“Yeah, since they were brother and sister,” Alex said pragmatically. “I’m sure she has a lot of stories.”
I looked apprehensively over at the guys. We still hadn’t told Ella that, not only did we not share the same mom, but we technically didn’t have the same father either. I groaned inwardly. It was no surprise that Alex had “eavesdropped” in one of our heads at one point or another.
“They once were really close,” I confirmed stoically.
“Will I have to call her mom if I like her, like you called my dad, Dad?” Ella asked matter-of-factly as she popped the cherry from her sundae into her mouth.
My eyes widened.
“She’s known for a while.” Alex shrugged.
“Alex Ray,” I gave him a pointed look.
“I wasn’t looking. I promise!” Alex exclaimed. “You adults can be so obvious,” he said in a world-weary tone.
I laughed uneasily. “When did you know we didn’t have the same mom and dad?” I asked Ella.
“Since forever,” she said in an impatient tone. “Heidi found out a long time ago, and she told me we weren’t really sisters. She was mad when you tried to take me away. She wondered how she was supposed to get our money if we weren’t there.”
I sighed rubbing my eyes tiredly. “We are sisters in every sense of the word. Dad was really my uncle, but I will always think of him and love him as a father.”
“Okay,” Ella said in a bewildered tone.
I don’t know why I thought she would take it hard all this time. I don’t understand why we hadn’t discussed it before now. I felt terrible for underestimating her resiliency and emotional maturity.
“What time will she be here? Is Hazel coming, too?” Kade asked.
“We were thinking around seven o’clock,” I stated. “She probably will. She’s been wanting to see you guys, too. We’re going to make cookies, drink hot chocolate, and then watch some movies before Santa comes.”
Kade and Micah gave me a meaningful smirk. I was still trying to keep Santa alive until they asked me, and if they did, I think I would’ve told them the truth.
Ella and Alex also exchanged looks, and somehow, I thought the gig was up. When did they become so jaded? I thought seven-year-olds still believed in Santa? I don’t think I stopped believing until I was at least eight.
“Are we making peanut butter cookies?” Alex asked hopefully.
Drake nodded with a smile. “We are, along with chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, white chocolate macadamia nut, double chocolate chip, Nutella, coconut caramel, and lemon drops.”
“That’s a lot of cookies! When do we start?” Ella asked excitedly.
“The sooner, the better,” Drake stated with another fond look.
“Are we doing Christmas with everyone else tomorrow, too?” Jaxson asked as he poured more caramel sauce on his Sundae.
“We are,” Jace stated. “The Karns, Terrance, Marcel, Dawn, Sam, Rachel, Mr. Moore, and Herman will be by for an early dinner, and they plan to be gone by the time Miranda, Greg, and Harry come by.”
“Christmas morning is just going to be us, Pops, Aunt Megan, and Jemmy and her connections,” Remy added on.
“We should probably get everyone’s stocking stuffers wrapped tonight, then,” I commented brightly. “You guys wanna help?” I asked the children.
“Can we peek in our stockings?” Jaxson asked hopefully.
“No.” I rolled my eyes with a smile. “Even if you did, we agreed to wrap, evvvverything,” I said smugly. “We caught Jemmy trying to peek, so we’re onto you guys.”
Jaxson groaned. “I was going to let you peek.”
“I like my surprises!” I exclaimed. “I wasn’t going to look, even if you’d let me.”
“You’re no fun,” Jaxson harrumphed.