The morning of Christmas Eve Keeley rocked out to Christmas carols as she finished up the last of her baking and wrapped her presents for Aaron and her dad. Everybody else had been given their gifts before they left.
She realized that she had put things off too long and the subways would be nuts today; delivering things would be almost impossible to everyone but her neighbors. Ryan and her colleagues lived in different parts of town. It would be pretty dumb if she gave Christmas cookies to people after Christmas.
There was one person she knew with a car who might be willing to help her out.
"Are you busy right now?"
As expected, Aaron responded right away. "I"m at work; the office is open until 2 PM today because of the holiday. What"s up?"
"I need to deliver some cookie plates but it"ll take all day if I take the subway. It"s cool if you"re not free. I"ll figure something out"
"No need for that. Can you wait until 2:30? I can help you then"
Waiting wouldn"t be a problem but suddenly she felt bad for bothering him while he was busy. "Are you sure?"
"Of course. I"d be happy to be your delivery boy"
Keeley snickered. This basically proved she would like her gift but she would find out later today. "Alright, see you at 2:30"
It was only noon; she had time to kill. She put on a cheesy Christmas cla.s.sic and curled up on the couch with Molly, enjoying the sweet silence of her unusually empty apartment until Aaron sent her a text to let her know he had arrived.
She changed into her designated Christmas Eve outfit before grabbing everything she needed and locking the door behind her. He was waiting out front and she loaded everything into the backseat before climbing in.
His jaw actually dropped when he saw her. She had never gotten such a reaction out of him in either of her lives!
"What on earth are you wearing?"
She looked down at her ugly Christmas sweater. It was green with snowflakes embroidered on it and was strategically wrapped in tinsel that had miniature bulbs on it so she had the appearance of a human Christmas tree.
"I"m a Christmas tree."
"I can see that. But…isn"t it uncomfortable?"
She could tell he was absolutely baffled and it made her want to laugh. "A little but I"m not wearing it all day. Once I take a couple pictures I"ll be done."
"Why would you wear it in the first place?"
"You"ve never heard of the concept of ugly Christmas sweaters? Never mind, of course you haven"t. I made this as part of a contest my department at school was having last year. This is only my second time wearing it because it can"t really be washed."
Aaron blinked multiple times in disbelief before going quiet and she tried really hard to hold her laughter in. He let the matter drop and asked where the nearest address was. Ryan"s was closest.
There was no way she ever wanted those two to meet each other so she said she would be quick and told him to wait in the car. Normally she would have stopped to chat but she left the cookie plate on his welcome mat and did a doorbell ditch so Aaron wouldn"t get bored and come looking for her.
The same thing happened at Dr. Kim"s and Erica"s apartments. Quick and easy. They would make it to Brooklyn a little before 4 PM but she was sure her father wouldn"t mind.
"Thanks for helping me out; you"re a lifesaver."
"Any time. I still get cookies though, right?"
She chuckled. "Most of the cookies are for us. Anything that doesn"t get eaten today or tomorrow will stay with my dad."
"Are you spending the night at his place?"
"Yeah, I left extra food out for Molly that will last her until tomorrow night."
He nodded and continued driving in silence after that. What exactly was going through his head? Was he still judging her about the dumb sweater?
When they arrived Keeley nearly had a heart attack realized that she hadn"t warned her dad Aaron was coming. How stupid was she?! Her brain was mush after finals and she completely forgot.
"What is it?" he asked with a frown, noticing her reaction.
"…my dad might be a bit surprised to see you."
"You didn"t tell him?"
"I forgot! I was tired and my brain was full of random genetics facts so I forgot," she said lamely.
"Well, this should be interesting," he replied in an unfathomable tone.
He helped her carry things up from the parking lot and she unlocked the front door, announcing her presence. "Dad, I"m home! And I brought a friend who has no plans today to join the festivities."
"You know what I always say; the more the merrier." Robert stopped dead in his tracks in utter disbelief when he saw who it was. "Aaron?"
"h.e.l.lo, sir," he said respectfully. "It"s been a while."
This was so awkward. Keeley could have kicked herself for forgetting to say anything beforehand. Her dad liked Aaron so he probably didn"t mind but being thrown off guard like that…she was in for a lot of questions later.
"It certainly has. Glad to have you!"
She set the containers of cookies and the presents down on top of the table for now and indicated that Aaron should do the same. The awkwardness intensified. It was weird having Aaron in her family home as an adult.
In her first life, he spent a little time there in high school but almost never came to visit her father with her after they got married. It seemed wrong that he was standing here now amidst all the average bric-a-brac.