chris? Because with that attitude, I bet they loved you.”

“A few, yeah. But I shared my toys. It's just the important things I'm protective of.”

Sonja shook her head. “Like yams?”

Chris kissed her full on the mouth, soft and lingering. When he pulled away from her Sonja was breathless. His eyes sparkled. “Yeah. Like yams.”

Sonja's mother clucked. “There's plenty more yams, Chris.”

Her father laughed. “Judy, my darling. You have entirely missed the point.”

Rob smiled. “Chris, I tried yams once. They didn't agree with me. I'm a sweet potato man, myself. But you and yams...I wish you a long and happy life together.”

There was silence for a moment. Sonja looked from Chris, to Rob, and back to Chris again. Then Chris picked up his fork, stuck it in his yams, and saluted Rob as he brought the food to his mouth. “Rob, my man, you, I think I like.”

Rob raised his glass. “To yams. And sweet potatoes. And Sonja putting up with the men who love them.”

Chris toasted. “Men who keep their forks to themselves,” he added with a wink.

“Naturally,” agreed Rob good-naturedly.

Sonja actually did roll her eyes at that.