Logan arrives at Addison's apartment complex ten minutes later. He texts her, but when he hits send, she is already walking down the sidewalk. He gasps—she looks beautiful.

Her usually straight brown hair is now in waves and it looks natural. She's in a red dress—the dark red dress he loves so much. She knows he loves it. This time she's wearing black tights and some sort of black heel. She looks effortlessly flawless. She finally reached his car, and entered, away from the blistering cold. Logan sits and stares at her for a moment. Her green eyes stand out so much more because of her makeup; her face shows no physical flaw.

Addison wonders if there's something on her face. Logan keeps staring at her forehead and she thinks she has a massive zit there. When he finally looks away, she subtly reaches a hand up to feel around. Relieved, she doesn't feel a bump.

"So, uh..." Addison begins, stopping when she looks at Logan. His almost-brown hair is combed nicely and he is wearing black pants and a black button up. He looks paler than usual and his brown eyes seem impossibly dark. When he glances over at her, she realizes she doesn't finish her question. "Oh! Um, what all can I expect, I guess?"

Logan lets out a nervous laugh.

"I wish I knew. You've met my mom. My dad is pretty laid back. My brother, though... oh, goodness. Please steer clear of him. He's a pain." He smiles slightly, focusing on the road. "I know they'll like you. The hardest to please is my mom and you've got that down." Addison smiles and then remembers what she wanted to ask.

"Oh, yeah. About that..." Logan's heart drops. He knows exactly what she's going to ask. "Remember when I met your mom?" Logan nods slowly, wanting to draw this out as far as possible. "Uh... can you tell me what she meant?"

Logan sighs. He's wondering when she's going to ask; anyone with any type of curiosity would. How could he even word it? It's sad. And today isn't supposed to be a sad day.

Logan's silence disturbs Addison and she suddenly fears she's crossed an unknown line. "You, uh, you don't have to tell me. It was a stupid question." She awkwardly laughs and fumbles with her black nails. Logan looks over at Addison and sees her guilt-stricken face.

"Addie, hey, it's okay. It wasn't stupid. You have every right to know, it's just, I don't know how to say it, I don't want the mood to be dark and heavy." Logan reaches over and grabs her hand; they're ice cold. He immediately lets go and turns the heat up, only to return his hand to hers. Taking a deep breath, he begins to speak.

"My sister Lilly passed away when I was ten. She was five," Logan pauses, swallowing, "she was hit by a car." Silence fell over the two and Addison's heart broke. Logan continues, "My mom was always excited to have a girl. And then hers got ripped away." Addison regrets ever asking, and now all she wants to do is cry and hug him.

"My brother and I haven't really brought any girls around, so she doesn't have anyone to really fill that gap Lilly left. So, when she saw I had a girl at home, she assumed..." Addison nods, tears welling in her eyes. Neither of them says anything.

Logan sighs after a few minutes. "This is exactly what I didn't want to happen."

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry, I didn't even realize—God, I'm so stupid. I always mess things up." Addison hastily runs a shaking hand through her hair. They've arrived at their destination.

Logan shuts the car off, unbuckles himself, and turns toward Addison. She hangs her head down, refusing to look at him.

"Addie," he says sadly. He hates seeing her like this, and he hates hearing her be so hard on herself. It's not her fault. "Please look at me." Her mop of hair slowly moves with her as she turns. Her face is red and her eyes are watery. She refuses to cry, especially not now. "You didn't mess anything up and you're not stupid. Okay? It's okay. Everything is fine." He grabs her hand again and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm sorry," she whispers. Now she looks like a drama queen.

"I'm okay. Let's go tackle this dinner thing, eh?" Logan smiles, and Addison laughs softly. He gets out of the car and runs around to her side. With a large smile, he opens her door for her.

"You're so cheesy." Addison laughs and Logan shrugs. She stands up and he goes around to the trunk, reaching in and grabbing a gigantic colorful bag. Green and red tissue paper stuck out and Addison mentally facepalms.

"Shit, Logan! I didn't get anyone a gift!" Logan laughs and shakes his head. Looking into the bag, he cocks an eyebrow.

"Really? Because I see four gifts in here, all from you." He mocks shock and Addison almost pushes him.

"You're a lifesaver."

"I'm aware." Together, they walk to the front door. Before Logan has a chance to open it, the door flies open and a handsome man stands in the doorway. He looks extremely similar, almost identical, to Logan. Addison assumes it's his brother.

"Hey, there. I'm Landon, Logan's brother." He sticks out his hand, and Addison blushes from embarrassment.

"Nice to meet you. I'm—"

"Addison, right? We've all heard a ton about you." She blushes an even deeper shade as she shakes his hand.

