Hope's POV

"Mommy what about this one?" asks Julie holding up a gingerbread house kit. I gently take it out of her hands and look at it.

"Ju this is the one that makes the village. It's four little houses not a big one like we got last year." I tell her while reading the back of the box. "Are you sure this is-" I look up and start laughing. "Take that off silly!" She has a Santa hat and reindeer antlers on and a Santa Claus robe as well as a rudolf nose. She burst into giggles and poses herself.

"Take a picture for Mama!" I smile at her and take a quick one on my phone. "Let me see!" she exclaims jumping to me. She pulls the phone out of my hand and beams proudly. "I'm so cute!" I roll my eyes and take my phone back from her.

"Uh huh. You're cute but naughty." I pop her butt and then pick the gingerbread house kit back up. "You know better than to take my phone Julie Beth." She sheepishly looks down at her bright red Converse. I sigh and smile softly at her. I put my arm around her shoulder and hold the box so she can see. "Is this the one you want cutie pie?"

She nods her head making the antlers fall off so she squats down to get them, "Uh huh so me you and Mama can all do one and then I'll do the extra one!" She smiles up from the ground and then pops up with a little giggle. I smile at her and help her take all the stuff she put on off.

"Okay princess. That sounds perfect." I take her hand and walk us to the checkout counter. I notice her staring at the candy and tug her hand to get her attention.

"Hmm?" she hums turning her head to me. I give her a small look. "Ma'am?" I smile and pull her closer and peck her forehead.

"Much better. You may get one thing if you want." She smiles big up at me and kisses my cheek.

"Thank you!" She snatches a bag of M&Ms and tosses it on the counter next to the gingerbread kit. I pay the younger boy behind the counter and then hand the bag with our items to Julie so she can carry them out to the car. She swings our hands back and forth as we walk. "Mommy?"

"Yes, baby?" I stop as a car backs out of its parking spot. Julie would've walked right into it if I wasn't holding her hand. "Julie! We're in a parking lot. Please pay more attention."

She says a quick, "Yes ma'am." When the car pulls out and drives off, she goes back to her happy little walk. "Can we make the houses today?" She asks unfazed.

Inside, I shake my head at her antics. "That's the plan, kiddo." She grins.

Suddenly, she stops moving and uses her arm to push me back. I grunt as her elbow jabs into my stomach. "Stop!" She cries out.

I look around spotting no incoming cars or people for that matter. "Julie, you can't just—"

She points at the ground. I follow her finger to see a small, thin worm. "You said pay more attention," she says. "Worm equality!" She tries to keep a straight face but her smile is obvious.

"At least I know you're listening," I mumble to myself. She bends down and picks the worm up with two fingers. "J-Bug, put the worm down."

She holds it in front of my face. "But it'll get run over!" The worm wriggles.

I survey the parking lot. "I like its chances. Come on, we've got to get home. Mama will worry if we're out too long."

With a pout, she puts the worm back on the ground. We make it to the car and get in with no problems. As I turn out of the parking lot, Julie asks, "Can I have my M&Ms?"

"Not with your worm hands."

She wiggles her fingers with a solemn look. "It only touched those two," she says as she points to her thumb and index finger.

I come to a red light. "Sorry, babe. You're gonna need to wait till we get home." She pouts. She takes out her phone and occupies herself the rest of the car ride. We pull up to Carli's place, and Julie jumps out the minute I cut the engine. I chuckle as I get out of the car and follow her. She dumps the bag at the door and runs towards the kitchen.

She turns the water on and washes her hands. Carli comes from the living room, drenched in sweat. "How was shopping?" She asks.

Julie comes back to the doorway with a giant grin. "May I have them now?" She asks. "Please."

Carli looks at me questionably. I avoid eye contact and reach into the bag. I pull out the M&Ms and hand it to Julie. She kisses my cheek and runs off.

I can feel the heat of Carli's glare. "That girl does not need sugar," she says.

I roll my eyes. "Relax, Car. It's not like she eats candy all the time."

My teammate smirks. "Fine. You can deal with her when she's hyper and refuses to sleep." She turns and walks towards her bedroom.

