It took a minute before we got back to exchanging gifts. Especially with so many people to hug while congratulations were thrown around like confetti.

“My turn,” Paige said, bringing everyone’s focus back.

We all moved back to our seats, and I curled into the corner of the couch. Ace draped his arm over my legs as Paige handed Eli his gift.

“This is great,” Eli said, holding up a leather bag with his initials stamped in it. “Heavy, too. Did you stuff it with rocks?”

She rolled her eyes. “Open it, dork.”

“Honey buns!” He clutched the bag to his chest. “Thank you, Paige.”

Josh moved to the table. He handed Aiden a gift bag straining at the handles.

“Does anyone else smell meat?” Jared asked, sniffing at the air.

Aiden inhaled over the bag. His eyes widened as he dumped the bag in his lap. “Holy crap. Did you buy the whole store? Thanks, man!”

Ella smirked and handed Paige her gift.

“Oooh, smelly stuff! Lots of smelly stuff. Thank you, Ella!”

Aiden sat forward. “Nova, your present is coming in about an hour. Think you can wait that long?”

She gave him a confused look, but nodded. “Of course, but you didn’t have to do anything special for me.”

He gave her a goofy smile.

“Hey, where’s Oliver?” Ella asked.

“Probably too much holiday cheer for him,” Jared scoffed, getting an elbow in the ribs from Murphy.

“Be nice, or I’ll take yer gift back, aye?” Airen said, handing Jared his present.

Jared opened his gift and covered his mouth. I wasn’t sure if it was shock or humor that put such a look on his face. His hand dropped. “I’m a Laird!”

“A what?” Murphy asked.

“Wait… there’s more,” Jared said, pulling out a stack of papers. One by one, he handed them out to everyone.

“Aye, now we’re all kinsmen,” Airen said, “but ye have one more, Jared.”

“Aye?” he said, grinning when she laughed at him.

“Dafty. Here,” she said, handing him a rather large box.

He ripped the paper and tore into the box. “A kilt?”

“And sporran, and plaid… Aye, it’s all there,” she said.

“This is freaking awesome! You know we have to go back to Scotland now, so I can wear my kilt while we check out our land.”

“I’m not doing that flight again any time soon. Next year, maybe,” Murphy said.

Jared didn’t miss a beat. “Good thing that’s right around the corner.”

Eli was next. His gift was handed to Mark while we bantered with Jared about his fuzzy knees, and him having to learn how to play the bagpipe before we’d all commit to going.

Mark opened his gift and shot off the couch. “No way!”

“Way!” Eli said.

“What? What did you get?” Paige asked, standing to peer over his shoulder.

Her lips moved as she read whatever it was in Mark’s hand. She cringed. “You’re on your own with that.”

“Are you going to fill us in, or should we start guessing?” I asked.

“Eli got me an underwater photography package, so I can take pictures of—”

“Big ass sharks. Do you not like him, Eli?” Paige asked.

“How many times have you heard him say over the years that he’d love to do that?” Eli asked.

“I’ve heard it a few times,” Jared said.

“Me too,” Ace chimed in.

“Yeah, well, if he gets eaten…”

“He won’t. I promise,” Eli said.

“Merry Christmas, Murphy,” Nova said, handing her present over.

“Oh, Nova, it’s beautiful,” Murphy said, running her hands over what looked like a leather-bound book.

“What is it, Murph?” Jared asked.

“It’s a journal.” She handed it to him, and then stood to hug Nova.

“There’s a pen in there as well,” Nova said.

Murphy reached into the bag and plucked out a silver pen. “This is beautiful. Look, it even has my name on it.”

“I’m glad you like it.” Nova beamed.

Jared handed Murphy’s journal back. He grabbed an elegantly wrapped gift from the table and handed it to Ace.

“Whoa, something rolled in there. Please tell me you didn’t have Murphy wrap a live animal,” Ace said, fumbling the package.

Jared grinned. “Guess you won’t know ‘till you open it.”

I refrained from pushing myself further back into the couch when Ace broke the tape holding the cardboard box closed.

“Holy cow!” I said when he hauled out a roll of scratch tickets so big I would have had to hold them with two hands.

“You’ll be here for a week scratching all of those,” Aiden said. “You should probably give all of us a few to help you out.”

“Ha. Very funny. Where’s my quarter? You can’t get me tickets and not give me anything to scratch them with,” Ace said, smirking and giving Jared a back-pounding hug.

“Last one,” Murphy said, handing Airen her present.

Airen ripped into the package and hooted. “Ye got them for me!”

“You eyed them enough when we went out shopping,” Murphy said.

