Oliver places a hand on my knee, and when our eyes meet, all is calm and bright for the first time in what feels like forever.
“Give it up for Gruff,everyone! I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a more, um,enthusiasticversion of ‘The Little Drummer Boy,’ Eddie says with a polite smile as a balding man in a leather jacket, motorcycle boots, and a pair of reindeer antlers exits the stage with a guttural yell.
“Enthusiastic?” Kayla shout-whispers in my ear. “All I got was a ‘great job’ and Mr.Sons of Anarchyisenthusiastic?”
“I’m not so sure he meant it as a compliment,” I say. Gruff’s performance consisted of him screaming the words like he was fronting a metal band.
Aunt Rose cocks her head to the side. “Is it just me or is Gruff kind of sexy.”
“It’s just you,” Lucy, Kayla, and I say in unison.
Oliver shakes beside me with laughter.
“That’ll be a tough act to follow, but someone’s gotta do it, and that someone is…” Eddie opens the folded red paper in his hand and laughs. “This is cute. Next up, we have someone by the name of Grandma MJ singing ‘Santa Baby.’”
The audience chuckles, and I gasp.
“What?” Mom inhales sharply, and we all turn to look at her. “Lucy!”
“Yay, Grandma!” Noah claps, and his sister joins in.
Lucy clamps a hand to her mouth. “Ohshit. Mom, I swear I didn’t know.”
“Noah, did you put your grandmother’s name in?” Ellie asks, and he nods. “You shouldn’t have done that, honey. Grandma doesn’t want to sing.”
“Now, where’s Grandma MJ?” Eddie squints, peering into the crowd with his hand shielding his eyes.
“Here!” Noah shouts, pointing at my mother, whose face has turned the color of a cranberry.
“There she is. Come on up, Grandma MJ,” Eddie says, and the crowd cheers.
Mom freezes, and Ron places a hand on her shoulder. “Myra Jean? Are you all right?”
A few more seconds pass, and Eddie tries again. “Don’t be shy, Grandma. We’re all friends here, aren’t we?”
The audience’s cheers grow louder.
Aunt Rose glances at me, a question dancing in her eyes.
I open my mouth to speak for Mom, to tell Eddie there’s been a mistake, but before I can get the words out, Oliver is on the stage.
“Sorry, Eddie,” he says, his voice trembling slightly. “There’s been a change of plans. I’m Oliver, and I’ll be performing in MJ’s place.”
The women in the crowd scream their excitement. Meanwhile, my heart is gooey, like the icing on my mother’s famous caramel cake.
“Sounds like they approve,” Eddie says. “Let’s hear it for Oliver singing ‘Santa Baby.’”
I watch with wide eyes as the opening notes of the song begins to play, and Oliver shimmies his hips to the rhythm, eliciting a series of hollers and giggles that turn his cheeks pink.
“Um, what exactly is happening right now?” Kayla asks, her mouth dropping open when Oliver begins to sing, terribly off-key in a wobbly tenor.
I’m laughing with tears in my eyes as he croons about asking the big guy in red for a convertible and a yacht. He catches my eyes and gives me a subtle wink, and I smile, shaking my head in disbelief. Oliver saw how uncomfortable my mother was and didn’t hesitate to take the attention off her. His voice quivers, and beads of sweat are dotting his hairline. I think back to the day we went to Antonio’s, when he told me how he used to want to be in the New Kids on the Block but didn’t like to sing in public. Oliver isn’t comfortable on stage, but he got up there anyway. He did it for her. He did it forme.
I turn to find my mother quaking with laughter, her hands tucked under her chin. She locks eyes with me and smiles, and for a second, it takes my breath away. I’m not shrouded in grief or nostalgia or longing for days past, and neither is she. We’re right here, inthismoment, with the soundtrack of Oliver’s wonderfully awful singing in the background. She’s here with us at a place she swore she’d never return. It’s a step I didn’t think she’d make, but I’m so thankful she did.
Mom leans forward and squeezes my shoulder, and before I can register what’s happening, she’s strutting toward the stage. The audience cheers in delight as Oliver takes her hand andgives her a twirl. Eddie appears from the side to hand her a mic, just in time for her to start the next verse.
A lump forms in my throat as her rich alto fills the air. I look to Lucy, who is smiling and wiping tears from her eyes, and then to Ben, who hoots, pumping his fist in the air. Ron is watching her, wonderstruck, as though she’s the most enchanting person he’s ever seen. It’s a look I’ve seen before.
