the living room, still wearing my pajamas. Everyone was up and dressed already.
“Why’d you let me sleep so late?” I whined as they all sipped on coffee.
“It’s only a little after eight,” Mac said before walking over to me and giving me a kiss.
I was visibly relieved, and I swore I heard Danika sigh as she poured me a mug of something and slid it toward me.
I gave her a look, and she smiled. “Sorry, but you two are so cute; I can’t stand it.”
“Yeah, the cutest,” Chance teased, and Mac grabbed me by the hips and pulled me against him.
“I’ll show you cute,” he said as he kissed me hard, his tongue instantly in my mouth.
Even as I tried to pull away from him, he wouldn’t let me. I laughed against his mouth, completely embarrassed, but he held on.
“Okay, we get it,” Danika yelled, smacking her hand on top of the counter, and Mac finally released me.
“Good God,” I said, swatting his arm and wiping at my mouth. I’d laughed through half of whatever that was.
“So, it might actually snow later,” Danika said.
I wanted to scream in delight. “Really? Snow in New York for my first time here? What could be better?”
Danika frowned. “No snow,” she said seriously. “It’s usually warmer this time of year.”
“I want it to snow. I want all the snow!”
“Me too,” Mac said with a grin that matched mine.
Danika shot Chance a look, waiting for him to back her up, but he only shrugged and sipped at his coffee. “I want the snow too.”
“Ugh, you Californians.”
“Hey,” Mac started to argue, but Danika waved him off.
“Close enough, Arizona.”
“Fine,” he relented.
“I’m going to go get dressed and send my mom a text. Happy Thanksgiving.” I grinned from ear to ear, still ridiculously excited just to be here.
“They’re on that cruise, right?” Danika asked, and I nodded. “It’s still pretty early there.”
“I know, but I’m afraid if I don’t send it now, I’ll forget later. And, oh! She sent me this picture yesterday that you have to see.” I ran into the room, grabbed my phone, and jogged back out. I turned my cell around, so Danika could see my mom and dad sipping on drinks with umbrellas in them, my mom’s hair blowing like crazy.
“Your dad actually looks happy.”
“I know. She did good,” I agreed, thankful that my dad had said yes instead of arguing. I couldn’t wait to hear all about it when they got back. Maybe they would start taking more vacations now, but I wasn’t convinced.
“Who’s watching the dogs?”
“My sister. Who else?”
Danika giggled. “Your mom and those dogs.”
“Tell me about it,” I tossed over my shoulder as I headed back into the bedroom to finally get dressed.
After I finished, I marched into the kitchen, determined to help. Danika had a ridiculous amount of food spread out all over the granite countertops. The boys must have been banished because they were sitting on the couch, watching the Thanksgiving Day parade on the TV.
“Wait!” I shouted, and everyone focused on me. “That parade is here!” I pointed at the television. “Can we see it from the balcony? Did they go by already?” I ran to the sliding glass door, unlocked it, and pulled it open before leaping into the freezing cold air, my head craning from side to side to see around the buildings and into the streets.
The view was so different during the day. Long gone were the lights that had adorned each floor and windows. Replacing them were tall gray buildings, void of any color. Even the trees on the streets below were bare. Not a stitch of green in sight. But it was still unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. And we were right smack dab in the middle of it all. It looked like we were living in the clouds; we were up so high.
Mac wrapped his arms around me and planted a kiss on my neck. “It’s cold as shit out here, babe.”
“I know, but can you see them?” I asked, too focused to care about the weather.
“The floats?” he asked, stepping around me and leaning forward on the balcony railing. “No. Can you?”
Danika poked her head out of the open door but didn’t step all the way out. “You can’t see them from here. They go around the other side of the park. The west side. We’re on the east.”
“Fine.” I pretended to pout. “But I know they’re there,” I shouted to whoever as Danika disappeared.
“Come back inside,” Mac whispered