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“It’s crooked.”

Brian stared at the artificial Christmas tree in dismay. Baylee was right, it was crooked. The two of them had just spent the better part of two hours un-boxing all of the branches and jamming them into the little metal slots that lined the ‘trunk’ of the tree. It had taken them another half an hour to manoeuvre the massive tree into position next to the fireplace. They still had to decorate the stupid thing.

“It’s not crooked.” Brian corrected. “It has a festive lean.”

Baylee raised his eyebrows at his father. “Have you been drinking?”

Brian suppressed a snort of laughter as he shook his head at Baylee’s highly inappropriate comment. “Have you?”

Baylee looked back at his dad in shock, clearly unsure of how to respond. “No.”

“Good.” Brian stated. “I’m glad that we’ve got that question out of the way.” He dropped to his knees and shimmied himself under the tree to inspect the base. “Let me know when it looks straight.”

“Now it’s festively leaning to the other side.” Baylee informed him as Brian fiddled with the plastic supports.

Brian cursed softly under his breath and crawled even further under the tree. “What about now?” He asked, slamming his palm down on the part of the base that was closest to the wall.

“Better!” Baylee announced. “Don’t touch anything else!”

Brian ducked out from under the tree and sat back on his heels. Although the tree still looked a bit unsteady, it no longer looked as though it were about to topple over. “See?” Brian flashed his son a massive smile. “I told you that we could do it by ourselves.”

“Mom puts a tree in every room.” Baylee reminded him. “And none of them have a festive lean.”

“Well this tree is so big that we don’t need one in every room.” Brian pointed out. “Besides, we don’t have time to put up more than one tree.”

“I suppose.” Baylee shrugged and turned to look at the overwhelming amount of lights and ornaments that were piled on the floor. “Are we gonna do the lights now?”

Brian nodded and plucked a package of fairy lights off of the top of the pile. He tore into the box, just as his phone began to vibrate on the table. He looked down and saw Nick’s goofy looking expression flash on the display. Brian handed the box of lights to Baylee. “Open this while I talk to Nick.”

“Hey, Bri.” Nick’s voice was quiet. “What are you up to?”

“Baylee and I are attempting to put up a Christmas tree.” Brian answered. “How’s it going at your mom’s?”

“That’s actually why I’m calling.” Nick mumbled. “It didn’t go very well.”

Brian paused at Nick’s use of the past tense. “What do you mean? Didn’t you just get there yesterday?”

“I got there last night.” Nick hesitated. “And I left this morning.”

“You left?” Brian tried to hide his shock. “It’s Christmas Eve.”

“I know.” Nick sighed. “It was – it was too much. I had to get out of there.”

“Well, where are you now?” Brian immediately pictured Nick spending Christmas alone in some random hotel room.

There was a long pause. “I’m standing on your front porch.”

“You’re what?” Brian was incredulous. He hurried down the hallway to the front door, his phone still pressed to his ear. “Why didn’t you ring the fucking bell?”

“I dunno.” Nick’s voice drifted through the phone as Brian pulled open the door. “I didn’t know if you’d want me around.”

Brian disconnected the call and stared at his friend. Nick was standing on the porch, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He was still holding his phone in his right hand and his left hand was wrapped tightly around a leash; Nacho, his borderline obese pug, was sniffing at Brian’s feet.

“How long have you been standing there?”

Nick shrugged. “Ten minutes.”

Brian shook his head. “You’re an idiot.” He held the door open and Nick shuffled inside. Nacho followed suit, his paws leaving wet marks on the tile floor.

“I didn’t know where else to go.” Nick admitted as he shrugged out of his jacket. “It’s not like I have a place of my own at the moment.”

“I told you that you could spend Christmas with us.” Brian admonished. “Why didn’t you just call me from the airport?”

“I dunno.” Nick sighed. “I was just so focused on getting away from my family; I wasn’t thinking straight. I was in your driveway before I realized that I hadn’t even told you that I was coming.”

“What happened at your mom’s?” Brian asked the question cautiously. He knew that anything related to Nick’s family was a touchy subject.

“They’re all so fucked up.” Nick announced. “The second I walked in the door, they were all over me looking for money. I just – I just couldn’t stomach the thought of giving them more money only to have them piss it all away on drugs, or alcohol, or whatever else it is that they do. So, I turned them down. For the first time in my life, I stood up for myself without any hesitation. Can you guess what happened next?”

“I have some idea.” Brian cringed.

“Yeah, well, whatever’s going through your mind it was ten times worse.” Nick admitted. “That’s why I left.”