My teammate smirks. "Fine. You can deal with her when she's hyper and refuses to sleep." She turns and walks towards her bedroom.

I gasp. "I thought we were a team!" She doesn't turn back. "Wait, are you being serious? Carlos! I'm sorry. Let's talk about this!"

-Later-

Julie had finished her bag of M&Ms and thankfully ate all her dinner. If she hadn't, Carli wouldn't have been happy.

We decide to do the gingerbread houses in the kitchen. I slide the stuff out of the box. Carli cuts the plastic wrap off the slabs of gingerbread. I spread the bags of candy on the table. "Jules, can you grab a couple bowls?" I ask.

She moves towards the cupboard and grabs a couple bowls. She puts them on the table and sits on a chair. We open the bags of candy and dump them into the bowls. Christmas music plays in the background. "Julie Beth!" Carli scolds, shaking her head with a smile. She plucks a gummy from Julie's fingers. "The candy goes in the bowls. Not in your mouth."

Julie giggles and opens another bag of candy. Knowing her Mama is watching, she pours the entire bag into a bowl. She is practically bouncing in her seat from excitement. She's been asking about building gingerbread houses all week.

Carli places a stack of slabs in front of Julie and a plastic tube of icing. She immediately gets to work. Carli sets gingerbread stacks in front of both our seats and tubes of icing. Julie blows her hair out of her face as she squeezes the icing out of the tube.

I get up to grab a brush and a hair tie. As she works, I brush through her hair. Every once in a while, she makes a whining noise. I eventually get her hair brushed enough to tie it up.

When I sit back down, I glance at Carli. She meticulously applies icing. I lean to whisper in her ear. "Car," I start to say.

She looks up with such intensity that I just look away. "Yeah . . . Uh . . . Never mind."

I am terrible at making houses out of gingerbread and icing. All my walls cave in and my roof slides off. Carli claims it's because I don't have enough patience. I just think all forms of gingerbread and icing conspire against me. I only do it because it makes Julie happy, and I can't say no to the kid.

I squeeze icing onto the edges of the walls. I push them together to form a box. I start to ice the roof and place it on top. By the time I finish icing the other side of the roof, a wall caves in. "Let the games begin," I mutter.

By the time I figure out how to accommodate the build to my skill set, Julie and Carli are mostly through decorating. I decided to make a box house with a flat roof.

Julie glances at my house and stifles a laugh. I grin at her. "Are you laughing at my house?"

She shakes her head. "That's not a house!"

I lean over and tickle her. She giggles and wriggles in her seat. "If you two hit the table, we will have serious issues," Carli states as she shakes light blue sprinkles on her roof. Julie and I make eye contact, then burst out laughing. Carli gives us a playful glare.

"Mommy," Jules says, over exaggerating her exasperation. "I'm out of icing."

I give her a teasing smile. "Well, you shouldn't have been eating it."

She counters, "It was all over my fingers!" I hand her my tube, but she doesn't take it. "You haven't even decorated." She points to my sloppy box.

I make a smiley face on my flat roof and stick two gummy's in its eyes. I give her the tube.

By the time Julie is finishing her house, she's struggling to keep her eyes open. "Are you tired, Jules?" I ask softly.

She shakes her head. "I still have the other house."

Carli says, "You can do it another time. It's time for you to go to bed."

"What if Mommy eats all the candy?" She asks sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

I chuckle. "I'll try not to."

"What if Mama uses all the icing?"

"I don't need anymore icing," Carli says, setting our finished products on the window sill.

"Looks great, J-Bug," I say. Jules whines as I pick her up. She's too tired to put any heart into her protests. She is already dressed in her pajamas thanks to Carli. She must've fallen asleep on the way to the guest room because she is knocked out when I set her down. I tuck the covers around her and leave the door open a crack. She freaks when it's closed all the way.

I go back to the kitchen to see Carli cleaning up the table. I help, sneaking a gummy as I dump the candy in plastic bags. "You're terrible," Carli comments with a smile.

I smirk back. "What she doesn't know can't kill her."

Carli sets the bags in a cabinet. I turn the music off, and it becomes quiet. "We're pretty lucky. Aren't we, Car?"

She smiles to herself. "Yeah we are."