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“It makes me think about how we treated you,” I added.
She looked at me with a scrunched up look on her face. “How so?”
“Well, at the time, we all thought it was fun and games, nothing too serious. We picked on Kat, and you were around, so we picked on you too. We were essentially modeling our father’s behavior, but we didn’t realize it at the time. Now that we’ve grown up and you’ve told us how much it hurt you, we realize that our dad played a bigger role in our development than we would have liked.”
Harper took my hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “You were stupid kids. I realize that now, and I forgive you, especially considering the amazing men you’ve grown into.”
“Thank you,” I said. “And honestly, I should have seen the red flags with Carly. I had no idea what a terrible person she truly is. I didn’t realize she was tormenting you like that, I swear. Had I known the full extent of it all—”
Harper put her fingers to my lips. “I know, Nate. I didn’t at the time, but I realize you knew nothing of what she was doing, and I forgive you.”
It felt good to know that she forgave me, that she believed me. I knew I wasn’t owed any of that.
“Merry Fucking Christmas!” Jackson literally fell into the room, like the Kool-Aid man bursting through the wall. He had a bottle of vodka in one hand, which concerned me, but he seemed to be in good spirits. “Who wants to sing Christmas songs?”
Aiden got up to leave, but Jackson put his arm over his shoulder and pulled him back into the room. “Come on, Aiden. Let’s sing Christmas songs like we did when we were kids. Where’s Mom?”
He looked around the room, and for a second, I thought he might flip out, knowing that Mom was likely seeing Charles.
“Oh, she’s doing her thing, I guess,” he said, shrugging it off easier than expected. He took a long swig of the bottle before belting out, “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer… wait, how does it start again?”
Harper chimed in. “You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen…”
I joined in, “But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?”
“Yes! That’s it!” Jackson came bounding toward us, stumbling on his way and nearly falling into Harper’s lap. “Sorry, where were we? Aiden, where are you going?”
Aiden had tried to leave again, but he stopped in the doorway.
Harper continued the song with a laugh. “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose…”
Jackson joined in, and pretty soon all three of us were belting out the lyrics at the top of our lungs. I’m sure the staff thought we’d lost our damned minds, but we were laughing, together, as a family. Even Aiden joined in before long, he couldn’t resist. Harper encouraged him, getting up and pulling him onto the couch as we finished the song.
“Up on the housetop, click, click, click…” Jackson started singing as the other song ended.
“I don’t know all the lyrics to that one,” Harper laughed. “What about Frosty the Snowman?”
Jackson started singing, “Frosty the snowman had a very shiny nose—”
“No, no,” Harper laughed, her cheeks flushed with color as she laughed until tears filled her eyes. “That’s not how it goes, Jackson. You’re mixing up the songs.”
“Am I? How does it go then?” He looked up at Harper with puppy dog eyes. Jackson was smitten with her. Not that I blamed him, I was pretty sure all of us had developed feelings for her.
“Frosty the snowman was a jolly, happy soul.” Harper’s voice was smooth as silk. She might not have been perfectly on key, but her voice was lovely just the same.
For a moment, we all just stared at her, listening to her sing the song. She stopped. “Well? Aren’t you guys going to join me?”
“You just have a beautiful voice,” Jackson slurred, slipping from the couch down to the floor, his head thrown back to look up at Harper.
But it was Aiden who joined in with her, and I sang along too. Jackson slurred the words, often getting the lyrics all wrong and making Harper laugh.
I had to admit, it was a lot of fun, but seeing my brother like that worried me. He was a fun drunk, for now, but I knew that things could turn ugly at any moment.
25
Harper