Brian nodded. “And Nacho enters into the equation ...?” He looked at the pug who was currently sniffing forcefully at Baylee’s winter boots.

Nick grimaced. “I rescued him from Lauren when I was in Tennessee checking out some of the places that my real estate agent had lined up. That was another ordeal in itself.”

“I’m sorry, Nick.” Brian looked up into his friend’s face and tried to stay positive. “If it’s any consolation, my mom will be thrilled to have you join us.”

A smile slowly crept onto Nick’s face as the two of them walked back down the hallway towards the family room. “I AM your mom’s favourite.”

“Uncle Nick?” Baylee’s face registered surprise as Brian and Nick walked into the room. “You’re back early?”

“I am.” Nick affirmed. “I guess this means that you don’t have to wait for your present.”

Baylee’s face lit up. “Cool!”

Brian shook his head and pulled the clump of Christmas lights out of his son’s hands. “I see that you’ve got these untangled.”

Baylee gave his dad a strange look, clearly missing the sarcasm in Brian’s statement. He dropped to the floor to pet Nacho. The dog had wandered into the room, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he sniffed at the pile of decorations.

“So what is the plan for tomorrow?” Nick tore into another box of lights as Brian sank down onto the couch to try and make sense of the mess that Baylee had made out of the first set. “Should I call your mom and let her know that I’m coming?”

Brian shook his head. “She always makes way too much food anyways.” He began picking at the knotted cord and Kayla’s face flashed before his eyes. Shit! He still hadn’t told Nick that he had invited her to Christmas.

“I should have brought your mom a gift.” Nick continued. “Do you think that I still have time to get her one?”

“I asked Kayla to spend Christmas with me.” Brian blurted out. “I’m sorry.” He stopped picking at the tangled lights and waited for Nick to respond.

Nick raised his eyebrows. “I know you did. Why are you apologizing?”

“You know?” Brian made no attempt to hide his surprise. “How?”

“Kayla told me.” Nick drew out his response as if he were speaking to a small child. “We do still speak to each other, you know?”

“I know.” Brian struggled to regain his composure. Of course, Kayla would have told Nick what she was doing for Christmas. The whole notion of the invitation being inappropriate was only in his mind. As far as Kayla was concerned, he was nothing more than Nick’s best friend.

“So, why are you apologizing?” Nick repeated. “Did you think that I would be upset?”

“No.” Brian lied. “I just thought that you might have found it a bit weird that I asked her.”

“You’re acting like you have an ulterior motive.” Nick smirked. “What were you planning to do? Corner her underneath the mistletoe?”

“Of course not!” Brian let out a laugh that he knew sounded horribly forced and returned his attention to the ball of Christmas lights in his lap. “She’s practically your girlfriend.”

“Actually, Kayla and I have decided that we’re better off as friends.” Nick watched Brian out of the corner of his eye as he delivered the news.

“Oh yeah?” Brian struggled to keep his expression neutral. “Why is that?”

“The chemistry just wasn’t right.” Nick shrugged. “I guess I’m not her type.”

“You’re every girl’s type.” Brian muttered as he finally managed to untangle the clump of lights.

“What can I say?” Nick chuckled. “I guess Kayla has a thing for guys who have a southern accent.”

Brian raised his eyes from the lights and looked Nick directly in the face. “Did she – did she say something to you?”

Nick’s face broke into a huge smile. He couldn’t believe how anxious Brian looked. “Damn, bro!” He laughed. “You’re so out of practice, it’s embarrassing!”

“I’m thirteen years out of practice.” Brian grumbled. “I can’t even tell if she’s interested.”

Nick snorted in amusement. “She’s waving you home. All you have to do is slide in and take the base.”

“Really?” Brian no longer tried to hide his smile. “And you’re sure that there’s nothing between you guys?”

“Positive.” Nick affirmed. “I just hope that you can measure up.”

Brian’s face fell. “You said that you didn’t have ...”

“Relax!” Nick cut him off. “I was joking. I kissed her. That’s it. I swear.”

“Oh.” Brian breathed a sigh of relief. “Right. I knew that you were joking.”

“Sure you did.” Nick rolled his eyes. He began to wind his strand of lights around the top portion of the tree. “Seriously though, she’s totally waiting for you to make a move.”

“I don’t have a move!” Brian moaned. He quickly scanned the room to locate Baylee, but his son appeared to have lost interest in the task of decorating the tree. He was nowhere to be seen. “I’ve only had sex with one woman for the past thirteen years. Thirteen years! I have no clue what I’m supposed to do.”

Nick turned from the tree and laughed loudly at Brian’s disheartened expression. “I think it’s pretty safe to say that the two of you will be able to figure it out.”