Holly stared at her mom, blinking, but unable to say anything. It had been a crazy day, and dealing with a protective parent was not something she had wanted to add to the list.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, finally recovering from her shock. Even though the ride from the North Pole was fairly quick in the sleigh, her family tried to minimize the amount of trips they took in it. Especially this close to Christmas.
"Mistletoe called me. She said you had been gravely injured," Holly's mom explained.
Holly turned to glare at Mistletoe, who held up her hands defensively.
"Adam was hysterical and kept saying there was blood everywhere!" she exclaimed. "How was I supposed to know you just cut your hand?"
Holly closed her eyes in frustration.
"I'm sorry Mistletoe worried you, mom," she said calmly, after regaining her composure. "I'm fine. Just cut myself when chopping up something for dinner with Adam. See?"
Holly held up her stitched hand. Her mother surveyed it, clicking her tongue in disapproval.
"Holly, when have you ever been clumsy with a knife?"
"I was..." Holly paused, searching for an appropriate response. "Distracted."
"By Adam?" her mom asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Something like that," Holly muttered.
"You can't blame her Mrs. Kringle," Mistletoe interjected. "He is fine. Like capital F, fine. His smile is brighter than the North Pole on a sunny day. And he is so funny..."
"See mom," Holly said quickly. "Nothing to worry about. Everything is perfectly okay and under control."
Holly's mom looked between the two girls with the suspicious look of a mother who knew she was being lied to. Holly knew that her mom sensed something was off; she just hoped her mom didn't suspect what it was.
Of course she didn't. No one knew. And no one ever would.
"Okay," Holly's mom said finally. "But I made the whole trip here, and I'm not going to tell your dad to come get me right after he dropped me off. I'll get a hotel downtown, and then we'll spend some time together in the city tomorrow. It'll be fun."
"Sure," Holly agreed immediately. "I don't have plans tomorrow. So we could have a day out, the two of us, and then you could go home tomorrow night."
"You're not going to invite her to the dress fitting?" Mistletoe blurted out. Holly shot the elf another glare to try to get her to stop talking, but it was too late.
"Dress fitting?"
Holly made sure to force a smile before answering her mother. "Apparently Adam's mom knows of a boutique downtown and wanted me to go try on some wedding dresses," she explained.
"And you weren't going to invite me?" Holly's mom asked, her tone pointed.
"It...it was a last minute thing," Holly replied defensively. "And I forgot about it after everything that happened tonight. But if you want to come..."
"To see my only child choose her wedding dress?" her mom said, her tone still sharp. "Of course I want to come."
Holly's uncomfortable smile became more difficult to maintain, but she tried as hard as she could. "Great," she said. "I'll let Adam's family know. It's the day after tomorrow."
"I think Holly would look amazing in a ballgown with lace," Mistletoe said to Holly's mom. "Like she came straight from a fairy tale."
Holly's mom gave Mistletoe a small smile and nodded, but her gaze was still solely fixed on Holly. It was a look that told Holly her mother knew something was up.
And that she was determined to figure out what it was.
❄❄❄
Holly and her mother spent the following day together - shopping in Chinatown, eating sweets in Little Italy, seeing a Broadway show. They had plenty of fun moments together, laughing, eating, and just taking in the city. But Holly knew her mother was still suspicious that something wasn't right. She kept prodding Holly for answers to extremely loaded questions, like "what about the wedding is making you the most nervous?" and "is there anything you don't like about Adam?"
Holly evaded them easily, but her mother continued to pry. They both knew Holly wouldn't actually break, but like an expert interrogator, her mom was looking for even the smallest crack she could use to figure out what was wrong. Any subtle change in Holly's expression -a slight crease in her forehead, a twinge at her lips, a blink that lasted a few moments too long - would open her up to at least a dozen follow-up questions.
But if Holly's mom was an expert interrogator, Holly was an expert evader. She knew exactly what her mom was doing and what she was looking for. So she very deliberately changed her expression only when her mom asked her about whether she was nervous about the wedding, wanting to lull her into believing that the only thing wrong was just general pre-wedding anxiety.
It wasn't entirely a lie - Holly was anxious about the wedding. And she was particularly anxious about her mother meeting Adam's mother, considering that Alvita thought her family owned a distribution business in Canada.
So even though the brunch Holly went to the next morning with her mother and Mistletoe was one of the nicest she had ever been too, her anxiety-riddled stomach prevented her from enjoying any of the food. And the relentless churning only worsened on their trip to the boutique, doubling in intensity when they found Alvita and Ivy already waiting outside the store.
"Holly!" Alvita exclaimed, hugging her tightly before turning to her mother. "And you must be Holly's mom."
Holly's mom looked slightly surprised when Alvita also pulled her in for a hug, but as a Kringle, she was very comfortable with physical affection. She quickly returned Alvita's embrace.
"Noelle," she said, introducing herself with a smile. "And you must be Alvita."
"That's me," Alvita said happily. "And this is my daughter, Ivy."
Ivy extended her hand for a handshake. Holly could tell her mother was confused by the difference in formality between Alvita and Ivy, making her realize that she probably should have given her mom at least a slight heads up on what to expect from Adam's sister.
"It's so good to finally meet you," Alvita said to Noelle. "I have no idea why the kids didn't want us to meet each other earlier. It's like they were trying to hide us or something."
"I guess Holly may have been apprehensive about the dynamics of the situation," Noelle replied. "But I'm not sure why. She should know that we've always supported the idea of a black Santa."
Alvita's face twisted in confusion while Ivy's eyebrows raised.
"Why don't we go inside?" Holly said quickly, ushering them in before anyone could say anything else. "It's cold out here."
As soon as Holly entered the bridal shop, she was immediately overwhelmed by rows upon rows of white. She hadn't seen so many piles of white since she had left the North Pole. And sure enough, plenty of the dresses sparkled and glittered just like freshly fallen snow.
"Welcome Alvita!" a woman with the nametag "Chloe" said, greeting them warmly.
Alvita smiled. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Chloe. Her husband is one of Darius's business partners."