* * *
By the timethe tree was up, Andy was in a better mood. Especially since Marc and Steve were coming over to watch Clayton play at four.
Will eyed the colored lights that partially blocked his TV. Aly wanted the tree in the corner of the room, and he’d rather make her happy than see that sliver of his big-screen anyway. He probably needed to get more ornaments. The single boxful made the prelit tree look so sparse that Aly and Andy had insisted on using some of their own. A quick trip to the storage pod in the driveway of their house provided enough ornaments to spruce the tree up to Aly’s standards.
“I think it’s pretty.” Aly smiled.
Will wrapped his arm around her. “Good.” Because in the end, that’s all he gave a shit about anyway.
“Do you normally have a crappy-looking tree?”
“Andy!” Aly scolded.
“What?” Andy shrugged. “You were the one who said it couldn’t stay like that.”
Will chuckled. “I’m not sure I even put ornaments on it last year.”
The Gomez siblings wore matching slack-jawed expressions at his admission. But it was true. He always put up the fake tree for a few weeks, but he hadn’t really cared about decorating it until now. “It’s a good thing I have the two of you to straighten me out now.”
Because sitting in his family room—lit only by the colored lights of the tree—with these two felt…nice.
“I was thinking we’d just do pizza for dinner tonight, if that’s okay with you,” Will said when Andy hopped up and headed down the hall. He rested an arm behind Aly’s back and toyed with the ends of her ponytail. She didn’t have her hair up often, but it was cute, and he loved the way her neck looked. Her face, though, currently looked unhappy. “Is that not okay?”
“You’re staring at me. Is there something wrong with my hair?”
Will shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong. I just like looking at you, so get used to it.”
Aly blushed again, and Will tucked her closer.
“Did you know the toilet doesn’t flush weird anymore?” Andy came back in and settled on the sofa, frowning at Aly and Will. “I didn’t even need to jiggle the handle.”
“Oh.” Aly tensed against him. “I forgot to tell you I fixed it.”
“Fixed it?” Will asked. That toilet had been slow to flush for as long as he could remember, and if he wasn’t careful to remind his guests, it would run indefinitely.
“Um.” She fisted her hands in her lap. “I replaced the guts. It wasn’t a big deal. And then I replaced a washer on the faucet in there so it would stop dripping.”
“That toilet hasn’t worked right in years.” He’d messed with it a bit, but plumbing wasn’t his thing.
“It was an easy fix, but I’m sorry if I overstepped.” Aly’s cheeks went pink. “I should have checked with you. I did it this morning because I brought the stuff home the other day. I meant to talk to you about it, but I figured I’d get it done while you guys were at practice.”
“Aly, I’m amazed,” he assured her with a smile. “It needed to be fixed. I just hadn’t gotten around to calling a plumber.”
“You don’t need a plumber. It was simple enough. You could have figured it out yourself. It’s just basic handyman stuff.” Aly shrugged, but the tension left her. She always downplayed her talents like they didn’t matter.
He made a mental note to spend more time making sure she realized that her skill set was as valuable as anyone else’s.
“I’m lucky enough to have my own beautiful handywoman who can teach me her many skills.”
“Just have Aly do it. Last time you tried to fix something, you broke the dryer so bad you had to call Uncle Marc.” Andy snickered as he turned on the TV.
“Hey!” Will scoffed.
“I’m hungry,” Andy announced as soon as he found the station Clayton’s game was airing on.
“I was just saying I’d order pizza since Steve and Uncle Marc are coming over.”
“Aww, do we have to order the weird kind?” Andy complained.