“Thank you,” Airen said, setting the decorative cowboy boots down long enough to hug Murphy.

“Murph, come help me with these stockings,” Jared said, moving to one side of the mantle.

The living room looked as though a Christmas factory had exploded. There wasn’t a spot that didn’t have discarded wrapping paper, and we hadn’t even made it to the presents.

“Someone should get Oliver so he can open his stocking,” Josh said.

Ace, at my request, had gone to the kitchen to get me a coffee. When he handed it to me, Paige cleared her throat.

“You shouldn’t be drinking caffeine,” she said.

“Don’t worry, Paige. The nanobots will filter the caffeine out,” I said.

Ace sat down, shaking his head. “Shouldn’t have told her. Now she’s going to fall back on that as an excuse.”

Grant laughed. “We’ll cut her some slack for now. After all, it’s Christmas.”

Aiden popped up from the couch. “Nova, your gift just got here!”

Seconds later, the front door opened, and Oliver stepped inside. “Oh, you got me an Oliver. That’s great. Oh my God, Stanley!”

“Merry Christmas, Nova,” Stanley said, meeting her halfway across the living room.

She hugged him, crying and laughing at the same time. “You have a tan!”

He wiped his eyes and handed her a small bag. “I brought you something. Mind you, it’s not really a Christmas gift, but…”

Nova set the bag on the counter. Taking a cloth-looking bag out, she dumped the contents into her hand.

“I came across them in some of Noni’s things when I was cleaning out the storage container. She never had much in the way of heirlooms, but…”

“It’s her wedding set, isn’t it?” she asked, swiping the tears from her cheeks.

He nodded. “I’d planned on sending them to you once I had an address to ship them. Now I don’t have to.”

She put the rings back into the bag and turned to put her hand on his arm. “I’m really glad you’re here. Come sit with us; we were just about to tackle that mound of presents.”

“Got a spot for you right here, Stanley,” Jared said, shoving things out of the way to clear a path for him.

Nova moved to where Oliver had perched beside Mark on the arm of the couch. She touched his shoulder and gave him a nod before moving off to sit back down.

“This has been the best Christmas ever,” Josh said, holding a lap full of plastic-covered comic books.

I reached up and touched the diamond pendant Ace had fastened around my neck. Past, present, future was what he’d said the stones represented.

“I think Eli out did all of us, though,” Murphy added.

“Well, not all of us can afford to buy a star,” I said, winking at Nova when she blushed.

Eli shook his head. “It wasn’t as expensive as you’d think.”

“Let’s see that ring, Nova,” I said, pushing up from the couch. Eli had given it to her after he’d given her a piece of the sky. While I couldn’t see that piece with my own eyes, I could definitely admire the bling on her hand.

“Stay there. I’ll come to you,” she said.

“I’m pregnant, not crippled,” I said, getting to my feet.

“Good thing, too. I wouldn’t want to be the one carting you around in a few months,” Jared said, getting a smack from not only Murphy, but also from Paige as well.

“That has to be the oddest thing I’ve ever heard any of us say. There’s really going to be a little Ace terrorizing us soon,” Mark said.

“Or a little Riley,” Paige countered.

Josh groaned. “Let it be an Ace. Riley was such a pain in the ass when she was younger.”

“Hey,” I said, shooting him a forced dirty look, but cracked before it could settle on my face. “Okay, you have me there.”

Nova made it over to me and put her hand out.

The stone was a yellow opal, and it shimmered as if it were alive. “Wow. That is absolutely stunning.”

Nova blushed. “It’s like having a piece of home with me.”

“Home?” I asked, wondering what the connection was.

“The colors and the way they reflect is like watching the northern lights,” she said, darting a look at Eli.

“Aww, Eli,” I said, busting out crying.

“Oh, dear lord. Someone should have bought a supply of tissues for her. I have a feeling we’ll all be waterlogged before the baby is born,” Paige said.

“Yeah, well, you try dealing with a heavy dose of hormones,” I said, wiping at my eyes.

“Hey, now, we don’t need to be hearing about all that,” Jared said, shuddering. “You’re like my sister, so I don’t even want to think about that.”

“Not those kind of hormones, yeesh. She means she’ll be a little overly emotional for a little while,” Paige explained.

“Oh, in that case, I’ll keep a box of tissues tucked under my arm in case you go into an instant meltdown,” Jared said, pointing his finger at me.

“Gee, thanks.” I laughed, blotting the last of my tears away.

“Got your six, Riles,” he replied, winking.

It set me off again.

“It’s a good thing we like to build fires,” Ace said, coming to stand beside me while I soaked up the heat blazing in front of me.

