To break the tension in the room, Keeley turned to her dad. "Can you take a picture of me next to the tree?"

"Sure," he replied. "Do you want to use the spare tree topper as a hat?"

"Ooh, that would be great! Be right back!" Keeley dashed off to find it. It was in a box of extra Christmas decorations in Kaleb's old room and wasn't difficult to locate.

Standing next to the tree, she posed, carefully placing the topper on her head and holding very still to keep it from falling. Her dad snapped the picture and declared that she made a fine Christmas tree before handing her back her phone.

She removed the star. "We should probably change into our pajamas now. Aaron, you can wait out here."

Keeley went to her room and put on her reindeer onesie. When she emerged, her dad was wearing his, but Aaron was nowhere to be seen. Was he in the bathroom?

A minute later, the bathroom door opened, and he emerged wearing an identical reindeer onesie. Keeley couldn't help it; she laughed so hard she fell to the floor, rolling around uncontrollably. She couldn't breathe!

Every attempt to speak dissolved into another fit of laughter. She couldn't regain control, no matter how hard she tried.

Robert looked bewildered. "What's so funny?"

"Me, I think," Aaron said dryly.

Keeley finally sat up and wheezed, "I'm sorry! It's just—I thought you were joking about the pajamas! You—"

He stood there, expressionless, in his reindeer onesie with the hood up, and she burst into laughter again. No one would believe that the sophisticated Aaron Hale wore something so frivolous, making him look like a giant, petulant five-year-old.

Eventually, she regained her composure. "I'm sorry. I was amazed and lost control. You look great; you really pull it off."

"Really?" he asked skeptically.

"Totally! Super cute."

"I agree," her father added. "Come on; let's get a picture of you two together!"

"I promise I won't blackmail you," Keeley teased.

He sighed. "You're going to hold this over my head forever, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not! Okay, maybe a little." She grabbed his arm and pulled him closer for the picture. "I promise I won't tell anyone else, though."

"Fair enough."

She linked her arm through his and told him to smile as they posed for Robert's camera. To her surprise, he actually did—sort of. It was a small, amused smirk, but more than he usually gave in pictures.

Aaron held out his phone. "I want one too."

He stood behind Keeley, resting his chin on her head and putting his arms around her. She allowed it; he was being a good sport about her reaction to his appearance.

"I'll order the takeout; you get the eggnog and the nice glasses," Robert instructed, and she saluted dramatically.

"Takeout?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, we always get Chinese takeout from this specific restaurant on Christmas Eve. It's a tradition that's been going on longer than I can remember. We have the fancy dinner on Christmas Day."

She looked at him seriously, gauging whether she'd offended him. "I really am sorry for laughing. I was just surprised because it didn't seem like something you would do. Honestly, it was kind of awesome."

A hint of a smile played on his lips. "Awesome, huh?"

"Totally awesome! You surprise me sometimes—there's never a dull moment with you."

He tilted his head. "Interesting. I could say the same about you."

Well, she had worn a Christmas tree sweater that day. That was a fair point.

Keeley retrieved her mother's special occasion goblets, got the eggnog from the fridge, and poured three servings. "Have you ever had eggnog before?"

"No."

She handed him a glass and raised hers. "Since it's your first time, let's toast. What should we toast to?"

Aaron's eyes met hers, a softness in his gaze. "To your future."

That was an odd toast. "Why that?"

"I'm glad you're here, that's all."

She shrugged. He didn't always make sense, but she could let it slide. "Alright then. To my future. We should toast to yours too, to be fair."

He raised his glass. "To our future."

Shouldn't that be plural? Futures? Oh, whatever. She clinked her goblet against his and took a large gulp. Eggnog could be surprisingly potent.

"What did I miss?" Robert asked, returning from ordering the food.

"Eggnog," she said, handing him a glass.

They sat around the table, drinking eggnog and chatting. Her father was curious about Aaron's post-graduation activities. Aaron explained that he'd gone to Harvard and become vice president of Hale Investments upon graduation, detailing some recent projects.

"Oh, so your proposal went well then?" Keeley asked, swirling her eggnog.

"Yes, I got the majority vote, 9-2."

"Nice!"

This small talk continued until the food arrived. The Halls ate with gusto. Aaron was more cautious, unfamiliar with the restaurant, but eventually ate a decent amount. Keeley noticed he was getting used to "commoner food."

She felt oddly proud of him, though unsure why; it seemed silly. Was it because he was acting like a normal person with her, instead of the snob she used to know?

Watching him interact naturally with her dad, wearing those ridiculous matching pajamas, she almost believed he was an average guy. It made her wistful. If Aaron hadn't been Aaron, this would be perfectly normal.

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