Cookie decorating was messy chaos.
Lily took it seriously. Too seriously. Each cookie required precision. Specific colors. Exact amounts of sprinkles.
"No, Daddy. The tree needs green icing. Not red. Trees aren't red."
"Some Christmas trees are red," Ethan argued.
"Not real ones. Real ones are green."
"What about those fancy ones people spray paint?"
She stared at him. Scandalized. "Those don't count. Those are wrong trees."
I bit back a smile. Watched them debate tree colors with the gravity of a Supreme Court case.
Ethan caught my eye. Something flickered in his expression. Warm. Soft. Remembering.
I looked away quickly. Focused on the star cookie in front of me. Yellow icing. Silver sprinkles. Simple.
My hands were shaking slightly.
From the kiss. From his words. From the way
