“HO, HO, HO!” We heard it again.

The sound of two ridiculously happy voices came booming from the kitchen.

“It’s Seth and Andie!” Emily said. “They made it!” We rose as a unit, like a tired but reenergized football team, and hurried into the kitchen.

Seth held his hands up in a “stop” gesture. “I know. You weren’t expecting us tonight. And we weren’t expecting to be so late. And yes, we are sorry. And yes, we are very cold. And yes, we are very tired…”

“But we are also very happy to be here,” Andie said.

Then the hugging and kissing officially began. I immediately started apologizing for the lack of food. Then, of course, the Crazy Tuna Hash jokes began all over again. Same jokes too. And thoughts of togetherness kept running through my head. There’s a star rising in the east, and in two days there’ll be Christmas and a wedding. And we’re here. Together. What could be better?

“Mom, you with us? Seth to Mom…Seth to Mom…Come in, Mom,” Seth said loudly as he hugged me and twirled me around as if I weighed nothing.

“I’m afraid I was off on a cloud somewhere,” I said.

“You’re allowed, Gaby,” Andie said.

“So, here’s what happened,” Seth said. “We had a little spinout just outside of Auburn on the Mass. Pike.”

“A little spinout?” Andie said. “Listen to the writer spin his tale. A truck practically flattened us. There could have been a funeral instead of a wedding. But we ended up on the side of the road. And we were too scared to move. And…”

“Andie’s exaggerating. Jeez. Everyone knows what a good driver I am.”

A chorus of groans rose from the group.

“Anyway, your Crazy Tuna Hash has nothing on us. We were really hungry. So we got off the Mass. Pike in Worcester and had an elegant meal at Taco Bell. I had the new half-pound Nacho Crunch Burrito. Andie, always watching her waistline, had…What did you have, my sweetie pie?”

“The Volcano Double Beef Burrito.”

“Right. Man, try sitting in a car with her for an hour after that.”

“Enough with the frat-house humor,” Andie said. “To continue—when we tried to start the car again, the engine was dead. So this nine-hundred-year-old lady—at least I think it was a lady—gave us a jump-start…Anyway, it was an adventure.”

“Well, here you are,” I said. “Here we all are.”

Seth looked around at the faces in front of him. “Yep. Here we all are. And in two days Gaby will be marrying somebody in this room. I assume it’s somebody in this room?”

Silence. Then my grandson Toby piped up: “Well, I sure know it isn’t me.”

At that moment the kitchen door flew open, and Stacey Lee shouted above our laughter.

“Get your coats on and come out to the barn. You’ve just gotta see this.”