“You read my diary?” She crossed her arms and glared at him.
“And Will asked me once, a long time ago, what I’d think if he dated you,” Spencer said.
Lauren looked at Will, who, for the first time she could remember, actually blushed. “You did?”
He shrugged. “Spencer said no, so I dropped it.”
“You said no!?” Lauren gave her brother a shove.
“He wasn’t ready for you, Lo,” Spencer said. “He had some growing up to do. But he really turned things around, and I don’t know, I started to think maybe you two might finally be ready for each other.”
“Spencer Michael Richmond.” Lauren said. “I never would’ve pegged you for a matchmaker.”
He shrugged. “What can I say—I have a sixth sense about these things.”
“Well, thanks,” Will said. “You were right then, and you were right now.”
“Good,” Spencer said. “Now that we all agree I’m a genius—do you want to meet your niece?”
Lauren beamed. “More than anything.”
Inside the room, they found an absolutely radiant Helen, cradling the sweetest baby with a full head of dark hair. Lauren was unprepared for the wave of emotion that washed over her at the sight of Spencer’s little girl.
“Do you want to hold her?” Helen asked.
Lauren nodded. “Yes, please! What’s her name?”
“Noel Joy,” Spencer said.
Lauren took the baby from her sister-in-law as a tear streamed down her cheek. “She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Will slipped his arm around her, peering down at her niece, and for the first time since she was ten-years-old, Lauren felt like she had a family again.
What a gift.
The best Christmas gift she could’ve imagined.
She looked up at Will, whose eyes had filled with tenderness as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Do you want to hold her?” she asked.
Will nodded and moved away, reaching for the baby, but Lauren held her just out of his reach. “Before I can hand her over, you have to sing your favorite Christmas carol.”
His jaw went slack. “No. No, you aren’t throwing this back at me right now—”
She shrugged. “It’s just I have something here that smells like heaven and makes you feel like you’re the luckiest human in the world, and I really want to share it with you, but you have to pay the price.”
“I think we will be the ones paying the price, Lauren, have you heard this guy sing?” Spencer laughed.
She narrowed her eyes. “Unfortunately, I have.”
“All right,” Will said. “You asked for it. In honor of this beautiful child—” he bowed. “There is really only one appropriate Christmas carol.” He drew in a breath, then started the heartiest, most horrible, off-key version of “The First Noel” any of them had ever heard.
They all joined in the chorus, even Helen, who laughed the whole way through.
Will took a step back and snapped a photo on his phone—yet another memory of the Christmas Lauren Richmond came back to life.
And as she looked around the room, she couldn’t help but count her many, many blessings, and she knew in her heart her days of ignoring Christmas were over.
Epilogue
One Year Later
“I honestly thought we’d never make it.” Lauren had never been so happy to see Will’s parents’ house as she was at that exact moment. After a full seven days on the road, the two of them had a whole lot of new stories to tell his family around the dinner table.
They’d decided to take the road trip home again in honor of Pops, who’d passed away on New Year’s Day almost a year ago, surrounded by his family.
This time, Lauren didn’t complain. Not when Will told her he hadn’t made any reservations. Not when they made countless unexpected stops. Not even when she got locked in a gas station bathroom and Will didn’t come looking for her for a solid thirty-five minutes.
This, she had learned, was part of the adventure of life—and she didn’t want to miss a single minute of it.
Inside the coziness of the Sinclair home, they shared photos of their trip, photos of the set of the top-rated sitcom Lauren had decorated, and photos of Will’s team, now that he was the head coach.
In the center of the picture of the team was a beaming Jackson Pope.
Spencer and Helen had joined them, along with Noel, who was almost—almost—ready to take her first step. With any luck, it would happen while Lauren was home.