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“Have you been talking to Mrs. Bond?” I asked him with a laugh.
It was like he was channeling Angela.
“No. I just love football!”
“Good,” I told him, as I gave him a kiss. “Because I love you.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
I put on Christmas Story next. Mark had never seen it and got a kick out of Ralph and Randy. The dad even reminded me of James. Always cranky and irritable, and hungry. James always liked my cooking, and sex, of course, but not much else.
“Did kids really dress like that back then?” Mark asked, as Randy was shown on screen, bundled up in a snow suit to walk to school.
I chuckled. Mark might as well have been watching a period piece.
“Yes, I think this was set in the 1940’s. That was before my time too, though, you know. So I’m no expert but I think the filmmakers probably did their research and are portraying things accurately.”
“And kids walked to school?”
“Apparently. I rode the bus to school, but back in the day most families had one car and the dad took it to get to work.”
Mark seemed to be thinking about this answer. He nodded and shrugged. But then he fell asleep before the second movie was over. I carried him to his bed and tucked him in, kissing his cheek.
One day soon, he’ll be too big for any of this, I thought, with some sadness in my heart.
But I was glad he had had a good Christmas. And even though mine was full of ups and downs, overall, it was a great one. A hot one!
I went to the kitchen to clean up and used my hands-free headphones to call Angela. After our Christmas pleasantries, and discussion about what presents the boys got, I changed the topic.
“So, you’ll never guess what happened to me today.”
“Spill it, girl!” she said. “Why have you been holding out on me while we discuss all this boring Christmas crap like cookies and gifts and what time our kids went to bed? Snore! Give me the goods so I can live vicariously through you.”
I laughed and said it wasn’t all good although it was definitely dramatic. I told her about the amazing sex with Neil and the Donna drama. Angela was hyper focused on the “amazing sex with Neil” part, of course. She was excited and beside herself that it had happened.
“Oh my God. Finally you put yourself out there. And with your high school crush at that. What a looker he is, too. How was it? No, don’t tell me. Wait, no, you have to.”
After I filled her in on some of the PG-rated details, Angela took all the credit for us getting together and demanded she be the maid of honor if we got married.
“Seriously, settle down, Ang. It’s not even like that. We haven’t even gone on an actual date. You know, in public.”
And Angela was furious as I told her about Donna.
“What is it with freaking mothers-in-law? She did not call you a slut.”
“Oh yeah she did.”
Angela told me she was going to have a few words with Donna the next time she showed up to one of the boys’ football games.
“I don’t care what you say her reasons might have been,” she exploded. “That is such bullshit. And not to mention that it’s very untrue. No wonder James could be such a jerk to you—he probably learned it from his mother. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“Ang,” I said, trying to walk that difficult line between still being mad at my husband for being a shitty one, yet also wanting to respect his memory since he died way too young and in service to our country.
“Sorry. I’ll shut up about him. But not about her! That was completely uncalled for and rude! I love you and that’s why I’m not going to let this stand. I will not let her even think that crap about you, when she could turn around and put that filth in Mark’s head. He is young and impressionable and should not be subjected to having to hear his mom talked about that way. Plus, you’re a great mom. Everyone knows it and if Donna thinks otherwise then that just shows how very cockoo she is.”
“Thanks, Ang. She is cockoo, I’ll give you that. And I appreciate your support. We’ll see what happens. I’m hoping it was a one-time deal.”
But I somehow knew it wasn’t. Donna’s reaction seemed to satisfy a belief I already had that Donna thought very little of me, and nothing I could ever do would change that. She simply had to deal with me to get access to Mark, but otherwise she wished I would just disappear.
My heart was a bit heavy as I said, “Merry Christmas, bestie,” to Angela and we hung up, with thoughts of Donna’s nastiness still fresh on my mind.
