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Lottie is not expecting the knock on the door on Christmas morning. Her parents are in Aspen this year (they sent her a card in the mail wishing her a Merry Christmas and there are a stack of no doubt expensive gifts underneath the tree as some sort of apology) and her friends and teammates all have their own holidays to be attending to. She opens the door to find Laura Lee there.
"Laura Lee?" She asks.
"Merry Christmas, Lottie." Laura Lee says brightly. "Get your coat on, daddy's waiting in the car."
"Where are we going?" She asks, confused.
"My house, of course! We didn't want you to spend Christmas all alone, so we wanted to share ours with you!"
Lottie can't help it, she reaches out and envelopes her best friend in the biggest hug she possibly could. When she pulls away, the blonde girl is beaming.
"Give me one second." She tells her before she shuts the door and hurries upstairs. She chooses a deep navy blue sweater that's the right amount of cozy and formal as well as a velvet skirt to go with it. She decides to leave her hair as it is and opts to only bring lip gloss in her purse before she pulls on the rabbit fur jacket she has for winter and hurries out to meet Laura Lee.
The ride to the Grahams' house is so nice, with Mr. Graham singing along to the Christmas songs on the radio in a playful voice, especially when 'Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer' plays, making both Lottie and Laura Lee laugh at him. When they get inside, Mrs. Graham smiles.
"Lottie! We're so glad you could make it." She says and comes over to give Lottie a hug. She smells like sugar, vanilla and apples. No doubt she and Laura Lee have been baking up a storm. She knows that's one of their traditions.
"I hope I'm not intruding." She murmurs. This isn't her family, so she feels like an outsider, never mind that she's been invited.
"Of course not, dear! Laura Lee told us about your family being away and we all agreed we couldn't leave you all alone this Christmas." Mrs. Graham tells her and her words warm Lottie's heart. "Now come sit down and have some hot chocolate and we'll open some presents!"
At the word 'presents', Lottie clutches her purse tighter. She's had Laura Lee's gift hidden inside her purse for almost a week now and it's been killing her to wait until Christmas to give it to her.
They all pile into the warmly lit living room. The tree is a beauty to behold, Lottie thinks, decorated with beautiful baubles and white lights, Hallmark ornaments and drawings that Laura Lee made as a child. It doesn't look artificial like the Matthews' tree always looks to Lottie. Mr. Graham gives her a cozy throw covered in snowmen to curl up with.
The gifts are nice; Mr. Graham gives Laura Lee a book of songs to learn on the piano and an adorable headband for her hair that reminds Lottie of Alice In Wonderland and he gifts Mrs. Graham with a new recipe book as well as a pair of pearl earrings. In return, Mrs. Graham gives him a new coffee mug filled with Hershey's kisses and a new set of pajamas. Lottie can see the boxes of other gifts off to the side; they must have opened some of their other presents earlier and waited for her to open others. It takes her a moment to realize that Mrs. Graham is pressing a present in her hands.
"Oh, I can't accept this." She insists.
"Go on, dear." The woman tells her gently. "We wanted to get you something nice."
She opens the present and finds two books inside. "Laura Lee helped me pick those out. She said you might enjoy them." Mrs. Graham tells her and Laura Lee flushes and glances away.
"I have something for her too." Lottie says and she reaches into her purse to pull out the jewelry box. The look on Laura Lee's face tells her that she's never received such fancy jewelry in her life. She opens it before bringing her hands to her lips at what she finds inside, a sparkling snowflake necklace.
"Oh, Lottie!" The blonde girl gasps.
"You love Christmas and the snow so much, I saw it and thought of you." Lottie admits. She had pictured the snowflake around Laura Lee's neck as soon as she saw it.
"Help me put it on?" She asks, and the brunette obliges her, moving her blonde hair aside to fasten the necklace around her neck. For a moment, it is only them and Bing Crosby singing gently in the background. At least until Laura Lee's parents bring them both back to Earth.
"That was so sweet of you, Lottie." Mr. Graham tells her, before he and Mrs. Graham vanish from the room in order to get them some snacks.
"Are we watching The Little Drummer Boy this year?" Lottie teases her friend.
"You know it's my favorite." Laura Lee tells her. Of course, she knows it's Laura Lee's favorite Christmas special, just how she knows that her favorite flowers are lilies, that she gets annoyed with her piano teacher, so many little things that make her "Laura Lee".
This is how they end up snuggled together, drinking hot coco and sharing Mrs. Graham's sugar cookies as the opening of The Little Drummer Boy plays.