"We were happy to have you," Ray insisted. "The more the merrier. You guys are welcome to come back here for New Year's Eve. All we really do is play games until the countdown to midnight but—"
"That sounds great! We would love to join you," Claire replied as Alex nodded vehemently beside her.
"Yes, that sounds nice. Thanks, Ray."
"No problem! And thanks for the card game, Alex. I'm sure it'll come in handy around here. Most of our games are four players or less so now that we have five kids…" Ray trailed off with a shake of his head.
Claire laughed and thanked them again as she, Alex, and Ethan headed out. They had already packed up all of his presents so they could take him straight back to his foster home.
He hugged them both tightly on the doorstep as they helped him carry his things. "Thank you for letting me spend Christmas with you. I had a lot of fun. I…I really like you, Claire. You too, I guess, Alex."
