“You could have fooled me,” Nina said tersely.
“All right, well, I can’t change the fact that you have to live with your mom, but I can offer you a respite from her rule,” I said, trying to change the subject and get Nina to lighten up.
“Oh yeah?” she said in a tone that let me know she was totally uninterested in my plan.
“Well, if you don’t want to go visit Gram and Gramps, I can call them and tell them you’ve got other plans,” I said casually.
“Gram and Gramps are back?” Nina said excitedly. “When did they come home? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Yep, they’re back for the holiday, and we’re heading over to help put up the tree,” I said, smiling as Nina reached over and turned up the radio as the Boss belted out “Santa Claus is coming to town! Santa Claus is coming to town!”
We sang every Christmas song that came on the radio as we drove to my parents’ house. Nina rolled her eyes and scolded me when I got the lyrics to “All I Want for Christmas” wrong. I laughed and kept singing as she danced in the passenger seat, full of holiday cheer.
My parents were in the driveway looking up at the roof when we pulled up in front of the house. I followed their gaze and saw my brother, knee-deep in snow, on the roof of the house installing a large sleigh behind 12 reindeer outlined in white lights.
“Have you all lost your mind?” I asked, as I walked up the drive.
“Gram! Gramps!” Nina exclaimed, as she took off in a dead run and threw her arms around my dad, hugging him tightly.
“Punkin Pie! How the heck ya been?” my dad laughed, as he hugged his only granddaughter. “We missed you, kiddo!”
“I missed you, too, Gramps,” Nina said, as he set her down and she turned to hug my mother, declaring, “Gram! You look amazing! So modern!”
“You’re looking pretty good yourself, Punkin!” my mother smiled. Nina was right; she did look amazing. She’d cut her silver hair shorter than I’d ever seen it before, and she was wearing a purple tunic over black leggings and ankle boots. She looked young and hip next to my father, who was wearing his usual button-down oxford with a cardigan and tan khakis.
“Hiya, Dad,” I said, hugging my dad then turning to my mom and kissing her cheek. “What on earth is Brian doing?”
“Your father wanted to put Santa’s sleigh on the roof one more time before we got rid of it, and Brian was the lucky volunteer,” she said, rolling her eyes. “This is the epitome of holiday insanity, so I’m taking my granddaughter inside and making hot chocolate. When you boys are ready to be sane, please come join us.”
“Ellie, it’s not that bad,” my father said.
“All I’m saying is that if my son falls off that roof, he’d better come crying to you, not me,” my mother said firmly, as she put an arm around Nina and led her back into the house.
“She’s right, you know,” I said to my father. “This is totally insane.”
“Yeah, I know, but she wanted it up there just as much as I did,” my father grinned. “She just doesn’t want to admit it.”
“Hurry up, slowpoke!” I shouted at my brother. “Mom’s making hot chocolate, and I want to drink it before the marshmallows melt!”
“Then get your lazy ass up here and help me, big brother!” Brian yelled back, as he hammered on the roof.
“Not a snowball’s chance in hell,” I muttered to my father as I slapped his back. “How was the trip, Dad?”
“It was interesting and exhilarating, but I’m glad to be home with you guys for the holidays,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “How are things down at the fire station?”
“Same old, same old,” I said, as we watched Brian nimbly walk across the roof and descend the ladder. He crossed the drive and wrapped me in a bear hug as he slapped my back.
“Good to see you, bro!”
“You too,” I said, pounding his back and then tousling his hair. “I miss being able to pick on my little brother.”
“You’ll get plenty of opportunities,” he grinned, as he folded up the ladder and stored it back in the garage. “I’m gonna stick around for a month or two before I go back to Brazil.”
“Hot chocolate is ready, boys!” my mother called, as she cracked the garage door and then quickly closed it again.
Inside, Nina and my mother had laid out a spread of cookies, fruitcake, and hot chocolate on the kitchen counter. I helped myself to some sweets and then joined the rest in the family room, where my mother had turned on carols and told us it was now our job to decorate the bare tree that stood towering over the room. I looked over at Nina and noticed that her mood had shifted toward happy and relaxed as she pulled ornaments out of a box, and I breathed a sigh of relief. She worried me.
We spent the afternoon decorating the Christmas tree while singing carols and reminiscing about holidays past until the sun sank below the horizon, leaving only a trace of pink and purple smudged in the night sky. When it came time to place the angel at the top of the tree, Brian hoisted his niece on his shoulders, despite my mother’s protest that someone was going to get hurt. Nina carefully placed the angel on the very top of the tree before Brian walked over to the couch and dumped her off into the soft, fluffy cushions.