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Love at the Christmas Table is a 2012 Christmas-oriented Lifetime original movie, starring Danica McKellar and Dustin Milligan.

Plot
Sam Reed (Dustin Milligan) returns to his hometown on Christmas Eve for an annual party that he hasn't attended for the last five years. The host is E.B. (Lea Thompson), a family friend whose house is decorated for Christmas year-round. He runs into Kat Patton (Danica McKellar), a childhood friend that he hasn't seen for quite some time, with a possible romance rekindling between the two at first glance. Kat is happy to see him again after all those years, although the two aren't as close as they used to be. As the two throw their coats onto a small table, a ring box falls out of Sam's pocket, unbeknownst to him. The movie then cuts to flashbacks of previous Christmas Eves, depicting Sam and Kat's relationship at various points in their lives.

Age 4: It is mentioned that this is the year Kat's mother passed away, leaving her father, Tom (Scott Patterson), to care for her alone. Tom and Bobby Reed (Brian Huskey), Sam's father, start a furniture business. On Christmas Eve, the two bring a small table inside E.B.'s house for the pint-sized Sam and Kat. The two kids are shown coloring together underneath the table, dubbed "the christmas table."

Age 10: Sam and Kat steal a holiday rum cake and proceed to devour the entire thing underneath the Christmas table. Afterwards, they walk around the house pretending to be drunk, however, their fathers know that the cake was actually non-alcoholic.

Age 13: Sam tries to kiss Kat, who stabs him with a fork before he can.

Age 18: The two aren't really getting along. Sam is going to college in a big city, while Kat is still residing in their small hometown. Sam lists out all of Kat's wrongdoings, including dating all of his best friends to turn them against him. Kat reminds him of all of the times that she had stood up her him during their childhood. That night, the two go through E.B.'s cheesy holiday movie collection and fall asleep while watching one. When they wake up the next morning, they find that their parents have drawn on their faces. Before they go their separate ways, Sam and Kat vow to start a tradition of hanging out at E.B.'s on every forthcoming Christmas Eve.

Age 19: Sam and Kat are playing "Best Life," along with Ashley (Cameron Goodman), who doesn't understand their inside jokes.

Age 20: Sam and Kat, along with other younger children, are playing a game around the Christmas table and end up creating a mess, which E.B. makes them clean up.

Age 21: The two start off sitting at the adults' table, but find the environment uncomfortable and sneak back to the Christmas table, where they find themselves entertaining the young children.

Age 22: Sam and his father are talking about his future and how he has a lot more opportunities waiting for him in New York. Sam wants to move back home. He talks to Kat in the bathroom and Kat tells him to take a job at a newspaper in New York, sounding a bit offended when Sam refers to his time with her as a temporary getaway from the real world.

Age 23: Kat and Ashley are sitting at the Christmas table. Kat is constantly looking at the door, hoping for Sam to walk in, though Ashley insists that he isn't coming this year. She convinces Kat to leave E.B.'s to go to a party with her instead.

Age 24: Kat is excited when Sam shows up to the party, but is less than thrilled when he introduces her to his girlfriend, Rebekah (Viva Bianca), since she has been harboring feelings for him for quite some time.

Age 25: Kat had been in a relationship with Clint (William Bryant), whom she had pretend to date the year before to make Sam jealous, and is humiliated when he ends up proposing to another girl right before the holidays. As she's leaving the party early, she runs into Sam, who had decided to make a surprise visit. Sam's mother (Alexandra Paul) knows that he only came to see Kat, even though's still with Rebekah. There is also a Christmas dance sequence.

Age 26: Sam goes through a less-than-amicable break-up with Rebekah. He and Kat go to their fathers' workplace and Kat shows him her office there, noting Sam's disapproval of her lifestyle. She becomes upset, but Sam comforts her by telling her that he'd never want to intentionally hurt her. They share a kiss when they arrive back at the house.

Age 27: Kat skips the annual party because she wants to avoid facing her feelings for Sam, feigning illness, though Sam can see right through it. They get into an argument over the phone when Sam brings up her smalltown life once again. Kat fires back by bringing up how he's been distancing himself from his own family over the years. Sam drives over to her house uninvited and Kat doesn't let him in, opting to continue their dispute over the phone instead. Sam wants to talk to her, but she tells him that she's done waiting for him. Their argument ends with Kat breaking down crying due to Sam's harsh words and he tries to apologize to no avail. It is revealed that he was actually planning on proposing to her that night.

The movie then flashes back to present day, when Sam and Kat are both 32 years old. After their big argument, Sam had mailed letters of apology, although Kat never responded. Kat tells him that she forgives him and that they should put it all in the past. She ends up getting her father and E.B. together, as they had always had feelings for one another, but were too afraid to express it. Sam realizes that Kat has moved on, which is confirmed by Ashley. Kat goes to the furniture workshop and sees a miniature house display, put up by Sam, who was planning on proposing to her. She is touched and runs back to the house to talk to him, finding him under the Christmas table. He admits his feelings for her, with her accepting his proposal.

Cast

 * Danica McKellar as Katherine "Kat" Annette Patton
 * Dustin Milligan as Samwise "Sam" Reed
 * Lea Thompson as Elissa Beth "E.B." Dixon
 * Cameron Goodman as Ashley Kalp
 * Scott Patterson as Tom Patton
 * Brian Huskey as Bobby Reed
 * Alexandra Paul as Eve Reed
 * William Bryant as Clint Townsend
 * Viva Bianca as Rebekah