“Are your sure your aunt will be okay with me tagging along?” I asked Airen as she knocked on the front door to her aunt’s house.

“Aye, she’ll be pleased for the company,” Airen said.

The door swung open. The next thing I knew, we were swept inside and then I was enfolded in the warmest hug I’d felt in a long time. “Ye look as if ye need a dram to chase away the chill. Come along then, I’ve a new tea to try and if ye like, ye can add a splash to fill yer belly until tea is done.”

Tea? Wasn’t she serving us tea? I looked to Airen.

“Dinner, she means,” she explained as we wandered into the living room.

The walls were bare, but the outline of picture frames once hung remained. There were a few boxes neatly stacked in the corner, and a random stack of sheets sat on top.

“Cleaning, Auntie?” Airen asked, eyeing the wall with a smirk. “Or did ye finally decide to take down my wall o’shame?”

“The wall needs a fresh coat, and so I said to m’self… Brenda, the lassie will be here and none too soon,” Airen’s aunt Brenda said, following it up with a boisterous laugh when Airen huffed.

“Aye, and with help, too,” Airen answered, scowling.

Brenda smiled wide, eyes dancing. “It’s good te have ye home, Airen.”

Airen pulled out the chair in front of her and sat. “Yer lucky I love ye, Auntie.”

Airen’s accent seemed to thicken the more she bantered with her aunt. I could have sat there for days listening to it, even if they were bickering.

“Sit, lassie, yer no’ going te get any taller by standing,” Brenda said, claiming her own seat.

It was nice to feel so relaxed. Even better being in the company of a woman who laughed more often than not. It was an infectious sound. A buoy that signaled hope to help those who felt lost in a sea of grief.

The tea warmed me up, and the conversation carried me forward. Life would go on. That was all there was to it. It would hurt, but with hurt came healing, and with healing came closure so as to move on. Sitting at Brenda’s kitchen table might not have been the first step, but it had been a big one.

“Ye have paint on yer nose,” Airen said, pointing at me with the brush in her hands.

I felt my eyes cross as I tried to look down, but then gave up when I felt a wave of dizziness roll through me.

Airen laughed and set the brush down. “It’s good to laugh, aye?”

It was. “Is it as hard for you as it is for me to be around them?”

She gave me a knowing look before kneeling to put the lid on the paint can. “It is now with… they’re a close group. The Six. But ye never feel like an outsider with them. They take ye in, and that’s that. Only nothing like this has ever happened before. And I think it’s really hit them hard, especially with no way of saying goodbye.”

“I got that with Noni,” I said as she picked up the paint can and then carried it over to the closet.

“Aye, and ye need that to move on the best ye can. It’ll get better once they have that as well,” Airen said, cocking her head as we both heard the sound of keys jingling outside the front door. “That’ll be Aunt Brenda.”

“Well, will ye look at that? Nothing better than a fresh coat of paint,” Brenda said as soon as the door was closed behind her.

“Don’t ye mean free labor?” Airen asked.

“Cheeky.” Brenda shook her head and motioned us to follow her. “I suppose ye’ll be wanting a bite to eat. Come along and sit ye down… after ye wipe the paint off yer paws. Did ye roll in it, lass?” she asked, picking up a chunk of Airen’s hair with a sound of amusement.

“Oh, aye, used my head as a brush to make the painting faster,” Airen said as she walked over to the kitchen sink.

“At least you don’t look like the paintbrush got away with ye,” Brenda said, making a circuit around me.

Airen scowled in our direction. “Aye, she kens how to paint. Ye made yer point.”

Brenda smirked. Then, with a briskness born to those who knew their way around a kitchen, she had hot tea on the table and served the most delicious meat-filled pastries I’d ever sank my teeth into.

While she and Airen caught up, I listened, answering when asked a question, but for the most part, I kept quiet. Airen had needed the time with her aunt. She might not have realized it, but I could tell by the way she shook off the layer of grief and became animated the more they talked.

When it was time to go, I followed Airen out the door after another one of Brenda’s soul-mending hugs.

