Don't tell us you need us 'cause we're the ship of fools

 

"Oh, Ma!" It filled Pan up with laughter. It was like a pre-Chrismas gift. His mother had a date.

He swung her around in the kitchen like a giddy kid. "When did this happen?"

They were making Christmas cookies. Of course, it was just Pan and Wade. Gabe had never made cookies and thought it was too late now. It was a tradition of Pan and his mom. He knew she was sad when Gabe said he wouldn't be there. It was the little things like this that Pan knew his mom wanted with both of them. Only a few minutes ago she cried about it when she was rolling out sugar cookie dough. She said he had made cookies with her, but he couldn't remember.

Pan was pretty sure it was going to a very mellow evening, but when he found out Cam asked her out, everything changed.

"Oh, it's just a Christmas concert." She cleared her throat as if she was going to need to blow her nose even if she had flour on her face.

"But still, it'll be sweet, and it's with Rico's dad," Pan looked at her as if she needed to have lots of Christmas fun. "Does Gabe know."

She shook her head, no.

"He'll be happy for you, I know he would."

He watched her go back to the cookies. Wade watched the cookies in the oven, but he went to get them coffee.

"Oh, it's nothing really," she sounded as if she was telling herself this.

"You could get on an app and meet new people."

She wouldn't look at Pan when he said that. He didn't know why she had to be this way. But obviously, she liked it, just her and a cat at her apartment.

"Let's see if we can get Gabe to go to the Nutcracker," Pan smiled at his bright idea. Even Wade laughed at that one. He shook his head but said nothing more.

Pan mentioned they'd already missed the tree lighting at the old railroad museum, but there was free admission at the Josyln.

"If all goes well with Cam, invite him. We'll all go." Pan told her as he was putting snowflake cookies on a parchment paper while Wade went to get cookies out of the oven.

"What are you trying to do? Make us a Brady Bunch or something?" Wade smirked.