“Someone would have had to make a dump run in order to get rid of all that,” I said, eyeing the bags upon bags of gift wrap and boxes we’d broken down.

The flames crackled and jumped, often changing colors from the ink in the paper.

I’d gone to bed on Christmas Eve not knowing what Christmas Day would bring. I’d imagined all sorts of scenarios, most of them ending with someone being angry at Ace and me for the situation we’d found ourselves in.

That hadn’t been the case at all. And I’d worried for nothing. Well, not nothing, because no matter how I looked at it, our child would be coming into a world filled with madness and corruption. The difference was we weren’t on our own. We had a family… a big one.

“I was thinking,” Ace said, putting his arms around me and resting his chin on my shoulder.

“About?”

“Alaska,” he said. “I can’t imagine bringing a baby into the world, and then living underground with it. Chicago’s been okay for all of us, but we’re adults. A kid needs room to run around in the sunshine and fresh air.”

“I hadn’t thought about it. There’s Scotland, too,” I said.

“I thought about Scotland first. It’s beautiful there, but Glasgow is still a big city,” he replied.

“And there’s a whole lot more freedom in Alaska,” I added.

He nodded. “I just want what’s best for the both of you. So if you don’t think you’d be happy in Alaska, then we’ll figure something out.”

“Actually, I think it’s perfect,” I answered.

“What’s perfect?” Jared asked.

“Eavesdropper,” I said as Ace straightened behind me.

I leaned into him, feeling him take a deep breath. “Riley and I are going to talk to Grant and Nadia about transferring to Alaska.”

“Alaska?” Jared said, sounding a bit taken aback.

“From an outsider’s point of view, I can understand why you’d think it was the perfect place, but can I give you a little advice?” Nova asked, shifting on her feet as she bit her lip.

“The insider’s scoop? Sure, that would be helpful,” Ace said, getting a smile from her.

Her hands sank into her jacket pockets, and she hunched her shoulders as she gathered her thoughts. “The winters are long, and there will be times you won’t see the sun for days. That’s not counting when it’s mostly twilight all day for months. Everything is a lot more expensive there, and alcoholism is rampant.

“For all the reasons why it’s one of the best places to live, there’s also a lot of reasons why it can be the worst. If you go into it knowing both the upsides and downsides, it will help you in the long run.”

“Not to mention bears and moose… and what about us? Did you even think about us and what we want?” Jared asked, sounding completely put out.

“What about you?” Ace asked, sounding defensive. “Riley and I have to make the best decision for our family. It’s nothing personal.”

“If you think I’m just gonna wave you off as you move halfway around the world, then you’re sadly mistaken. That is my niece or nephew, and I plan to be there every step of the way to corrupt the little tyke.” Jared huffed.

“Don’t think you guys are leaving us behind,” Paige said, giving us a warning glare.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said, smiling at her.

“Murphy, we’re moving to Alaska,” Jared said as he stormed off.

“What? Why?” she answered, darting a worried look at him. “Oh, you’re serious. Well, I suppose I can always adjust, but I warn you, I won’t be a very nice person until I do. I don’t do freezing very well.”

He picked her up and swung her around. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you warm.”

She laughed. “Okay, enough. Put me down, please.”

He did as she asked, and then turned back to the group. “What about the rest of you?”

One by one, they all agreed that there was no way they’d not be wherever we were.

“Best Christmas ever,” I said, feeling the spirit of Christmas right down to the middle of my soul.

“What are all of you so happy about?” Oliver asked, coming to stand beside Ella.

“We’re moving to Alaska,” she said.

“You are?” he asked, looking flummoxed when we all nodded.

“No, we are,” Ella said, sweeping her finger around the group and landing on him.

“Me?”

“You,” she said, chuckling when he rocked back on his heels.

He crossed his arms and glared. “Great. Just gotta worry about junior getting eaten by a polar bear.”

“Like any of us would let that happen,” Jared said, shaking his head.

“I was talking about you, slick,” Oliver said.

The first of us cracked, followed by another, and then another until we were all but bent over, holding onto our stomachs and each other in order to stay upright. Including Jared.

“Are you done?” Oliver asked, watching us. His lip quivered, but he kept his composure.

“Yes, Uncle Oliver,” Jared said.

I’d always thought of us together, never once thinking that something would keep us apart. When it came down to choosing the safest, most normal place to raise our child, I’d had all of thirty seconds to feel the pang of loss at the thought we’d be separated. I should have known better. Had it been any of them, I would have chosen the same as they had. Because that was what families did. They stuck together. They cheered one another on. They lifted each other up and carried them in their darker moments. They fought. They loved. They grew.

And growing we were… by two feet.