“Oliver called,” Riley said, poking her head out of her room.

“Aye?” Airen put her hand on my arm, holding me in place without asking me to stay.

“He said we’re headed back to Chicago.”

“Tell her the best part!” Ace called out from somewhere behind her.

She laughed. “Hold your horses. I’m getting to it.”

“We’re going home for Christmas!” Jared shouted as he came out of his room and barreled down on us.

Airen shrieked and darted out of the way when Jared made a grab for her. He got a devilish sort of look on his face. Before I knew what was happening, he had me over his shoulder and then spun me in a circle. “That means you too, Super Nova.”

“Oh, God, put me down before I get sick,” I said, digging my elbows into his back.

He laughed like a loon and then set me on my feet. I staggered, but he kept his hands firmly on my shoulders to keep me from smacking into the wall.

When my eyes stopped rolling about in my head, he let me go. Giving another whoop of laughter, he then darted back to his room as he called, “Christmas at the cabin, Murph!”

His door slammed. Riley chuckled, followed by Airen.

“I guess that means he’s really happy?” I asked.

“He is. We all are. Maybe Cole realized we need this,” Riley answered. “A real house at Christmas… How long has it been?”

“Too long,” Paige said, coming up behind us. “Were you painting, Airen?”

Airen rolled her eyes and then looked at me. We broke into a round of giggles.

“Must have been drinking, too,” Paige said as she smirked when she walked around us. “God, I can’t wait to be home.”

“Oh my God, I’m gonna kill him before we ever get to Alabama,” Murphy said as she slipped out of her room and then moved to lean against the wall.

“Do you know what this means?” Riley asked, bouncing on her toes.

Murphy snorted. “Yeah, Jared’s going to be even more of a pain in the—”

The bedroom door was snatched open. “Ah… ah… ah… Be nice, Murphy. Santa Jared is listening.”

Paige deadpanned and said, “Well, that saves me a stamp.”

Jared flicked her off, grabbed Murphy, and tried to pull her back into the room. “Come on , Murph, we can fill our digital carts and leave them so when people start acting like grinches, we can take a gift away and cackle.”

“You’re breaking my heart, oh, jolly one.” Paige returned the hand gesture.

Jared huffed. “Mark that down, Murphy… one less present for Paige.”

Murphy groaned. “You’re going to be an impossible pain in the ass from now until Christmas.”

He pulled her into his arms. “Yeah, but you’ll love me despite it.”

She chuckled. “Yes, Jared, despite all of it, I still love you.”

He pulled back and gave her a look that said he was contemplating something.

“What?” Her head tipped as she watched him, waiting for him to answer.

He shook his head, and then scooped her up in his arms. “Nothing, just love you,” he said, carrying her inside their room. The door closed with a bang, and the muffled sound of Murphy giggling followed.

“Yep, that’s my cue,” Paige said, wandering back to her own room.

“We were about to put on a movie if you’d like to come hang out and watch it with us,” Riley said as I set out to go to my own room.

“Are you sure you want company?” I asked.

Ace stuck his head out the door. “Do you girls want popcorn?”

Riley wiggled her eyebrows at me.

I nodded.

“Make two bags,” Riley said, hooking her arm through mine. “I’ll share with you, Nova. Ace always hogs a whole bag to himself.

“Hey! I heard that,” Ace said.

Riley laughed. “I meant for you to.”

The movie started, and I found myself settled into the recliner in their room with pillows and a throw blanket. It didn’t matter what movie it was. The company alone filled me with a sense of belonging.

There had been a split second where I’d thought I’d be left behind when they headed out to Alabama, until Jared had announced I was going too. Relief had washed over me. It wasn’t as if I was needy. Had I not been invited, I would have made it through the holidays on my own. Being alone would have sucked since it would be my first Christmas without family… without Noni.

My concerns were no longer valid. I’d be tagging along with them, the newly adopted member of their group. I’d never be one of the Six, but that was okay with me. As long as I had their friendship, that was all that mattered.