"And I'm freezing, can we come in now?" Logan says, his voice playful.

"Merry Christmas to you, too, brother." Landon steps aside and Addison follows Logan in.

"Merry Christmas, Lan. Where's Mom?"

"Kitchen. Dad's taking a shower."

Addison's curious eyes look around the cozy home. Family portraits coat the walls and the biggest Christmas tree she's ever seen is in the living room. Under it is a mountain of gifts. She smiles as the young brother appears more than once, all different ages. She even thinks she sees Lilly in a few.

"Addison." Landon is in front of her now. "What makes you crazy enough to come around here? Especially during the holidays?" Addison just shakes her head and laughs. Logan's award-winning smile appears out of nowhere and her nerves settle.

"So, are you two together?" Addison pauses. Obviously, they aren't dating. But if anyone is with them for more than a day, it's obvious they're not just friends. So, she clears her throat, glances at Logan, turns to Landon, and smiles.

"Nah." Landon's straight suddenly turns into a wicked grin and Addison feels her cheeks redden.

"Yeah, what she says." Logan cuts in, wrapping his arm around the suddenly shy brunette.

"Well, let's go see Ma, shall we?" Landon says, walking toward to kitchen. Addison gives Logan a nervous smile and together they walk to the kitchen. The smell of ham fills the air and Addison's stomach grumbles, and she laughs awkwardly.

"Hey, your least fave child is here," Landon says to his mom. She turns around and a large smile grows on her face. She walks toward Logan and wraps her arms around him, and then smiles when she sees Addison.

"Oh, you came!" She releases Logan and engulfs Addison in a large hug. "I'm so happy to see you again! I feared you wouldn't come." She releases her and holds her at an arm's length. "You look beautiful. God, you're stunning." Tammy shakes her head and then turns toward Landon. "When are you going to bring home a gorgeous gal like your brother?"

"When one is crazy enough to deal with him," Logan says, a playful grin on his face.

"Maybe I'll borrow Addie here."

"Addison," she quickly blurts and then regrets it. She must sound so rude. How can she correct someone so bluntly?

"You must not be a fan of nicknames. My apologies." She smiles softly.

"Dinner isn't going to be done for a few more hours. Addison, dear, can I steal you for a few minutes? I want to bake some cookies, and I know none of these men will help me." Remembering what Logan has said in the car, she quickly obliges. The familiar feeling of sadness washes over her as she thinks about this woman treating her like her daughter. Addison hasn't had a mother figure in quite a few years, and reaching out to Tammy seems so easy. She already feels so loved and accepted by Logan's family. What if something happens between the two and she can no longer see his family? It would crush her.

"Sugar, chocolate chip, or peanut butter?" Tammy holds up three recipes and Addison taps her chin in mock thought. She's already aware that it's going to be chocolate chip, but she decides to drawl it out more.

"Chocolate chip, please." Tammy smiles.

"Good choice."

-

Two hours later, Addison is ready to die. She's eaten all of her body weight and played enough Xbox kinetic games to last her the rest of her life. Landon has fallen asleep, Logan is playing call of duty; Tammy and Jackson are outside smoking. Addison tries everything in her power not to fall asleep.
Jackson, Logan's father, is an absolute sweetheart. He treats Addison like she has been apart of the family for decades, and that made her feel so good.

"Gifts?" Tammy asks, opening the door.

"Yes!" the twins yell, jumping up from their spot.

"I thought you were asleep?" Addison asks Landon. He winks at her. The two boys run toward the tree and sit cross-legged. They grab gifts with their names on them, and Addison admires from a distance.

"What're you doing? Get over here!" Jackson says, eyeing Addison. She gently shakes her head and waves him off. "You have gifts, too." A wide, goofy grin forms on her face as she slowly walks toward the family. Sitting between the twins, she crosses her legs and admires their childish behavior. The pair act like two ten-year-olds.

Logan opens a small gift which contained concert tickets. Landon gets boxing gloves. The first thing he does is put them on and punch Logan.

Tammy reaches over and grabs a neatly wrapped gift, handing it to Addison. She grins and begins to rip open the gift, but stops when her phone begins to ring. Her eyebrows furrow as she pulls out the phone. The familiar number makes her stomach drop and she swears her heart stops.

"Sorry, I have to get this," Addison apologizes with a shaky voice. Walking into the other room, she takes a deep breath and answers the phone call.

"Hello?" Her voice wavers and she can't stop her hands from shaking.

"Addison?"

A long pause.

"Hi, Mom."
-
merry christmas from Ohio, USA
edited by the great @solitarypathways! myself and my readers can never thank you enough.